Apparently this Tyson person is important in some context, because his face has been popping up on my screen a lot. I assume at least some of you know who he is. I gather he is reputed to be an intelligent fool, for reasons this article lays out.
My long-standing aversion to Neil deGrasse Tyson is exactly what the author puts his finger on: the fact that he's more often peddling philosophy than science, though he bills himself as a scientist. I'm not huge on philosophy anyway, and I'm particularly allergic to his cutesy version of it, so after I tried listening to him a few times in order to pick up interesting information about science, I started avoiding him long before the new "Cosmos" series came out.
TV producers love him, apparently because he makes science seem more entertaining and less threatening. For me, it's like listening to a stoned sophomore talk about how physics is, like, cosmic, man, and look at the pretty Hubble pictures.
When a guy has a TV series, or a Great Courses lecture (I forget which--maybe both), called "My Favorite Universe," that should be warning enough.
He's become a darling because: a) He's in New York City b) He's a greenist (AGW stripe) c) He's a 'scientist' who's a minority.
I assume he likes the cocktail parties he gets invited too, and isn't so concerned about actual rigorous science anymore. People like him are making a mockery of the title 'scientist'.
My long-standing aversion to Neil deGrasse Tyson is exactly what the author puts his finger on: the fact that he's more often peddling philosophy than science, though he bills himself as a scientist. I'm not huge on philosophy anyway, and I'm particularly allergic to his cutesy version of it, so after I tried listening to him a few times in order to pick up interesting information about science, I started avoiding him long before the new "Cosmos" series came out.
ReplyDeleteTV producers love him, apparently because he makes science seem more entertaining and less threatening. For me, it's like listening to a stoned sophomore talk about how physics is, like, cosmic, man, and look at the pretty Hubble pictures.
When a guy has a TV series, or a Great Courses lecture (I forget which--maybe both), called "My Favorite Universe," that should be warning enough.
My whole problem with his new Cosmos series was a pretty constant reuse of the phrase "Science tells us..." or "Science teaches us..."
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me was that if you replaced the word "Science" with (insert favorite religious system here) it would basically be a religious argument.
He is not doing "Science" any favors.
I rather liked the title of this article about his anti-philosophical statements.
ReplyDeleteHe's become a darling because:
a) He's in New York City
b) He's a greenist (AGW stripe)
c) He's a 'scientist' who's a minority.
I assume he likes the cocktail parties he gets invited too, and isn't so concerned about actual rigorous science anymore. People like him are making a mockery of the title 'scientist'.