Why do conservatives hate Neil DeGrasse Tyson?

r/

Conservatives always say they have the formula for success in America. Get an education, work hard, obey the law and you will be successful.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson an astrophysicist is all of these things. You would think they would be proud of a successful black man doing it their way. But that isn’t the case. Conservatives hate NDT.
Why?

Comments

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  2. alanmitch34 Avatar

    I love that guy except when he talks over people during podcasts 

  3. GreatFondant3479 Avatar

    Perhaps some conservatives find Neil DeGrasse Tyson annoying because he’s a successful black man who insists on reminding them the universe doesn’t actually revolve around their specific interpretation of a 2000-year-old book or their preferred cable news channel.

  4. victorioussecret7 Avatar

    Racism and stupidity

  5. armrha Avatar

    Does anyone like him? He’s like “This movie is impossible, the very nature of the distance between the stars means a ‘Star War’ would be incredibly impractical”

  6. Smoke-A-Beer Avatar

    I dislike his demeanour. He acts like he’s the arbiter of all information. The expert of experts. He also is very condescending. In regard to OP’s question he definitely likes targeting religion. I’m personally agnostic, but I don’t appreciate his disrespect to our religious colleagues. You can disagree without the disrespect.

  7. Typical_Choice58 Avatar

    I’m a conservative and don’t have a particular problem with him. I don’t personally know any of us who do.

  8. UrbanWalker1 Avatar

    Because he pretends to know more than he does and to have expertise on matters well beyond his.

    Bill Maher conversation recently is an example. Tyson was arguing as if medical doctors know everything and always correctly and definitively diagnose and prognose; a point that is obviously false in addition to being about an area Tyson lacks knowledge of anyway.

  9. Jeithorpe Avatar

    Yeah that’s actually not true.

    I’m somewhere in the middle, and have friends on both sides of the fence, and I don’t know any conservatives that don’t like NDT.

  10. Particular_Pass5580 Avatar

    I’ve never heard any of us conservatives say we hate him. I think it’s fair to say we don’t love him like many others do. I mean, when you’re at odds with someone as fundamental to your faith as the origin of the universe, it’s pretty common not sing the guy’s praises.

  11. Broad_Minute_1082 Avatar

    He’s so obnoxious. Basically the Dane Cook of scientists. Louder isn’t better.

  12. ReadRightRed99 Avatar

    I don’t hate him. But he’s an atheist and I disagree with him on that.

  13. Constant-Parsley3609 Avatar

    Just about every human on the planet has some good qualities.

    The fact that Tyson has some good qualities does not mean that there is no reason to dislike him.

    Obeying the law and working hard are things that everyone should be doing.

    It is very commonly reported that he’s quite rude behind the scenes:

    https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/s/6f4Mn6upt7

    I don’t think anyone denies that he is successful, but there are many successful people that I don’t like and I’m sure you are the same. Elon musk and Donald trump are both very successful, but I don’t think highly of either of them.

    Personally, I have liked a lot of the videos and podcasts that Tyson has appeared in. He has an interesting way of speaking and he can be quite fun to listen to. But he also can come off as a bit big headed and condescending. He often nit-picks people on minor points that just don’t matter and seems fixated on sounding profound and smarter than the person he’s talking to.

    He also has a habit of focusing so much on being poetic and shocking in his science explanations that it only really makes sense to a person that already knows what he’s talking about. Great if you want a new perspective on that fact you already know, but a complete disaster for someone trying to actually learn a new fact.

  14. Middcore Avatar

    I’m not a conservative but I can’t stand him.

    He’s a bore who thinks it’s his duty to do stuff like remind everyone “Actually, science says magic isn’t real” when a fantasy movie comes out, and he seems to think that being knowledgeable within his specific scientific discipline qualifies him to spout off on anything and everything.

    The only thing I’ve ever seen him do that actually made me kind of like him was when he appeared on Celebrity Jeopardy, because he was quite obviously nervous and really wanted to win, and I found it an endearing change from his usual tedious self-satisfaction.

  15. Ladefrickinda89 Avatar

    I think he’s a great guy, but he’s an accomplished astrophysicist. He shouldn’t become a political pundit.

  16. moccasins_hockey_fan Avatar

    It is not just conservatives who dislike him.

  17. cave-acid Avatar

    I don’t hate him but find him to be extremely annoying. I’m also not a conservative though.

  18. SteveRivet Avatar

    I don’t think it’s just conservatives. He’s smug, arrogant, and tends to agree with democrat talking points the vast majority of the time.

  19. liacosnp Avatar

    Terrible case of smartest guy in the room syndrome. I’m a leftist and I can’t stand him.

  20. ChupacabraCommander Avatar

    I generally enjoy listening to podcasts that he is a guest on. He has a habit of talking over other people and presents himself as an expert on subjects well outside his expertise but no one is perfect. Overall I’d say that I see him in a pretty positive light.

  21. Toc33 Avatar

    He’s an asshole. That’s why.

  22. Mr_NNP Avatar

    I am more of a moderate than a conservative anymore, but I used to love Neil. My issue with him anymore is that he acts like he is an expert in every topic. The man is a brilliant astrophysicist, to be sure, but I feel like I am bombarded by clips of him talking about every topic but astronomy. I have seen him be completely wrong a few times with regard to topics I know a lot about. It just seems like his notoriety has gone to his head. But this is just my opinion.

  23. tolgren Avatar

    Temu brand Carl Sagan

  24. SucculentMeatloaf Avatar

    I’m a conservative, and I like the guy. Can you justify your argument, or nah?

  25. BoysenberryUnhappy29 Avatar

    I find that most folks dislike pretentious and rude people.

  26. PineappleFit317 Avatar

    A lot of people on both sides of the political aisle started to dislike him when he started acting like a pedantic know-it-all.

  27. OldRaj Avatar

    I think you might be overstating it ever so slightly with “hate.”

  28. Nudist_Alien Avatar

    I’m with Pluto on this one

  29. BelligerentWyvern Avatar

    I think its funny that the attempt to conflate people disliking him with being conservative backfired pretty badly.

  30. VisibleSea4533 Avatar

    I rather like him 🤷🏼‍♂️

  31. Justthefacts6969 Avatar

    He denies God exists.

    It’s cute that you think it has to do with race though

  32. vandist Avatar

    He’s a very stereotypical academic, they can be super annoying due to overly concerned in minutiae. This drives people crazy, not just conservatives.

  33. Johnny_Bravo5k Avatar

    To be honest, the more I hear him be a jerk on podcasts, the less I like him.

    I’ve read many of his books and loved Cosmos. It’s too bad that he seems to be a dick.

  34. NBFHoxton Avatar

    I hate him because he constantly posts about kissing your lips in the mirror on Twitter.

  35. Round_Friendship_958 Avatar

    Who says conservatives hate him?

  36. FriedCammalleri23 Avatar

    Probably because he isn’t a creationist, nor is he religious. His quote “Religion is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance” probably rubbed them the wrong way.

    He’s also debated right-wingers like Ben Shapiro on topics like transgender rights and so on.

  37. FutureSaturn Avatar

    Which conservatives? Seems like a weird blanket statement with no facts to back it up. If you said Alyssa Milano or Alec Baldwin, I think we’d all agree. But to pick a dude who is a regular on Joe Rogan… I don’t believe you.

  38. Navy_Chief Avatar

    The only thing I don’t like about him is since he has become successful publicly is his ego, he feels like he is qualified to speak on any subject as an expert and often talks over other people to maintain his dominance. I don’t like anybody who does that. Other than that, more power to him!

  39. amateursmartass Avatar

    I did not know conservatives didn’t like him. I know he is often disliked because of the way he treats people, but this is the first I am hearing that it is a political thing.

  40. White_Buffalos Avatar

    He’s a pretentious blowhard who thinks he knows LITERALLY everything. That’s a sign of lower IQ, not high IQ, generally. Comes off as insecure.

    I’m a liberal, but he grates. Knows some stuff, but tries way too hard.

  41. Appropriate-Data1144 Avatar

    Not conservative, but I find him annoying, too. He speaks confidently on topics he doesn’t know about and constantly interrupts people. He’s just rude and kinda narcissistic.

  42. StrawbraryLiberry Avatar

    Do conservatives hate him? I’ve never met one that does.

  43. TheGreatGrungo Avatar

    I’m about as liberal as Americans come and I think Tyson is a hack

  44. LayneLowe Avatar

    Because they’re anti-intellectualists, they are intimidated by people that might be smarter than they are. (Because their beliefs are illogical and won’t stand up to reason)

  45. SeatSix Avatar

    Because he sciences

  46. Psychotic_Breakdown Avatar

    The obvious- an intelligent black man.

  47. dystopiadattopia Avatar

    He’s an educated black man

  48. Gothic96 Avatar

    Idk if it’s just conservatives. But when he speaks outside of his field, he isn’t as smart as he seems.

  49. Spiritual-Hour7271 Avatar

    He’s a scientist. Conservatives hate science. It’s pretty simple.

  50. mayhem6 Avatar

    Because facts?

  51. ElectricSheep451 Avatar

    Do conservatives hate him? Is that a stereotype? Typically the place I see NDT hate the most is on Reddit (as you can see from this comments section) and this website is the most left leaning social media site.

  52. United_Sheepherder23 Avatar

    He seems like a know it all douche that doesn’t really know it all, and is just paid to promote certain ideas (hence his public fame) There are quite a few scientists that aren’t as altruistic as they seem, they secure funding so they have to push a certain narrative.

  53. IrishPorpoise Avatar

    Well, he’s a smart black man for one.

  54. discreetyeg Avatar

    Because he’s a successful, articulate, smart black man; someone who is much smarter than most white ‘MuriKKKans.

    That’s why they hate him.

  55. IJourden Avatar

    People get real upset when someone acts like they know more than them, even when they do.

    Comments here have it on full display.

  56. Spirited-Water1368 Avatar

    He’s a smug know-it-all who is too handsy with women. I’m liberal and I hate him.

  57. Past_Page_4281 Avatar

    Conservatives hate science

  58. rastagrrl Avatar

    He’s successful and Black. They feel threatened by successful Blacks.

  59. SnooTigers1583 Avatar

    He can tell very cool and interesting stories, but doesn’t know when to listen very well.
    He wants to Carry The conversation in every room he’s in.

  60. Old_Cod_5823 Avatar

    Not a conservative but I was under the impression that everyone thought he was a massive dick bag…

  61. jolard Avatar

    There are good reasons to be annoyed by NGT, for example he often jumps in with his opinion on issues he isn’t an expert in.

    But the real reason conservatives don’t like him is he is an advocate for science and science based political decision making. That drives conservatives crazy because “reality has a liberal bias” and Colbert once said. When you want policies that contradict the best science we have, then you are going to demonize science and those advocating for science based policy.

  62. notLennyD Avatar

    I’ve never met the guy, but the student group at my university that hosted him for a talk said that he was a prick.

    But to his credit, they said he wasn’t as bad as Lawrence Krauss. So I guess he has that going for him.

    As far as conservatives go. Probably a mixture of him not being a climate change denier and being black.

  63. clearly_not_an_alt Avatar

    I don’t know that they really hate him any more than anyone else telling them that climate change is real, and the Bible is fake.

  64. ThePepperPopper Avatar

    I didn’t know anyone hated him.

  65. Altruistic_Role_9329 Avatar

    He doesn’t parrot their party line, so to them he must be a diversity hire.

  66. Ridiric Avatar

    Success is a relative term to what you’re after. DeGrasse biggest turn off is he knows everything and he wants everyone to know he knows everything. I think that’s why more than his ideas.

  67. animal_house1 Avatar

    Man came at Pluto the wrong way

  68. cd_R_Burke Avatar

    OP ya opened a can of worms lol. Personally I like the fella and his podcast.

  69. TrueEclective Avatar

    Really? He’s one of the most intelligent people alive. He’s articulate. He’s an atheist. He’s black. I’m a 48 year old white guy. He’s my own personal Jesus.

  70. DonkeyGlad653 Avatar

    Where are you getting your data on hating him?

    Everybody I know would love to have a BBQ with him. Try to see if we could impress him with our fire starting techniques. I think he’d be a hoot.

  71. sshlinux Avatar

    Have you read his phd thesis? Dude is an idiot. It’s not just conservatives.

  72. Soft-Butterfly7532 Avatar

    Because he’s a moron.

  73. Live-Ball-1627 Avatar

    I’m not a conservative and I really dislike him.

    He is arrogant, smarmy, talks over people, and has a bad habit of talking about things he doesn’t understand as if he is an expert.

  74. redpetra Avatar

    I do not think this is limited to conservatives. The guy is basically just a social media influencer now, and he is always smugly pontificating about things he literally knows nothing about. He is super annoying most of the time. Love it when he sticks to his field though.

  75. Azameen Avatar

    I’m not conservative, but I think he comes off as kind of arrogant.
    He talks over people frequently during his podcast.
    And I’m not particularly happy with this position on the UFO / UAP phenomenon

  76. good-luck-23 Avatar

    Cons hate science. They believe evreything we ever need to know is in the Bible.

  77. mtgtfo Avatar

    I don’t know if or why conservatives “hate” him but I think he is an insufferable twat.

  78. Pale_Investigator433 Avatar

    They hate facts, scientists = facts

  79. dd99 Avatar

    You didn’t happen to notice the color of his skin, did you? White conservatives are racists plain and simple. Black conservatives in America are very confused people. Might be okay in another country, where they either didn’t have white conservatives or they weren’t racist. But I think the terms. “white conservatives” and “racists” are probably synonymous everywhere

  80. Greedy_Dirt369 Avatar

    They don’t. I am one and neither i nor any of my friends dislike him. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve read a book or two by him. He’s a genius and a master of the soundbite.

  81. Cute-Gur414 Avatar

    He’s a sanctimonious blow hard.

  82. Apprehensive-Put4056 Avatar

    It’s not just conservatives.

  83. GreatSoulLord Avatar

    I’m a Conservative and I’ve literally never heard of anyone hating Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I like him and I’ve listened to his Star Talk Podcast every now and then. I don’t think I can answer this because I don’t think it’s a real thing.

  84. NeLaX44 Avatar

    He does not believe in religion. That’s why.

  85. Greedy_Dirt369 Avatar

    I have recently found out that redditors apparently don’t like him. Probably because redditors and him are too similar. But he gets to correct people in real life and people think he’s smart, which is what all redditors really want.

  86. Accomplished_Sun1506 Avatar

    It’s their god complex.

  87. Balogma69 Avatar

    I don’t hate him but he is pretty smug and pretentious. He also likes to interrupt people a lot on podcasts.

  88. theschadowknows Avatar

    I don’t think it’s a “conservatives don’t like him” thing. People who don’t like pretentious douchebags don’t like him. Some of those people are conservatives.

  89. PoisonousSchrodinger Avatar

    I am quite progressive and technically educated but sometimes he seems to make it very emotional when explaining questions to make it more interesting? I understand other people like his way of talking, but just give me the sweet, close to monotone voice of Brian Cox <3

  90. TheFieldAgent Avatar

    Dang I didn’t know people disliked him. His books are pretty fun reads

  91. TesterOSC Avatar

    Largely because he’s just so damn arrogant and treats others badly. For me, I also think he’s so caught up in his own science, he can fail to see logic. My favorite point is his argument that we shouldn’t go to Mars. He likes to say, if we can fix a planet, we should fix Earth first… That’s nuts. You bug bomb your apartment while you’re in it! People screw a lot up when experimenting. I mean some of the plans for Mars are to nuke the poles… I don’t really wanna do planet teraforning experiments on the only planet we have… Dude is smart, but often lacks basic logic while treating others as bellow him.

  92. MenuOver8991 Avatar

    Black guy who explains reality to people in an accessible way? That’s pretty much their kryptonite

  93. Used_Intention6479 Avatar

    Nothing makes those who operate on attitudes and feeling as someone who operates on reason and logic – for obvious reasons. Facing NDT, for them, is like looking in a mirror, and it’s deeply disturbing to them.

  94. 295Phoenix Avatar

    Conservatives romanticize ignorance.

  95. yankstraveler Avatar

    His hate boner for Pluto is a large reason I know of.

  96. Piter__De__Vries Avatar

    Liberals hate him too, he’s an asshole

  97. AimlessSavant Avatar

    Not a conservative but he is too “I am the one with the doctorate, thus what I say is infallible.” When speaking about things a google search would instantly debunk what he says. 

  98. asscrackula1019 Avatar

    It has absolutely nothing to do with conservatives. Hes got way too big of an ego with an “im smarter than everyone” attitude, and acts like an expert on things outside of his field even when hes wrong. Hes the king of annoying know it alls who dont actually know it all

  99. UntrustedProcess Avatar

    I’m fairly conservative but don’t dislike him.  I enjoy a lot of popular science, especially space and futurism, so appreciate most of his work.

    I hear he is very arrogant in person,  but I don’t know him personally.  He’s an informative talking head on TV.

  100. Md655321 Avatar

    He’s not a conservative would be my guess

  101. Reptilian_Brain_420 Avatar

    I’m politically pretty centrist and I don’t think very highly of NDT.

    Just because you are an astrophysicist doesn’t make you correct on everything and doesn’t make you a good person.

  102. Quirky-Effort-5686 Avatar

    He has the audacity to be smart and black, two things conservatives can’t stand.

  103. OneToeTooMany Avatar

    Which conservatives hate him?

    I don’t share his politics but he’s mildly entertaining.

  104. sammys21 Avatar

    because hes black!

  105. _burning_flowers_ Avatar

    He’s highly intelligent and black.

    The reasons we like him, are the same reasons they hate him.

  106. harrisonlaine Avatar

    I’m…worried about what he will end up as in a few years. Like, remember when we looked up to Bill Nye…then his new show came out and after he became…polarizing. I feel something similar to Tyson. 

  107. GoDeacs7 Avatar

    I saw him do an in-person talk once and thought he was super engaging. He stated a fact that I’ll never forget: “There are more molecules in a glass of water than there are glasses of water in all the earth’s oceans.”

  108. Nawnp Avatar

    Because they hate science that they don’t understand.

  109. FlyFeetFiddlesticks Avatar

    I think because Jesus wasn’t actually conservative and/or real

  110. Eastern_Distance6456 Avatar

    Mostly because he’s pompous and is just interested in being worshiped and adored. He also wants to be taken as an expert on everything. It doesn’t help that there’s a lot of stories that say how much of a jerk he is.

  111. Strict_Jacket3648 Avatar

    An intelligent scientist trying to explain things in a way most would understand. Everything conservatives can’t comprehend.

  112. awfulcrowded117 Avatar

    I know a lot of conservatives, none of them hate NDT. They hate how NDT uses his very narrow field of specialty (astrophysics) to pretend to be an expert about every scientific field and make bold, politically motivated claims with weak, if any, scientific backing.

  113. uriejejejdjbejxijehd Avatar

    Conservatives usually have an authoritarian world view: it doesn’t matter what is correct, it matters that the in-group wins. Science and scientists are the polar opposite to this.

    On top of that, a large portion of the American conservative demographic is racist and undereducated. He triggers both aversions (“non-Caucasian” “talking as if he knows more than us”).

  114. Vercingetorixbc Avatar

    Hates a strong word but I’m not sure that conservatives have a monopoly on being annoyed by him.

  115. Dolan_Starbanger Avatar

    Because he’s a scientist

  116. lucidzfl Avatar

    Anyone educated should “hate” NDT. I would like to think that is the call to action that brings both sides together.

  117. DontTalkToMeAnymore Avatar

    I’m that and I like him big.

  118. KindAwareness3073 Avatar

    When it comes to conservatives feelings about NDGT a lot of these comments are ignoring the elephant in the room.

  119. Hypnowolfproductions Avatar

    I’m conservative and subscribe to his Youtube. I love him dearly in an educational way.

    So where are you getting your info from? You are just using a couple of people not the entirety of people. This is faulty logic and assessment.

  120. marklar_the_malign Avatar

    Black man and scientist. Need I say more?

  121. lalachef Avatar

    He makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X