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Author Topic:   Cosmos with Neil DeGrass Tyson
Heathen
Member (Idle past 1283 days)
Posts: 1067
From: Brizzle
Joined: 09-20-2005


Message 16 of 206 (721775)
03-12-2014 5:40 AM
Reply to: Message 15 by Pressie
03-12-2014 5:10 AM


Re: Do you guys know Brian Cox?
maybe should be in the humour thread.. but here goes..

This message is a reply to:
 Message 15 by Pressie, posted 03-12-2014 5:10 AM Pressie has replied

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Pressie
Member
Posts: 2103
From: Pretoria, SA
Joined: 06-18-2010


Message 17 of 206 (721776)
03-12-2014 5:47 AM
Reply to: Message 16 by Heathen
03-12-2014 5:40 AM


Re: Do you guys know Brian Cox?
Thanks, I'll watch it at home tonight. My employers do take a dim view on watching videos not related to work on their computers...

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AZPaul3
Member
Posts: 8513
From: Phoenix
Joined: 11-06-2006
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 18 of 206 (721780)
03-12-2014 8:04 AM
Reply to: Message 15 by Pressie
03-12-2014 5:10 AM


Re: Do you guys know Brian Cox?
Wonders of the Universe. Great show. One of the (maddeningly) few real science show on The Science Channel over here. I like him very much. The science is well explained and though not overly detailed neither is it dumbed down. I like the personal perspectives he puts in to his shows. Two Thumbs-up.

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Pressie
Member
Posts: 2103
From: Pretoria, SA
Joined: 06-18-2010


Message 19 of 206 (721781)
03-12-2014 8:15 AM
Reply to: Message 18 by AZPaul3
03-12-2014 8:04 AM


Re: Do you guys know Brian Cox?
Thanks AZPaul3. So, some guys in the US know him? He's such a great teacher.
Where I live they tend to show American programmes such as things such as 'Ancient Aliens' or "American Pickers" on the History Channel.
Showing that on the History Channel really tends to start getting my blood boiling.
No wonder a lot of young South Africans think that Hitler was a comic book character such as Mickey Mouse.

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Pressie
Member
Posts: 2103
From: Pretoria, SA
Joined: 06-18-2010


Message 20 of 206 (721782)
03-12-2014 8:21 AM
Reply to: Message 18 by AZPaul3
03-12-2014 8:04 AM


Re: Do you guys know Brian Cox?
Sorry, I didn't know that you had a channel called 'The Science Channel' over there. We don't.
Is it an easily obtainable tv channel?

This message is a reply to:
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AZPaul3
Member
Posts: 8513
From: Phoenix
Joined: 11-06-2006
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 21 of 206 (721783)
03-12-2014 8:38 AM
Reply to: Message 20 by Pressie
03-12-2014 8:21 AM


Re: Do you guys know Brian Cox?
I wouldn't know how easy/difficult it would be for you to get The Science Channel over yonder. Not really sure you would want to. You think The History Channel is maddening with its low brow crap ... Well, I suppose if you don't have enough TV stu**pidity to grind your teeth at, The Science Channel would be useful addition. Besides Cox, one of the other less asinine science shows on that channel is Though the Wormhole staring God.

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anglagard
Member (Idle past 836 days)
Posts: 2339
From: Socorro, New Mexico USA
Joined: 03-18-2006


(2)
Message 22 of 206 (721786)
03-12-2014 9:11 AM
Reply to: Message 14 by NoNukes
03-12-2014 12:02 AM


Re: revival
I found the graphics quite impressive as well as Tyson's performance, a decent homage to the original series with some modern updates. The original Cosmos is an old favorite of mine in the genre, second only to James Burke's Connections.

Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider. - Francis Bacon

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New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


Message 23 of 206 (721796)
03-12-2014 10:51 AM
Reply to: Message 9 by Taq
03-11-2014 5:16 PM


Re: Not a NDGT Fan
I can't put my finger on it, but I can't stand watching Tyson present science.
Based on just watching Cosmos? Have you ever watched a recording of one of his lectures?
In Cosmos, he seems to be lacking a certain genuine-ness. Like, he's being over-directed or something. Or if not, then he's just trying too hard. It'd be better if he came off more natural. Like when he's not "on TV".

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Replies to this message:
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Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4344
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.9


Message 24 of 206 (721809)
03-12-2014 11:30 AM
Reply to: Message 22 by anglagard
03-12-2014 9:11 AM


Re: revival
Connections was great. My grandkids are hooked on it now.

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

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Taq
Member
Posts: 9970
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 5.6


Message 25 of 206 (721810)
03-12-2014 11:32 AM
Reply to: Message 23 by New Cat's Eye
03-12-2014 10:51 AM


Re: Not a NDGT Fan
Based on just watching Cosmos? Have you ever watched a recording of one of his lectures?
I have seen him in plenty of other science shows. Don't get me wrong, he is a very smart and likeable chap, and deserves a lot of kudos for getting science out to the public. I am just commenting on his voice, more than anything. It's nasal, and has this condescending undertone that I can't exactly put my finger on.
Of course, if it isn't David Attenborough, I probably won't like it.

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New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


(1)
Message 26 of 206 (721816)
03-12-2014 11:47 AM
Reply to: Message 25 by Taq
03-12-2014 11:32 AM


Re: Not a NDGT Fan
I am just commenting on his voice, more than anything. It's nasal, and has this condescending undertone that I can't exactly put my finger on.
I get the nasaly part, but the condescending undertone? I don't get that at all.

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NoNukes
Inactive Member


Message 27 of 206 (721828)
03-12-2014 12:55 PM
Reply to: Message 26 by New Cat's Eye
03-12-2014 11:47 AM


Re: Not a NDGT Fan
I get the nasaly part, but the condescending undertone? I don't get that at all.
Condescension is sometimes an appropriate tone and I've seen NDT in situations where he expresses his lack of patience with nonsense.
On the other hand, Cosmos would be an inappropriate place for such an attitude, and I personally did not detect anything like that in his voice. I think that means that I have no idea what Taq is talking about.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also in prison. Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (1846)
I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him. Galileo Galilei
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. Frederick Douglass

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Taq
Member
Posts: 9970
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 5.6


Message 28 of 206 (721831)
03-12-2014 1:01 PM
Reply to: Message 27 by NoNukes
03-12-2014 12:55 PM


Re: Not a NDGT Fan
Condescension is sometimes an appropriate tone and I've seen NDT in situations where he expresses his lack of patience with nonsense.
On the other hand, Cosmos would be an inappropriate place for such an attitude, and I personally did not detect anything like that in his voice. I think that means that I have no idea what Taq is talking about.
In the interest of explaining myself, when I listen to Tyson I always feel like I am being treated like a 5 year old. I am glad to hear that others feel very differently, and enjoy the way he presents the material. This is probably a personal foible that I need to get over.

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New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


Message 29 of 206 (721833)
03-12-2014 1:09 PM
Reply to: Message 27 by NoNukes
03-12-2014 12:55 PM


Re: Not a NDGT Fan
Condescension is sometimes an appropriate tone and I've seen NDT in situations where he expresses his lack of patience with nonsense.
Oh, yeah, for sure. I've seen his condescending tone:
On the other hand, Cosmos would be an inappropriate place for such an attitude, and I personally did not detect anything like that in his voice. I think that means that I have no idea what Taq is talking about.
Yeah, that's what I was getting at. But he's explained himself in Message 28. Its doesn't seem to be anything in particular in this show, its just a feeling he gets from the guy. Fair enough.

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Tempe 12ft Chicken
Member (Idle past 335 days)
Posts: 438
From: Tempe, Az.
Joined: 10-25-2012


(1)
Message 30 of 206 (721837)
03-12-2014 1:34 PM
Reply to: Message 21 by AZPaul3
03-12-2014 8:38 AM


Re: Do you guys know Brian Cox?
Yeah, Brian Cox is a great educator of science for what we are able to get access to here in the US. One of the few shining examples on The Science Channel. I will agree with Through the Wormhole being a reasonably decent show.
However, outside of that, it appears that The Science Channel falls into the same American television trap of including way too much pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. Although, I did start watching the NASA files, which seems to do a pretty good job debunking conspiracies. They do allow one conspiracy theorist to speak, but it is followed by a few scientists explaining why NASA came up with the answer it did to solve the problem, so people can accept the minimal evidence given by the conspiracy guy or the broad spectrum of evidence NASA's scientists are giving.
Another good thing I recently heard is that I Fucking Love Science is getting a show on The Science Channel coming up shortly, so I hope it will stay true to science as well since Elise tends to do a reasonable job avoiding pseudoscience on her Facebook page.
As for Cosmos, I have always been an enormous fan of NDT because of the ease he brings in understanding very complicated topics and the passion he brings in for science. I will say he seems somewhat reserved in the show, like he is going for the mannerisms of Sagan, but I hope they allow him to bring his passion about the Universe and scientific exploration more into future episodes. The only two real complaints I have heard from any region are these two:
1. Episodes are too short and interspaced with commercials. The original Cosmos was an hour long on Public Access, so no commercials got into the way of the series and it was actually an hour. This complaint then says that the new version seems too cramped in, like they were trying to cram in too much information in the alotted 44 minutes after commercial times. However, I think that is ignoring the fact that the first episode was an extremely broad overview of our place and time in the cosmos.
2. The story of Bruno does not admit that it was more his pantheistic views that earned him the ire of the Catholic Church and the Inquisition. While this is a fact, the Catholic Church ensured to include his belief in other worlds in his sentence of guilt, so it seems they were not oblivious to this fact and wanted to include it within his death sentence. This does show they were against this idea he proposed. Also, who really cares why they had him put to death by the Romans? It was all based upon thoughts and ideas why he was executed, so it still serves the purpose of showing how the religious institutions used ideas to have individuals put to death, thus placing roadblocks in the path of future scientific discovery.
Removing these two complaints, which seem like nitpicking to me, I have not heard any other negative reviews about the show and I think it is a good sign that we have some sort of educational programming being put onto the airwaves and also that the show garnered 8.5 million viewers in week one across all networks that showed the premiere. This doesn't include the DVR audience or any future online watches, which is a good sign for its overall ratings. Perhaps this could lead to a revival of some science programming within the structure of American television.
I F-ing Love Science is getting a TV Show

The theory of evolution by cumulative natural selection is the only theory we know of that is in principle capable of explaining the existence of organized complexity. - Richard Dawkins
Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night. - Issac Asimov
If you removed all the arteries, veins, & capillaries from a person’s body, and tied them end-to-endthe person will die. - Neil Degrasse Tyson
What would Buddha do? Nothing! What does the Buddhist terrorist do? Goes into the middle of the street, takes the gas, *pfft*, Self-Barbecue. The Christian and the Muslim on either side are yelling, "What the Fuck are you doing?" The Buddhist says, "Making you deal with your shit. - Robin Williams

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