-- Scientists studying laughter theorize that it developed as a way of testing and strengthening social bonds. I think it developed to help us survive the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. It's a cinch that neither of the two likely nominees has anything else to offer in the role.
-- When I have finished mowing my lawn, and it's all even and green and stretches out to the end of the lot and I can squint and pretend I'm looking at an Augusta fairway...that's when I hate it the least. But I still hate it.
-- I think science popularizer Neil deGrasse Tyson is annoying, but not as annoying as the people who treat him like a delphic oracle of verifiable wisdom. This guy kind of disagrees; he just doesn't like Tyson.
-- A lot of people are bugged about the fact that actress Tilda Swinton was cast in Marvel's upcoming Dr. Strange movie as the good doctor's mystical teacher, the Ancient One. In the comic books, the Ancient One is clearly Asian, so the casting of a Caucasian performer in the role is something called "whitewashing." That refers to a movie or show casting someone who is not of a particular race in a role conceived as being of that race. Charlie Chan was never played by an Asian man, for example. I can see their point, but my main objection to casting Swinton is that I really dislike watching her onscreen.
Having watched DeGrasse Tyson's Cosmos update, I can find only one description. He is an evangelist for the new science religion. I watched that, and listening to him, you can hear the hallmarks of evangelist revivals.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think Tyson and a lot of his fans are more into "scientism" than actual science. Nye's more or less the same, but Tyson outranks him because he has an actual doctorate.
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