Championship Subdivision Football | FCS Football | Stadiums | Blogs | Forums

Yes Neil DeGrass Tyson is a bit of a pompous douche...
But:
He makes a fascinating point about Islam 1000 years ago

http://www.greensboro.com/news/schools/ ... fae7d.html

"America’s decline isn’t unprecedented, Tyson said. Just look back 1,000 years ago at the Middle East, where math and science flourished in Baghdad. Algebra and algorithms were invented in the Middle East. So were Arabic numerals — the numbers we still use today.

But when a new cleric emerged during the 12th century, he declared math and science to be earthly pursuits, Tyson said, and good Muslims should be concerned about spiritual affairs. The scientists drifted away, and scientific literacy faded from that part of the world. Of 655 Nobel Prizes awarded in the sciences since 1900, Tyson said, only three have been awarded to Muslims.

“Things that seem harmless can have devastating effects,” he said..."

What the hell does Islam's belief that math and science were earthly pursuits have to do with America? It's our own system of instruction that is the BIG problem.

The Mongols also visited Baghdad in the 1200's. And the rivers ran black with ink spilled from the great libraries, before running red...

kalm wrote:The Mongols also visited Baghdad in the 1200's. And the rivers ran black with ink spilled from the great libraries, before running red...

Was that Baghdad, Glasgow?

Chizzang wrote:Yes Neil DeGrass Tyson is a bit of a pompous douche...
But:
He makes a fascinating point about Islam 1000 years ago

http://www.greensboro.com/news/schools/ ... fae7d.html

"America’s decline isn’t unprecedented, Tyson said. Just look back 1,000 years ago at the Middle East, where math and science flourished in Baghdad. Algebra and algorithms were invented in the Middle East. So were Arabic numerals — the numbers we still use today.

But when a new cleric emerged during the 12th century, he declared math and science to be earthly pursuits, Tyson said, and good Muslims should be concerned about spiritual affairs. The scientists drifted away, and scientific literacy faded from that part of the world. Of 655 Nobel Prizes awarded in the sciences since 1900, Tyson said, only three have been awarded to Muslims.

“Things that seem harmless can have devastating effects,” he said..."

God you aren't lying he is definitely a flaming twat

I literally wanted to punch walls when he destroyed the Cosmos redux

kalm wrote:The Mongols also visited Baghdad in the 1200's. And the rivers ran black with ink spilled from the great libraries, before running red...

Was that before or after Moses parted the waters and allowed the Hebrews to escape and start Goldman Sachs?

CAA Flagship wrote:

kalm wrote:The Mongols also visited Baghdad in the 1200's. And the rivers ran black with ink spilled from the great libraries, before running red...

Was that before or after Moses parted the waters and allowed the Hebrews to escape and start Goldman Sachs?

Paul Krugman or some other good progressive should tell NGT the STEM skills shortage is a myth invented by corporations to justify wage killing H1B visas.

Pwns wrote:Paul Krugman or some other good progressive should tell NGT the STEM skills shortage is a myth invented by corporations to justify wage killing H1B visas.

Agreed,
I believe all ancient "Myths" are in need of some updating - even the corporate ones

Today, Tyson said, too many Americans mistake clouds for UFOs, believe in alien abductions, reject evolution (known to scientists as the foundation of biology), fear the number 13 and negative numbers, and freak out about supermoons that really aren’t any bigger than regular old full moons.

Ibanez wrote:

Today, Tyson said, too many Americans mistake clouds for UFOs, believe in alien abductions, reject evolution (known to scientists as the foundation of biology), fear the number 13 and negative numbers, and freak out about supermoons that really aren’t any bigger than regular old full moons.

Not everybody can be brilliant and enlightened as Tyson

And he'll let you know it too you fvcking ignorant rube

CID1990 wrote:

Ibanez wrote:

Not everybody can be brilliant and enlightened as Tyson

And he'll let you know it too you fvcking ignorant rube

Hmmm...
Well sure he is a pompous ass but he's also correct
Kinda like George Will on the right

Careful CID
Defending ignorance and stupidity seems to be America's new favorite pastime

Chizzang wrote:

CID1990 wrote:
Not everybody can be brilliant and enlightened as Tyson

And he'll let you know it too you fvcking ignorant rube

Hmmm...
Well sure he is a pompous ass but he's also correct
Kinda like George Will on the right

Careful CID
Defending ignorance and stupidity seems to be America's new favorite pastime

Well, years ago the greatest minds of this planet thought the Earth was flat. And only a couple decades ago scientists said we were headed for another ice age.

So, yeah...science is OK as long as scientists aren't shouted down by other scientists with different ideas, and as long as scientists actually do real science to expand knowledge instead of doing science in order to specifically get grants that enrich themselves.

Cluck U wrote:

Chizzang wrote:
Hmmm...
Well sure he is a pompous ass but he's also correct
Kinda like George Will on the right

Careful CID
Defending ignorance and stupidity seems to be America's new favorite pastime

Well, years ago the greatest minds of this planet thought the Earth was flat. And only a couple decades ago scientists said we were headed for another ice age.

So, yeah...science is OK as long as scientists aren't shouted down by other scientists with different ideas, and as long as scientists actually do real science to expand knowledge instead of doing science in order to specifically get grants that enrich themselves.

Firstly
You are really misguided about "The Flat Earth" thing
The Greeks postulated correctly that the earth was a sphere
Almost nobody in the scientific community argued with that and even the Church agreed in the 1400's

The flat earth thing is a myth...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_flat_Earth

But that aside,
So you're arguing that Science shouldn't have any Capitalism style influences..?
that it should be completely "pure" in it's pursuits

Chizzang wrote:

CID1990 wrote:
Not everybody can be brilliant and enlightened as Tyson

And he'll let you know it too you fvcking ignorant rube

Hmmm...
Well sure he is a pompous ass but he's also correct
Kinda like George Will on the right

Careful CID
Defending ignorance and stupidity seems to be America's new favorite pastime

I never suggested he was wrong


Only that he is a prick and he ruined Cosmos by being a smug prick (unforgivable)

Chizzang wrote:

Cluck U wrote:
Well, years ago the greatest minds of this planet thought the Earth was flat. And only a couple decades ago scientists said we were headed for another ice age.

So, yeah...science is OK as long as scientists aren't shouted down by other scientists with different ideas, and as long as scientists actually do real science to expand knowledge instead of doing science in order to specifically get grants that enrich themselves.

Firstly
You are really misguided about "The Flat Earth" thing
The Greeks postulated correctly that the earth was a sphere
Almost nobody in the scientific community argued with that and even the Church agreed in the 1400's

The flat earth thing is a myth...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_flat_Earth

But that aside,
So you're arguing that Science shouldn't have any Capitalism style influences..?
that it should be completely "pure" in it's pursuits

I am well aware of the thoughts by the Greeks and others about the Earth being round...and the first attempt at measuring the size of the planet as a sphere. Anyone with a basic high school education knows that...and anyone that has spent any time on the water or on a mountain can extrapolate from visual clues that the Earth is round.

You missed the point...as usual.

The influence of politics, and money, muddles science and leads to false, so-called scientific data being spewed out to the masses by our great leaders...all in the name of profit and control.

But, thanks for playing.

Cluck U wrote:

Chizzang wrote:
Firstly
You are really misguided about "The Flat Earth" thing
The Greeks postulated correctly that the earth was a sphere
Almost nobody in the scientific community argued with that and even the Church agreed in the 1400's

The flat earth thing is a myth...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_flat_Earth

But that aside,
So you're arguing that Science shouldn't have any Capitalism style influences..?
that it should be completely "pure" in it's pursuits

I am well aware of the thoughts by the Greeks and others about the Earth being round...and the first attempt at measuring the size of the planet as a sphere. Anyone with a basic high school education knows that...and anyone that has spent any time on the water or on a mountain can extrapolate from visual clues that the Earth is round.

You missed the point...as usual.

The influence of politics, and money, muddles science and leads to false, so-called scientific data being spewed out to the masses by our great leaders...all in the name of profit and control.

But, thanks for playing.

It's becoming stranger and stranger to try and have an actual conversation with you...

CID1990 wrote:

Chizzang wrote:
Hmmm...
Well sure he is a pompous ass but he's also correct
Kinda like George Will on the right

Careful CID
Defending ignorance and stupidity seems to be America's new favorite pastime

I never suggested he was wrong


Only that he is a prick and he ruined Cosmos by being a smug prick (unforgivable)

To your point:
Imagine the EGO it takes to think that Cosmos needed to be re-done
Because it didn't



So unsurprisingly the arrogant team that re-did it
Turned it into a self congratulatory smug fest

Cluck U wrote:
I am well aware of the thoughts by the Greeks and others about the Earth being round...and the first attempt at measuring the size of the planet as a sphere. Anyone with a basic high school education knows that...:

Actually I didn't know that. So you may criticize my high school but I did score at the 97th percentile normed against other high school students around the country on my ACT test including at the 99th percentile on the Science portion so my education didn't stop me from scoring better than about 99 percent of other high school students around the country who took the Science portion of the test.

There's no History portion on the test though. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe my History teachers weren't up to speed.

JohnStOnge wrote:

Cluck U wrote:
I am well aware of the thoughts by the Greeks and others about the Earth being round...and the first attempt at measuring the size of the planet as a sphere. Anyone with a basic high school education knows that...:

Actually I didn't know that. So you may criticize my high school but I did score at the 97th percentile normed against other high school students around the country on my ACT test including at the 99th percentile on the Science portion so my education didn't stop me from scoring better than about 99 percent of other high school students around the country who took the Science portion of the test.

There's no History portion on the test though. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe my History teachers weren't up to speed.

Nerd alert!

On the basic thread topic: We do have a problem in this country with people believing that the Bible is a literal history of the Earth. I mean, I would not want to prohibit that or discriminate against people who believe that. But it IS a problem and I think that it's pretty obvious that it's not a literal history of the Earth. When people start off saying that the religious dogma they follow is true no matter what they see to contradict it that can cause problems. They close their minds. It's bad.

JohnStOnge wrote:

Cluck U wrote:
I am well aware of the thoughts by the Greeks and others about the Earth being round...and the first attempt at measuring the size of the planet as a sphere. Anyone with a basic high school education knows that...:

Actually I didn't know that. So you may criticize my high school but I did score at the 97th percentile normed against other high school students around the country on my ACT test including at the 99th percentile on the Science portion so my education didn't stop me from scoring better than about 99 percent of other high school students around the country who took the Science portion of the test.

There's no History portion on the test though. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe my History teachers weren't up to speed.

C'mon, man...that story, where the guy stuck a stick into the ground in two different places to measure the angle of the sun, came into play in geometry...or trig...and science in high school.

Cluck U wrote:

JohnStOnge wrote:
Actually I didn't know that. So you may criticize my high school but I did score at the 97th percentile normed against other high school students around the country on my ACT test including at the 99th percentile on the Science portion so my education didn't stop me from scoring better than about 99 percent of other high school students around the country who took the Science portion of the test.

There's no History portion on the test though. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe my History teachers weren't up to speed.

C'mon, man...that story, where the guy stuck a stick into the ground in two different places to measure the angle of the sun, came into play in geometry...or trig...and science in high school.

Well it wasn't on the ACT. Nobody ever mentioned it in any geometry or trigonometry courses I had. I think it's interesting though.