Padma

I was excited about revisiting the craziness (hoping it wasn't some kind of "oh, they're really good people after all" because..uh...no.) But the preview didn't show Ramsey at all. It just showed some interviews with Amy and Samy, some footage of their place, a follow-up from a reporter on the frenzy they triggered on social media, and made me think it's some kind of legal effort to give them their chance to speak for themselves. I -hope- that Ramsey says something not only about, but to them, and I -wish- he would go back to actually revisit them, but from the preview, it just didn't seem like that was how it would be.

Hi, Oh, thanks for being so nice about it. It's your thread and whatever you decide (change or keep) I definitely don't think it's inappropriate, but I just wanted to point out (fwiw) that it might be feeding into the idea that Cosmos is against religion. Whether you agree or feel like changing it..I defer to the "creator" of the thread! I like the idea that there may be relevant points of discussion about how these ideas not only reflect on Creationism and Christianity but also other kinds of religious beliefs. And, of course, atheism, agnosticism, etc. I wonder if Tyson will be quoting Einstein's "God wouldn't play dice with the universe" which I've never been sure what he meant, esp. as I thought he was agnostic. I know there's been so much criticism from Creationists etc toward the presentation of religion in this show and that surprises me (or makes me feel extremely out of touch) because I get the feeling he and AD are trying to find positive examples of religious people who have also been scientists/scientific-minded.

I missed the beginning. Did I miss how they chose Jefra? It didn't seem that they thought Tony had an idol (or maybe didn't believe Sarah). But why not LJ? That was pretty cool for Tony to show it, then give it to LJ, anticipating the vote. Would have been very gratifying had he been right....but was even more enjoyable to see them confused by the unanimous decision for Jefra. ("Jefra"? I'm with you, guys. Why?) But it flushed out the idols so in that sense, it was one of the better tribal councils imo in terms of strategy and results. Still..Jefra? Switching to the bottom of another tribe when you had a good shot at F3 just staying put? Strange!

Not a big Kass fan, but I have to agree that the producers, editors and Jeff all like the "young, handsome hero" narrative for guys or even "older, lovable hero" for men, but are very very hard on older women. That said, they've succeeded in making me root against Kass. Sarah, really? And instead siding with a team where you will quickly be picked off (and as noted upthread have made many enemies to prevent a vote your way at F3). To quote Kass, "I'd like to see the test that made them decide "Brains"."

I'm glad there's a separate thread for focusing more on religion as it appears (or maybe doesn't) in "Cosmos". But I wish it hadn't been called ".... vs.Cosmos" Because I don't think that's where they're going with this. I don't think Cosmos is an attack on religion (specifically, on Christianity). If it is, at times, pointing out the incompatibility of scientific discoveries, principles, theories with some Christian beliefs, I think (1) It's been pretty mild in doing it and (2) to me, it's been pretty much "Here are some differences; you decide". Excuse the phrase, but imo "Cosmos" is not "preachy". The topics seem chosen for reasons other than debunking Christianity, although I'm sure getting people to question their beliefs--whether religion, or that we actually see a horizon--in the context of what they understand about science, is one of the purposes.. And re "Religion" itself, I'm no expert, but I think there are various "religions" that wouldn't have any problem being reconciled with everything that has been said on this show--and with all the concepts/knowledge we have about science. I think it is intended to get viewers thinking and questioning more. I like the humbling part of it, where you realize that some scientist observed the same thing you have but s/he actually got some scientific principle from what he observed. The whole methodology of scientific discovery is so different from religious discovery (thinking of the "big names" in religions), but I do wish he'd do even more with the scientific method.

I thought the logical part was in pointing out the speed light travels and that many of the stars we all can see are of the light that left them hundreds of thousands...millions...of years ago. To me, that says the universe can't have been created 6500 years ago because we can see for ourselves parts of the universe that are much, much older than that. If you accept the science of the speed of light and even just apply that to the observable sky, logic says that the universe wasn't created 6500 years (or 10,000 years) ago.

Two surprises about this show are (1) how much I look forward to it and (2) how nice it is that my family can agree on something series-wise to watch together. I really liked the reminder about the world not being 6500 years old. The part I liked best was where he drew the small circle around the earth to show the area of space that would be visible to us if we could only see light that was 6500 years old. That's not saying, "Your religion is wrong" to me, it's just saying, "This is how nature works." If people want to believe the earth is 6500 years old, they still can, but at least maybe they'll realize that their belief doesn't make any logical sense, unless they're willing to say we're wrong about light. I think that's just "good science education"--"You understand A now...does B still make sense?" I was surprised Patrick Stewart was doing the voice of Wm Herschel, but my son tells me that he's a huge Seth McFarland fan. Who knew?