The Case for Cosmic Modesty | Abraham (Avi) Loeb | TEDxHarvardCollege

Based on the premise that we are not special, Loeb argues for modesty from a cosmic perspective. His “principle of cosmic modesty” implies that both primitive and intelligent forms of life should exist away from Earth, and we should therefore search for them without prejudice.
Abraham (Avi) Loeb is the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University. He published nearly 600 papers and 4 books which pioneered several new frontiers in astrophysics and cosmology. Loeb serves as Chair of the Department of Astronomy, Founding Director of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative and Director of the Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC) . He also chairs the Advisory Committee for the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative, serves as the Science Theory Director for all Initiatives of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, and holds the Sackler Senior Professorship by Special Appointment at Tel Aviv University. He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the International Academy of Astronautics, as well as Vice Chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. Within Harvard, Loeb serves on the President's Task Force on Diversity and Belonging , the FAS Dean's Faculty Resources Committee, and the Provost's Allston Academic Planning Committee. In 2012, TIME magazine selected Loeb as one of the 25 most influential people in space. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx