{"id":37799,"date":"2020-12-04T12:02:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T12:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-wonder-of-human-brain\/"},"modified":"2020-12-04T12:02:00","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T12:02:00","slug":"neil-degrasse-tyson-on-wonder-of-human-brain","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-wonder-of-human-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil deGrasse Tyson On the Wonder of the Human Brain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\t\t\t<em>Cosmos: Possible Worlds<\/em> is a sequel to Carl Sagan&rsquo;s 1980 acclaimed TV series <em>Cosmos<\/em>. It is hosted by astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson. In the episode, &ldquo;The Cosmic Connectome,&rdquo; Tyson delves into the marvels of the human brain and explores the possibility of a wonderful cerebral connection between man and the universe.<\/p>\n\n<p>Tyson narrates:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Can we know the universe? Are our brains capable of comprehending the cosmos in all of its complexity and splendor? We don&#39;t yet know the answer to that question because our brain remains almost as much of a mystery as the universe itself. We think that the number of processing units in your brain is roughly equal to all the stars in 1,000 galaxies. At least 100 trillion. And it&#39;s possible that the real number of processing units is ten times larger. &#8230; If all the contents of your brain were transcribed into written language, it would amount to vastly more books than are contained in the largest libraries on earth. The equivalent of more than four billion books are inside your head. The brain is a very big place in a very small space.<\/p>\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Just as biologists succeeded in mapping the human genome, neuroscientists are attempting to map something far more complex and unique to each and every one of us. It&#39;s called our connectome. If we could truly know another person&#39;s connectome, the singular wiring diagram of all their memories, thoughts, fears, dreams. How would we treat each other? Could we heal the brain of its countless torments?<\/p>\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead2\">Possible Preaching Angle:<\/h2>\n\n<p><em>Although Neil deGrasse Tyson professes to be agnostic, his description of the human brain does highlight the epitome of God&rsquo;s work of creation (Psa. 8:1-9).<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3494,3711,3713,3902,4175,4181,4265,4468,4527,4771,4891,5157,5279],"tax_ctp_topics":[384,393,397],"class_list":["post-37799","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-biology","tax_ctp_tags-creation","tax_ctp_tags-creator","tax_ctp_tags-evidence-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-human-body","tax_ctp_tags-human-nature","tax_ctp_tags-intelligence","tax_ctp_tags-mind","tax_ctp_tags-nature-of-human","tax_ctp_tags-reason","tax_ctp_tags-science","tax_ctp_tags-thoughts","tax_ctp_tags-wisdom"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Neil deGrasse Tyson On the Wonder of the Human Brain - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-wonder-of-human-brain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Neil deGrasse Tyson On the Wonder of the Human Brain - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cosmos: Possible Worlds is a sequel to Carl Sagan&rsquo;s 1980 acclaimed TV series Cosmos. 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Tyson narrates: Read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-wonder-of-human-brain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-wonder-of-human-brain\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-wonder-of-human-brain\/\",\"name\":\"Neil deGrasse Tyson On the Wonder of the Human Brain - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-04T12:02:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-04T12:02:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-wonder-of-human-brain\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-wonder-of-human-brain\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-wonder-of-human-brain\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Neil deGrasse Tyson On the Wonder of the Human Brain\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Neil deGrasse Tyson On the Wonder of the Human Brain - CT Pastors","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-wonder-of-human-brain\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Neil deGrasse Tyson On the Wonder of the Human Brain - CT Pastors","og_description":"Cosmos: Possible Worlds is a sequel to Carl Sagan&rsquo;s 1980 acclaimed TV series Cosmos. 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