this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2026
806 points (99.8% liked)
Funny
14829 readers
349 users here now
General rules:
- Be kind.
- All posts must make an attempt to be funny.
- Obey the general sh.itjust.works instance rules.
- No politics or political figures. There are plenty of other politics communities to choose from.
- Don't post anything grotesque or potentially illegal. Examples include pornography, gore, animal cruelty, inappropriate jokes involving kids, etc.
Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the mods.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The only person who could be more smarmy in that regard than Neal deGrasse Tyson.
Carl said this, in response to "from scratch", to make the broader point that we shouldn't assume the universe has always existed in its present state. Nothing smarmy about it. And, it worked very well. The quote is well-known 50 years later, the point is taken.
Neal, yeah, a smarmy egotist, no doubt.
You’re not wrong, and it wasn't really a knock against either of them.
It is being smarmy, because that’s not how people normally think or talk. IMO, Sagan has earned the right. Tyson has not.
Reminder that "smarmy" necessarily implies insincerity, not just a funny way of talking.