It is incredibly dangerous to look directly at the sun. That didn't stop us from having sun staring contests with friends as kids. I believe my personal best was 5 seconds. All jokes aside their are safe ways to view a solar eclipse. You can wear a special pair of solar eclipse viewing glasses that are too dark to actually see out of. However the safety of these glasses has been called into question as Amazon has put a recall on them. I suppose it's just not worth the liability for the retail giant.
Alternatively you can cut a pin hole in a cardboard box and then hold a piece of paper under the hole. You can witness the light hitting the paper go black. That is neat an all but you aren't actually looking at the event as you are staring at a sheet of paper. NASA will actually be live streaming the event! You can watch it as it happens from the link below straight from your phone. This is great because you will be able to see it from a perfect angle no matter where you are in the world and without having to put on those ridiculous glasses. This is also the only 100% safe way to stare at the sun!
via NASA
