how the steps of the scientific method can be applied to self-enlightenment

COSMOS Episode 13: Unafraid of the Dark (2014) wraps-up the COSMOS series by exploring the constant fight between intelligence, compassion, and understanding, versus the darker side of the human condition, manifested by fear, ignorance, and brutality. Neil DeGrasse Tyson connects the path to salvation through the application of the principles of science to facilitate reasoning and a societal enlightenment. In the end, any journey of societal growth starts with the individual. Individual choices, based on sound reasoning and rational thought, help to form a grass-roots movement, whereby ignorance and fear slowly start to give way and lose their appeal. This is the main message the COSMOS series endeavors to relay. This final episode delivers that message right on-time.