Comment on Who is your favorite rationalist?

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:39:55 GMT

Colbert has some very nasty things to say against cryonics, and to people who don't celebrate Christmas.

I don't recall seeing his comments on these particular topics but it can be hard to tell when you are seeing the character Stephen Colbert speaking and when you are getting a glimpse of his actual opinions. Generally if he is explicitly attacking something it is the character speaking.

I'm not holding him up as a pillar of rationality anyway, just saying he seems more rational than Stewart (which is no great achievement in my opinion). I also get the impression that he has more scientists on his show and his questions reveal a greater understanding than Stewart's even when they are explicitly critical. This may say more about his writers than it does about him personally but his guest selection at least suggests to me that he has more of a genuine interest in science than Stewart.

I think it is true that there is a tension between being funny and giving the audience what they want to hear and actually exploring complex ideas. I don't think either program is immune from that. I should also say that I think Stewart actually does a better job than most 'real' news shows in the US so judged against the spectacularly low bar of mainstream TV broadcast journalism in the US he can actually look quite rational.

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