this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2026
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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.