This week, very chill President Barack Obama hosted the first-ever South by South Lawn festival. During a panel at the event, Obama sat down with Dr. Katharine Hayhoe and one-time Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio to discuss climate change. Hayhoe mentioned that emotional appeals are often more effective than facts when it comes to convincing global-warming deniers. Which sounds important for the future, sure, but more important, prompted DiCaprio to reveal that he signed up for Elon Musk’s trip to Mars.
“The reality of it is, if you’re a human living on this planet — which most of us are, yeah?” Hayhoe asked the crowd. “As long as we haven’t signed up for the trip to Mars. I don’t want to know if anyone has, I think you’re crazy.” Cue DiCaprio leaning forward, sipping from his water bottle, and quietly muttering, “I did. I did.” (Skip to 1:16:15 to see for yourself.)
Hayhoe laughs and apologizes for calling DiCaprio crazy, prompting Obama to weigh in on the conversation, “I think he’ll acknowledge he’s crazy.” When Elon Musk announced the Mars plans last week, he warned the world that if you want to be among the first to head to the red planet, you should be prepared to die. (Musk said he will likely not be among the first group to head out, because he’d like to be around to see his kids grow up.)
If you were serious, Leo, Select All would like to wish you the best of luck on your future space voyage. Remember to pack that Oscar, and know that in space, nobody will be around to remind you how truly terrible The Great Gatsby was.
