Tyson sweepingly dismisses the entire history of philosophy. Actually,
he doesn't just dismiss it. He goes much further — to argue that
undergraduates should actively avoid studying philosophy at all.
Because, apparently, asking too many questions "can really mess you up."
"I don't have time for that."
OK, he doesn't single me out by name,
but since I think Zen is intriguing and may point to the fallacies of
conventional thought, AND the mere idea that you should “examine
yourself” like philosophy, makes it something worthing of
study...NDT tosses aside like a rancid piece of meat.
From this podcast we now know NDT is
insistent there is only ONE correct (and Rigid) way to look at the
world. Why is it so hard for people to say...”well I don’t get
it, but if you want study philosophy, Zen, poetry, pottery or
whatever..knock yourself out”
No, he as to tells how stupid we are
all for not thinking exactly like him.
Personally I think it is Backward
looking not Forward looking. He cannot just revel in the coolness of
Science, his view of science is only important because it is
not..well, something else. So, he has to dump on people who think
there are other things of interest, especially bad is Philosophy. But why stop at philosophy, remove poetry, fiction, and drama since it delays
your progress. Screw it, why not just burn the books you don't like.
Strangely he is actually a
fundamentalist in regard the religion of progress. Anything that
interferes with this goal is detrimental. And it is really an
unquestioning acceptance of own world view
The thing is he is taking techniques
from science and applying them to the different area of an
interior life.
Plus he has only disdain for Philosophy
and Zen, but they are not like fundamentalism trying to declare what
science is.
NDT feels self reflection and any
examination is pointless and in fact dangerous
