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How Did Bill Nye Become the Science Guy?
An anonymous reader writes "Whether he's debating creationists, taking selfies with President Obama, or 'Dancing with the Stars,' Bill Nye the Science Guy is no stranger to the spotlight. But what about the man behind the public persona? How did Bill Nye become the Science Guy?(video)
Bill Nye has made his debut on the PBS series, The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers, to reveal the story of how he rose from being a young comedian from Seattle to becoming a science icon.
In his profile, Bill Nye talks about his early days impersonating Steve Martin, why bow-ties are important in the lab (and with the ladies), and how Carl Sagan's advice helped to shape his hit television show."
Because he isn't a scientist despite the semantic games you play with his degree - he's an engineer. He returns to Cornell to lecture not because he's qualified to lecture, but because he's a famous media personality.
We're not tearing him down - we're pointing to the truth. He's not a scientist, his name originates from a comedy routine, and he's pretty much nothing but a media personality. If your hero worship can't stand the truth, that's not the truth's problem.
Most of the "pro-science" crowd doesn't give a damm about being productive or constructive. Being right is their goal, and because they're right anyone who doesn't believe as they do is completely wrong. (And even though they admit that "science isn't perfect" in the abstract.... they're loathe to deal with it in the concrete. It's all about the ego and the self image.) Anyhow, there isn't a real difference between the "pro-science" crowd and any other sub group. You could replace "right" in the above sentence with "blessed by God" or practically anything else and have an equally valid result.
The problem is, to not piss people off, you have to rewind the clock and undo years of fuckups by the climate change crowd - because they went political before they went scientific. It's been about weaponizing the discussion and humiliating the opposition from the very start.