Neil deGrasse Tyson is a well-known astrophysicist as well as director of the Hayden Planetarium in NYC. He's also an educator and immensely interested in furthering scientific learning and knowledge in society. He's presumably against racism and sexism and would fight against poverty in low socioeconomic areas such as inner cities.
However, he evidently not only has no problem with the consequences of his following recommendations, but in fact he indeed maps out and hopes for a particular result:
Learn evolution on your own. There's nobody stopping you from accomplishing that. And if the absence of evolution is state sanctioned, then move from the state. Such an exodus (if you allow the term) will render the region without scientifically literate people and the local economy will collapse in this technologically competitive 21st century in which we live. My hope is that Americans usually pay attention to when they lose money. So poverty may be the force required to effect these changes.
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Neil deGrasse Tyson on whether he's an Atheist or Agnostic
ReplyDeleteNeil deGrasse Tyson on the uproar in his use of the word "Godspeed"
Thanks for the links, AP.
DeleteI've always liked and still like NDT. He has sort filled the void left by Carl Sagan as "America's Astronomer" though I don't think he has yet the prominence Sagan had. Having said that, I loathe that NDT's boyish, childlike even infectious enthusiasm for the cosmos is so diminished by this kind of disdain for people. Just think of the press when a prominent Christian is accused of thinking some of natural disaster is a result of sin, let alone a deliberate one like allowing the economy to collapse so people feel poverty. NDT has become one the darlings of the organized skeptic movement even if he is usually a kinder, more congenial member than the brash Dawkins types. Remarks like this would have been decidedly beneath him in the past. For centuries Christians, Deists and unbelievers have been able to investigate the natural world in at least an uneasy peace. It is sad to see this rapidly coming to a close.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Zack. I largely agree with you here. I do like NDT when he's talking about physics and the like. He can be quite inspirational about the wonder and amazement of science. And I like how he took Dawkins to task for failing to persuade the public about science (warning: a swear word at the end). But it seems like NDT has started gravitating more toward the orbit of the militant atheists these days.
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