I should teach the world not what to think, but how to think. This requires a person to evaluate evidence, and to draw rational conclusions, that are free from bias and from other psychological baggage.

To be successful here is an acquired talent that most scientists take for granted, and that some scientists take a lifetime to master. When this is applied to everyday life, one's actions minimise the chances of fooling oneself, or of being fooled by others - thus allowing informed judgment about all manner of social, political and technological issues that face us in modern society.

I should next teach people the cosmic perspective. This identifies Earth and its inhabitants as small in space and insignificant in time, yet containing ingredients forged in the cores of stars that have long ago exploded - enriching the galaxy, with heavy elements crucial to life. So, in spite of our humbling circumstances, we are not simply within the universe - the universe is within us.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is author of The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist (buy this book from Amazon (UK) or Amazon (USA)), and coauthor of Origins: 14Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution (buy this book from Amazon (UK) or Amazon (USA)). See his website.