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> It's quite possible that Neil deGrasse Tyson has considered the simulation question critically and skeptically, and still come to the conclusion he has. That
by stametseater 4y ago
> It's quite possible that Neil deGrasse Tyson has considered the simulation question critically and skeptically, and still come to the conclusion he has.
That's possible but I wouldn't bet on it. He's not a philosopher, he's a science entertainer who runs a movie theater. The meat of his career is commentary on popular sciency subjects, most of them very far his actual academic expertise (astrophysics.) I figured this out after watching his twitter account for a while. Wall-to-wall poorly conceived hot takes on popular subjects that he obviously didn't put much thought into. If he thinks he can get hired for interviews/talks/books talking about simulation theory, I believe he'd do it even if he personally considered it to be unscientific nonsense.
- bena 4y agoEither way is likely, but I don't think the position of "they have a different position from me, therefore they are not thinking critically" is a good one in general. Now, I'll probably never get to actually talk to Tyson on simulation theory, so I'll never be able to ply him with any question I have about his position. Or to ask if he considered certain other points of view. Or to question certain gaps that need to be covered in order to make a simulation, etc. But I'll not assume that he hasn't critically considered the information presented to him. I'll also not accuse him of not approaching it critically, because whether or not he has, he probably believes he has. So it's a non-starter of a conversation.