Bill Nye the Philosophy Guy

Good to have him on board.

Bill Nye, the "Mr Wizard" of '90s television, suggested last year that philosophy is wasted effort. In a YouTube video, he said "philosophy is important for a while," -- presumably adolescence -- but it isn't something serious people should persist in.

He ended his brief YouTube discussion with the odd line, "drop the hammer on your foot and see if you don't notice it." I'm not sure what philosophical view he thought he was refuting with that one. But it was presumably in the tradition of Dr. Johnson "refuting" Berkeley. Except that even Johnson (who was being a wise-ass himself) didn't think he was responding to philosophy as a discipline.

Anyway, critiques of Nye's comments appeared quickly, among them one by Olivia Goldhill that seems to have come to his attention and done some good.

On April 15, 2017, Goldhill wrote on the subject of Nye-and-philosophy again, this time with a triumphant tone, "the science guy says he has changed his mind."

Good for you, Ms Goldhill!

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