'Philosophers Are USELESS!' Neil & Curt Clash on Physics

[ThatRegnar]

That segment was tortuous. NDT was condescending while simultaneously missing the point. Curt, your patience is like that of a saint.

[nightjar]

Nobody is more impressed with Neil deGrasse Tyson than Neil deGrasse Tyson.

[tonymccann]

Just when I thought my estimation of Neil couldn't get any lower, he found a way.

[cloudstclass]

“Philosophers are useless” is a philosophical statement. This is only the thousandth time a scientist has been a poster boy for the “stay in your lane” rule of the public sphere.

But then again, we’re talking about Neil DeGrasse Tyson who is the poster child for the gluttony of fame.

[DoubleRaven]

Curt, outstanding job standing up to an iconic guy, who doesn’t understand the value of philosophy. Your poise and courage were on display. He could not intimidate you. This type of passionate discussion should be celebrated! 💪

[liviuclipa]

You can't go too deep in thinking with Neil, you can only talk about fun facts with him.

[thestoryoffive]

I follow NDT and am so impressed with Curt! Didn’t realize how close minded to new things NDT can be.

[dwellinginshadows]

The difference between Neil and Curt (as well as many other preeminent individuals in this field) is that people like Curt are true intellectual thinkers, whilst Neil is a collection of facts and a shining example of rigid pedantry. Like, he strikes me as the type to disregard anybody without a degree, even if they're more erudite than he is. There's definitely a need for people like Neil, who can communicate scientific facts and discoveries well to the average person, but the real progress in any field tends to come from the sidelines.

[Promatheos]

I feel like NDT is a guy who used his high intelligence to learn everything he could in the first half of his life, then at some point he let fame get to his head and now he is terrified of being wrong about anything so he just stopped learning. He feels he knows all he needs to know and has a huge ego built around being always right. It’s frustrating to see him hit such a wall in his exploration of what this reality is.

[DEeMONsworld]

Tyson has set himself up as everybody's favorite 9th grade science teacher, espousing factoids devoid of a larger context and within his narrow perspective, refusing to allow for anything that falls outside his limited view of the world.

[TerryBollinger]

Thank you, Curt! As we secretly planned* before this interview, you’ve helped create the best neural-net training corpus on the planet for identifying facial expressions of dismissal, disdain, boredom, and utter indifference to the thoughts and feelings of other human beings!

Please know that those of us in the AI community are deeply indebted to you for the pain you had to go through to help us get this valuable data. Neil deGrasse Tyson, I would thank you too for all of those great expressions, but you probably would just be bored!


*Yes, of course, I’m kidding… but shhh, don’t let NdGT know!

[karolrvn]

How quickly Tyson jumps to reply (bordering on interrupting). One could hope for a moment for thinking and letting your interlocutor's point sink in.

[mmandrewa]

To respond to Neil deGrasse at 5:17, it's obvious that J.S. Bell is very good at physics. Whether he majored in physics or philosophy kind of doesn't matter, because he was good at both. He could be legitimately described as either one.

J.S. Bell in his essays published in the book "Speakable and unspeakable in quantum mechanics" explores the problems that are right at the foundation of quantum mechanics. As far as I know, it is all just as valid now as when he wrote it.

[peter_da_crypto]

Neil talks about science instead of doing science. He became an ideologist and a priest reasoning from dogma.

[I_Davey]

I appreciated Curt's defense of philosophy. While the value of physics is obvious, the significance of philosophy may not be immediately apparent. Philosophy operates at a high level of abstraction, and it frequently requires philosophical thinking itself to reveal and understand the philosophical assumptions that underlie our scientific pursuits. Physics can remain functional without philosophy, but in its absence, it operates blindly and lacks the necessary guidance derived from a deeper comprehension of the nature of the physical realm, its integration into the broader reality, and the overarching purpose that physics should strive to fulfill.

While I hold great respect for Neil deGrasse Tyson, I find myself disheartened by his ignorance towards philosophy. Philosophy, as it is the intellectual bedrock of our systematic efforts to understand the world, deserves serious attention from any scientist committed to rigorous inquiry.

[hirngefinnst]

"The aim of exact natural science is always to form closed systems of concepts and axioms, which strictly represent the meant part of reality. But the course of research, which strives for the order of a new area of experience starting from known conceptual systems, cannot take place on the paths marked out by logical chains of conclusions. The abyss between the already known and the new conceptual systems can be bridged by intuitive thinking, not by formal reasoning." Werner Heisenberg

[izahrawr]

What some scientists don't seem to understand is that they are standing on the shoulders of giants and these giants happen to be philosophers

[misreal]

Wooow! Curt in a very polite way was able to make Neil display how dismissive and arrogant his approach to Physics truly is.

[TulseLuper]

The last line by Curt is priceless in this clip. Well done!

[unknown-subject]

Oh god please no!! Not him ! Not like this ! Don't give NDT a platform please!!! I'm begging you Curt! 😔😔😔😔😔