How Did Bill Nye Become the Science Guy?

An anonymous reader writes "Whether he's debating creationists, taking selfies with President Obama, or 'Dancing with the Stars,' Bill Nye the Science Guy is no stranger to the spotlight. But what about the man behind the public persona? How did Bill Nye become the Science Guy?(video) Bill Nye has made his debut on the PBS series, The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers, to reveal the story of how he rose from being a young comedian from Seattle to becoming a science icon. In his profile, Bill Nye talks about his early days impersonating Steve Martin, why bow-ties are important in the lab (and with the ladies), and how Carl Sagan's advice helped to shape his hit television show."

John Keister

[LynnwoodRooster]

Almost Live - a weekly half hour comedy skit show in Seattle in the 80s is what made Bill Nye.

bit.ly links

[Anonymous Coward]

Please, editors, for the love of science, do not allow bit.ly links in summaries.
http://bit.ly/1gkfa7z [bit.ly]
is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KkKejZnazw [youtube.com]
"Bill Nye: Change The World" by user "NOVA's Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers".

Re:His debate

[pipedwho]

Literal Creationism (or "Intelligent design") is primarily an American thing pushed by fundamentalist protestants.

The vast majority of old school mainstream christian religious people (eg. Catholics Anglicans, etc) hold that evolution is a scientifically established principle (supported by both observation and related scientific theories). As far as how a deity fits into their picture, it is generally understood that the biblical stories are allegorical and not literal tellings of an event.

The concept of 'evolution guided by God' is simply a restatement that scientific evidence guides the description of how the universe works, and the random events that coincided to an eventual outcome may have been influenced or set in motion by some divine force. And even then, that is the simplistic layman's way of interpreting the phrase 'you/people were created by god'. With a deep theological understanding, the physical and spiritual aspects of the human condition are not necessarily connected and therefore unconflicted when it comes to changes in how we understand the workings of the known universe.

In general, religious belief does not hinge on anything that can ever be proven/disproven by observation, and is purely the domain of spiritual fulfilment and ideas that exist outside of the physical universe. For these people, there is no need for debate or argument. Science is science. Religion is religion. Their minds are open.

For the biblical fundamentalists that treat their bible as literal tellings of actual events, the 'debate' will never end. Science is religion. Religion is science. Their minds are closed.

These 'debates' are not attention whoring by the religious right, it is attention whoring by the media. More eyeballs for all involved.

Re:His debate

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you watch the debate? Nye was debating against Young Earth Creationism that Answers in Genesis was putting out; he himself pointed out that millions do reconcile a belief in God and evolution.

Re:His debate

[arjun.jrao]

Much of Asia ?? Hallo, I believe most of the Asian population is made up of China and India. Hinduism, for one, has no problem with evolution. In fact, evolution nicely fits in with the theory of reincarnation and the evolution of a soul over many lifetimes into higher and higher life-forms. As for young-earthism, Hindu belief includes astronomical time scales in which the Universe is born and destroyed... this is not the first Universe created by the Creator, not will it be the last. This is not an endorsement of Hinduism, which includes such delightful things like casteism, unequality of women and other social evils. All I'm saying is, there is no conflict between orthodox Hinduism and Evolution and the true age of the Earth. As for China, I believe a signifcant part of their population is Buddhist.. which again, has no problems with evolution because their basic tenets speak of the evolution of a soul over many lifetimes. Perhaps somebody could shed light on what Taoism and Confucianism has to say on this matter.

Re:Give Bill a break...

[dave420]

He's not calling himself a scientist, but a "science guy". Calling yourself a "medicine guy" is not the same as calling yourself a doctor, neither is "law guy" the same as a lawyer, or "shoot black people guy" same as police officer. Get a grip.