How Michio Kaku, Alex Filippenko, Laura Danly, et al. earn their pay

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Discussion Overview

The thread discusses the ways in which popular physicists like Michio Kaku, Alex Filippenko, and Laura Danly engage the public through sensational soundbites and statements. Participants share their favorite quotes and explore the implications of these statements on public understanding of physics and science communication.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that popular physicists use dramatic soundbites to capture audience attention, exemplified by phrases like "If it weren't for the electromagnetic force, the Sun and the Earth would simply BLOW apart!"
  • Others propose that such statements, while entertaining, may oversimplify complex scientific concepts, leading to misconceptions.
  • A participant mentions that the fine structure constant is so finely tuned that a slight change could have catastrophic consequences, illustrating the dramatic nature of popular science communication.
  • There are references to the role of television in shaping public perceptions of science, with some arguing that its primary purpose is to attract viewers for advertising.
  • Some contributions reflect on the nature of knowledge acquisition, questioning the necessity of formal education in becoming an intellectual.
  • A participant speculates on the implications of a universe with significantly less matter but the same physical laws, raising philosophical questions about existence and perception.
  • Several participants critique Michio Kaku's statements, suggesting he often makes exaggerated claims that may not align with scientific consensus, while others defend the value of popular science communication.
  • Quotes from other physicists, such as Sean Carroll, are shared, with mixed reactions regarding their validity and impact on public understanding.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of opinions on the effectiveness and accuracy of popular science communication. While some appreciate the engagement it brings to the public, others criticize the potential for misunderstanding and oversimplification. No consensus is reached on the appropriateness of the soundbites or the overall impact of such communication.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge the limitations of popular science communication, including the potential for misconceptions and the challenge of conveying complex ideas in an accessible manner. The discussion reflects a variety of perspectives on the balance between entertainment and scientific accuracy.

  • #31
Number Nine said:
"If the Universe were any different, it wouldn't be the same!"

bp_psy said:
That was so deep man!
Dude guy

Of course the statement is trivial. It is not trivial to say that if the Universe were a little different it would be a lot different, see e.g. #2.
 
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  • #32
Mentalist said:
According to this website Michio Kaku is the 5th best theoretical physicist, right after Richard Feynman.

http://www.mytopdozen.com/Best_Theoretical_Physicists.html

Gosh, what precision of measurement is achieved by modern physics!

Did they say by what percent this Kaku was better than Maxwell?

I think we should be told.
 
  • #33
That website says

The ranking is in particular based on the number of occurences of each theoretical physicist in web pages, news, pictures and people votes in corresponding context.
 
  • #34
Mentalist said:
According to this website Michio Kaku is the 5th best theoretical physicist, right after Richard Feynman.

http://www.mytopdozen.com/Best_Theoretical_Physicists.html

And Hawking is #1, ranked above Einstein, Feynman, Maxwell, and Newton.

Gordon Freeman, the fictional protagonist of the Half-Life video game series, is ranked above Isaac Newton. :smile:
 
  • #35
I have stopped watching any show that has Sean Carroll or Kaku or Filipenko or Morgan Freeman as the goto physicist or astrophysicist. IMO those people have trashed their physicist careers and are now only interested in being cool with huge numbers of facebook fans or twitter followers and are more interested in updating their two paragraph blog posts then they are about writing new papers. And Carroll wonders why he is never tenured at Cal Tech ...
 
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  • #36
At least Bob Wald hasn't gone TV on us. :)
 
  • #37
CFDFEAGURU said:
I have stopped watching any show that has Sean Carroll or Kaku or Filipenko or Morgan Freeman as the goto physicist or astrophysicist. IMO those people have trashed their physicist careers and are now only interested in being cool with huge numbers of facebook fans or twitter followers and are more interested in updating their two paragraph blog posts then they are about writing new papers. And Carroll wonders why he is never tenured at Cal Tech ...

I hope you're not saying that Morgan Freeman is a physicist...
 
  • #38
No, I am not. That was my poor attempt at humor here.
 
  • #39
CFDFEAGURU said:
No, I am not. That was my poor attempt at humor here.

One does not simply make fun of Morgan Freeman!
 
  • #40
CFDFEAGURU said:
At least Bob Wald hasn't gone TV on us. :)
The day Wald goes TV is the day I stop learning GR. It's sad enough Carroll did. Maybe if he spent less time writing pop sci books and more time writing a 2nd edition of his GR book, I wouldn't have to deal with typos that use the word embedding where one should use the word immersion.
 
  • #41
WannabeNewton said:
The day Wald goes TV is the day I stop learning GR. It's sad enough Carroll did. Maybe if he spent less time writing pop sci books and more time writing a 2nd edition of his GR book, I wouldn't have to deal with typos that use the word embedding where one should use the word immersion.

I have read blog posts by Carroll where he states that writing his GR textbook was a horrible decision because it took him away from research. Yet he wastes who know how much time with those horrible TV shows and pop sci books which don't really do much in the way of teaching.
 
  • #42
CFDFEAGURU said:
I have read blog posts by Carroll where he states that writing his GR textbook was a horrible decision because it took him away from research. Yet he wastes who know how much time with those horrible TV shows and pop sci books which don't really do much in the way of teaching.
I'm glad he did write it because there doesn't seem to be much middle ground between Wald and the lower level stuff but it still behooves me why he decided to go TV. I mean he was even on the Colbert report for pete's sake. Oh well :[
 
  • #43
WannabeNewton said:
I'm glad he did write it because there doesn't seem to be much middle ground between Wald and the lower level stuff but it still behooves me why he decided to go TV. I mean he was even on the Colbert report for pete's sake. Oh well :[

I totally agree with you. I am very glad he wrote it too. I am not a watcher of most TV shows especially the Colbert report. I think his wife, Jennifer Oulette, should be the one writing blogs and pop sci books because that is what her career is about.
 
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  • #44
CFDFEAGURU said:
I totally agree with you. I am very glad he wrote it too. I am not a watcher of most TV shows especially the Colbert report. I think his wife, Jennifer Oulette, should be the one writing blogs and pop sci books because that is what her career is about.
Indeed. Well at least Wald hasn't succumbed yet to the pressures lol. I could never imagine the man who included the most annoying tensor calculus problems in his text suddenly talking about the crud on those sci channel shows.
 
  • #45
WannabeNewton said:
I'm glad he did write it because there doesn't seem to be much middle ground between Wald and the lower level stuff but it still behooves me why he decided to go TV. I mean he was even on the Colbert report for pete's sake. Oh well :[

What's wrong with the Colbert Report?
 
  • #46
WannabeNewton said:
I'm glad he did write it because there doesn't seem to be much middle ground between Wald and the lower level stuff but it still behooves me why he decided to go TV. I mean he was even on the Colbert report for pete's sake. Oh well :[

You should learn what the word "behooves" means before you use it.
 
  • #47
Maybe baffles would be a better term.
 
  • #48
You, me, and everyone else on the planet are literally just stardust! We are all made of the remnants of an exploding supernova.

I think the producers have made all of them say this corny line at one time or another. I just about hurl my lunch whenever I see one of them say it in a new show as if it just came to them as some kind of epiphany. It must take practice to get that good at acting.
 
  • #49
But that is also true... Why shouldn't great scientists share great science to get people excited?
 
  • #50
mathskier said:
But that is also true...
not sure what you are referring to here.

Why shouldn't great scientists share great science to get people excited?

The problem is that they do NOT share great science ! They "share" stuff they have made up that is incorrect in terms of actual science.
 
  • #51
Kaku does worse. He calls unified field theory "the theory of everything," I believe he even went as far as to call it "the mind of God" I never quite understood that.
 
  • #52
phinds said:
not sure what you are referring to here.



The problem is that they do NOT share great science ! They "share" stuff they have made up that is incorrect in terms of actual science.

I was referring to our elements coming from stars, which is true. And it's great science, in that it excites people to study more.
 
  • #53
mathskier said:
I was referring to our elements coming from stars, which is true. And it's great science, in that it excites people to study more.

This is a great example. It is NOT entirely true but is presented as gospel as being exactly true.

Let me ask you ... how much of the human body is water?

How much of water is hydrogen?

How much hydrogen is created in stars?

When you follow this through you find that we are NOT all star-stuff, we are just mostly star-stuff. This is the kind of detail that they ignore on television because it sounds SO much more cool when you leave out the correct details.
 
  • #54
Julio R said:
Kaku does worse. He calls unified field theory "the theory of everything," I believe he even went as far as to call it "the mind of God" I never quite understood that.

Yes, this is the kind of thing that has caused me to say repeatedly that Kaku is in a class all by himslelf when it comes to making ridiculous statements. I think it is completely unfair to equate the others to him.
 
  • #55
Since I stopped watching those years ago. Does Garret Lissi still do them or has he resigned to doing research?
 
  • #56
I don't see what the issue is.

As long as they are correct, then there is no harm. All it does is potentially entice people to studying Physics or at least be more interested in it.
 
  • #57
The issue is that these physicists stop doing real research and just hop from TV show to TV show. They become more interested in being famous and delivering silly one liners then doing work.

Yes, it is good to inspire and that is best done thru hype. Just like a coach revs up his team in the locker room.

Pop sci books are all they produce or maybe a slightly more insightful overpriced Teaching Company lecture. To me that is not acceptable and they are cutting themselves very short.

I would like to see them deliver some Arnold one liners like: RUN, GET TO DA CHOPPA!

:)
 
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  • #58
Those shows make physics seem a lot different to what real physics is.
 
  • #59
I believe the interesting thing is that there aren't any generalizations. Once you begin to generalize the universe or world into these simple, easily explained, categories. This makes the universe boring and plain. If there aren't any intricacies, nothing is exciting.
 
  • #60
CFDFEAGURU said:
The issue is that these physicists stop doing real research and just hop from TV show to TV show. They become more interested in being famous and delivering silly one liners then doing work.

Is this a joke?

And even if you're right, who is to say what they should be doing with their time?
 

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