pedantry directed ridicule
this same essay could have been written exactly as is but with the tone of 'you are so right, here are some examples' but instead he chose to try to make a fan feel like an asshole..
this is my biggest problem with degrasse tyson.. he goes out of his way to make himself a public figure in science but uses the information he has accumulated to make people think they know so much less than he
a perfect example was when he visited the daily show, twice, and complained, jokingly, that the earth was spinning backward in the opening graphic
that graphic was made by some artist and now tyson is using his acquired information to ridicule the individual's effort
if you are knowledgeable then use that knowledge to lift people up
how can we have a graphic of the earth spinning backwards?
perhaps the camera has a capture rate that makes the earth appear to spin backwards, like car tires in films..
or maybe you could talk about geosynchronous orbit and angular momentum and really make people think you know more than them all the while lending excuse for why the earth is spinning backwards..
isaac, you got called out on some stupid thing you said out of a myriad of other entertaining things you have said, have some grace.. or at least a sense of humour