Neil Tyson lied, his credibility died | Update: Tyson denies, goes full retard

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The quote was drawn long ago from my memory of a news story that appeared in the New York Post in the early-to-mid-1990s. It was a second-tier headline. The point of my commentary was not to indict a particular publication or journalist but to make a broader statement about STEM illiteracy in America, and how that can adversely affect our future economic stability as a Nation. The exact reference is long lost.

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I’ve actually heard this quote several times in my life, but only once (in person) with a member of Congress. Again, as with the NYPost, names don’t matter here. My point is not to indict an individual but to cite a broader issue that affects all of American society. A point clear and present to all those who attend my talks and who glean the context in which this information is presented.

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September 11th2001 affected me deeply, as was true with most people:

I have explicit memory of those words being spoken by the President. I reacted on the spot, making note for possible later reference in my public discourse. Odd that nobody seems to be able to find the quote anywhere -- surely every word publicly uttered by a President gets logged.

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FYI: There are two kinds of failures of memory. One is remembering that which has never happened and the other is forgetting that which did. In my case, from life experience, I’m vastly more likely to forget an incident than to remember an incident that never happened. So I assure you, the quote is there somewhere. When you find it, tell me. Then I can offer it to others who have taken as much time as you to explore these things.

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Also, I do not use written notes when I give public talks. Instead, my talks are more like conversations with the audience. (Ask anyone who has attended, rather than people who have only commented on transcripts or on posted excerpts.) I’ve found that when talks are read to an audience the content is at risk of being stiff and lifeless. So my goal when communicating is always to convey the message of a story. But now that I know that you are paying such close attention to details, I'll try even harder to have my spoken numbers match my printed numbers.

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I don’t know how good the records are for searching. Good luck. Maybe you can put out a general announcement to see if you can find any of the other two-dozen people who were in the courtroom at the time. Including the judge and lawyers. Perhaps one of them will remember and come forward for you, serving as an eyewitness. But the underlying fact here is that I am probably a better eyewitness than any of them because the incident involved me.

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Note that the lowest form of evidence in the court of science is eyewitness testimony. In spite of it being a high form of evidence in the court of law. Yet that’s most of what I have offered you here. Me telling you “I said it. I saw it. I read It. I heard it.” So I admire your skepticism. We all share this in the scientific community. The difference is that our urge to run and verify a statement is proportional to how extraordinary the claim is. If my colleague tells me it was cloudy at the telescope last night, I’m not compelled to mount an investigation of its truth. But if my colleague declared that an alien saucer flew over the observatory last night, my need for evidence beyond his eyewitness account increases greatly.

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Brandt @UrbanAchievr

Redditors scoured every inch of MH17 crash zone & every face in Boston marathon crowd. If @neiltyson's Bush quote was real, they'd find it.

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Andrew Kaczynski @BuzzFeedAndrew

Just admit you either misremembered or made up a Bush quote @neiltyson. This denial flys in face of scientific method https://facebook.com/notes/neil-degrasse-tyson/email-exchange-with-the-federalist/10152354422065869/ …

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Sean Davis @seanmdav


This, from @neiltyson, is the adult equivalent of swearing that you totally did see a leprechaun riding a unicorn. https://m.facebook.com/notes/neil-degrasse-tyson/email-exchange-with-the-federalist/10152354422065869/ …

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Michael B Dougherty @michaelbd


I like how he pretends his fanboys are “we in the scientific community” https://m.facebook.com/notes/neil-degrasse-tyson/email-exchange-with-the-federalist/10152354422065869/ …

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