What beliefs do Neil deGrasse Tyson hold?

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26 Sep 2012, 8:08 pm

I always looked at NDT as simply an agnostic-thinker with pantheistic thoughts. He never labeled himself and always ran away from the atheist community, but yet so many atheists look at him as one of them. He's said in interviews he identifies himself as a skeptic, so I'm curious on what WP's take is towards him.

ruveyn
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26 Sep 2012, 8:41 pm

Raymond_Fawkes wrote:

I am sure that NDT does not believe that bronze age Dude with the long beard created the heavens and the earth.

ruveyn

Fnord
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26 Sep 2012, 8:50 pm

According to the information that is freely available on his website, Neil deGrasse Tyson believes in "Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution". He is currently working on a 21st century reboot of Carl Sagan's landmark television series COSMOS, to air in 13 episodes on the FOX network in 2013.

It is fairly safe to assume that Dr. Tyson believes more in objective empirical science than in subjective rationalist mythology.

Raymond_Fawkes
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26 Sep 2012, 8:52 pm

ruveyn wrote:

Raymond_Fawkes wrote:

I am sure that NDT does not believe that bronze age Dude with the long beard created the heavens and the earth.

ruveyn

God/Gods can be and mean different things to different people. It might not be the same definition - Just as I don't believe in anthropormorphic or personal Gods, however I have my own views on what it means to me, just as to an atheist God means nothing. I've never classified NDT, or looked at him more than an agnostic.. but being so, doesn't nessessarily make you a theist. Perhaps he's more inline with deism..

ruveyn
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26 Sep 2012, 8:53 pm

Fnord wrote:

As long as NDT does not go around say billyuns and billyuns and stuhrstoff.

And I hope NDT does not try to sing like a whale.

ruveyn

Raymond_Fawkes
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26 Sep 2012, 8:55 pm

Fnord wrote:

I like how you put it - I'm looking forward to his sequel to Cosmos.

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26 Sep 2012, 9:00 pm

He claims to be agnostic HERE, about a quarter of the way down the page.

Quote:

"... people said, "Oh he’s an atheist! Let’s make him an atheist!' ... I said no, I’m not really that, I’m more agnostic..."

Reading through the entire article, it seems that Neil deGrasse Tyson just does not care about religion, God, and the entire metamyth.

According to This Wikipedia Article:

Quote:

Tyson has argued that the concept of intelligent design thwarts the advance of scientific knowledge. When asked if he believed in a higher power, Tyson responded: "Every account of a higher power that I've seen described, of all religions that I've seen, include many statements with regard to the benevolence of that power. When I look at the universe and all the ways the universe wants to kill us, I find it hard to reconcile that with statements of beneficence." In an interview on podcast Point of Inquiry, Tyson defined himself as an agnostic.

He has written and broadcast extensively about his views of religion, spirituality, and the spirituality of science including the essays, "The Perimeter of Ignorance" and "Holy Wars," both appearing in Natural History magazine and the 2006 Beyond Belief workshop. Tyson has collaborated with evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and presented talks with him on religion and science.

He's a scientist; that's all.

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27 Sep 2012, 3:15 am

I was never concerned about Dr. Tyson's religious beliefs, or lack of them - I just think the guy's damn cool. Also, the very fact that he's a brilliant scientist of African American extraction flies in the faces of racist as*holes!

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

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27 Sep 2012, 6:58 am

It eludes me why people want to know what other people do or do not believe. If he says he sees himself as a skeptic, then he's a skeptic. But in case you wonder: I think this says it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai4qeuvbi-0

He says it loud and clear that he's indifferent with regard to religion (as am I). I also listen to Bach's Matteus Passion and Handel's Messiah because it is beautiful music. That doesn't make a christian or whatever.

Raymond_Fawkes
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27 Sep 2012, 11:41 am

Fnord wrote:

He claims to be agnostic HERE, about a quarter of the way down the page.

Quote:

"... people said, "Oh he’s an atheist! Let’s make him an atheist!' ... I said no, I’m not really that, I’m more agnostic..."

This was the article that originally made me believe this.

NewDawn wrote:

I like the video you posted, I've never seen it before.

I only raised this topic because of a debate I was having with an atheist. Also in communities like Reddit, you'll see alot of atheists claim NDT as one of them, when he doesn't identify as that.

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27 Sep 2012, 2:45 pm

Raymond_Fawkes wrote:

I only raised this topic because of a debate I was having with an atheist. Also in communities like Reddit, you'll see alot of atheists claim NDT as one of them, when he doesn't identify as that.

I'm expecting someone to post a thread entitled, "Is Neil deGrasse Tyson an Aspie?", and then include some meaningless assumptions in a rambling word-salad as evidence to "prove" their point.

I say this because it seems that whenever some notable person becomes famous, at least one marginalized group will try to claim that person as one of their own.

Pathetic.

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27 Sep 2012, 4:01 pm

Kraichgauer wrote:

He is a good example of hybridization.

Mutts are the best.

ruveyn

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27 Sep 2012, 4:25 pm

ruveyn wrote:

Kraichgauer wrote:

He is a good example of hybridization.

Mutts are the best.

ruveyn

Amen, brother.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

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