Cosmos

I didn't watch today's episode, but so far I've found the show a little too heavy on special effects and a little too lacking on some details. I think there have been one or two statements that have been invoked thought.

I'm pretty much on board with this. I could do with a little less of the cartoonish re-enactments, too.

I've been PVRing episodes and watching about a week after broadcast, so watch last Sunday's ep yesterday. Definitely found much of the discussion on electron orbits and the way that photons are released or absorbed when electrons make quantum jumps in their orbits to be fascinating and new info for me. Some of the talk about neutrinos and supernovas was also pretty neat.

But yeah, I'd like to see more documentary content and less entertainment content.

But yeah, I'd like to see more documentary content and less entertainment content.

Then you would lose the American audience that the show is trying to reach. It's a prime-time family program tailored for a country that is increasingly uninterested in science, you may want to lower your expectations. After all, these are the people who increasingly believe that scientists are part of a global conspiracy and are lying to them about Evolution, the Big Bang and Climate change and that corporations who are bankrolling junk science are looking out for their best interest.

Sad, but ultimately, true.

I think its doing fine, given that it deliberately targets the Simpsons/Family Guy demographic. I believe a lot of the effects [HTML_REMOVED] storyboard ideas came from Seth Macfarlane who helped pitch the show to Fox. You know it is groundbreaking when you consider that it presents ideas that are antithetical to religion and creationism on the Fox Network.

We live in an age of information. If people want to learn more of what they watch on Cosmos, they have an entire range of resources from Wikipedia to MIT OpenCourseware. You can be informed by television, but in my experience, I don't think you can really "learn" from television.

I'm pretty much on board with this. I could do with a little less of the cartoonish re-enactments, too.

I've been PVRing episodes and watching about a week after broadcast, so watch last Sunday's ep yesterday. Definitely found much of the discussion on electron orbits and the way that photons are released or absorbed when electrons make quantum jumps in their orbits to be fascinating and new info for me. Some of the talk about neutrinos and supernovas was also pretty neat.

But yeah, I'd like to see more documentary content and less entertainment content.

hey i think it's great and the science level is perfect. i've learned lots like how those bright twinkly things in the night sky are like stars and galaxies and stuph.

:rocker:

I think its doing fine, given that it deliberately targets the Simpsons/Family Guy demographic. I believe a lot of the effects [HTML_REMOVED] storyboard ideas came from Seth Macfarlane who helped pitch the show to Fox.

I think the fact that they've spent a fair bit of time explaining the history behind a lot of the discoveries is important. It shows that people have been thinking about this stuff for hundreds of years, with new discoveries often being based on previous ones. The point being that it counters the idea that all of this has just been made up in recent years as an argument against creationism.

We live in an age of information. If people want to learn more of what they watch on Cosmos, they have an entire range of resources from Wikipedia to MIT OpenCourseware.

During/after every episode, the NASA Twitter account posts pictures and links related to many of the topics presented.

There's definitely an anti-religion slant to the program, which isn't surprising given Seth McFarlane's involvement.

The historical aspect is a good feature.

If you want to see a good program that brings historical buildup to discoveries and invention, the series Connections is very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2ulvC2inNA

The inexplicable universe show is awesome for sure! I watched the shit out of that one. Haven't been keeping up with downloading cosmos but from what I saw I liked it.

There's definitely an anti-religion slant to the program, which isn't surprising given Seth McFarlane's involvement

Out of everything said thus far, which piece stuck out the most for you?

There's definitely an anti-religion slant to the program, which isn't surprising given Seth McFarlane's involvement.

Funny, I don't see providing evidence as to why fringe religious beliefs, like young earth creationism, are ill-informed as being anti-religious.

Showing how the eye evolved to counter the statement that the eye is so complicated, that only god could have created it, isn't anti-religious, it's education. The only reason it's being viewed as anti-religious is because some religious zealots refuse to acknowledge it and instead of modernizing their teachings, choose to discredit science and cry persecution.

It's pro-knowledge, not anti-religion. Time to stop claiming that a 1900 year old book is a science text book people.

Confidence in evolution, the Big Bang, the age of the Earth and climate change decline sharply as faith in a supreme being rises, according to the poll. Likewise, those who regularly attend religious services or are evangelical Christians express much greater doubts about scientific concepts they may see as contradictory to their faith.

Poll: Big Bang a big question for most Americans

The problem with Cosmos is all the 40+ year olds that built it up in their heads forgetting that they loved the original when they were 10. This is a family show so I never expected it to be super enlightening. Some of the Nova series are better for me personally as a science fan but not a scientist.

I will re-watch this new series when my daughter is old enough to appreciate it.

Funny, I don't see providing evidence as to why fringe religious beliefs, like young earth creationism, are ill-informed as being anti-religious.

Why debase and bring up the comparison? Stick to the science and how the discoveries came about. That's what's interesting.

Why debase and bring up the comparison?

I think it was brought up because someone said Cosmos had anti-religious sentiment.