I didn't think tyson was doing much for atheism but after watching the cosmos episodes I think he is doing more for it than dawkins, harris, dennett and hitchens combined. Respect to the man.

Good show. I caught the premier and been tuning in every week. I liked the little history lessons with the cartoons, stuff about Titan and when he talked about the human eye.

(March 31, 2014 at 7:12 am)tor Wrote: I didn't think tyson was doing much for atheism but after watching the cosmos episodes I think he is doing more for it than dawkins, harris, dennett and hitchens combined. Respect to the man.

How do you figure?

(March 31, 2014 at 3:28 am)Esquilax Wrote: Ugh, here in Oz we're a week behind, so I'm kind of excited for next Sunday now.

This is the stupidest thing ever - I'm sure there's more to it than I realize but why don't they just air everything at the same time? Why does Cosmos have to be aired a week behind the US in other countries? Why do they delay the US premiere of British shows for months? All it does is encourage piracy.
[/rant]

(March 31, 2014 at 9:03 am)Pickup_shonuff Wrote:

(March 31, 2014 at 7:12 am)tor Wrote: I didn't think tyson was doing much for atheism but after watching the cosmos episodes I think he is doing more for it than dawkins, harris, dennett and hitchens combined. Respect to the man.

How do you figure?

There are some who hear the names Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens and Dennett, immediately associate them with evil, Satan-worshiping Atheism and the Christian defense shields get activated. Brains shut off and the ad hoc excuses start flyin'.

NdGT, on the other hand, is approaching the subject from a scientific standpoint, presenting evidence and tearing down religious arguments (while not always explicitly saying they're religious in nature) using that evidence. He's not necessarily promoting atheism, but he is refuting common and very bad religious arguments used to prop up theistic belief and sneaking past the Christian defense shields before detonating his science grenades.

I think tor is making the point (and correct me if I'm wrong) that by not overtly approaching the subject waving and screaming that God is not real and being very confrontational about it, NdGT is potentially able to reach more people than Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens and Dennett precisely because those four are so invariably tied to the atheistic side of the argument and NdGT has been very diplomatic in his public persona and not picked a side.

I like the show, but I love the amount of butthurt going around with religious folks and some demanding airtime to speak for intelligent design, BAHAHAHA.

I will admit though, I don't think Cosmos is the best show about Astronomy/Cosmology out there, but, it's on FOX which means even the mouth-breathing toothless banjo playin' folks can watch Cosmos on their 12'' TVs.

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(March 31, 2014 at 7:12 am)tor Wrote: I didn't think tyson was doing much for atheism but after watching the cosmos episodes I think he is doing more for it than dawkins, harris, dennett and hitchens combined. Respect to the man.

This is just absurd and vague to me, especially since Tyson has refused the Atheist label like other Elitist Agnostics.

(March 31, 2014 at 3:28 am)Esquilax Wrote: Ugh, here in Oz we're a week behind, so I'm kind of excited for next Sunday now.

I thought it was just a day behind.... or ahead....I'm so confused.

(March 31, 2014 at 12:20 pm)Minimalist Wrote:

(March 31, 2014 at 3:28 am)Esquilax Wrote: Ugh, here in Oz we're a week behind, so I'm kind of excited for next Sunday now.

I thought it was just a day behind.... or ahead....I'm so confused.

Ahead. We're a day ahead.

And yet in tv-land, that's somehow a week behind, so I just got to watch last week's episode of Cosmos... yesterday.

It's dumb, serves absolutely no purpose and, as Morgan said, encourages piracy. I can't tell you how much stuff on my hard-drive just wouldn't be there if the shows went to air or streaming services that aren't region locked on time.

Case in point, I can watch Rick and Morty on the adult swim website, and I haven't had even the slightest urge to pirate it. Doctor Who airs a week late? Torrents away!

Speaking of piracy... You know what? I don't feel the least bit guilty "pirating" something that's broadcast over the air, or on the cable TV that I pay for.

I can hear the networks screaming "but then we can't make you watch the advertising!"

"Precisely."

(March 31, 2014 at 9:03 am)Pickup_shonuff Wrote:

(March 31, 2014 at 7:12 am)tor Wrote: I didn't think tyson was doing much for atheism but after watching the cosmos episodes I think he is doing more for it than dawkins, harris, dennett and hitchens combined. Respect to the man.

How do you figure?

Tyson instead of attacking religion directly with arguments people heard 100 times simply tells about evolution, cosmos, science etc.
He also tells it in such a way that religion simply collapses under the weight of knowledge.
I won't be surprised if many people will be deconverted because of this show.

Quote:He also tells it in such a way that religion simply collapses under the weight of knowledge.

Fear not. There are plenty of stupid people who will still cling to their bibles. Knowledge scares the shit out of them.