<story><title>Neil deGrasse Tyson: If I Were President...</title><url>http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/read/2011/08/21/if-i-were-president</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>liber8</author><text>I find it amusing that almost every OP in this thread has cited the same quote as proof of NDT&apos;s arrogance, and then every response debates whether NDT is arrogant or voters stupid.  All of this misses the actual ignorance of NDT&apos;s letter.  The last half of that sentence is key:&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;As a scientist and educator, my goal, then, is not to become President and lead a dysfunctional electorate, but to enlighten the electorate so they might choose the right leaders in the first place.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;NDT falls into the same trap as nearly everyone since the framers of the constitution.  You&apos;re never going to elect the &lt;i&gt;right leaders&lt;/i&gt;.  They don&apos;t exist.  The reason our government was set up the way it was, and not the way it exists now, was precisely because the greatest group of political scientists to ever congregate in one place and time realized that people are inherently flawed, weak, and susceptible to the intoxicating effects of power.  &lt;i&gt;Because&lt;/i&gt; you&apos;ll never have the &quot;right leaders&quot;, you must structure the system to prevent abuse by the inevitable &quot;wrong leaders&quot; that will be elected.&lt;p&gt;NDT, like so many others, misses this point completely, even though nearly the entire letter pays lip service to the idea that the leaders are not the problem to focus on.  While he&apos;s right, the solution won&apos;t appear even if he &quot;enlightened the electorate&quot; to Tysonian heights.</text></comment>
<story><title>Neil deGrasse Tyson: If I Were President...</title><url>http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/read/2011/08/21/if-i-were-president</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>maratd</author><text>&amp;#62; As a scientist and educator, my goal, then, is not to become President and lead a dysfunctional electorate, but to enlighten the electorate so they might choose the right leaders in the first place.&lt;p&gt;This reeks of extreme arrogance. A type very common in academia. The presumption that the masses are ignorant, while you, anointed and blessed, are simply brilliant.&lt;p&gt;No.&lt;p&gt;If you get off your high-horse and actually talk to them, you&apos;ll find that they are just as brilliant as you, in their own ways.&lt;p&gt;Our problems don&apos;t stem from the majority wallowing in ignorance. They are not ignorant. Our problems stem from divergent interests. What is in the interest of one, is not in the interest of his neighbor. The path to a healthier nation is in finding creative ways in resolving those conflicts of interest.</text></comment>