Physicist Chad Orzel takes Cosmos remake star Tyson to task for attack on teachers

wallstreeter43 if you were different then you were different. A special case. however , i insist, teachers don't matter in the curve of student accomplishment anytime. the upper class kids will not be hurt by bad teacher(s) and the lower class kids by good teacher(s). Its just not true that kids are influenced intellectually by a few teachers. IF so then one good teacher bringing change would mean ALL the rest were irrelevant. This making my point. OR one bad teacher being a influence would nullify all the the good teachers. How does this work? Nope. You can predict grade oners results in grade 12 by identity. In any category. Indeed for you the greater point was probably memorization concepts and congradualtions on how it changed your results. Yet you are within the spectrum of a curve. Robert Byers

"Humans aren't as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth. So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were 'reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy." Neil deGrasse Tyson That would be A,A,A,F Neil. Please try harder. Cross

Btw, this is not the first time Tyson tweeted this. He made the very same tweet at least once before (months ago). If memory serves, he tweeted it additionally before then also. He has a grudge. OT, is BA77 on vacation? Have not read from him lately:( ppolish

cantor:

Tyson displayed astonishingly poor judgement posting that tweet. It certainly gives a glimpse into who he is.

I'm sure it's a habit with him. And there can be no doubt that, like some other people we know, Tyson is a fervent believer in abiogenesis, infinite sets that are bigger than other infinite sets, FTL travel and other magical poofery. Just saying. Mapou

Neil is including his own teachers I would have to imagine? Maybe not, and he has thanked a teacher or two or three that he studied under I don't know. Maybe he is still mad over that B he got. Let it go Neil. ppolish

Tyson displayed astonishingly poor judgement posting that tweet. It certainly gives a glimpse into who he is. cantor

Your #16, Me_Thinks. An absolute classic! Even by Woody Allen's standards. Axel

No, Me_Think. According to my then-landlady (who taught emotionally maladjusted kids) "Those who can’t do, teach. And those who can’t teach, teach teachers." I think every school teacher has a teacher-training horror story. P.S. We sincerely apologize to all teacher-trainers who are offended by that thoughtless comment about the teacher-trainers. We respect the noble teacher-trainers, and it is not our intention to slight these... DNA_Jock

Those who can't do, teach. And those who can't teach, teach gym - Woody Allen Me_Think

This saying of G K Chesterton sure nails the atheist science-celeb: “Progress is Providence without God. That is, it is a theory that everything has always perpetually gone right by accident. It is a sort of atheistic optimism, based on an everlasting coincidence far more miraculous than a miracle.” How could any such celeb have any rational thoughts of even average merit to contribute ? Go back to sleep, Neil, there's a good chap. You, too, William Nye of the same secular parish. Axel

They'll be grading on a curve, Joe. DNA_Jock

Any student who gets straight A’s (i.e. ALL A’s, year after year) is therefore doing so despite the occasional poor teacher.

That doesn't follow. It could be that the poor teachers are just giving the students A's. Joe

News comments: Neil Rickert at 1: Chad Orzel took it differently.

But as Neil Rickert explained, Orzel is obviously mis-interpreting Tyson. Even in a good school system, not ALL teachers are good (ask a department head). Thus ALL students will be exposed to some iffy teachers -- maybe one a year, maybe fewer in a really good school. Any student who gets straight A's (i.e. ALL A's, year after year) is therefore doing so despite the occasional poor teacher. What good teachers do for these straight A students is make classes more enjoyable. Which is very important, I assure you. It helps maintain their incredible self-motivation. How on earth does Orzel get from Tyson's tweet to

So the idea that nobody could possibly deserve all A’s just doesn’t fly.

Huh ??? DNA_Jock

My experience as an educator is that A-students are very much self-motivated, so a good teacher doesn’t actually do much positive for them and a bad teacher doesn’t actually do much harm to them.

Bad teachers can take the motivation out of good students. Joe

Students who earn straight “A”s in school do so not because of good Teachers but in spite of bad Teachers.

If the teachers are "bad" then how was it determined that those students earned those A's? Joe

I agree it is a rather silly Tweet. I can't see why it is relevant that he is a scientist and atheist. I have no doubt that deeply religious figures have made equally silly casual comments about education. Mark Frank

Mapou , tyson doesn't have a mental disorder. He is a mental disorder lol wallstreeter43

Robert , when I was 11 I was actually failing the 6th grade and it wasn't because I wasn't trying but because I learned things differently then others. I was very fortunate to have a great teacher that thought outside of the box and taught me ways to learn and memorize that were totally abnormal to others . It changed everything . At the end of that year I was tested as having acillege comprehension level, high school math level and al sit every other area as being high school and above . I was picked to read the graduation speech for my school. What tyson says is a bunch of BS. Anyone remember poor jessie Kilgore who was influenced and bullied big time by his biology teacher (who was an atheist ) to read an atheistically biased book on evolution and God by Dawkins and ended up committing suicide because of it ? How can anyone say that teachers don't make a difference. They are in a position of big time influence and what they say can have a huge impact on a students mind. Why do you think Darwinists want to keep hold of their power position so badly ? wallstreeter43

This orzel sounds like a boss telling people what they can say. I find nothing wrong with tyson's comment.Cosmos was a terrible moral blunder with its anti-Christian anti creationist stance. Tyson says nasty things about creationism but so what. They all do. It is the kids who get the a's and not the teachers credit. not their discredit either for not getting a's. Success in schooling is largely a result of identity. Things, almost, beyond free will. like in ones language one learns. nOt actually innate but almost beyond freewill for us all. Its a rare person to break out of their curve they grow up in in North America. teachers can bump our cirves in special cases. however largely the teacher is irrelevant. You can measure it. Robert Byers

Like so many atheist geeks, Tyson is probably suffering from some kind of neurological disorder. He may be bipolar or has Asperger's syndrome, or something similar. Two of the symptoms are a superiority complex and extreme narcissism. They love starting little fires here and there to see how others react. So don't get too worked up over what they say. One day, Tyson will end up saying something so outrageously stupid and offensive, he'll have to disappear into the woodwork to avoid embarrassing the priesthood. Mapou

Maybe fewer teachers than Neil hoped for are using the Cosmos remake in their classrooms? That there would make them bad teachers in Neil's world. ppolish

The question that keeps coming to my mind is... Who gives a damn what Tyson thinks anyway? He's just another science terrorist. humbled

Neil Rickert at 1: Chad Orzel took it differently. You write: "My experience as an educator is that A-students are very much self-motivated, so a good teacher doesn’t actually do much positive for them and a bad teacher doesn’t actually do much harm to them." Isn't THAT convenient. It certainly has not been my experience as a student. But as I said, a science celeb can dump on anyone he pleases, and all kinds of people will say anything to defend him. News

I honestly don't see a problem in what Tyson tweeted there. It has a slogan-like quality, so we aren't supposed to take it all that literally anyway.

I suppose all my colleagues could be “bad Teachers,” but that’s a little hard to believe.

I don't see Tyson as suggesting anything of the kind. My experience as an educator is that A-students are very much self-motivated, so a good teacher doesn't actually do much positive for them and a bad teacher doesn't actually do much harm to them. And I take Tyson's tweet to be saying something similar. Neil Rickert