Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
JectWon
(@_@) 1,654 Posts
I watched episode 1 on Sunday evening. It would be great to get the opinions of anyone else on SS who caught it.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. The visuals were amazing, the topics were relevant and were discussed/presented in a way that anyone can absorb them and, lastly, it was interesting.
I thought it started a bit slowly. It was neat how they began this series like they did the Sagan OG series but I think a bit too much time was wasted showing this fake space craft maneuver eloquently through our solar system...it was nifty but not really necessary. Also, there are parts where it seems to borderline on propaganda/evangelical territory...it's subtle and it happens to illustrate a position on science/logic that I agree with...but evangelical anything can be annoying. I can't put my finger on specific instances but there were some times where NDT is talking about religion and it's impedance on science and I got this awkward vibe from it...it seemed like you could reverse his position on the subject (have him talk about Science attacking religion) and it would feel just like some Religo' BS you'd see on some 700 club programming. Again, I don't think it went too far or anything, I just got a bit of that vibe and felt it was worth bringing up.
Again...I loved it overall. It treads on territory that anyone with a mild interest in space/cosmos already knows but that is fine because the goal of the show isn't to cater to people who are already space-nerds.
The real question...do you think this series will legitimately spark any interest in the general public to motivate them to learn about science/space?
Comments
Beyond regular education and the weekly NY Times Science Times?
Nope. But it could be the start of something down the line, like a commercialized APP for some super space-telescope image updates.
I dont think it will have the impact of the Food Network did w/ helping fan the flames of the Foodie Culture.
I have seen a pretty aggressive ad campaign, but I dont know who are the new OMNI fans in '14.
They should start a Science Channel.
History....Animals....Food.....Travel......
Yes. I think it will help spark a renewed interest in science. At least I hope so.
I'd like to see it leading to NDT getting a weekly show, perhaps as host of a magazine style tv show.
There were times when it was not subtle how hard it was hitting religion. The point is clear, if you don't believe in the big bang you are as bad as the Catholic Church was 500 years ago.
I assume, that starting next week it will start going into more detailed science.
I will not be watching, too many commercials for me. I'll wait till it is on netflix.
I think it should/will work in tandem with regular education and recently-developing STEM education to cultivate interest in kids. I honestly hope it is more successful than weekly news companies' efforts...
I don't have any illusions that this will create a thirst for Science comparable to what the Food Network has done. That would be amazing...but Foodie culture will always be more accessible and easy to digest than Science...regardless of how smart/dumb/open-minded/close-minded/left wing/right-wing someone is...they can all enjoy food.
I wonder what kind of viewer numbers the premier episode got...I haven't been able to find any estimates yet.
EDIT/UPDATE: found some numbers via an la times article: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-neil-degrasse-tysons-cosmos-premiere-ratings-notsostellar-on-fox-20140310,0,5705372.story
3rd place in viewership...5.8 million. Behind 'Resurrection' and 'Intelligence'....why am I all but certain that those shows are dumb as fuck.
Part of me thinks the numbers are actually good for a Science show...getting 5.8million Americans to learn something during prime time TV is a feat in itself...but part of me thinks "damn, they tee'd up that show directly after Family Guy and only got 3rd in numbers"....
lol really?
I have hope that this show captures the hearts and minds of a lot of kids. Anything to increase the scientific acumen of the average person. The OG series is certainly mentioned a lot when current leaders in science talk about influences.
Big Bear NDT...doin thangz
You all know damn well that we are incapable of actually being interested in anything sciencey anymore. If there's a dumb scream debate on whether schools will show this anti-religious liberal propaganda, we'll chew on that for a week or two.
Needs three judges and some crying.
Science!@
i believe this to be nod to Carl Sagan's Cosmos aesthetic and think they are aware of the cheesiness
I also believe that Sagan might have been a closet stoner.
Total US numbers are more like 8.5 million. It was on 10 channels.
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-79577274/
Thought it was a solid first eps. Looking forward to the show...
Sad truth. I guess I just hope this stirs the pot a little? At least tips the scales a little in favour of reason and science instead of feelings and rhetorical dogma.
Rockets
Moon shots
Spend it on
the have-nots
b/w
There they go, off to the moon
I can't afford a honeymoon
No, no, no
I dunno what "Ballzdeep" was expecting...it's a show about space hosted by NDT...thus they put both in that picture. Also, I agree...I wouldn't be the leastt bit surprised if it's cheesiness was inspired by the OG. It's actually incredibly similar to Ballzdeep's avatar.
And, yes Carl smoked tree...he wrote an essay in 1965 under the pseudonym Mr. Xin a book titled 'Marihuana Reconsidered'.
:ehhx2: Marvin was beautifully and timelessly crooning up the wrong tree....
1969 pie chart please
Fantastic point...and you are probably right.
The possibilities of space exploration seemed limitless when Sagan created 'The Cosmos' series. We expected to have multiple moon space stations, a moon base, most likely some type of base on mars, etc etc by now. Most of those aspirations were motivated by a pissing competition with Russia and an assumption that the exploding human population on Earth would demand/fuel this push into space. USSR went tits up, the need to have an interstellar dick measuring competition faded, scientists underestimated our ability to more efficiently produce food/crops and the success that NASA had in making space travel safe, routine, boring all collided into our current societal view on space. Compound that with media, social networking technology, etc etc...and you have what we are dealing with. The landscape that this Cosmos airs in is certainly a different one than what the OG series dealt with. It certainly seems to be more of an uphill battle. At the least, I hope stuff like this gives motivation to a nerdy kid who is on the verge of suppressing his/her genuine desire to get into science...there is such a big pull for kids to act dumber than they really are and I hope shit like 'The Cosmos' provides some type of inspiration to those kids who are thinking about just playing the dumb part and not pursuing something they have a genuine desire to pursue.
Regarding science's pension for making people feel small/insignificant...I don't feel tiny when I watch shit like this. They basically tell you, you are made of elements from the universe, you exist within it and then you die (who knows where your consciousness goes) and the elements that made you continue to do other things within the universe....the Earth/Sun should be able to sustain life for 30 billion more years...and we can either use technology to blow each other up or see the edges of existence.
This video can be a lil cheesey but I suppose it better explains why I don't feel tiny in the universe...
Note: I hate the music and the title...
Haha...that is a fantastic point. It renders my use of that pie chart useless...I'm going to try and find it but I bet it will prove me really wrong.
EDIT: best I can find at the moment...not the same comparison, though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_of_NASA
1969 4,251 2.31% 21,376
Should/could, but it won't have any humans on it.
I think you're probably right...
I am willing to bet that despite our seemingly advanced consciousness and intelligence, our species life span will fit fairly comfortably into that mammalian average...unless we turn the rockets on each other before hand. That gives us Homo sapiens roughly 800K more years...the clock is tickin'.
I...but...it's...shiny?...Dammit...you're right.
b/w
Sagan did that shit in a turtle neck. The suit is a step up.
Shit, i give em 800 more years
Space exploration is not going to be done with people in ships. That is Christopher Columbus thinking there.
If people are going to go farther than mars we need to get a fuller understanding of the fabric of the cosmos and the nature of time.
that said, the flat, walkable calendar bit was probably the most accessible explanation of "big science" i've seen. so, kudos for that.
Totally correct, but I don't think anyone here is saying otherwise. Folks often use space as an overall catalyst to getting a generation into science because space is pretty mind blowing....
Think:
"hey kid you should get into geology so you can study the sedentary accumulation on the bottom of an ancient sea in the middle of a desert"
VS
"hey kid you should get into geology so you can study mother fucking mars rocks"
There is a paper that much better describes this than I can but I'm struggling to find it.
Regarding manned vs unmanned exploration...again, I don't think anyone is saying otherwise. Maybe you are referring to the space vehicle in the show...which is just a 'vehicle' that is used for the narrator...to me it isn't saying we need to see the cosmos this way...with manned exploration.