I’m No Scientist – a poem by Kate Rauner

 

Neil deGrasse Tyson, scientist

“I’m no scientist.”

To say that’s just a pose,

A way to say that I insist

On things I wish were so.

I shove my fingers in my ears

And hum to drown the noise

Of the grim reality

Of truth that brings no joy.

Knowledge that upsets my friends

Will only cause me pain,

Will only get me tossed aside,

Abandoned once again.

Science always moving

Closer to the facts.

Demanding to me that I change

Is just too much to ask.

Claiming “I’m no scientists” is a sadly understandable way to duck an issue in politics (though I’ve got to wonder why that’s okay), but it’s no way to understand problems, or solve them. Surely we can do better. Give yourself a break – you didn’t create most of the opinions you reiterate. “When my information changes, I alter my conclusions. What do you do?” An apocryphal quote, most appropriate to the topic.