Six year old asks Neil deGrasse Tyson for the meaning of life, and his answer is nothing short of epic.

Courtesy of CNET:  

As an astrophysicist and host of last year's "Cosmos" reboot, Neil deGrasse Tyson has taken on explanations of physics, evolution and the creation of the universe itself. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that when a 6-year-old boy asked him, "What's the meaning of life?" at a small speaking engagement in Boston on Thursday, Tyson didn't balk at the question like most of us would. 

Instead, he launched into a mini-lesson starting with the value of creating meaning through lifelong learning and concluding with granting his permission to splash around in muddy puddles and bang spoons on the family collection of pots and pans. The whole exchange is ridiculously adorable, and Tyson's approach to the precocious kid -- rolling around the stage like a restless first-grader himself -- will almost charm you to tears.

You know I have worked with children almost my entire adult life.

Once many years ago somebody asked me how I had the patience to work with small children without getting frustrated or bored. 

"Are you kidding?" I replied. "Every day I get to see the world through new eyes. I get to watch a child's face as they experience for the first time, something that I have seen, tasted, or heard a thousand times before. There is nothing boring about that."

Parents should take a lesson from what Professor Tyson is saying here.

If you want to raise problem solvers, then let them start solving problems early.

If you want to raise emotionally secure adults, then don't coddle and protect your children from their emotions, even the bad ones.

And if you want to raise successful adults, then let them fail, and learn from those failures, as children.

During all of that I can almost guarantee they will discover the meaning of life, well at least their life. 

And finally some words of wisdom from our friend Neil deGrasse Tyson.

It would be such a better world if people were to take this message to heart.

I offer you a little affirmation this snowy Friday morning.

Just take a moment to think about that.

We do not need to tell ourselves we were made in a God's image, or that we are the center of the universe, to believe we have value. We already HAVE value!

We are quite literally one with the universe.

And what makes us unique, different from all of the other creatures with whom we share this planet, is that we have the capacity to understand that.