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talkpoliticsNeil DeGrasse Tyson Tells Bill Maher That Anti-Science Liberals Are Full of Shit Too
"“Let’s not pretend that Democrats and Republicans equally deny science,” Maher said. But TV-scientist and friend of the show Neil DeGrasse Tyson quickly stepped in to correct Maher.
“Don’t be too high and mighty there,” Tyson said. “Because there are certain aspects of science denials that are squarely in the liberal left.”"
He went on to give a couple of examples, anti-vaxxers and GMO scaremongering included.
Indeed, it's kind of sad when brainwashed people cannot even own up for anything. Anti-vaxxers are morons, plain and simple. But rather than admit it, Maher was all too eager to swiftly divert the focus away from this by pointing out how many problems republicans have as well in the science-denying department. Which is a classic tu quoque really. "But they did it too, and worse!" has never been an effective way to get me out of trouble in any situation - and neither does it provide a solution to anything, or a means for honestly addressing an existing problem.
Let's be blunt here. Dumb is dumb. Although in this particular case, anti-vaxing might not be necessarily the reserved domain of the official Democratic party platform (if anything, in my observations, it's the Libertarians carrying the torch for the right to choose not to vaccinate more than anybody else). But that shouldn't matter. One's political preferences and ideology notwithstanding, I think anyone who is anti-vaccination is a fucking moron, regardless of their political leanings. You could be all for less government intervention and individuals having more control as long as they are responsible; however, not vaccinating your kid puts other kids at risk and that's unacceptable. Period.
So yeah. While we're about statism and libertarianism and all that jazz, I'd say this is one of the most important roles of government. They are supposed to step in when a person, a group, or a company refuses to stop a behavior that is harmful towards others. A government isn't meant to pass laws that are there to protect someone from themselves. A good government is supposed to be passing laws that protect someone from the actions of others.
"“Let’s not pretend that Democrats and Republicans equally deny science,” Maher said. But TV-scientist and friend of the show Neil DeGrasse Tyson quickly stepped in to correct Maher.
“Don’t be too high and mighty there,” Tyson said. “Because there are certain aspects of science denials that are squarely in the liberal left.”"
He went on to give a couple of examples, anti-vaxxers and GMO scaremongering included.
Indeed, it's kind of sad when brainwashed people cannot even own up for anything. Anti-vaxxers are morons, plain and simple. But rather than admit it, Maher was all too eager to swiftly divert the focus away from this by pointing out how many problems republicans have as well in the science-denying department. Which is a classic tu quoque really. "But they did it too, and worse!" has never been an effective way to get me out of trouble in any situation - and neither does it provide a solution to anything, or a means for honestly addressing an existing problem.
Let's be blunt here. Dumb is dumb. Although in this particular case, anti-vaxing might not be necessarily the reserved domain of the official Democratic party platform (if anything, in my observations, it's the Libertarians carrying the torch for the right to choose not to vaccinate more than anybody else). But that shouldn't matter. One's political preferences and ideology notwithstanding, I think anyone who is anti-vaccination is a fucking moron, regardless of their political leanings. You could be all for less government intervention and individuals having more control as long as they are responsible; however, not vaccinating your kid puts other kids at risk and that's unacceptable. Period.
So yeah. While we're about statism and libertarianism and all that jazz, I'd say this is one of the most important roles of government. They are supposed to step in when a person, a group, or a company refuses to stop a behavior that is harmful towards others. A government isn't meant to pass laws that are there to protect someone from themselves. A good government is supposed to be passing laws that protect someone from the actions of others.
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Date: 8/6/16 12:03 (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 8/6/16 17:55 (UTC)On the other hand....denial of science is human nature, that is to say, denial of anything strange, new and different, unfamiliar or not understood. There is considerable lag between a scientific discovery, professional adoption, and broad cultural adoption. Happens with paradigm shift.
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