Dr. Neil DeGrasse - A fascinatingly disturbing thought

reply to post by Thisbseth

he's one of my favorite thinkers because he holds the excitement still...

one of my favorite clips is where he tells Dawkins to shove it! in a well spoken and mannered way.

regardless of Neils beliefs Dawkins tries to pin him a religious man simply by using the word 'rebuke' but Dawkins still does not know how to respond to any type of criticism so he resorts to swearing.

Neil has a really good points here and honestly I think Dawkins being in the business that he is in and all he's just simply a racist.


thanks for the post btw... one of my favorites is when Tyson goes into Newton.

...and Dawkins, please don't come back to America!

There's nothing special or original about this. I found it rather boring and utterly unenlightening. And his understanding of genetics is sorely lacking, but then that applies to most geneticists and virtually all scientists anyway (I have an undergrad degree in Physics and PhD education in genetics btw).

Tyson is just a pseudo-scientist celebrity entertainer stating things that are obvious to anyone moderately intelligent and scientifically literate. And then he makes some unfounded conjectures.

He doesn't produce original science or anything innovative, he sells popular science books to the lay public. The only reason you've heard of him is b/c you can count the number of black men that have attained physics degrees at Harvard and Columbia on one hand.

Oh ya and b/c he was the favorite of another celebrity pseudo-scientist entertainer (Carl Sagan).

reply to post by Spooky1


Wouldnt it make sense that he doesnt present any hardcore science , since most of the lectures he is involved with in the videos are shown to the general lay person!

Originally posted by ShockTruther
This man is talking about serious, thought provoking theories and the audience reacts by laughing like a bunch of idiots... Drooling morons indeed.

People were laughing because some of what he was saying was said in a humorous manner. Stop being so serious.

reply to post by Spooky1


i thought that was the point to spark interest in lay terms to attract as many people as possible. If that's enough to spark peoples interest in "Hardcore" science. then that's fine by me. Dont really see anyone else trying to make it interesting and fun.

I think Neil DeGrasse tyson is in the same league as Richard feynman and Carl sagan in his ability to capture an audience's imagination. That was a great talk, nice find....

reply to post by sapien82


I wasn't making the point about his lack of scientific productivity to specifically deride the comments he made here. I was simply pointing out his lack of accomplishment and to support my assertion that he is merely a celebrity entertainer.

This statement is my criticism of his lecture:
"Tyson is just a pseudo-scientist celebrity entertainer stating things that are obvious to anyone moderately intelligent and scientifically literate. And then he makes some unfounded conjectures."

He merely presented old data in an interesting fashion (he knows how to tell a story, as most entertainers do). And then made wild conjectures based on a very incomplete understanding of genetics.

reply to post by Drunkenparrot


Hey Drunkenparrot, whilst I'm sure he's a great man and there's no unequivocable proof as to the true nature of UFOs, Dr Tyson strikes me as a bit of an ignoramus when it comes to discussing the UFO subject.

Do you think he's even aware of some of the more compelling and unexplained cases?

Originally posted by FuturePeace
reply to post by Spooky1

 

i thought that was the point to spark interest in lay terms to attract as many people as possible. If that's enough to spark peoples interest in "Hardcore" science. then that's fine by me. Dont really see anyone else trying to make it interesting and fun.

I'm not saying that these things are bad. I'm just saying that he is hardly brilliant or worthy of comparison to any productive scientist.

He attracts people so he can get publicity, push his agenda, receive more undeserved awards, and sell books.

War is completely natural, noble or not, whats does a person with power want? More power.
I just hope we don't pose a big enough threat to any advanced race that they have mercy on us.

""He attracts people so he can get publicity, push his agenda, receive more undeserved awards, and sell books. ""


Thats pretty much everyone though not just him.

I can't listen to the video right now. However, based on what I can read I have a good idea what he is saying in the clip. I think that giving us the means of a superior alien race meaning technologies and advanced manipulation of energy would be like giving matches to a kid. Indeed, all of our advancements ie. gun powder, nuclear energy, study of psychology, gene manipulation, etc can be used for good or evil. Great things have come out of it but, our emotions are still what clouds our intelligence. Greed, search for glory, jealousy, gluttony to name of few are what drives the intelligence of a few. These few are enough to launch wars, create disease and manipulates peoples opinions and thoughts for the lesser evil punishing all the rest of us who just want to live fairly and freely. I know good exists in the universe and right here on earth, I have faith it does. However, I don't think they are fully in control right now.
So, yea I think aliens are holding back to share their secrets for obvious reasons. We are not ready for such advancements. To much of a big leap for certain and would temp the few to use it for their own selfish ends. Think about it: some aspire to dominate the world! How can you be a peace loving being when you aspire to that? Then we hope aliens will share their technologies. I for one hope not because in the wrong hands this would spell disaster. We need to be more at peace with each other first. Kinda like we have to spiritually grow before our brains can follow with the good knowledge. Peace

reply to post by Spooky1

Neil Tyson is an astrophysicist and a cool dude...

genetics are if you want to work in a zoo

Hmmmmmm .....................an entirely pedestrian set of ideas, that any intelligent 14 yr old would know, but presented with a polished intellectual seeming showman style.

And yes - people are falling over themselves to say how brilliant this man is!

Originally posted by JohhnyBGood
Hmmmmmm .....................an entirely pedestrian set of ideas, that any intelligent 14 yr old would know, but presented with a polished intellectual seeming showman style.

And yes - people are falling over themselves to say how brilliant this man is!

I think it's his attitude...

he has the capability to get more people into it than Sagan even, connecting with a wider age group imo.

First of all, I have never heard of the theory of Panspermia and I'm glad I heard it from this man. This man, is absolutely brilliant. Not to mentioon hilarious, I just wonder what the 1^'s will think about him. He will probably have his theory put on a fridge

I must have missed the 'disturbing' part of the presentation.

I understand it is not the OP's words, but where is the disturbing part?

reply to post by Blue Shift


I'm sure Buddy and Ollie the chimps think they're special too, but if you don't give them cake they'll bite your limbs off and maul you.

We are special, to ourselves, but I believe outsiders would see us as barbaric and approach (if at all) with serious caution.

Oh awesome. Its nice to put a personality to the "we got a badass over here" meme.
He presents everything in an understandable fashion and i like it.
I'm wouldn't stick with the panspermia theory though. I mean, for marsian rocks to reach earth after a meteor hit would require a pretty damn precise trajectory, but still - its possible.

reply to post by Illustronic


i guess he thought people would find it disturbing that there might be beings that see us like we see ants on the ground from an intelligence stand point. People have trouble imagining this because we think we're so great as humans.