Neil deGrasse Tyson: ‘Make America Smart Again’

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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Neil deGrasse Tyson on President Trump: ‘Make America Smart Again’

Neil deGrasse Tyson was the perfect guest for Stephen Colbert to have on his show the night after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States.

The astrophysicist and host of the rebooted Cosmos not only helped calm Colbert’s nerves about what lies ahead, but he also helped viewers put Trump in what he called “cosmic perspective.” It started in the show’s cold open when Colbert met Tyson on the roof of his theater to look at some stars.

“You know what we do in moments like this in my field?” Tyson asked Colbert. “We invoke the cosmic perspective.” He explained, “That’s what Earth look likes from high above, not just, like, from the atmosphere, but from space itself, from the universe. And when you do that, all Earth’s problems dissolve away into the infinitude of the space-time continuum.” Asked if that made him feel any better, Colbert admitted that it did not.

But it was Tyson’s prescription later in their interview for how to deal with a president who doesn’t seem to believe in science—and has declared, “I love the poorly educated”—that got him his biggest ovation of the night.

“Let me just say, I think we have a four-year mission now,” Tyson said. “I think what we need to do, let us together, make America smart again.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson on President Trump: ‘Make America Smart Again’ - The Daily Beast
 

PoliticalNick

The Troll Bashing Troll
Mar 8, 2011
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Making America smart would require total reformation of their education system and the curriculum. Same could be said for Canada and most of the western world establishment who have spent decades designing a system to create good little lemmings.
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
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China uses ours. It can't be half bad eh?

Statistically, around half of working-age Canadians (between the ages of 16 and 65) is functionally literate in neither official language.

To be fair, more than three quarters of Canadians speak an unofficial language as a mother tongue. But still, around 50% functional literacy in neither official language is nothing to write home about.
 

Curious Cdn

Hall of Fame Member
Feb 22, 2015
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Neil deGrasse Tyson: ‘Make America Smart Again’
[Donald Trump privately muses:"Uppity Naygra"]
 

darkbeaver

the universe is electric
Jan 26, 2006
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What nation has a good educational system then?

Russia, China, North Vietnam and North Korea, most of the free world excepting the West of course.
 

Dexter Sinister

Unspecified Specialist
Oct 1, 2004
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Education won't improve anyone's intelligence. Intelligence isn't the issue, it's ignorance.

Tyson is a celebrity, science is not his thing,he's a retard.
Not his thing? He's a Ph.D. astrophysicist, science is exactly his thing. Whatsamatter Beave, he's not onside with your electric cosmos hypothesis? He'd rip it to shreds in seconds. Anybody with any understanding of Maxwell's equations--second year physics at most universities--could do that.
 

Bar Sinister

Executive Branch Member
Jan 17, 2010
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Russia, China, North Vietnam and North Korea, most of the free world excepting the West of course.

I'm not sure where you got your ranking from. Maybe you meant South Korea. The top five nations are generally considered to be Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. However, it is actually difficult to measure educational standards across national boundaries as subjects like history and literature are quite different from nation to nation. That leaves only subjects like math and science and requires that the students being compared all take a common exam.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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Statistically, around half of working-age Canadians (between the ages of 16 and 65) is functionally literate in neither official language.

To be fair, more than three quarters of Canadians speak an unofficial language as a mother tongue. But still, around 50% functional literacy in neither official language is nothing to write home about.

Hooray for immigrants.
 

Tecumsehsbones

Hall of Fame Member
Mar 18, 2013
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Education won't improve anyone's intelligence. Intelligence isn't the issue, it's ignorance.

Not his thing? He's a Ph.D. astrophysicist, science is exactly his thing. Whatsamatter Beave, he's not onside with your electric cosmos hypothesis? He'd rip it to shreds in seconds. Anybody with any understanding of Maxwell's equations--second year physics at most universities--could do that.
Remember Anthony's Song, Dex.

Hooray for immigrants.
That's sure as heck the only way we'll make America smart again.