Neil deGrasse Tyson: Letters From an Astrophysicist | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

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"StarTalk" host Neil deGrasse Tyson joins Bill to discuss his new book, “Letters from an Astrophysicist,” in which he details his efforts to bring an understanding of the universe to the masses.
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[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Religion and State. 2 things that should never go together.

[@Hirnlego999]

@@mosesking2923 If the church is right then why is its list of apologies so long? And which gender is god, that genocidal dictator?

[@Mechaghostman2]

@@mosesking2923 Sorry, but it's no longer classified as a mental illness. Get over it.

[@spetnaz107]

Hal Swan most of the world is mentally ill then you dumbfuck

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

@@spetnaz107 Lol says the guy with ISIS fighters as an avatar. Yes, in fact. They are.

[@grantmarcus5675]

But God planned it that way 'for a reason!'

[@angelagoodwin5758]

I love the chemistry between Neil and Bill. Their intellectual banter is bar none!

[@manugulati1105]

So glad he wasn’t canceled

[@lochlanfleming8536]

Manu Gulati so thankful

[@HopDavid]

Lots of outfits are willing to look the other way when their cash cows misbehave.

[@user-uy3eq5hg1s]

The accusations against him were designed to try to ruin his career.

[@Zenhumanist]

Wasn’t convicted. Just saying.

[@mmafyasco]

Hollister David Can you explain what you're trying to say with that. because Bill Cosby, Louis CK, Harvey Weinstein, and a bunch of other people making a shit ton of money got canceled

[@mrdfac]

Confucious said, "Listen to Neil deGrasse Tyson."

[@killyourjoy]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYaae4avmNGki5I

[@mrdfac]

@@killyourjoy Oh dear. I hope you discover reality one day. I really do. By the way, do you own a mobile phone?

[@h.l.malazan5782]

I can see that. If you go far back enough you can find all sorts of famous people in the position of power who will go out of their way to defend assholes, like you'd find today, but worst. If you don't like people checking you on your moral ambiguity than don't parade it around like a badge like it isn't moral ambiguity. If you like the grey area then you should color yourself grey and blend into the background.

[@GentlemanJack295]

For science issues yes. Philosophy? Not so much.

[@mrdfac]

@@GentlemanJack295 NdGT is not a philosopher.

[@HuginnandMuninnGaming23]

Bill and Neil on the same platform...my brain is exploding with happiness!! Love this.

[@edezagon]

I absolutely love Neil De Grasse Tyson. Thank you for bringing science to the popular realm.

[@HopDavid]

If you call his addled bull shit science. hopsblog-hop.blogspot.com/2016/01/fact-checking-neil-degrasse-tyson.html

[@ANOOPBAL]

Exactly! We teach everything in schools, except "Critical Thinking"

[@HopDavid]

Yes, we should teach students to challenge claims to see if they're supported by evidence. Obviously Neil's fans weren't doing that when they swallowed his Bush and Star Names fiction. These falsehoods were a standard part of Neil's routine for *eight year* before Sean Davis blew the whistle on Tyson's bull shit. www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/09/27/neil-degrasse-tyson-admits-he-botched-bush-quote/ So get off your high horse sanctimonious hypocrite. Your righteous indignation is a pile of shit.

[@fernie51296]

Hollister David you really are comparing a misquote to an understanding of the scientific method? And it seems, as usual, Tyson is great at admitting his mistakes as all great scientists do. Something the religious have NEVER done. Even with clear evidence showing so many aspects of the Bible being completely false or flat out impossible, Christians continue to hand on to those lies. The religious are willfully, forcefully ignorant of truth.

[@jcr-studios]

Yup you got it. That’s why I put my kids in the debate club in high school to strengthen their critical thinking and perspective of all sides.

[@HexIsme]

You can't really teach critical thinking, though. You can only encourage any natural inclinations the individual has for questioning.... and, well. Most parents don't like having a kid who's full of questions, who ends up questioning them, as well. Most parents are also idiots, themselves.

[@HopDavid]

@@fernie51296 Tyson falsely accused Bush of delivering a divisive speech in the wake of 9-11. Bush's actual speech was a call for tolerance and inclusion and it was delivered from a mosque. georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html Falsely accusing Bush of being a xenophobe demagogue is no big deal in your book? And Tyson kept dropping this steaming pile over and over again for eight fucking years. Tyson reluctantly admitted error with some arm twisting. He had little choice. The story was beginning to trend and he was very obviously wrong. And Tyson's dropped other steaming piles. Lots of them. Those that don't spark much public attention don't get corrected. Even when Tyson's errors have been brought to his attention. He has to know his history of Newton is addled bull shit. But he makes absolutely no effort to correct the misinformation he's spread over the years. Ditto his fantasies regard Hamid al Ghazali and the Islamic Golden Age. Likewise most of his butchered science and math go uncorrected.

[@asn65001]

"We're mining the past constantly for fresh outrage" - Thomas Chatterton Williams ........yep, precisely

[@frederf3227]

We're also mining the past for false patriotism and nationalism. It's a bit of an arm's race.

[@razkid3871]

so true, I come across things relating to the injustices of the past all the time on the internet & I always get so angry, until I later realise that the people responsible for those things are now dead & I'm left with this anger with no one to direct it to

[@WormholeJim]

Very insightfull quote, because that's exactly what old enemities are. The sins of our long-dead grandparents. - And building our future with each new outrage brought forth, one could add.

[@shesaknitter]

It is easy to be cavalier about the legacy of slavery that continues to this day, if you've been allowed by this culture to entertain the conceit that you are not affected by that legacy, for whatever reason.

[@norezenable]

Its a totally stupid thing to say. Testing the sharpness of your sword by cutting open pregnant women has never been acceptable behavior. What most people know of Columbus is a revisionist account of the events. In reality, Columbus was as sadistic and his behavior so horrifying it rivals if not beats even the most despicable of history's villains like Pol Pot, Mengele, Hitler, Stalin, Jeffery Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, etc. Columbus was an extremely sick dude.

[@girlwhomustnotbenamed4139]

The important thing about the likes of Columbus is to learn the facts about them, the less comfortable ones, too, and not fetishize them as heroes and role models.

[@brianhenry7983]

Can't just cancel out the good things people do, with the bad things that at the time weren't even considered bad.

[@MikeLive1285]

Girlwhomust notbenamed can someone be a hero and a monster at the same time?

[@SRosenberg203]

Columbus shouldn't be cancelled cause of his atrocities, he should be cancelled because he was a terribly shitty captain. He had no idea where he was going, had 3 different crews mutiny against him at various points of his career, and he died relatively obscure ranting about how much money the Spanish crown owed him for their profits in the new world. He just sucked, but he happened to be in the right place at the right time.

[@norezenable]

​@@asdf1991asdf That is profoundly wrong lol. The left does want history to be known about people. When you fight to protect remembering bad people as good people, then you are the one doing the revising and hiding the facts of history. Columbus was a monster. So were the confederates. If the right had any integrity in making this totally disingenuous claim, then we would have federal holidays and statues for serial killers, rapists, and pedophiles. And yeah, the left does complain to the UN and our government about problems all around the globe. Meanwhile, Trump is making deals with authoritarians that then use him surrendering to their agendas to rape and torture innocent people. Thousands upon thousands of children in Yemen have starved to death thanks to the Republican president selling arms to Saudi Arabia over the objections from the left. You really should stop getting your news from tabloids. What you think the left is or does, is not true at all.

[@SRosenberg203]

@@asdf1991asdf mon·u·ment /ˈmänyəmənt/ noun noun: monument; plural noun: monuments a statue, building, or other structure erected to commemorate a famous or notable person or event. No, a monument and a statue are not a "stern reminder". They have been used, literally for thousands of years, to glorify or honor individuals of note for various reasons. Doing this for individuals who are not worthy of it is not "education", it is propaganda. There shouldn't be statues of Confederate generals anywhere in the United States, unless the statue depicts them being shot for Treason as they deserved.

[@rebeccakane4526]

Bill must really like Neil, he can’t stop touching him.

[@maskedmarvyl4774]

Did you notice that after the fourth of fifth time Bill touched Neil's arm that Neil looked down at Bill's hand like "what is going on?"

[@DanHiteshew-oneandonly]

I was wondering about that too. It made me a little uncomfortable for NDT. Lol

[@shdddjd4375]

That's how the women Niel touched felt.... But way worse

[@Hussein_Nur]

he always tuches guests. you are obviously new. check the other guests that sit exactly where Neil is sitting.

[@heatherkevinm]

It's funny cause when he was interviewing Howard Stern, he was uncomfortable and kept backing away from him and saying Stern was getting too close.

[@robertorojnic4370]

Great clip. Neil, awesome as always. Thanks, Bill!

[@mikegagne3263]

When I was a kid, the evangelicals were claiming that creation was 8000 years ago. The universe must be getting younger.lol

[@mikegagne3263]

@@mosesking2923 Which Church?

[@Hirnlego999]

@@mosesking2923 So which gender does god have? And if there is a creator and he is good, why is there mental illness problems?

[@corncob2701]

Just Google how old the universe/ or human civilization/ or the Bible claims say, and don't make lazy statements

[@STAKBUNDLES]

It’s all about perspective now a days

[@rocarlosdavis622]

Wise speculated comment🙂...younger and without much stress nowadays either

[@Loveformula101]

Neil should start his own *fashion label* "Science Fashion by Neil.

[@weeverob]

go to your local JC Penny

[@Loveformula101]

@@shdddjd4375 Huh??? What the F"* do you mean ? Did women come forward with elligations?

[@deniseandrews113]

@@Loveformula101 He was cleared of any wrongdoing after a thorough investigation

[@Loveformula101]

@@deniseandrews113 Ok. Thank God.

[@WormholeJim]

I'd get a tie. Can't say I'd wear it too, I'm just not a tie-kind of guy. But I'd get one still.

[@MJLopez23]

The R. Kelly joke got me. I laughed hard.

[@bwgbwg1529]

I envy you Americans this great man. Greetings from Germany! btw, as far as I know, nobody here has given a damn about the demotion of Pluto... ;)

[@HopDavid]

You envy us our pop science celebrities who manage to fuck up even high math and physics? I guess there's wannabe poser geeks in Germany as well.

[@Shankar-Bhaskar]

@@HopDavid They are all over the world not just in Germany, but here in India as well.

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

@@HopDavid "pop science celebrities " AKA a guy with a PhD in astrophysics from Colombia university. You sound smart and not bitter at all.

[@HopDavid]

@@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control AKA the guy who flunked out his U.T. doctoral program with his advisors telling him to find a different career AKA the guy who demonstrates incompetence in high school math: www.reddit.com/r/badmathematics/comments/5vnnym/neil_degrasse_tyson_theres_more_transcendental/ AKA the guy who botches freshman physics: www.reddit.com/r/badscience/comments/bfcubz/neil_degrasse_tyson_botches_basic_physics/ and news.avclub.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-bungles-science-of-deflate-gate-sca-1798276120 Tyson's Ph.D. demonstrates that Columbia puts charisma and political fashion before competence

[@dissinfo6358]

No need for envy - USA is full of these phony creeps who go on tv and sell you a bunch of horseshit to fulfill a crooked agenda.

[@DisenfranchisedLiberal]

Neil is a national treasure!

[@late8641]

More like a "rational treasure" 😏

[@AlishaAkins713]

Couple of thoughts: 1) would have liked Neil to set the record straight on Columbus. You could see by his face he was holding in a lot, and one of them had to be that Columbus never made land in North America (that would have dove tailed with his issues with our education system as well 2) happy that at the end, he did point out that Columbus sailed in the name of Spain, and was not representing Italy 3) I have always wondered, if 1890s (edited). Italians really wanted an Italian man to celebrate, why didn’t they pick Leonardo da Vinci?

[@sluttymctits4496]

I, too, wish Neil spoke up. He was choosing his words *very* carefully, and you're right -- it was all over his face that he wanted to say something but wasn't sure if he wanted to wade into those treacherous waters. The ending did seem to vent a bit of that steam, for sure.

[@JoeLabisch]

Columbus was born in Genua, Italy, so they can pretend he's one of them.. I agree, they have many great people in Italy they can celebrate better than Columbus

[@markyday9076]

They wanted someone to represent Italian-AMERICANS though, specifically. They needed/wanted an Italian character to be essential to the founding myth of America, something akin to a Founding Father. The same reason Anglo-Americans glorify George Washington, but not King George.

[@przytulanka1979]

Leonardo was a genius and gay. No way that Italian Catholics would make him their hero.

[@scottbilger9294]

Columbus sailed for Spain but he himself was from Genoa. Columbus's enemies in the Spain court, who eventually ruined him, repeatedly accused him of being secretly loyal to Genoa.

[@fitter70]

As an Italian-American I agree 100% with Neil deGrasse Tyson.

[@1cyanideghost]

One of my all time favorite humans on earth. (Neil deGrasse Tyson)

[@dazeeandL]

Mine too !

[@rybrentd]

History is history. We can view it through an ever changing lens but that doesn't change what happened. To deny and erase what happened because it offends or discomforts you is NOT a tenable position, but to recognize it in its fullest gives us perspective. We have to recognize things for what they were, regardless of how uncomfortable it makes us feel. It takes more intellect to view things through a historical lens than through modern lens.

[@freudsigmund72]

I do like that this tie of NdGT does depict Pluto 💫 😉

[@Obiter3]

THAT is a man who would be an incredibly good president. Great VP sitting right next to him.

[@nonenone8201]

I liked the quote about mining history for new moral outrage. Well said!

[@josen4real5]

I did as well. That gave me great pause in considering dialogue with my human counterparts. Agreed, well said.

[@Nina-oi1qk]

and I like that he said we are a mature society that can handle moral ambiguity. We constantly forget this and want everything in black and white these days.

[@nonenone8201]

@@Nina-oi1qk agreed.

[@josen4real5]

@@Nina-oi1qk correct

[@Freeridert]

1:45 I have never met Dr. Tyson. My personal feelings are that we are friends. I don't know why. It may be his charisma. It could be his openness that brings me in to want to know more about what he knows. All I know, is that I want this guy as a friend. Not only to open my mind to what I don't know, but to broaden my understanding of what I want to know in the future.

[@In2MeUcU]

Da Vinci's Vitruvian man is the circle/square, perfected!

[@reymarnier119]

Neil deGrasse is the coolest 💯

[@jimr5855]

He's an amazing science entertainer.

[@jeffhickey8]

Its refreshing to listen to someone with true knowledge.

[@IamGettis]

The only Christopher we acknowledge is Wallace...

[@OdotJdot]

Only Bill we acknowledge is Burr...

[@IamGettis]

@@OdotJdot haha yeah we rock with burr

[@twonumber22]

Hitchens: am I a joke to you?

[@IamGettis]

@@twonumber22 the ONLY christopher we acknowledge is WALLLACE

[@eemage9476]

Talking about failing to our school system

[@rmaree10]

Square that circle ... what an awesome comment

[@baronmeddy]

9:05 That R.Kelly joke caught me off guard 😂

[@Drumdancesing2012]

legit had me rolling on the floor lmfao!!!!

[@BeinformedBefree]

Not me Bill just showing his racism.

[@GetCrazyXD]

Was hoping for more videos of Neil on youtube and I see this uploaded one hour ago. Yessssss

[@insertcolorfulmetaphor8520]

NdGT is one of the more enjoyable and fun guests, that periodically appears on RT... He is also an incredible podcast guest, specifically referring to the JRE podcast.

[@thenaturalboxer]

I believe in God and Jesus Christ, AND I believe in science and facts. It's really not that hard.

[@martinfierro9734]

As in immaculate conception and the resurrection? AND science and facts? I believe the historical person Jesus existed in early post-republican Roman occupied west Asia. But it's pretty obvious the actual person did not believe he was divine, but was instead commandeered by the early sectarians of Christianity some two generations after his death.

[@tchristian04]

Martin Fierro the immaculate conception is a catholic doctrine not all Christians accept. I think you’re confusion that with incarnation. And it’s pretty obvious that Jesus did believe he was divine. That’s the very reason he was crucified, which is the most historically certain fact there is regarding Jesus. There’s multiple early independent attestation to the fact.

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

@@tchristian04 "which is the most historically certain fact there is regarding Jesus." Of which there are exactly this many instances of: 0

[@tchristian04]

@@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control not according to historians who do their historical research on the New Testament.

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

@@tchristian04 And their evidence is?

[@grosstravis]

Neil's tie shows Pluto.

[@reinforcedpenisstem]

The Hayden Planetarium shows photo too.

[@mark1952able]

Time to comes to terms with reality!

[@LetMeThink007]

Well said Doc 👏👏👏

[@ShawnC.W-King]

The R.Kelly comment had me Rolling, hahaha

[@maskedmarvyl4774]

"Personal truths". Translation: solipsistic rationalizations that justify continued ignorance, bigotry, hatred, fanaticism, and genocide. Whoever remarketed and rebranded religious fanaticism as "personal truth" earned his money that day....

[@blt4life112]

That's your personal truth.

[@kayrabey1344]

My biology teach used to wear ties with bugs on them. 😁 Good teacher.

[@RmcBlueSky]

As some one who has a flat Earth believer in the family, I say that sometimes is not the lack of education but the lost of trust. The family member that I speaking of, suffer from PTSD. He is saying that if the government has lie to him, and there for everything he knows is a lie. Speaking to him is like talking to a schizophrenic, you tell him that there is no one there or that you didn't say anything, and he doesn't believe you. Is frustrating.

[@rocarlosdavis622]

Tar heel fan then??😍🖤

[@JonnyB-td9oq]

The earth is flat though, read your Bible!

[@martinfierro9734]

It sounds like he's not "like" a schizophrenic, but possibly is one. That's sad for your family member man. Therapy can help a lot if he hasn't tried it yet.

[@simplethings3730]

I don't think flat earthers believe the Earth is flat. I think they're just guys that have fun engaging in a ridiculous debate. It can in fact be an intellectual challenge.

[@martinfierro9734]

Exactly. It's just a late 19th century fad of trolling that's having a resurgence. No one in the west without a developmental disability actually believes it.

[@anD-vf7ld]

10:00 Might be because he was from Genoa, which's Italian nowadays...

[@paulpeterson4216]

Why are people taking flat-earthers seriously? Some of them, yes, believe what they say, but the vast majority of them are just being trolls and looking for a reaction.

[@YoshiTatsu1]

The Future will always judge the past harshly

[@danielmoshejohnson]

Shalom Aleichem Knowledge and Sage ways..... I'm glad this was said, if you will Sir, provide for the the names of the Architects of the Universe.

[@0110-d6s]

Personal truth that doesn't conform with reality? That's called being wrong, being wrong is still a thing, look it up.

[@massimogermano8466]

Because Cristoforo Colombo was italian and Amerigo Vespucci too and one discovered the continent to the western and eastern world and the other he gave his name to America. I think it's enough to celebrate if they want to celebrate

[@lyni50]

Regarding the offensive tweet: Senseless murder is not equivalent to accidents or illness. A smart guy should easily understand that. However, a tweet from him isn’t really a cause for outrage.

[@sav3nad]

You are right,these two clowns are narcissists and phonies,people should just igmore and not waste their time on them!!

[@victordelarosa4599]

I agree, you may measure quantity but he completely ignored the impact on society. NdGT is not at his best lately.

[@RoderBrent]

3:42 is the best part of this show.

[@j.lingle4713]

The “personal truth” is equally applicable to traditional religions as the extreme religion of the “woke”

[@rocarlosdavis622]

Nice shot ...I let you in a secret I could never keep sacred...cigarettes are my inspiration to calm my rage against ANXIETY only Tool could know that 👽🖤😭🙂

[@MegaMech]

One interesting thing about historical belief about whether or not the earth is flat is that it is not a consistent belief. It seems that the flat-earth idea was purported around 1400-1800 ish (very rough numbers) but there is evidence that people thought it may be spherical. One only needs look at the moon. People didn't need modern science to believe the world was spherical.

[@opertinicy]

I'm pretty sure if you took a poll. the vast majority of the US thinks that Columbus once stepped on US soil. (Spoiler: He never stepped on US soil). That's not a knock on Columbus, but rather on how it's taught in classrooms.

[@late8641]

Neil deGrasse Tyson is a rational treasure Not a typo btw

[@forrestbehr8778]

I've never seen Bill touch another man so much, lol. I think Howard Stern changed him.

[@rocarlosdavis622]

I really do like you because you are deliberately funny..lol

[@lulul0l039]

I was little surprised how certain topic wasn't 'touched' though. Neil is very likable, but just that shouldn't give him a free pass.

[@andyn4797]

The Italians celebrated cause the simple reason Colombo ( real Italian name ) was born in Genoa Italy . So Italians are proud of that . Anyone else that arrived to the new world would have committed atrocities , it is human nature . Now was Colombo a smart , sailor with huge balls to get in a little boat to cross the Atlantic back in 1492 ? Yes !!! He deserves to be remembered

[@nightknight9415]

Keep your religion FAR away from our Science please!

[@koilamaoh4238]

Don't worry, they are in office controlling your science with their silly god.

[@nightknight9415]

@@koilamaoh4238 Agreed, MAGA = Morons Are Governing America

[@IamTechNerd]

Science is just a baby. Science is still trying to figure out metaphysics. Im not religious but spiritual. Forget about science. Science wants to kill you. MAGA btw you sheep. MAGA until you overdose on fluoride you treasonous pedophile worshipping fuckers.

[@mxmajewski]

I think as scientists we should go about it in a slightly different manner, by which I mean “exploiting” the Creator card, cos' if you think about it, isn’t like God/Allah (however one calls his overseer) the biggest of all scientists? By this thinking doing basic research and discovering how things work so that we petrol monkeys can use this phenomenons, is a way to honor one's deity as act of creation gets one closer to one's Creator

[@craigcorson3036]

@@mxmajewski Prove that there is a creator to get closer to.

[@leveraged6694]

“Religion was invented when the first con man met the first fool." - Mark Twain

[@holisticpsychologybyobrien]

"He who invented religion was a wise man indeed." -Aristotle

[@PassportToPimlico]

Sailors going back a long time knew that the world was not flat.

[@BlueBaron3339]

Actually, Julian, that was well known since 230 BC and an item in the court of Ferdinand and Isabella was a map of the known world in the shape of a globe. *How the hell that notion that Columbus proved the earth was round took hold is beyond me* 🙄

[@bcnmanhattan5022]

@@BlueBaron3339 Because he proved it with his audacious voyage. Simple.

[@BlueBaron3339]

@@bcnmanhattan5022 Actually it was proven by the head librarian in Alexandria centuries before when he sent someone to a distant city to plant a stick and measure the angle of the shadow it made on a day and time when it was directly overhead in Alexandria. He not only concluded the earth was round. He also used that angle to calculate the circumference of the earth with remarkable accuracy! In short, more simple still. 😁 😂 I don't mean to sound unkind but with the stone ignorant comments I read here - yes, yes, it's the KZbin comments section, I know - it's no wonder 62 million American voters failed the most basic of intelligence tests in 2016. This is high school shit, for pity's sake. Not anymore I guess 😞

[@bcnmanhattan5022]

@@BlueBaron3339 Someone so self proclaimed learned as you should know the word empiric. I wrote he proved it. You just need to call others ignorant because you don't know how to read. You could have certainly admonished me by pointing out what is wrong in my comment, that he did not prove it, it was Magalhanes and Elcano who ultimately proved it, but Colón was the fundamental piece in this feat. In your rush to rebate a sensible answer to your fatuous comment you made a fool of yourself.

[@BlueBaron3339]

​@@bcnmanhattan5022 You're quite right. That unsound tirade of mine was unfair and unfounded. A lot of uns. I apologize. Truly. Nonetheless, the proof, in scientific terms, was made - to the best of our knowledge - as I said, by Eratosthenes in 240 BCE or thereabouts. No need for me to have been an ass about it though 😜 However, in broader, practical terms, you are quite correct. It doesn't matter really until it has a true, larger impact. Which is also why finding some Norse trinkets up in Newfoundland or wherever is rather irrelevant too.

[@jorgesegniniaguirre]

"Every thing happens for a reason" Rather "Every reason happens for a thing"

[@rmd9988]

Columbus wasn't the first European to reach the continent, nor did he discover it. So what's being celebrated on Columbus day?

[@frankishempire2322]

"So what's being celebrated on Columbus day?" Pissing you off

[@xanderhunt2502]

I believe Lief Erickson was the first person, besides the would-be natives, to discover the Americas

[@rmd9988]

@JOOGAL1111 What makes someone look moronic is to mention the word "discover" again. Columbus didn't"discover" or "rediscover" anything.

[@guskringen7787]

Love Bill, always will, he’s an iconoclastic treasure, but when you have the smartest guy on the planet on your show, it’s best not to interrupt with clever quips, or compete. Not that Bill cares, nothing’s broke to fix, but just my two cents.

[@michaelrch]

The sense that "everything happens for a reason" is at the root of almost every bad notion we have about justice and decency in our society. The poor aren't poor "for a reason" - at least rarely one they had anything to do with. And exactly the same goes for the rich. Shit happens. If you get lucky, then your first duty is to recognise that and share your luck around. The flaw in right wing politics is its sense that the rich "deserve" their fortunes. They don't. And I am pretty well off - and I am still the first to say this!

[@djn48]

I agree with everything that you said, except for the first sentence (and I disagree with what Bill and Neil said on the subject too). Hear me out... The problem is that there is a fundamental flaw in the way that people interpret the saying "everything happens for a reason". Everything clearly does happen for a reason: we have night and day cycles because of the Earth's rotation, water is wet because it is a liquid at air temperature (unless at raised altitudes or the poles), Donald Trump throws temper tantrums on Twitter because he's trying to protect his huge ego and "successful" image, etc., etc., ad infinitum. The problem comes in when people use the saying as an excuse for nothing changing. Change happens for a reason too, because people stand up and fix something that's broken, like the ridiculous binary view of the world, or America's broken political system, or people misinterpreting fundamental truths like "everything happens for a reason"... The problem isn't the saying, it's the bad interpretations of the saying. Don't shoot the messenger, shoot the people who use what the messenger says to fuck other people over.

[@michaelrch]

Bezz80 I am not saying causality doesn't exist! The problem is with the idea of cosmic significance to everything we do and that there is any justice in life just because the universe makes it that way. There isn't. Life is full of injustice. The only justice in life is the justice we make, individually and as a society, If you think that "things work out the way they are meant to" then you are deluded. I was deluded like that for decades as a Christian. Then I realised it was BS.

[@jirkak5998]

that is kind of ego self-protection, people deep inside feel bad about being so insanely rich, but manage to silence that feeling with intense self-praise, I "love" hearing I am worth every penny of my wealth, so typical

[@michaelrch]

jirka k You are right of course. But the scary thing is that it's also the first thing that goes through your head when you see a homeless person on the street. One of best thing to learn from dropping religion is that didn't make ourselves. We aren't fundamentally responsible for who we are. That's a hard thing to accept for a lot of people.

[@jirkak5998]

@@michaelrch I feel that we just take ourselves to seriously. We think we are important, unique, chosen to make a difference, or what ever. Yet, we are just bunch of cells and minerals, with an illusion of self-importance on a small pale blue dot somewhere in the backyard of an insignificant galaxy.

[@jroush1780]

Whoa..look at the big brain on Bill. Neil has been a good influence 🤗

[@RyanAnthonyDigitalMedia]

Don’t Italians celebrate Columbus because he was Italian??

[@R2D2fhjks]

Cristoforo Colombo viaggiò verso la corona spagnola. Non per l'italiano.

[@jcr-studios]

Columbus was born in Italy but he was commissioned by Spain to explore the new world. He apparently never set foot in the US.

[@wakeupbell2491]

Columbus Day was created as a response to anti-Italian sentiment in this country. He had not been an Italian hero until the 1900's, I believe. Vox or Adam Ruins Everything has done a video on it. Maybe both. My Mom is 1st generation American and Columbus Day meant nothing to her side of our family.

[@shesaknitter]

@@R2D2fhjks But he was still Italian.

[@R2D2fhjks]

@@shesaknitter but here in Italia we don't give two cents for him. Colombo day is a american celebratzione.

[@Melissa0774]

I love that picture on the front of the book.

[@2minutetopics]

Bill is such a bleeding heart Republican, not a liberal at all.

[@Xpistos510]

Love is the answer , but Bill believes in science... to an extent.

[@bsdslacker]

This guy is just too eloquent. It's great to be able to listen to Neil as we did at some point listen to Carl Sagan.

[@bok7364]

Bill Maher: The Founding Fathers had slaves. The Bible had slaves. R Kelly still has them. Me: You forgot Jeffrey Epstein.

[@koilamaoh4238]

You mean baby whores..that they sell to these conservatives in power...Virgin blood is worth a lot money!

[@rocarlosdavis622]

Nice indeed 🙂

[@fcdl61]

Slavery is legal in Libya. Thanks Obama and Hillary.

[@frankishempire2322]

Oy oy oy, that burns

[@koilamaoh4238]

@@fcdl61 Its in gods plan. So you can serve israel and palenstein leaders properly.

[@bullettube9863]

Recent research suggests that Christopher Columbus may have been Portuguese and been known by a different name. There are no records of him being from Italy anywhere, nor records that he ever sailed on a ship from Italy. But there are records of him having owned a ship that was based in Lisbon, which begs the question, where did he get the money to buy his own ship? And Portugal was closely tied to Spain at the time, so it answers the question how was he, a mere sailor able to get an audience with the king and queen of Spain? Questions, questions!

[@elronaldese]

I think italians celebrate Columbus day 'cos Christopher was born in Genoa, Italy.

[@MrZAFOL]

Humility can save the world, Arrogance will destroy it.

[@NewMessage]

Kinda makes sense that those flat earthers can't see sense... Flatlanders can't conceive of a third dimension, after all.

[@queenofallmonkeys]

"And gonads yes." Lord I'm weak

[@brianb572]

They always say "always be the smartest guy in the room". Never an issue for Neil.

[@Dan16673]

Except when not getting Columbus was Italian

[@TheDigiprostudio]

Niel is one of the best speakers no question

[@SyntaxTerr0r]

8:38 "[Columbus] took slaves, but so did our founding fathers" Nice whataboutism, Mr Mayer, you're employing the same rhetorical fallacies as the ones you pretend to fight.

[@goodgreenenergy]

Agreed, Bill always seems to assume the victims were happily participating in their enslavement, rape and genocide! He’s so blind when he opens his mouth it’s incomprehensible. Like the time he said “if you were around during the lynchings, you’d be doing it too.”

[@rick91443]

Can't say enough about this fellow; super. Intelligent AND modest and good to all(not talking about you Bill...) cheers...rr Normandy, France(only kidding, but still NOT ABOUT YOU.)

[@frankmaitland2569]

Bill makes sense Columbus was a man of his time.

[@jaiparwani4279]

We all now have a black friend

[@philosophygamers5920]

My brother and I talked about Columbus earlier today. We both agree he was a shit head in many scenarios but he's a historical figure good or bad. The world was changed by the man wether you like it or not.

[@philosophygamers5920]

@Sobkou that's an abrasive assumption. I technically believe he shouldn't be celebrated but it's ok to learn about him. Being overly aggressive with Nazi euphemisms doesn't make you sound smarter or like you're actually on the side of morality. It means you're willing to exploit the evils of the past to make invalid assumptions of others. Hitler's existance is a lesson to be learned from. Not something to use to belittle others for just trying to find some common sense.

[@whuzzzup]

@Sobkou The more holidays the better. Who cares what it's for.

[@jvnne00]

Philosophy Gamers - “ That’s an abrasive assumption” sounds belittling and moralizing, not Sobku’s expression of disgust by comparing Columbus to an atrocious human being of human history.

[@philosophygamers5920]

@@jvnne00 I think you mistake being in the wrong for belittling. Says a lot about who you are.

[@brianmolloy9393]

Great doc on Flat Earthers. Membership is more about being a part of a community than the objective fact of the earth being flat. It's kinda like fans of baseball having slang and the ability to talk about the sport with other baseball fans. It binds these people together. The desire to belong is stronger than fact.

[@Vierotchka]

More precisely, the Earth is spherical, not round, Neil. :D

[@MK-je7kz]

Approximately an oblate spheroid

[@Leftiticus_Maximus_III]

Actually, the earth is Geoidal.

[@killyourjoy]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYaae4avmNGki5I

[@simplethings3730]

Now that you've defined Earth in three dimensions, can you do it in four?

[@Vierotchka]

@@simplethings3730 Time.

[@cueball6969]

That R Kelly joke was epic 🤣

[@tobybartels8426]

Seriously, you guys are still spreading the myth that people thought that Earth was flat in Columbus's time? Columbus was the flat-earther! Not literally, but he believed in crackpot theories that were derided by the experts of his day, and they were right, and he was wrong. Columbus was wrong about the size of Earth, and he was wrong about the size of Asia, and he was damned lucky that America was there so that he didn't die at sea. Yes, Columbus was an important explorer, because he was importantly fortunate, not great. And he was like Trump; he couldn't even admit a mistake. It was obvious to everyone that America was a new continent, but he went to his grave believing that he'd landed in Asia, while everyone rightfully laughed at him. And this is all before you get into how he was a terrible governor, and committed genocide and slavery. So nobody is overlooking what a great explorer he was because they're snowflakes who can't get over their hang-ups about crimes against humanity. He was never even a great explorer to begin with. (Edits: typo, narrative flow.)

[@andreasnygaard98]

@E MP too bad i saw it after i wrote a couple of paragraphs myself...

[@tobybartels8426]

@@andreasnygaard98 : It's all right; if people don't see my comment, then maybe they'll see yours.

[@tomnohmy22]

Bill Maher for president!

[@rjlchristie]

Nah Neil, you are talking beliefs, not truths. Just because someone believes Harry Potter exists doesn't make it a truth, personal or any other kind.

[@sharon21382]

“Everything happens for a reason‼️” 💯

[@-_Nuke_-]

Everything happens for a cause but not for a reason. And if the 4D block universe interpretation of General Relativity is correct (that states that space and time all exist in a 4 dimensional manifold) the past present and future all have already happened. If everything has already happened and we are just living every moment like in a DVD one frame after the other, then there are no reasons. So that 💯 in reality is a smak ZERO.

[@we.MUST.keep.OUR.democracy]

@@-_Nuke_- Age old question that will never be answered is, if God created the universe then who created God? If there is no God then how did the universe come to be? I want to know! Lol.

[@-_Nuke_-]

​@@we.MUST.keep.OUR.democracy Well it is a philosophical question. The reason it is a philosophical question is that in order for us to find an answer to that we have to be able to know, whether or not something supernatural can exist or not. Right now the general scientific consensus seems to imply that supernatural things (like Gods) don't exist and they can never exist by definition. (That's like saying that magic cannot exist because it's magic). Therefore if we can philosophically and scientifically prove that (prove that supernatural things cannot exist by definition) then things like Gods cannot exist, will never exist and have never existed... That is one way of disproving the existence of God. So, If we manage to do so, then your question has an answer which is: "there is no God therefore nobody created him..." But of course even if we manage to do all that we still wouldn't have found the answer to the real question, wich is "how was our Universe created?" or "how can our Universe come out of nothing?" Maybe those questions will forever boggle our minds, maybe we will never know... But the reason that answering your question first was important because let's say for example, that our Universe turns out to be nothing more than a simulation. Someone (or some living being or some process) created our Universe inside a computer. Now, whoever did that, for all intents and purposes is our God... He will be the creator of our Universe and he will definately (since he's the programer) have infinite knowledge and power and he will be able to see everything at once and be everywhere at once etc... (like when we play sims for example and see things from "above") so, that programer will basically fulfil everything that make a God... well, God! But even if that programer can fulfill all of that, he will still not be considered a God, because he technically won't be supernatural. There will still be, a scientific way that links that programmer to our Universe (that process is his computer and the laws that govern his reality). Therefore a creator might exist but he won't necessarily be magical or supernatural... Only Gods can be supernatural and therefore (based on our previous proof) non existent. Will that solve our existential problems? No, but it's a great leap forward in understanding what ultimately can and cannot exist based on what we know about physics. And in physics right now, there is no room for God to exist. Personally I consider the simulation hypothesis that I just described like a modern religion, is probably completely unsound and probably our Universe isn't a simulation, but every age based on the things that knows, creates its own Gods, now this is the new upcoming religion, the religion of the Matrix, which for me, is nothing more than just another religion, so even if I brought it up as an example, I don't believe that our Universe is a simulation and I don't believe in supernatural Gods either, probably the answer to all of that is far exceeding our capacity of thought. Maybe we are too dumb to understand.

@@we.MUST.keep.OUR.democracy ask god .

[@we.MUST.keep.OUR.democracy]

@@-_Nuke_- I too have thought about the simulation theory and have dismissed it though anything IS possible but it is unlikely. I believe when we die our souls go to another dimension and our energy force goes on forever. Off topic but I swear this happened: I rescued a half grown starling from my cat many years ago and put it in the shed in a bird cage overnight, when I checked on it in the morning it was alive and looked at me, then the next thing that happened was a breeze of air flew by my left side of my face which was odd because the shed door was closed and there were no windows, (it was a dome shed covering the cellar) I looked at the bird again and it was dead. I was standing inside in front of the closed door and it was as if it's soul flew by me. I had never thought of birds having souls before that day. The theory of all times existing at once is more plausible to me but what do I know since I only have a high school education, lol. I'm very curious and want to know how the pyramids of Giza were built and if there really was the resurrection of Jesus, I would love to have a time machine! Anyway, thanks for indulging me, I appreciate it and your answer was very intriguing and informative.

[@carlwilkinson5095]

I don't want to reengage the drug war, but whoever sells weed to BIll Maher needs to be arrested. If instead Bill is just grimly conservative, and knowledge-resistant (which, after several recent episodes, I've begun to understand as quite close to reality), then. BIll. BIll. Even Carson retired. And you, my friend, sadly (at least when I think back to the late 00s and early 10s), were great. Damn. This doesn't look good.

[@nofurtherwest3474]

u sound high right now

[@lulul0l039]

Maher's videos were very precious to me when I was still struggling with BS propaganda I was spoonfed growing up, but I find him increasingly disappointing as well. I also think age and all that weed is taking it's toll on his mental capacity.

[@ann266]

Niel is such a badass when it comes to talking

[@shane-o-matic]

Bill Maher and that other Stephen Miller looking, skee ball head boy lost me with defending Columbus. Gtfoh!

[@lynnbigler3085]

Can't recall the last time someone talking with Neil brought up race. How refreshing.

[@TheBlack-my5yf]

Probably because they know he would tell them that outside of people wearing sneakers and shorts and trying to get from Point A to Point B first, there's no such thing as "race."

[@shesaknitter]

@@TheBlack-my5yf Tell that to the White Supremacist cops who kill people of color when they feel like it, and almost always with impunity.

[@TheBlack-my5yf]

@@shesaknitter Yep, "race" is the creation of racists.

[@somethingyousaid5059]

Goodness isn't the ultimate basis for any good that you would do. Rather, evil is, that because it is, any unconscious motivation that you would have for "doing good" necessarily would be an ultimately evil motivation for doing it. Who among us isn't unconsciously self-serving? Who among us isn't forced to be that? Your pure selflessness is an impossibility. "There is none that doeth good, no, not one."

[@Infidel_hero]

Nobody does it better -Carly Simon

[@Jaywalk-uq6wy]

Love that tie!

[@paladro]

astrophysics needs a new ambassador

[@xaraun]

Everything happens for a reason. And that reason is physics.

[@64standardtrickyness]

can't believe Neil didn't say the Greeks knew the earth was round

[@xnonsuchx]

People well before the Greeks knew it was round.

[@64standardtrickyness]

@@xnonsuchx okay whatever my point was that columbus wasn't revolutionary in that idea maybe he had some idea that there was land and he was responsible for Europeans knowing about the americas but certainly not an earth was round idea

[@bethfinne3260]

Paraphrase - We are overdosing on mining the past for fresh outrage. We need a society mature enough to handle moral ambiguity. YES

[@kaptenhiu5623]

Galileo put it elegantly. Religion tells people how to go to heaven. Science tells people how the heaven go.