Current Events > Neil DeGrasse Tyson tweets about El Paso/Ohio shootings

(+) Yeah! (+)

He shouldnt have apologized.

A lot of people still agree with him, over 255k likes, and he still comes off as yeah I'm still right in his apology.
---

Going off just his initial tweet, it comes across as shit posting. He's comparing death to accidents or illness, which people take active measures against to minimize, to wanton rampage murder sprees for which politicians do jack and shit because they love their NRA checks too much.

Individual shooters can legally purchase and use 100-round drum magazines on modified AK-47's to commit literal hate crimes with nothing to stop copycat killers from following suit and DeGrasse's response is 'Hey guise, the number of dead are fewer than other things in life so no worries, be happy!" It's a terrible take.

I guess he's not smart enough to understand the concept of empathy. :P
---

People can be so dense. The problem isnt if the numbers are accurate. The problem is those other causes of death are being addressed and the general tone deafness of the tweet. Looks like edgy Neil felt like he wasnt in the news enough recently.
---

Maze_ posted...

This is really dumb.

People dying due to other things doesn't make needless mass shootings acceptable.

Was he saying that mass shootings are acceptable?
---

Wow the meme that NDT is a dick who loves to spout out facts to appear superior is true

I don't think it's way off base to characterize the tweet as "tone deaf," but at the same time that's pretty close to the "now is not the right time to talk about this" line that gun advocates and gun control advocates both use. It's never going to be the right time but we have to have the conversation anyway.
---

Polycosm posted...

I don't think it's way off base to characterize the tweet as "tone deaf," but at the same time that's pretty close to the "now is not the right time to talk about this" line that gun advocates and gun control advocates both use. It's never going to be the right time but we have to have the conversation anyway.

"people keep dying from gun violence, lets talk about gun legislation"

"people just died from gun violence, let's talk about traffic accidents and the flu"

These are not similar.
---

DeadBankerDream posted...

Polycosm posted...

I don't think it's way off base to characterize the tweet as "tone deaf," but at the same time that's pretty close to the "now is not the right time to talk about this" line that gun advocates and gun control advocates both use. It's never going to be the right time but we have to have the conversation anyway.

"people keep dying from gun violence, lets talk about gun legislation"

"people just died from gun violence, let's talk about traffic accidents and the flu"

These are not similar.

You've missed the point of NDT's tweet. He's saying that gun violence is treated as a spectacle. The traffic and flu stats are cited for the purpose of providing context and perspective for the gun death statistic.
---

I didnt miss his "point", but I know how making that claim makes you sound smart to yourself, so go on.
---

He has almost 300k likes on that tweet.
---

DeadBankerDream posted...

I didnt miss his "point", but I know how making that claim makes you sound smart to yourself, so go on.

My mistake; you misstated it intentionally then. You frame NDT's argument as a change of subject. It's not. His tweet is a comment on the way the public reacts to gun violence. I don't think it should be taboo to talk about that when we're right in the middle of another public reaction to gun violence.
---

Polycosm posted...

DeadBankerDream posted...

I didnt miss his "point", but I know how making that claim makes you sound smart to yourself, so go on.

My mistake; you misstated it intentionally then. You frame NDT's argument as a change of subject. It's not. His tweet is a comment on the way the public reacts to gun violence. I don't think it should be taboo to talk about that when we're right in the middle of another public reaction to gun violence.

Numbers aren't everything. These mass shootings are representative of a far deeper problem that the statistics he referenced do.
---

BaiusGaltar posted...

These mass shootings are representative of a far deeper problem than the statistics he referenced do.

Yeah, I think that's right.

@DeadBankerDream, I don't usually apologize for testing my own half-baked arguments on CE, but I think I stepped over the line there and was being kind of an asshole. Sorry, man. The bit of sarcasm that made it into my last reply betrayed a sense of frustration that I tried and failed to edit out before I hit "post." If I'm being honest, I was annoyed with several of the other posts ITT that you didn't even write, and I threw it back on you. That was unfair of me.

And, back to BaiusGaltar's point... I think if I'm going to run with NDT's position that it's important to keep perspective on this issue, then I have to recognize exactly what you said-- that these mass shootings are representative of a far deeper problem.
---