American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson addressed the Elon community for the 2015 Spring Convocation on Thursday, April 2.
"Coherence is not a priority here," Neil deGrasse Tyson said to a sold-out crowd in Alumni Gym.
Tyson kept the audience laughing and tweeting, as he spoke about achievement and truths.
He also shared many of his own "controversial" tweets with the audience, like his Christmas Day tweet from 2014 reading: "On this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world. Happy Birthday Isaac Newton b. Dec 25, 1642." The tweet received nearly 80 thousand re-tweets, but also backlash from many of Tyson's followers.
But during his speech, Tyson saw a lot of love on Twitter with many Elon students tweeting with the hashtag #TysonatElon. The hashtag #NdGT also became a trending topic in the Greensboro area.
The astrophysicist was raised in time of scientific discoveries, an era when science and technology were consistently in media.
"I grew up in a time where people actually went places in space," Tyson joked, speaking of the 1960s Space Race.
In a speech that cannot be pin pointed to being about one specific topic, he touched upon the difference between personal truths and objectives truths and how they shape our individual belief systems. Tyson discussed how science plays a role in what we believe or don't believe.
"The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it," Tyson said.
When it comes to achievement, Tyson finds that education is not necessarily about grades and accolades, but about a love of learning and discovery a new ideas.
"You can define yourself by your grades, but later on no one else will," he said.
Tyson closed his lecture by reminding the audience, scientists or not, to stay ambitious and open to the world around them.
Brennan McGovern contributed to this article.