Honestly, I’m kind of with you. I’ve known so many guys who were just pieces of shit, where accusations like this didn’t seem to come out of left field.
Alternately, if these allegations against NDT pan out, I would not be surprised in the least. I’ve read posts from college students who were stuck with him while he was doing lectures at their universities, and from what they’ve written he just seems like a dick (making fun of the philosophy and history majors stuck escorting him for not being in “real fields of study”… MOTHER FUCKER, YOU WORK AT A PLANETARIUM).
As someone else wrote on here, though: the entire #METOO movement has taught me one valuable thing. Don’t have heroes. Celebrities are just as big of pieces of shit as the average Joe, if not worse.
I want to give Tyson the benefit of the doubt here, but he doesn’t make it easy. At best his own statement makes him look massively clueless about boundaries, at worst it’s riddled with creepiness.
I cringed so hard when I read this bit of his statement:
Is he really so clueless that he doesn’t see what a grossly inappropriate thing that is to say not just in a work context but just about any context, assuming one genuinely intends to keep the relationship professional and/or platonic? And he said it multiple times! I can only conclude that he is indeed that clueless, because he quotes his own gross inappropriateness in his own defence!
With respect to the same woman: he had her over to his place for a one-on-one wine and cheese party that just happened to coincide with another work event. Double-ewe-tee-eff. Even if done with perfectly innocent intentions, could he not see the creepiness of such an invitation? Nope, still defending it. But why would someone accept such an invitation? Probably because one doesn’t easily say no to a famous person with career-making/breaking power.
I first read it a few days ago and those were the details that stuck. I’m sure there’s more cringy creepiness in the statement but I’m not going to read it again.
I think you’ll find it is the more depressing of those options if you talk to the women in your life, particularly those who have worked a lot in fields where strangers have a sense of power over you (waitstaff and hotel cleaning staff come to mind). I don’t think anyone I know who worked as a waitress doesn’t have a story of someone sexually harassing them. It just doesn’t make a great headline to say random customer makes lewd comment, then “accidentally” grabs a server’s ass.
Let me introduce you to a Christian doctrine called total depravity. It says that we are all crooked and the main reason why we don’t do more evil is because of lack of opportunity. Men have more power, therefore they do more evil. But it’s not power or men as such that are the problem. It’s human nature itself.
It was in fact mentioned, by you in fact while sidestepping a different conversation about a famous dude accused of similar things. Again I will reply that you could have started a topic as easily as anyone, rather than only using the matter to derail existing conversations.
Humans in every discipline and walk of life need role models. How many people pursued a career in science because they were inspired by great emissaries like Carl Sagan (a man who inspired even Tyson himself)?
When those role models are revealed as horrible human beings it seriously detracts from their ability to inspire us to become the best versions of ourselves.
A comment-thread at bbs. isnt exactly what I would call an article about it. but whatever, I wont mentioned it again, ok? but youre right; I kinda derailed without being really aware of it; my apologies.
Speaking for nerds everywhere, SHIT!!! Neil, do you have to be an asshole too? Can we not have any nice people in positions of authority? Ego is a bitch, and unfortunately intelligence does not preclude ego-driven assholery.
