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STEALTH WONDER-MONGERING

Why Is Neil deGrasse Tyson Like This?

Molly Bradley
Molly Bradley
Why Is Neil deGrasse Tyson Like This?
The astrophysicist with the bummer tweets is the ultimate “Actually” guy. But is that (actually) bad, or maybe kinda… good?
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Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist and writer who is director of the Hayden Planetarium in NYC and hosted “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey” in 2014, has a very particular presence on Twitter. By that we mean: he’s a huge bummer.



For a smart guy who champions the wonders of science and the world at large, he spends an awful lot of time dumping on things that people express interest in or get excited about. And he doesn’t limit himself to science. From the vagaries of the English language to the logistics of Marvel superheroes’ powers to clarifying that the speed at which Santa would have to travel on Christmas night would vaporize and kill him, he’s here to spoil the fun.



He also tweets some just highly confusing stuff?



To be fair, he also tweets some benign and informational — if very boring — things.



And he does come through with the occasional dad joke. (He is, in fact, a dad.)



Most recently, he tweeted to let us know that the lunar eclipse we were all marveling at last night is not actually anything special. Sorry for marveling, Neil.



People had a lot to say in response:



But here’s the thing: while his downer tweets about world phenomena are a drag, they do also manage to get people across the Twitter timeline defending things like marveling at a lunar eclipse, suspending disbelief to enjoy a superhero comic and collectively continuing the lore of Santa for the sake of kids’ joy.



So, I dunno — Neil himself is a bummer, but he might be doing more good than ill for the timeline after all.



Comments

  1. Linda Kaserman 1 year ago

    Years ago i was at a a medieval reenactment event - no electric lights, just people in medieval garb, campfires, torches for light, drumming etc. There was a lunar eclipse. No light pollution at all.
    It was the most amazing thing.
    I could really understand how those ignorant of how the universe works - ancestors - could really be frightened of the event a celestial event they knew nothing about.
    Maybe Tyson needs to do something like that.

  2. Andrew Welsh 1 year ago

    He is well known for being a dick, there are quite a few reddit post about having to deal with him when he's at speaking events

    1. Skye Meow ♥ 1 year ago

      Link?

  3. John Doe 1 year ago

    acts are dull. Unfortunately, everyone on social media likes to pretend that everything they do or experience is amazing, unique, and profound. It isn't. Your life is mundane, my life is mundane, the lives of "influencers" or "online celebrities" are mundane, and NdGT reminds of that when we get carried away.

  4. Amy and Brian Hagema... 1 year ago

    Facts are dull. Unfortunately, everyone on social media likes to pretend that everything they do or experience is amazing, unique, and profound. It isn't. Your life is mundane, my life is mundane, the lives of "inluencers" or "online celebrities" are mundane, and NdGT reminds of that when we get carried away.

  5. Ezio 1 year ago

    Seriously, leave the man alone, if he likes to dunk on people who admire mundane things with exaggerated enthusiasm, let him dunk. He's mostly factually correct as well, so it's not like he's just being a dick or something

  6. Joi Cardinal 1 year ago

    and this bothers you why? neuro divergence';s awesome.

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