Neil deGrasse Tyson

I have decided that the messages in all fortune cookies should be replaced with posts from NDT's twtter account:

Words are just tools, and should never be the destination of the educator.

Golfers want silence when hitting stationary balls at their feet. Baseball batters, in screaming crowds, hit 90 mph fastballs

When Students cheat on exams it's because our School System values grades more than Students value learning.

The economic battle-crry of "Buy American" should instead be "Buy the Best", thereby compelling Americans to make the best.

Those who say I'm their favorite Astrophysicist, when confronted, often confess that I'm the only Astrophysicist they know...

JoeyM wrote: I have decided that the messages in all fortune cookies should be replaced with posts from NDT's twtter account: Words are just tools, and should never be the destination of the educator. Golfers want silence when hitting stationary balls at their feet. Baseball batters, in screaming crowds, hit 90 mph fastballs When Students cheat on exams it's because our School System values grades more than Students value learning. The economic battle-crry of "Buy American" should instead be "Buy the Best", thereby compelling Americans to make the best. Those who say I'm their favorite Astrophysicist, when confronted, often confess that I'm the only Astrophysicist they know...

that's why I always tell my sister that she's my FAVORITE sister

I liked this one.

"There's no crime in being ignorant. Problems arise when people who don't know they're ignorant rise to power."

You can fix ignorance you can't fix stupid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=93f3dHfV-QY

He killed pluto!! murderer! He admits to being an accessory to planet murder, he pleads guilty in front of everybody watching that show. I say it's time for his due punishment.

On a serious note I don't want to admit how many of his shows I've watched on Netflix. Probably all of them.

Pluto was exiled from planetdom and made king of the dwarf planets.

Rufledt wrote: On a serious note I don't want to admit how many of his shows I've watched on Netflix. Probably all of them.

Same here....netflix and youtube. The guy is an amazing educator. Few people are as skilled as he is at taking a complex subject and presenting it in an easily understood manner.

Times have changed: Kennedy: "Let's go to the moon." Obama: "Lets repair our infrastructure." 12 Feb 2013 Apollo in 1969. Shuttle in 1981. Nothing in 2011. Our space program would look awesome to anyone living backwards thru time. 11:20 AM - 8 Jul 2011

Rufledt wrote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=93f3dHfV-QY He killed pluto!! murderer! He admits to being an accessory to planet murder, he pleads guilty in front of everybody watching that show. I say it's time for his due punishment.

Forgot to mention his tweet about that. He was thinking it ought to get him out of jury duty

Neil deGrasse Tyson ‏@neiltyson 4 Dec .@_dtl: Didn't know felons could serve jury, as Pluto murderer // For that I was only an accessory. @PlutoKiller is the felon Expand

... is a badass.

He spoke at our school a few weeks ago. He was very inspirational.

I miss being as into astronomy as I was back in school.

I've seen a show or two on Netflix. See him often in Facebook images. And some friends saw him speak in Cincinnati/Dayton recently. (They took a few photos, and almost every one had some guy in front of them recording video with his iPad...)

JoeyM wrote: When Students cheat on exams it's because our School System values grades more than Students value learning. The economic battle-crry of "Buy American" should instead be "Buy the Best", thereby compelling Americans to make the best.

I like Neil alot, but that first one is not very good... I think it instead should read

"When Students cheat on exams, it's because our School System values grades more than the School System values Students who learn."

Students only care about grades because outside forces care about grades.

...and the 2nd one just doesn't work as more than a nice sentiment. 'Best' is such an arbitrary thing now, and for most, best means cheapest, which America can almost never win at by default.

madmallard wrote: I think it instead should read "When Students cheat on exams, it's because our School System values grades more than the School System values Students who learn." Students only care about grades because outside forces care about grades.

If I was going to be more accurate, I would say:

"....most students only care about grades because outside forces care about grades. There are, however a few that are highly competitive and intrinsically motivated"

I was lucky enough to see him speak in Colorado Springs last week, he's even more interesting/amazing in person.

e_pie wrote: I was lucky enough to see him speak in Colorado Springs last week, he's even more interesting/amazing in person.

^ This. He spoke at a conference I attended in February, only time I haven't bothered to sleep in and miss the morning keynote address and I'd gladly miss some sleep for the experience.

Put Neil deGrasse Tyson and Dr. Michio Kaku in a room together and I could listen to them talk for a long, long time.

He seems to be the favorite astrophysicist of the internet.

People this smart are startling to me.

i know he's a smart guy, but i always feel like he's talking to me like i'm a preschooler when he talks- like he thinks he's smarter (and thus better) than everyone just because he knows some things about some stuff and gets to go on tv to talk about it.. he just comes across as extremely condescending sometimes...

then there are his political views.

novaderrik wrote: i know he's a smart guy, but i always feel like he's talking to me like i'm a preschooler when he talks- like he thinks he's smarter (and thus better) than everyone just because he knows some things about some stuff and gets to go on tv to talk about it.. he just comes across as extremely condescending sometimes... then there are his political views.

Such as?

Kenny_McCormic wrote:

novaderrik wrote: i know he's a smart guy, but i always feel like he's talking to me like i'm a preschooler when he talks- like he thinks he's smarter (and thus better) than everyone just because he knows some things about some stuff and gets to go on tv to talk about it.. he just comes across as extremely condescending sometimes... then there are his political views.

Such as?

such as.. what?

his condescending tone, or his political views?

for his condescending tone: look up any video of him talking to a general tv audience about science stuff- he comes across like he's talking to people that are far beneath him.. he just seems like he's dumbing it down too much and then over emphasizing everything like some adults do when they are talking to 5 year olds..

his political views: pretty dang liberal.

novaderrik wrote:

Kenny_McCormic wrote:

novaderrik wrote: then there are his political views.

Such as?

his political views: pretty dang liberal.

Really, I think he's very moderate. Probably slightly liberal, but far less so than most of the people in NY, NY. This is the guy who said, "Next time someone asks, 'Are you a democrat or a republican,' you should answer, 'I think for myself.' " Earlier in the same interview, he's praising the GOP candidates for being intelligent, educated people. He even tells the interviewer that there are real differences between the GOP candidates, and that the reason she doesn't see the differences is that she is so far removed from the conservative end of the political spectrum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68wsjDQNKCk

He thinks that funding space exploration is the way to fix our economy......
http://youtu.be/Xhc25v0DpJc?t=4m15s

....and he makes it VERY clear that in recent history (i.e. the past few decades) the GOP has been better at funding science than democrats
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7Q8UvJ1wvk

You may not agree that science funding is the solution to our economic woes, but I think it is pretty clear that he's fairly moderate/apolitical WRT most topics....his primary concern is science and the funds for it.

^Agreed, most of the political discussion I've heard him engage in tends to focus on how we need to channel our resources into growth of the scientific sector because countries who invest in science have better economic growth (and he provides the data to back that up) Beyond that I don't think he gets very partisan, or at least he hasn't in any of the discussions I've heard.

novaderrik wrote: he just seems like he's dumbing it down too much and then over emphasizing everything like some adults do when they are talking to 5 year olds...

His job has been to popularize science by being an outspoken authority on the subject and to make it exciting to people who do not understand it. It is no surprise that he assumes his audience isn't going to take the lead. I can forgive a bit of verbosity if he can shine a little light into a few empty heads. I can also forgive his political stance that investing in the sciences leads to economic growth, well... because for the entire 19th & 20th centuries that has held true.

"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology." -- Carl Sagan

One point that he made clear is that the government is much better at channeling a lot of resources and cross-departmental expertise into a risky, unproven venture, like space exploration. The private market is much better at performing routine tasks efficiently, like sending another thousand satellites into space. I don't think that privatizing processes initiated by the government is an overtly liberal mindset.

Mr. Tyson is an educator.

I'd rather have my teacher explain things in an easy to understand manner than the professor who uses jargon with a smirk, thinking (or knowing) that I won't understand them.