On one hand, humans naturally categorize. The moment someone attaches you to a philosophy or a movement, then they assign all the baggage and all the rest of the philosophy that goes with it, to you… I’d rather we explore each other’s ideas in real time, rather than assign a label to it.” I don’t associate with movements… I think for myself. She and I had fundamentally different views on the utility of labels in society. We disagreed over Neil deGrasse Tyson, the reigning cultural king of science nerds, rejecting the classification of being atheist. I treat the subject of religion with the same care as politics, The Walking Dead, and other touchy issues, but our debate wasn’t about religion at all. As a contentious topic, I usually limit such conversations to close friends and open-minded family, away from alcohol and in small groups of very few. Recently I had a debate with a friend of mine over a video by Big Think interviewing Neil deGrasse Tyson on the subject of atheism.
