A Lesson in How NOT to be Skeptical: The Fake Neil deGrasse Tyson Quote
Posted by mattusmaximus on October 24, 2012
Many times we self-described skeptics and critical thinkers do not live up to our own rhetoric. Case in point: How many skeptics/atheists/freethinkers/etc do you know who have shared the following quote, or perhaps you have shared it yourself?
Well, here’s the rub… this quote attributed to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is…
FAKE!!!
Ouch. I have to admit that I probably would have fallen for it, too; maybe I did, I cannot remember seeing this on my Facebook wall, but who knows? It’s a good lesson for those of us who call ourselves skeptics to make sure that we’re taking care to walk the skeptical/critical thinking walk and not just talk the talk. Here’s a good YouTube video expanding upon this lesson:
Kitty Lapin Agile said
“You can’t believe everything your read on the internet”- Abraham Lincoln
Ron Murphy said
Perhaps you shared it because, being an independent thinker, you agreed with the sentiment, and did not share it based on the authority of NDT. If it’s a good idea it doesn’t really matter who said it – even some anonymous author labelling it as NDT. So, do you agree with the sentiment?