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Take the Test: Neil deGrasse Tyson or Deepak Chopra?
Astrophysicist, Cosmos host, and director of the Hayden Planetarium Neil deGrasse Tyson has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. Several media outlets (especially The Federalist) have investigated his anecdotes, quotes and claims only to learn he makes up quite a few of them. Luckily for the pop scientist and his devotees across the Internet, the New York Times published an article exonerating Tyson for his multiple transgressions. Because Science!
Tyson also is one of America’s most popular skeptics, making a career ridiculing religious beliefs (and conservative ideology) as just so much silly superstition. So I decided to juxtapose his quotes with New Age self-help guru Deepak Chopra. Surely this will be the easiest test ever created, right? Let’s begin…
Published in General, Religion & Philosophy
7/10…I am a “Cosmic pilgrim”! That’s…good…I think. To tell the truth, I was largely guessing. Maybe that makes me a Cosmic “Wanderer.”
5. Also a “cosmic pilgrim.”
I love it. You should make a drinking game out of this. For extra credit make it slightly more complicated and give it a catchy name. “Oprah, Chopra or Neil deGrasse Tyson?”
5/10 – also “Cosmic Pilgrim.”
I didn’t take the quiz, but I have to say NdGT is not among my favorites.
I am curious and interested in science & astronomy and I enjoy those types of programs. I generally put up with a lot when I watch them, because there are usually interesting points of view. I tried to watch his Cosmos program, and turned it off because of his horrid dismissive banter.
I batted .500 – 5 of 10
I also got five.
I really enjoyed TheFederalist.com series on Neil DeGrasseTyson.
I would suggest that parents ask if any of his garbage is being used in science classes at their school. It would be good to know, and also good to object.
I got 7/10. The brain ones were a clear sign of Deepak.
Brain and brain, what is brain?!
I got 8/10, “Fully Evolved Astrophysicist”. Oy. I guess this means I’ll have to find a therapist who takes my health insurance.
4/10 – Cosmic pilgrim
I did worse than chance…this reminds me of freshman chem. I’m going to read Rachel Lu’s column on productive writing, and find a way to get paid for writing “A Cosmic Pilgrim’s Progress”
9/10, I’m a fully evolved astrophysicist. Do I get my own PBS show now?
7/10. Better than I thought – given my Chopra ignorance…
8/10. I was so sure #5 was Chopra.
I stopped keeping track. Too humiliating. But I’m worse than PsycheLinne.
7/10. “I ain’t here to cheer ya, I’m just here to BOOYAH!!!” (Stuart Scott, I think)
Wow, I only got 3 out of 10. I’m not that familiar with either of them, although I think I know more about NdGT.
I am enjoying, “Not Even Wrong” that Johnny Walker reviewed a cpl weeks ago. SO much of what these guys say the believe is as much faith as anything else.
You can see here how the urge for the mystic is part of how our brains are made. I might argue God put that in our souls. At the very least, the atheist has to agree there is something of a biologic impulse to seek greater meaning. They do it in their own way.
9/10. Heck, I barely pay attention to either of these guys.
Meh, the test was not very well constructed: All the brain related quotes were Chopra and all the cosmic ones were Tyson.
My guesser was off: 2/10.
Only 4/10. So what does that say? We have new age physics being promoted?
That was enjoyable. Someone should set up more of these tests. Maybe we could do Obama/Chopra quotes comparison…lol.
3/10. I’m stupid. So what?
Jon, great idea here. Very interesting test.
Tyson is pugnacious just like Mike Tyson. Are they related?
I think Chopra has a greater grasp on reality than Tyson does.
I had a colleague say in a conversation we were having “oh, man! Neil degrasse tyson is my new personal hero. I just love him!” And I kind of just nodded…
Subject of a new post that probably won’t get written, but that would be a nice venting of professional frustrations: those people who say that politics doesn’t matter in the workplace, you just do your job and get along with everyone? Complete and utter nonsense. Politics shapes your worldview. It shapes how you interact with other human beings. It shapes how you think you ought to do your job. It shapes how you think other people ought to do their own jobs… most importantly, it shapes how entitled you feel about telling those other people how to do their own jobs. If you can’t spot the liberal at work, you may not be paying attention.
I took the test and scored 9 out of 10, even though I know very little about either. I’m perfectly content to not know much about either now.
Hahahaha. I got one right. I am a “space cadet.” Anytime a quote sounded particularly loony, i chose Chopra – and it was always Tyson! So much for the science guy.
6 of 10. I apologize to Deepak Chopra.
Great idea. That’s kind of a chicken-or-egg issue to me, though. Does my worldview create my political/economic/social ideology or vice versa?
One of the issues I have with many so-called “skeptics” is that they are only skeptical of their opponents. To be sure, there are a few who seem to be skeptical of everything, but it takes a measure of grace for that not to turn into cynicism.
I’m quite skeptical of all politicians, all preachers, all religions (and the lack thereof). I’m also a Christian who is actively political.
3/10.
Tyson is such a buffoon.
An idea I’d like to run by anybody who watches popular science programs – wouldn’t it be great if we could ban the word “scientist”?