Bill Nye Saves the World

(Ross Daniel) #1

A friend of mine suggest that I watch Bill Nye Saves the World on Netflix, knowing I was a fan of Bill Nye. I’m still a fan of Bill Nye, but after watching the episode entitled “This Diet is Bananas” I lost some respect for him.

I was horribly frustrated for the entire episode. They were spewing nonsense like: A calorie is a calorie. The typical food pyramid BS. That people are fat because of psychological issues and motivation, with the rest being genetics. If you are of a reasonable weight and are active, you are healthy. They even go as far as to say that bread is good for your brain. The panel of “experts” knew nothing. So, do yourselves a favor, and DO NOT watch that episode unless you want to get irritated and talk loudly to the TV! LOL

(G. Andrew Duthie) #2

Sadly, for all that Bill Nye has built himself a reputation as “the science guy” he’s not a nutritionist, nor even a scientist (his training is as an engineer). And he also seems to be aligning himself with politically correct topics, and since the SAD diet still has more mindshare than keto, I’m not at all surprised that he is anti-keto.

This is a danger of the popularization of science. People like Nye can push bad ideas based on their reputation and popularity, and those who don’t know any better will be ill-served. More to the point, personality and authority were also important in allowing Ancel Keys to push the fat == bad theory of heart disease. While he wasn’t as much of a celebrity as Nye, he did make the cover of Time magazine, which is pretty significant for that era (1961):

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(Ross Daniel) #3

Certainly, and a very good point.

That is one of the reasons I was so frustrated about it. I have no problem with his background of being an engineer (that’s what I am) but the fact that he doesn’t go where the science is on this, is why I lost respect. It doesn’t take a degree in science to be a scientist in the truest since, at least in my opinion. If he knew the science didn’t agree, which he would have if he had even bothered to look, he should have refused to do an episode on diet and just stay out of nutritionland and talk about space travel and other entertaining subjects.

#4

I think this image says it all…a “science guy” or an “entertainment guy”? My vote is for the latter.

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(Jo Lo) #5

Good points here about reputation and popularity driving false agendas. These TV hacks have shown that they are motivated by politics, not science. Don’t get me started on Nye’s crap about climate.

I would disagree that it doesn’t take a degree in science to be a scientist… I have three, and for the first two I didn’t understand the scientific method, which is difficult and challenging because it works against our tendancy to want to prove our favorite ideas. Midway through the PhD the professors had finally beaten into me the idea that I was supposed to try to disprove things, not prove them. I believe that you have to be trained to be a scientist. It’s so easy to do it wrong…

Also brings to mind the idea that progress happens “one funeral at a time”, as the hacks slowly depart. Really. I’ve seen Nye avoid discussing data and instead insult qualified scientists personally. Horrible.

You can tell a real scientist because they want to discuss data, but with a highly skeptical eye. Nye never does this.

#6

I’m glad someone mentioned this. It’s been bugging me since I watched it. I couldn’t believe how glib and just how lazy it was. Mostly seemed like a paleo bashing exercise. I was thinking as I watched that if they’d had the capacity to attack keto they would have, but it was probably too hard to get their heads around or describe in a half hour show. And a panel of dietitians wasn’t it? smh. I don’t have any respect at all for that group anymore. AND the stupid pantomime “eat bread!” “ear less red meat!”. A real disappointment and very frustrating to watch.

(Ross Daniel) #7

Part of me still wants to believe he means well, but probably not as of late. I grew up watching “Bill Nye the Science Guy” and “Beakman’s World” as a kid. Stuff like that helped push me in the direction of STEM in school and ultimately to become an Engineer. So at least I gained something positive. I’m also glad though, that I didn’t pay attention to the nutritional advice (if they ever covered that, I can’t remember… but I bet it came up from time to time).

#8

Just came here to post this exact comment on bill Nye. I have respected bill Nye since I was a kid. I still believe having a science educator in the public eye is a great thing. But c’mon and stay away from health topics if you aren’t going to do the research. Should have had the keto dudes as his panel. They know more about nutrition then that panel did for sure