Neil deGrasse Tyson regrets tweet about mass shootings amid backlash

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Neil deGrasse Tyson is seeing the error of his ways.

Twitter users slammed the celebrity astrophysicist Sunday after he posted a tweet about the recent shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that many thought missed the mark.

"In the past 48hrs, the USA horrifically lost 34 people to mass shootings," Tyson wrote, claiming, "on average, across any 48hrs, we also lose… 500 to Medical errors 300 to the Flu 250 to Suicide 200 to Car Accidents 40 to Homicide via Handgun."

"Often our emotions respond more to spectacle than to data," he added.

He posted a note to Facebook Monday, acknowledging his mistake.

"My intent was to offer objectively true information that might help shape conversations and reactions to preventable ways we die," his note read. "Where I miscalculated was that I genuinely believed the Tweet would be helpful to anyone trying to save lives in America. What I learned from the range of reactions is that for many people, some information –-my Tweet in particular -- can be true but unhelpful, especially at a time when many people are either still in shock, or trying to heal – or both.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/neil-degrasse-tyson-regrets-tweet-about-mass-shootings-amid-backlash/ar-AAFkqaU?li=BBnb7Kz

[roody]

1. Fuck him.

[asiliveandbreathe]

2. Tyson demonstrating his truly magnificent mind....stay in your own lane tyson..n/t

[dalton99a]

3. Statistics are meaningless to victims and their families.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. He should.

Smart man did a stupid.

[mitch96]

18. Yup, for a "smart" man he says some stupid shit........... nt

[Afromania]

5. I like Neil and enjoy his stuff, but he was way off base with his comment.

He needs to just quietly walk away from this and pass on the elaborations.

[cwydro]

6. What an idiot.

Smh.

[rockfordfile]

16. He went and posted something that right-wingers were trying to do with similar bs

Like I said in other postings, those same right-wingers were also Sandy hook deniers.

The goal is to minimize and divert attention from the Nazi-republican threat in our country.

[snpsmom]

7. We need more empathy in the world

not less. His lack of empathy detracts from his message.

[ismnotwasm]

8. Someone pointed out that ONE person didn't commit

All those other violent acts, as is the case with most gun shootings. Even his math was off

[SweetieD]

9. That is not regret. It is a response basically saying everyone else is too dumb to realize he was

trying to help.

[Merlot]

11. "everyone is to dumb" seems to be his slogan.

[Hoyt]

10. I have seen Tyson write some serious condemnation of guns in the past.

It would have been nice if he had added to his original statistics post that "while gun deaths are less, the stats should not be used to ignore need for gun regulation, mental health, etc."

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. That was a pretty tone deaf response IMHO

objectively speaking he's got a point but the lack of empathy, especially coming so soon after the tragedies, in his tweet is astounding.

[4now]

13. What a pompous ass

[Phoenix61]

14. Facts are helpful when thinking about how

to solve a problem. Not so much when trying to cope with the emotions caused by the problem.

[rockfordfile]

15. I was correct. He was trying to minimize and divert attention from that mass shooting

It's exactly what the right-wing republicans were doing before he even posted that crap.

[Goodheart]

17. No, Neil, your argument was NOT true. It was moronic.

It's the same specious bullshit that gun nuts use when they say that in order to be honest and consistent gun control advocates should call for a ban on cars because more people are killed by cars each year.

Want to know what you and those gun nuts ignore in your arguments, Neil, that makes you all twits? UTILITY.

You see, medical errors and car accidents are unavoidable consequences of social functions which provide a massive amount of enormously desirable UTILITY. We choose to abide those accidents because we see no viable alternatives to what causes them. So your point that our reactions to those are inconsistent with our outrage at mass murder is ludicrous. Where's the UTILITY in allowing mental midgets AR-15's?

And, on top of that, what planet have you been living on? How does it make any sense to you, Neil, that our feelings about 40 gun deaths per day are inconsistent with our outrage at mass murder events? They're quite the same, actually. They both have the same cause, and both can be dealt with some common sensible measures.

You should apologize for being FALSE, Neil. Your facts were true? So what? That's like saying because a million dogs die each year we shouldn't be outraged at gun violence. A true fact does not necessarily lead to a valid argument, Neil.

[a kennedy]

19. He lost all credibility with me when his name came up for sexual harassment allegations

https://slate.com/technology/2018/12/neil-degrasse-tyson-sexual-harassment-allegations-response.html.