"I had always heard it in a “Well, that could have gone better,” way.
It wasn’t so much a catchphrase as a quip to the camera after something had gone poorly.
I just watched a YouTube video of Adam Savage saying that. It seemed clear to me that he was being facetious. He was kidding. He was not serious. He had his tongue planted in his cheek. Who took that statement seriously?
He didn’t, as has been pointed out.
Yes it is.
I don’t think it is an anti-scientific slogan. It’s not “I reject reality and substitute my own”, it’s “I reject your reality and substitute my own”, which fits perfectly with the Mythbusters concept.
Common person’s “reality”: Folding a paper of any size more than seven times is impossible (which persists because most people who try this use readily-available letter-size sheets)
Mythbusters: We reject that “reality” and will run an actual test and it is indeed possible if the paper is large enough.
Alternately:
Common person’s “reality” : It is possible to preserve carbonation in champagne by dipping a silver spoon it it (persists because few people actually try it)
Mythbusters: We reject that “reality” and will run a test and it turns out to be nonsense.
For a lot of people, arguably all people, “reality” consists of their personal observations and experiences but also a bunch of assumed patterns, untested myths and generally unverified heuristic shortcuts because who has time to wait for evidence that the floor hasn’t turned into lava? Just get up, already!
We’re really getting off on a tangent here. But I don’t agree. The idea that I can choose between your reality and my reality is not scientific. Science is based on the idea that there is only one reality and we all live in it. The choice we make is whether we accept that reality or argue against it. But the choice doesn’t matter. Science says reality is what it is regardless of what we think about it.
Yes, but people who believe myths arguably don’t live in the common reality science says exists and if you try to tell them they have no choice but to abandon those myths, a lot of them will reject the idea, sometimes even despite demonstrations that people like the Mythbusters gang sets up. But it is indeed a tangent.
If you knew the original context don’t you think it mildly dishonest to characterize it as it was in the original post? We’d hammer a conservative for doing a similar thing.
I didn’t make up the quote. Reagan did say it. And the words didn’t appear out of nowhere; Reagan must have been thinking facts were stupid things and the only mistake was that he said what he was thinking out loud. The original context was that Reagan was in the middle of telling a string of lies and he accidentally said what he really believed.
And Obama said there were 57 states, so obviously he was thinking out loud about how the Democrats have a secret plan to create new states (starting with PR and DC) to take over the senate. He accidentally said what he really believed.
Different rocket ship.
Obama didn’t have a reputation for getting facts wrong. Reagan on the other hand…well, as somebody once said:
Look, if scientists wanted Trump to take them more seriously, they’d simply apply to be on Fox News or other shows like Good Job, Sir! like every other highly qualified Cabinet appointee.
If scientists want me to take them seriously (and I am a scientist), they could put a few more taco trucks in my neighbourhood. The nearest Taco Bell is a ten minute drive during rush hour.
Contemplates what it means that I felt it necessary to check whether the source was legit or satirical.
Weeps for reality.
Honestly, that headline is not nearly as insane as a lot of the stuff Trump has actually said.
Like yesterday in Arizona when he called Dr. Fauci and a bunch of other scientists idiots after quoting Dr. Fauci out of context in one of his ads.
Or the title of this thread.
I honestly feel sorry for The Onion and Andy Borowitz. It’s almost impossible to come up with something so outlandish that Trump might not have said it (or Tweeted it).
What scares me more than the fact that he said this unironically is that many millions of his supporters agree with the sentiment.
I think there are only finitely many taco trucks in the universe. Scientists tell us that taco trucks are conserved.