Top 10 Best Pro-Science Celebrities
A list of ten Hollywood celebrities who have leveraged their fame into the promotion of science.
Filed under General Science, Logic & Persuasion
| Skeptoid #349 February 12, 2013 Podcast transcript | Listen | Subscribe |
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By Brian Dunning, Skeptoid Podcast
Episode 349, February 12, 2013
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4349
Today we're going to point the skeptical eye at Hollywood celebrities — but through a filter that leaves us with only the tiny remaining number who leverage their fame to promote science and critical thinking. Although initially this project seemed doomed to failure, it turns out that every group of people includes all sorts of people; and even in the landfill of Hollywood intellect, buried gems of rationality can be found.
Note that I chose not to include people whose profession is science or who are otherwise famous because of their work in that area. I also didn't include celebrities who simply go out and support some existing cause or charity, or who later went back and completed a science degree and said "Yay, I support science," or who serve as spokespeople for existing pro-science organizations. Those are all well and good, but I wanted to instead focus on the those who built reputations in the entertainment industry, but then chose to proactively become movers and shakers by creating resources and truly challenging the public on their own terms. Let's get started with:
10. Tim Minchin
This list begins and ends with celebrities whose contribution to science advocacy is through a side door. Basic critical thinking skills are a prerequisite, and this starts with questioning the nonsense that's hurled at us all day every day. Comedian and musician Tim Minchin is a brilliant performer well deserving of the success he's found, and some might argue that this success has been due in part to the tremendous amount of criticism in his art directed at popular pseudoscience. His 2011 video Storm criticized many popular New Age beliefs. He refers to it as a gateway to skepticism and rationalism; entertaining people while sneaking in a pro-science message without their really realizing it.
In a 2011 interview with New Scientist, Tim said "In the absence of my own knowledge of a particular thing, I am going to find the best authority I can. Science as a tool allows us to try and generate a really good authority... it is the only system that even bothers to try to minimise bias."
9. They Might Be Giants
The goal of virtually every pop musical group is to make it big — or at least to make it big enough. They Might Be Giants has produced some 15 studio albums to date over their 30 years together. In recent years they've taken a page from The Wiggles' playbook and concentrated more on music for children; but not just any music for children, science-specific music for children. In 2009 they released an album Here Comes Science which consists of twenty songs, each one about some scientific subject.
Notably, the founding members John Flansburgh and John Linnell have little scientific background, just an appreciation for its value. They actually hired a science consultant for Here Comes Science. And when they learned that the lyrics of one of the songs was inaccurate, they added another song to the album correcting it. They had covered the song "Why Does the Sun Shine?" which described the sun as being made of gas; and then issued the new song "Why Does the Sun Really Shine?" explaining that it's actually made of plasma.
8. Danica McKellar
This actress best known for playing Winnie on The Wonder Years in the late 80s and early 90s could have easily gone the route of those who complete their academic degree in obscurity and then do nothing with it, but Danica McKellar chose proactivity. After getting an advanced degree in mathematics from UCLA, she went on to leverage her notoriety to write a whole series of books encouraging other young women to study math. Her latest book so far is Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape. There's been a marvelous push in recent years to inspire girls to enter STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math), and Danica's books are the perfect representative of that trend.
Danica is also noteworthy for being one of only a few dozen people with an Erdös-Bacon number, which combines the degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon with shared acting credits, and from mathematician Paul Erdös in academic paper co-authorship. Her Erdös-Bacon number is an impressive 6. Ladies, that's your target number. Beat it.
7. Trey Parker and Matt Stone
The creators of South Park have openly and blatantly made fun of just about every paranormal TV show, goofy alternative medicine scheme, weirdo celebrity, ghost story and conspiracy theory that exists. It's another case of inspiring critical thinking among an audience who showed up just for the entertainment: the next time a South Park fan watches Ghost Hunters he's much more likely to question its authenticity. Trey and Matt create viewers who are primed to accept good information and to reject pop tripe.
6. Stephen Colbert
This late-night mock conservative pundit has established a strong track record of inviting guests who are advocates of science and skepticism, thus introducing them to the world. He also regularly announces, with his typical satirical bent, real science news stories that many television viewers might not otherwise hear about. One of his most popular bits was failing to get NASA to name a new space station module after him, but they did name the astronauts' new treadmill the C.O.L.B.E.R.T. (Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill).
Notable mention, and a shared spot at #6, for talk show hosts Jon Stewart and Craig Ferguson, for doing an equally good job of promoting good science and intelligence rather than typical television codswallop.
5. Alan Alda
The actor's efforts at communicating science are best known through his hosting of the Scientific American Frontiers television series, but he does so much more to promote science on his own. He loves to work directly with the scientists, in such projects as his course "Improvising Science", developed as a Visiting Professor through Stony Brook University's Center for Communicating Science (which he helped create), in which he teaches improvisational skills to scientists to help them become better live presenters to lay audiences.
Alan's latest project is The Flame Challenge, in which scientists give their best answer to the question "What is a flame?" The twist is that the contest is judged not by other scientists, but by thousands of 11-year-olds in schools all across the country. I can think of no better measure for whether your science communication is engaging to the general public.
4. will.i.am
Will.i.am found great success as a member of the Black Eyed Peas hip hop group. He does a lot of philanthropy, particularly in community development, but the reason he makes this list is his science advocacy. He held a robotics competition called "i.am.FIRST - Science is Rock and Roll" with Segway's Dean Kamen in 2011. He premiered a song "Reach for the Stars" by having the Mars rover Curiosity beam it to Earth as an MP3 file in 2012. More recently he's been trying to develop a TV show like American Idol but for young inventors and technology innovators. He says "We need creative people working with broadcasters, making smart content to inspire people to be geniuses."
3. James Randi
Magician and escape artist The Amazing Randi used to do things like hang from a helicopter upside down in a strait jacket and tour with Alice Cooper, but he made perhaps the biggest shift of anyone from the history of the entertainment industry when he dedicated himself full time to the James Randi Educational Foundation. Randi fights against pseudoscience, the enemy of intellect, that's so popularly promoted in the mass media. Paranormal abilities, worthless alternative medicine schemes, and psychic predators who take advantage of the gullible are all in Randi's crosshairs.
His Million Dollar Challenge remains open to anyone who can prove any sort of paranormal ability. Even after several decades, it remains unclaimed.
2. Seth MacFarlane
The creator of Family Guy has put his lifelong interest in science to very good use, in particular his interest in the work of Carl Sagan. He popped up on the radar of many scientists as a potential ally in 2008 when he was announced as a member of the advisory board of the Science and Entertainment Exchange, a nonprofit run by the National Academy of Sciences to provide science consulting services to the entertainment industry (in case any of them want it).
Seth's science boosting has not disappointed. In 2012, he made a large donation — of an undisclosed amount — that covered the costs of donating all of Carl Sagan's personal papers (some 800 file drawers worth) to the Library of Congress, making them permanently accessible to the public. And of perhaps greater impact is the project to follow: A reboot of Sagan's famous Cosmos television series, which Seth is co-producing with Sagan's wife Ann Druyan and Steven Soter, to be hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
1. Penn & Teller
The number one spot on this list can only go to perhaps the loudest, most visible, and most active of all the celebrities who promote science and skepticism: magicians Penn & Teller. They talk about it during every single performance of their Las Vegas magic show. Their Showtime series Penn & Teller: Bullshit! was probably the most outspoken program in history encouraging people to think critically and learn the way the world really works.
The lesson you learn coming out of the most popular and successful magic show in the world is that you are easy to fool, and that there are lots of people looking to take advantage of that. Science advocacy only takes you so far if people are unable to distinguish good science from bad. The critical thinking skills that Penn & Teller hammer home with every one of their shows are fundamental to being able to do good science and make the world a better place, and for that, in addition to being loud and in everyone's face and everywhere you look, they win the top spot.
In conclusion....
I had a lot of help forming this list. I got many, many suggestions, and I whittled it down based on the criteria I gave at the beginning. I was sad to see that I was left with a list including exactly one non-male and exactly one non-white. Diversity in science advocacy remains a serious problem, and it's a problem that is self-exponential (if that's a phrase). Celebrity fan bases often match their own demographics; and as long as celebrities are role models (which will probably be forever) we will need more celebrities following the example of those listed here, or the problem will multiply. Plus one points for sticking it out to Danica McKellar and will.i.am, and to all our other non-white-male colleagues who carry the torch for science.
© 2013 Skeptoid Media, Inc.
References & Further Reading
JREF. "One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge." Randi.org. James Randi Educational Foundation, 10 Dec. 2008. Web. 9 Feb. 2013. <http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html>
King, T. "Storm." Storm Movie. KerShoot Studios, 17 Jan. 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. <http://www.stormmovie.net>
MacNeill, K. "Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT)." International Space Station. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 5 Dec. 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/COLBERT.html>
McKellar, D. Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape. New York: Hudson Street Press, 2012.
NAS. "Advisory Board." Science and Entertainment Exchange. National Academy of Sciences, 18 Jun. 2011. Web. 9 Feb. 2013. <http://www.scienceandentertainmentexchange.org/advisory-board>
SBU. "The Flame Challenge." Center for Communicating Science. Stony Brook University, 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 9 Feb. 2013. <http://www.flamechallenge.org/>
Reference this article:
Dunning, B.
"Top 10 Best Pro-Science Celebrities." Skeptoid Podcast. Skeptoid Media, Inc.,
12 Feb 2013. Web.
18 May 2013. <http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4349>
Discuss!
10 most recent comments | Show all 99 comments
Mud, many religious leaders are very threatened by Oprah:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4EgBwY9W74
Oprah greatly undermined organized religion by converting millions of her religious viewers into atheists; she accomplished this not by rejecting God (which alienates theists) but rather by redefining God from the literal creator of the universe of the Bible into a vague meaningless new-age abstraction (God is love, God is the rhythm of nature, God is you, me, the earth and the trees). Oprah convinced millions of viewers that God is everything, which means God is nothing, and thus God doesn't exist, causing people to abandon the church in droves.
Oprah's would never self-identify as an atheist, but she did more for the atheist movement than a million Richard Dawkins combined, that's why I would rank Oprah as the most pro-science influence in society.
cit, canada
March 15, 2013 10:12am
Dear cit,
You make me embarrassed for my country.
Frankly I find it laughable that you consider Oprah a "pro-science" celebrity, "The Secret" alone is easily as irrational and potentially dangerous as anything the world's major religions have come up with. I would have to agree with Mud that you probably don't understand religion, especially judging by your cartoonishly simplistic view of the relationship between religion and science.
Oh, and one other thing: I would like you to seek out another of Mr. Dunning's articles--"Ten Most Wanted: Celebrities Who Promote Harmful Pseudoscience". In particular, note which celebrity is #1 on THAT list!
Daviticus, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
March 19, 2013 9:11pm
Got to agree with Tim above. Derren Brown - breaks down 'magic' in a positive, entertaining way and (like Tim Minchin) introduces proper scientific thinking to the masses without them really knowing it - while still remaining entertaining.
Oh, and I thought I might have seen Professor Brian Cox in here - one time keyboard player with D:Ream but to be fair he was never that well known as a celeb before his science shows.
Stewart, Nelson, NZ
April 03, 2013 9:35pm
<i>Frankly I find it laughable that you consider Oprah a "pro-science" celebrity, "The Secret" alone is easily as irrational and potentially dangerous as anything the world's major religions have come up with.</I>
"The Secret" is only dangerous if you're a complete and total idiot who believes everything it says at face value, and if you're that stupid, everything in life is dangerous. Oprah's audience is SMART and understood that Oprah was just exploiting the popularity of the Secret to drive home the larger message she's been teaching since decades before the Secret was ever published; the message being "you've always had the POWER." So many women have been so beaten down by centuries of oppression that they've lost the ability to believe in themselves.
Oprah overcame adversity of many kinds to become the most successful woman ever, but it all began with her faith in herself; her unshakeable belief that a poor black pregnant illegitimate sexually abused overweight dark skinned black girl from the backwoods of segregated Mississippi could achieve greatness even as everyone around her told her dreams were impossible.
This is a profoundly empowering inspirational message for all women to hear and internalize. Too bad some people are just too STUPID to realize that.
cit, canada
April 06, 2013 3:46pm
Lowell: You're actually wrong about BS. They did NOT engage in fallacious ad hom attacks. It's an ad hom to say "You're wrong because you smell funny"; however, P&T said "You're wrong AND you smell funny". The insult is not illogical, merely irrelevant to the argument.
And you're making the same criticisms as people make against Mr. Dunning. In 30 minutes their goal isn't to give a comprehensive, or even good, argument against anything. It's merely to point out flaws in reasoning, and generate discussion. As such, their methods work. They are quite obviously shock-jock style hosts, and encorporate that schtick into their arguments--but they own it, and admit that you shouldn't trust them.
Gregory, California
April 09, 2013 2:32pm
I also agree that oprah belongs on the pro-science list. Maybe not #1, but certainly in the top five. Yes the newage rhetoric she preaches is not scientific, but it's so vague as to be meaningless,, but what really impedes sciences is organized religion, and oprah's role in eradicating organized religion from huge swaths of middle America, has made the world a much safer place for science, and oprah deserves a certain amount of credit for that.
Dile, Haddonfield
April 13, 2013 6:31am
Organized religion is not an impediment to scientific advancement. I'm sorry, but it simply isn't. SOME religions, yes--modern Islam certainly is, for example, as is the Southern Baptist religion. However, the majority of scientists have some sort of religious affiliation, some of them even being preachers (Bakker has a book on the topic, for example).
I'm not a fan of religions in general, but the myth that they're the thing holding us back is just that: a myth. What's really the problem is poor epistemology, which is precisely what Oprah's New Age garbage encourages.
Gregory, California
April 15, 2013 9:56am
Gregory organized religion specifically contradicts science by getting people to deny precise scientific facts like evolution and believe ridiculous things like that there's a God physically separated from the universe that created it. Religious extremists and religious-leaning scientists don't like Oprah's new-age teachings because she reduces religion to vague meaningless metaphors (i.e. God is just a feeling, the combined awareness of all living things), so when people want precise knowledge they have nowhere to turn but science. So while Oprah personally is not especially pro-science, her effect on the world is. Oprah's genius is that she allows humans to indulge our genetic inclination towards spirituality while still encouraging open-mindedness.
cit, canada
April 18, 2013 5:36am
I'm not an oprah fan but I would take oprah style spirituality over organized religion any day of the week. Organized religion is completely incompatible with science, while Oprah's spirituality is all about the value of self-actualization, self esteem, purposeful living, goal setting, and having a constructive attitude. None of these ideas contradict science; indeed there's a scientific literature supporting them.
Jake, Madison
April 18, 2013 9:37am
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Cit,
I have yet to meeta religious leader that is threatened by folk like Oprah.
Maybw its a TV phenom that i just do not notice. But when I sit down and wathc such shows I notice a disregard to any ones intelligence.
If you really think religious leaders feel threatened by this person, you probably do not understand religion.
Sure, imtermet religion may be embarrased..but, to date, internet religion is the very sortb of sham that folk like Oprah should embarras.
Religion, natural cum gargle, vitalogies and the mind numbing rates of lactose and gluten intolerances hypochondrias are the very sort of things that Oprah should adress...
Maybe she is on a 50 year campaign..
Who cares.. my partner has bought 30 mattresses in that advertorial break..
Insulation is cheap
Mud,, at Camp Klogs, NSW
March 15, 2013 8:31am