Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson
Its not just me right? This guy is insufferable. Like he got to take Carl Sagan’s seat but he has none of the humility that comes from the sense of awe that Sagan was able to inspire through his understanding of the universe.
I try not to downplay the importance of science communication but NDT is an ass
He’s pompous af and like, regularly wrong. Which its like, bro you can carry the arrogance, but you have to be %100 all the time or you need to drop it.
He sees himself as a contrarian before anything else I think and never misses an opportunity to flount it
I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me it’s the way I viewed him with hope and admiration, then later discovered he’s just yet one more self-obsessed asshole media personality. It’s rare anymore that I switch off the cynicism the world has beaten into me and allow myself to just assume the best about some media figure. And doing so leaves one vulnerable - finding out later that this was naive and foolish really hardens that cynicism. This stings in a way that just assuming he was a piece of shit from the start doesn’t.
To me he just sounds like a character from that show Big Bang Theory. I think he may come off wrong sometimes when he is trying to bring science into the discussion but everyone has bad days. I don’t think Carl Sagan would’ve held it against him.
Its not a matter of popularity but a matter of how he conducts himself.
Here are about 20 examples: https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dmkgz/neil-degrasse-tysons-tweets-are-so-bad-and-he-needs-to-go-away
The writer of that article seems over the top angry about NDT’s tweets. Enough so that he titles the article “Neil Degrasse Tyson Shut The Fuck Up”.
Maybe its justified though, let’s look at some examples:
-NDT tweeted that “Marriage Story” should’ve been called “Divorce Story”.
-NDT tweeted chunks of asteroid in the movie Armageddon conveniently hit all the major cities of earth.
-NDT tweeted that the aliens in the movie Arrival would’ve had to write backwards to communicate.
…Seriously this doesn’t explain the hate for him. It just makes the writer seem like he has a chip on his shoulder.
All of those tweets just seem … Not worth reading? Like it’s either his opinion (feel free to share, whatever) or a fact, but not a very enlightening one. Just block him and move on.
I have a special dislike for mass audience “science” stuff but I recognize that people like it and just ignore it when I see it.
not reading it because I don’t give a fuck about Twitter. show me something real he’s done wrong
Stop for a second and really think about it.
Why would so many people hate a progressive scientifically minded black man on the internet?
Plenty of people act high and mighty on Twitter, plenty of public speakers charge for their appearances, it’s ridiculous how NGT gets singled out for it so much.
Yup. There’s some backlash against new atheism but ngt’s high crimes are sometimes being a bit awkward or pedantic and others like Richard Dawkins opine about how eugenics is unfairly maligned and Muslims are evil.
The degree of criticism and the bitch eating-crackers-tone of it all defs has a racial component.
He’s fine, he’s a famous rich dude. They’re all a bit annoying sometimes because power makes you weird but he doesn’t really hurt people, spew malice, or agitate for horrendous politics. He makes silly tweets about movie logic and explains cosmology to people.
Revisit the thread and scroll down to find that picture of his tweets. People like to pile on other shit that bothers them but realistically, NDT is kind of a blowhard and a bit weird. His ackshewalley attitude doesn’t help either.
I’ve said it before, I found his conversation with god podcast episode to be in poor taste - sort of smarmy and condescending, and this is coming from an atheist. I’m sure there are plenty of racists that hate him for his skin color but not everyone has such easily dismissable reasons.
I think it mostly has to do with how dominant he has become in social media algorithms. Once he is in your feeds he doesn’t go away and he is everywhere. While most other Twitter twats are only on twitter.
But I think you still have a point. And again, I think the social media algorithm has a lot to do with it. His interview with Joe Rogan make him part of the rabbit hole that leads to all these right wing nutheads. I always try hard to get rid of Joe Rogan, Piers Morgan, and Jordan Peterson from my feeds. But whenever NGT pops up it only takes a while for them to reappear as well.
Which makes me believe he will appear in the feeds of people who do like this right wing content. And they probably will judge him harsher for being black.
I don’t mind him on actual science shows and stuff he does there; but his online persona is just that of an insufferable, annoying, know-it-all Redditor. He wasn’t a douche like that the times I remember seeing him on Nova and other such programs. Only through his tweets and other social media interactions.
He really doesn’t even come close to filling Sagan’s shoes and we should find someone who can.
100%. That’s the perfect way of putting it too. Sagan seemed super humble and had a genuine state of wonder with with universe. NDT seems like an insufferable know it all douche who just likes publicity. Being a know it all seems antithetical to science.
As someone whose content specialization is Astronomy, I’ve always disliked Dr. Tyson as a public figure. I’ve always found him to be pretty pompous and patronizing with his explanations and descriptions. As you mention, he’s filling large shoes and lacks the the humility to handle it.
I feel bad for Chuck, his co host on his podcast. He never misses an opportunity to remind him that he’s an “outsider” that’s only there for comic relief.
Chuck is in on it, he’s fine. He knows and plays into it. But he’s definitely not dumb. He can follow along with what Neil says just fine, even advanced topics that I can’t follow as someone very interested in science. I know he can because he rephrases what Neil says in his own words and Neil would go “Exactly!” or something to that effect.
The comic relief act is just that, an act, for comic relief, and it’s funny because it’s working in a meta type way.
Besides, it’s that (rather annoying in my eyes) setup of the “outsider” who pretends to know nothing and the expert, where the “outsider” does this sort of interview and injects questions on behalf of the audience. Never liked that format because the questions tend to be super basic and obvious more often than not and feel orchestrated at times, but that’s what the podcast does. Many true crime podcasts do this as well.
I’ve never listened to the podcast but this seems so on brand for him.
Science isn’t a religion or cult. Its a process and literally just thinking and becoming informed allows you to be a part of that process. It doesn’t need gatekeepers.
Wait until he brings up mirror kissing.
You gotta be faster than the speed of light, then you can kiss yourself on the cheek in the mirror.
Interesting. Do you have any suggestions on how I can empower my narcissism?
imagine saying something 5 times in 10 years lmao what a piece of shit /s
For a joke y’all got super serious about this.
People love to bandwagon hate. But honestly I gotta give credit to this one, it almost feels like something that could happen lol.
https://thehardtimes.net/about/
Satire, for those who didn’t catch on.
The issue is that NDT is an asshole, a pompous one at that.
Noone is eating the onion, everyone is just getting angry at the douche.
Twitter didn’t exist in Carl Sagan’s time, and he was just as critical of science fiction in movies.
I’ll be sure to forward that video to thehardtimes.net. Hopefully they’ll tease the ghost of Carl Sagan equally to settle any concerns of unfair treatment.
The Hard Times is a very real punk news site that you should not question. Just absorb the information as truth and move on. The historic satire site was founded in December 1976. It’s made by a group of punk and hardcore kids from all the different sub-genres of the DIY hardcore scene. Any resemblance to actual persons or band names is coincidental.
