Tornado Alley (PROG)

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10 Times Neil deGrasse Tyson Blew Our Minds

In short:

10. Religion is not science.

9. In science the data sample size is important.

Richard Dawkins & Neil deGrasse Tyson on Life in the Universe

8. 1920s! Hubble's other universes, and expanding! and quantum physics discovered then is responsible for...

7. Not trying to convert anyone. Religion? "I don't really care." See 1.

6. James Webb Space Telescope is the stuff of dreams .. remember the '60s and 70s?

5. Climate change? Believe what you will, but "IF you are in denial of an emergent scientific proof AND you wield power over legislation..." .. an informed electorate leads to informed legislation.

4. "And Ptolemy, he bet on the wrong horse, but he was a brilliant guy. He formulated the geocentric universe, with Earth in the middle. This is where we got epicycles and all this machinations of the heavens. But it was still a mystery to him. He looked up and uttered the following words, “when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies,” these are the planets going through retrograde and back, the mysteries of the Earth, “when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies, I no longer touch Earth with my feet. I stand in the presence of Zeus himself and take my fill of ambrosia.”

What he did was invoke, he didn't invoke Zeus to account for the rock that he's standing on or the air he's breathing. It was this point of mystery. And in gets invoked God. This, over time, has been described by philosophers as the God of the gaps. If that's how you, if that's where you're going to put your God in this world, then God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance.

If that's how you're going to invoke God. If God is the mystery of the universe, these mysteries, we're tackling these mysteries one by one. If you're going to stay religious at the end of the conversation, God has to mean more to you than just where science has yet to tread. So to the person who says, "Maybe dark matter is God," if the only reason why you're saying it is because it's a mystery, then get ready to have that undone. .. http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/neil-degrasse-tysons-new-show-cosmos-and-why-faith-and-reason-are-irreconcilable

3. Peace in death? .. grin .. his reply along these lines

Forget Coffins – Organic Burial Pods Will Turn Your Loved Ones Into Trees
http://www.boredpanda.com/biodegradable-burial-pod-memory-forest-capsula-mundi/

2, Religious beliefs cannot all be true. Our constitution protects all those conflicting beliefs. Also see 5.

1. PI is beautiful. We are all star material. Just objective fact.

All expressed of course in pure Neil deGrasse Tyson style. His incomparable combination of enthusiastic humor and wit. And objective fact.

Sorry, hanibal, the shorts drifted into longers. LOL. Just the way it was.