That tends to happen when a smug alleged sexual assaulter posts a stupid hot take in the wake of two mass shootings.
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Neil deGrasse Tyson - "Often our emotions respond more to spectacle than to data"
- Thread starter DrForester
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That tends to happen when a smug alleged sexual assaulter posts a stupid hot take in the wake of two mass shootings.
I know someone like this. Book smart - has an MBA and whatever. But day to day stuff? Street smarts? Thick as a brick.
What a fucking prick. Not only that, these stats are all useless in a vacuum...how are they trending? What are they correlated too? Etc.
Stupid ass fuck tweet and the apology is even worse. Neil, you are not smarter than everyone else, and these tweets show that you lack any sort of perspective.
Stupid ass fuck tweet and the apology is even worse. Neil, you are not smarter than everyone else, and these tweets show that you lack any sort of perspective.
What's even his point with this? Attempting to dunk on all those pro-medical error and pro-suicide people out there???
Like, dude used to get at Dawkins for being a cynical pedant himself, and here he is now only known for being a sex pest who makes an ass of himself in public.
I feel like the moment we lost Tyson was when he started tweeting out stuff about how much better off we'd be if the scientists were the ones ruling the world. At which point like every philosopher I know went on a tirade.
I also find NDT to be an asshole at times and I recognize that. Even though I still listen to his podcast. What infuriates me more though is how a lot of era users will fill the first few pages with things like, "fuck off", "get fucked", "fuck you", and the many variations. It's not only on this thread but on many other threads as well. I just happen to reply to it here because you mentioned it. I find these people to be childish, especially repeating offenders.
As much as I think the tweet was dickish I also agree with your post.
NDT just has a history of doing this though so I'm not surprised people are getting tired of it.
The tweet is just framed in such a way that gives right wing nut jobs ammunition to their, "see, people die all the time, even if we removed guns we wouldn't be saving that many people."
I think Neil is smart enough to know that, contrary to what people are saying about him here. Also, trying to guage how much someone cares on the internet is a fruitless effort.
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I get what he's getting at here.
But it misses the point that shit like medical mistake, flu, suicide, car accidents are all things that are hard to prevent, and happen in almost every country. Some more so than the US.
Mass Shootings is a SOLELY American epidemic. Yes, we should try to fix these other preventable deaths but c'mon son how about we fix the shit every other damn country figured out.
But it misses the point that shit like medical mistake, flu, suicide, car accidents are all things that are hard to prevent, and happen in almost every country. Some more so than the US.
Mass Shootings is a SOLELY American epidemic. Yes, we should try to fix these other preventable deaths but c'mon son how about we fix the shit every other damn country figured out.
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Interesting how often it only takes one thing to cause someone to fall apart like a house of cards.
Dude should be trying to rebuild his reputation, instead he's chosen to make a major heel turn.
Dude should be trying to rebuild his reputation, instead he's chosen to make a major heel turn.
I also feel like he is missing the point is that these shootings are about fear. No one is afraid of living their lives because of the flu, suicide, or car accidents because we as individuals have levels of control over each one. We can see a doctor, seek help, swerve. But this type of stuff has people afraid to go to a city or send a loved one to the mall. Sure it only killed and wounded a few dozen people. But it's sitting in the minds of millions in a way that is changing their everyday life quickly and suddenly more than any of those other things.
The thing that makes the tweet repugnant isn't just the tone deaf insensitivity, but that the person who wrote it was fuckin NDT, a brilliant science communicator, who should've known better. I think the hostile reactions are a bit much though. Everyone makes mistakes and says something cringy at some point. This happens to all of us because we're human. Think of everything you've spoken or written and how often any of it would get you in trouble if tweeted. Even though his apology could have been a bit more sensitive, i think it's reasonable that he didn't INTEND to tweet something as hurtful. Ever type something and didn't realize how bad it sounded until seconds after pressing send? According to him, this was one of those tweets. But if your entire career is based on being smart at communication more is expected of you, hence the pushback.
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OP
OP
Going to hazard a guess what happened in that one harassment account is he got a little too affectionate with the lady in question and when she was understandably like "what the hell are you doing" or similar he was like "aw shucks it's just a Native American greeting". (Not even, like how he described, "Hey wanna see this cool handshake I learned one time" first)
The train you're on is careening towards a cliff, having run off the rails. Your fellow passengers are screaming in an orchestra of terror, making it hard for you to focus on the love of your life, saying goodbye in your own way.
Neil deGrasse Tyson taps you on the shoulder: "You know, more people die of......"
Neil deGrasse Tyson taps you on the shoulder: "You know, more people die of......"
I think that's another point to how he's right in that we can't actually control those other things much either (we pretend like we can deal with a car accident but statistically we're terrible at it.)
I don't think screams of WHATABOUTISM really do much to dispel his point. We can and should be doing something about guns in America—it is our "peculiar institution" of the modern era that every other developing country has essentially "solved" in comparison to us—but it's also useful to frame the context. Like the visiting the US thread, the hysteria around guns is kind of bonkers, and that's saying something to considering how bonkers the gun problem actually is.
Frankly considering I imagine most people on here don't see anything wrong with someone pointing out that Muslim terrorism is a ridiculous boogeyman for right-wing pundits, it's sauce for the goose.
Tyson is wrapping his point in his usual smug arrogance, but that's nothing new.
This is some 5th grade tier logic and no surprise people are treating it as gospel because he's a prominent STEM voice as if that means jack shit here.
Lol. My friend just made a joke about this same comparison today. He said "He should go live on Mars like Doctor Manhattan if he thinks he's above everyone."
NDT comes off so cool and affable in person. It's strange how he comes across as such an ass on Twitter.
Just saw someone try to unironically use this moronic argument as evidence. Like, there are 101 reasons why his tweet is DUMB and of course the 'moderates' and righties ate it up while gleefully disregarding everything he says in a hard science field where he actually has SOME knowledge in.
Shower Goblin v2: revenge of the science geek
They may not add value to you, it's entirely subjective.
That's a really shitty tweet and the apology only worsens my view of him. He bringing up some other tragic things happening every day that have NOTHING to do with this very current, consistent, and American issue.
Nothing of value was brought to the conversation by you, Pluto man.
Nothing of value was brought to the conversation by you, Pluto man.
It reads like someone trying to comfort someone on the low probability of dying in a mass shooting, but it's just such an odd tweet to post literally on the day of one. It's just not the question that's being asked at this moment.
Stupid tweet... but I'm also not sure if it's worth the rancor and vitriol it's generating.
Not like this Neil smh
LMAOOOO Talk about not reading the room.
^^^
LMAOOOO Talk about not reading the room.
^^^
Neil sounds like a sophomore computer science student who has finally learned about Big-O algorithm analysis and tries to extend that to real life issues.
I don't think it does. It doesn't have the tone of 'Let me use this moment to remind you of other threats to your wellbeing. Stay safe', it's a detached comment on the normal, human behaviour of people reacting emotionally to tragic events.
I think he was hinting at the availability cognitive bias, in the most poorly timed and cack handed way imaginable:
The flaw in his argument is failing to account for the differences in how different tragedies affect people emotionally. A quiet death in bed from cancer in the latter years of a person's life isn't the same as being shot to death at the supermarket, in terms of emotional toll for the victim's families, or for people reading the news secondhand. Humans are not robots. We don't operate solely on probabilities and logic. We shouldn't be expected to.
The flaw in his argument is failing to account for the differences in how different tragedies affect people emotionally. A quiet death in bed from cancer in the latter years of a person's life isn't the same as being shot to death at the supermarket, in terms of emotional toll for the victim's families, or for people reading the news secondhand. Humans are not robots. We don't operate solely on probabilities and logic. We shouldn't be expected to.
Neil lacked any sense of empathy in his original tweet. This was not the time to post statistical information which he has obtained about what kills people. Gun violence has been a perennial threat to the people of the US. Whatever neil has posted about what kills people doesn't equate to gun violence. People's intention to kill others with a firearm isn't the same thing as flu, disease, accidents!
Yeah I agree - I more meant that that's the only reason I can see for the tweet existing, but given the timing it's clearly not that.
I couldn't believe seeing that posted. As a man who prides himself on knowledge, his ability to read a room is fucking trash.
STEM super nerds and dorks are the god damn worst, and the people on the internet parroting the Le Sciences as the end all be all are even worse. They're people devoid of any empathy and try to view everything through the lens of science and numbers.