The best thing and the worst thing about Twitter is that it gives everyone a forum where they can instantly voice their opinions. On the one hand, it means we get to read the real-time thoughts of brilliant minds like physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. On the other hand, it also means we have to put up with the ignorant ravings of celebrities like rapper B.o.B. and Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.
Oh, and speaking of both Tyson and B.o.B., they recently got into a Twitter feud over whether the Earth is flat. Yes, this is real life.
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Here’s one of B.o.B.’s tweets that explains why he thinks the Earth is really flat:
https://twitter.com/bobatl/status/691630923851436033
Tyson was pretty quick to pounce on that one:
@bobatl Earth's curve indeed blocks 150 (not 170) ft of Manhattan. But most buildings in midtown are waaay taller than that.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016
However, B.o.B. was undeterred. He then came out with this little gem…
https://twitter.com/bobatl/status/691625693717893121
…that Tyson similarly dismantled in under 140 characters…
@bobatl Polaris is gone by 1.5 deg S. Latitude. You’ve never been south of Earth’s Equator, or if so, you've never looked up.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016
Despite all this, B.o.B. was unpersuaded and he went off the deep end with some mind-meltingly stupid posts. I’m not sure what he’s even trying to prove here:
https://twitter.com/bobatl/status/691728266760032256
B.o.B. then released a Neil deGrasse Tyson diss track (language not safe for work):
The track insinuates that NASA is part of a Pentagon-run conspiracy to misinform the public about the shape of the Earth. It also name-checks notorious Holocaust denier David Irving. Because apparently believing the Earth is flat just wasn’t stupid enough for B.o.B. — he just had to become a Holocaust denier as well.
Despite taking a wrecking ball to B.o.B.’s hilariously dim-witted hot takes on science, however, Tyson insists he’s not a hater:
@bobatl Duude — to be clear: Being five centuries regressed in your reasoning doesn’t mean we all can’t still like your music
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016
It’s a wonderful and horrible time to be alive.
