Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson Featured In PETA Ad

The "Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive" has joined forces with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

In a new PETA ad, world-renowned astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson suggests “kindness is a virtue,” and more people need to show compassion for the fellow inhabitants of our planet.

Dr. Tyson, who is the director of New York City's Hayden Planetarium, said in an interview with PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk, "Maybe humans aren't as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with the … feelings and thoughts of others -- be they humans or other animals on Earth.”

Dr. Tyson went on to explain the importance of compassion, and state that “part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were 'reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.'"

A New York Times best-selling author, Dr. Tyson most recently wrote “The Pluto Files: The Rise of Fall of America's Favorite Planet.” He is also the host of PBS' Nova ScienceNow and a regular contributor to popular magazines, newspapers, and television programs. Perhaps most importantly, he has received People's "Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive" title. [Text and ad below video.]

Other celebrities have also been featured in ads for PETA. This year, Ke$ha and Iggy Pop teamed up to speak out against Canada's annual harp seal hunt, and Bob Barker condemned SeaWorld for forcing Orcas to swim in small, concrete tanks.

Many celebs have even appeared nude in the “I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign, including recently, George Clooney's ex-girlfriend, Elisabetta Canalis.

The group also recently called for Pope Benedict XVI to "truly go green" by making the next popemobile without leather, since production of leather is "toxic to the environment, it's also hell for cows."

Since its inception, the outspoken animal rights group has been the focus of both praise and controversy for its work.

In July, the organization picketed the film 'Zookeeper' over animal abuse allegations, after a giraffe "spent the last few months of his life confined to a 20-foot-by-20-foot stall." The statement was refuted by the American Humane Association. Also that month, the organization's undercover video of dogs and cats being tortured resulted in felony charges for lab workers.

Check out PETA's newest ad:

Comments

[Inannawhimsey]

05:09 PM on 08/16/2011

That man does get around :3

The Global Human Spring continues with the monotheistic, single-valued trying to hold onto their crumbling worldview as the polytheistic, many-valued worldview becomes stronger and stronger.

[Backtalkisahorse]

05:54 PM on 08/12/2011

How come there aren't any stories of Neil Degrasse Tyson on HP version of Black Voices. Can't find him with a crack vial in one hand and a football in the other one?

[nomadrdw]

01:02 PM on 08/08/2011

most Americans have no idea of where their food comes from. factory farms disconnect us from any understanding of what it takes to get that food to our table. they also allow some really unethical treatment of the creatures we are supposed to consume. this is all done in the name of profit, and all it cost is some small bit of the American soul and of course it also keeps people away from nature. we would treat our animals a lot different if we were the ones having to "process" them ourselves. know what you are eating and where it came from.

[fds]

01:06 PM on 08/07/2011

Tyson is a rock star in his field.

[Dredd]

12:28 PM on 08/07/2011

Well, he makes a good point. We should be developing a Dyson energy grid system together ... all of "us".

http://ecocosmology.blogspot.com/2011/08/exploded-planet-hypothesis.html

[JHKH]

02:52 PM on 08/06/2011

Tyson appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher last night. He was brilliant!

[capitaldysfunction]

03:15 AM on 08/07/2011

He is brilliant. If he primaried Obama, I have no doubt he would win. I know that presupposes a lot but it's true.

[JHKH]

08:26 PM on 08/07/2011

I wonder if he could be drafted...

www.americanselect.org

an internet-based convention to choose an alternative to the Republican and Democrat stranglehold.

[Backtalkisahorse]

06:01 PM on 08/12/2011

Yesss! He is black afterall , albeit an award winning Scientist not a politician,,,but he's black and he's on tv...and he doesn't wear those rap clothes....Obama's Black and Sidney Portier is Black maybe he should run, He's a nice one, you know that dinner movie WAS fiction; and maybe the guy from Driving Miss Daisy...maybe he should run.....until he wins, then there's a whole other fried kettle of fish to fry. Dude, REALLY?

[FTracy3]

02:31 PM on 08/06/2011

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know PETA is a little nutty.

[Toddynho]

03:01 PM on 08/07/2011

I'll side with the do-gooders and astrophysicists

[Shayne ONeill]

08:38 AM on 09/08/2011

Oh nobody denies PETA is a bit bonkers sometimes. But on a fundamental level I think they are right, and thats what counts.

[StarGazr5992]

11:39 AM on 08/06/2011

The only problem is the human race is so cruel and un-caring and un-feeling and would rather it all be about the human race and screw the planet and the animals, The human race should have never evolved and should have been destroyed long ago..More humans the less we will have the planet and animal's for much longer the human race is only out for themselves

[Just4theHalibut]

12:41 AM on 08/06/2011

Sorry, I can't support PETA because of their claims that there is no difference between fish and mammals. That is just patently false. Also, I keep wondering, if we do away with using animals for food and beasts of burden (and correct me if I am wrong, but I believe PETA says even human companions- pets- are equivalent to slaves) -- why would any of those species survive? These are all artificially bred and kept alive by humans, everything from chickens to donkeys to beagles. I personally would be very sad if they weren't part of our human experience. Yes, some humans abuse that relationship, and we should do everything to prevent that. But PETA just goes too far. There are other organizations that care for animals that are more rational and realistic, I support them.

[nomadrdw]

12:41 PM on 08/08/2011

You are right. PETA does some good, but they have stated over and over that their goal is no human interference in the natural world at all. no pets, no companion animals, and of course, no farm animals for food, or research on them either, which for the record i disagree with as well. my animals all share my home and i take great effort in my responsibility to them.

[Broknrekord3]

11:25 PM on 08/05/2011

While I disagree with some of PETA's policies, I can always support actions to advocate for those with the least amount of advocacy (animals), particularly when they are the first to be put in the cold when the economy goes south.

[Toddynho]

03:03 PM on 08/07/2011

They push the envelope knowing they'll never achieve all, but they've brought the debate into a better position over the years. People who hate PETA don't understand how they operate, I'm like you, there is a bit I don't agree with, but I know it's them simply pushing the debate ridiculously far hoping that it at least moves at least.

[Spock]

10:06 PM on 08/05/2011

Thanks Neil, great message.

[RockmanRotties]

10:05 PM on 08/05/2011

Believe it or not. Peta kills animals. The Virginia-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently disclosed that its employees killed more than 97 percent of the dogs, cats, and other pets they took in during 2006. After doing our best impression of that squeaky eye-rubbing bit Jon Stewart does on The Daily Show for a few seconds (“Whaaaaa?”), we came up with a practical solution to this stunning pattern of puppy and kitten killing.

PETA is legally considered a “humane society” in Virginia, but it sure doesn’t act like one. So yesterday we wrote to the Commissioner of Virginia’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) with a simple request: Since PETA behaves like a slaughterhouse, it’s time to officially label it a slaughterhouse.

A no-kill shelter is wonderful place. Why ? Check it out here: http://www.animalhouseshelter.com/

[Toddynho]

03:06 PM on 08/07/2011

Ya, the same old trope is tossed out again. I'll take their record over the US military's record with civilians.

[nomadrdw]

12:48 PM on 08/08/2011

i would really like to know what PETA murdering the animals in its care has to do with the military?

you do understand it is the military job to do what ever it needs to, to protect this country. PETA is suppose to be an advocacy group for animals that kills all the creatures in its care. not a single animal has ever left a PETA facility alive.

[Larry C Sessions]

09:17 PM on 08/05/2011

You may or may not believe in God, and I may or may not believe in God, but thank God for Neil deGrasse Tyson. I cried while watching this. I am a white male raised in the South in the 50s and 60s in a very fundamentalist Christian religion. I have since become a very strong agnostic. If I were to ve religious today, I would be Buddhist.

As as young person (long ago and shame on me) I idolized Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. In fact, I still do, not in any religious sense, but in the sense that they greatly enhanced our status as intelligent beings. They are all gone, but today I feel similarly for Neil deGrasse Tyson. Thank you for being a feeling, reasonable human being. Buddhism teaches that you should not have heros, and I understand that, but while NDT is much my junior in years, he is my hero.

[Issaquah79]

09:03 PM on 08/05/2011

Just thought I'd remind everyone of the amazing Carl Sagan and some of his thoughts on animal rights. He was very concerned with our treatment of animals. He considered the killing of apes and whales murder.
"Humans–who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals–have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain. A sharp distinction between humans and “animals” is essential if we are to bend them to our will, make them work for us, wear them, eat them–without any disquieting tinges of guilt or regret. It is unseemly of us, who often behave so unfeeling toward other animals, to contend that only humans can suffer. The behavior of other animals renders such pretensions specious.They are just too much like us”.

[Issaquah79]

08:46 PM on 08/05/2011

Nice thoughts from Neil. Yes, people we know, PETA sucks for numerous and I agree. However, they are right about many things and I don't see the problem with appreciating what they do have right. Animals need to be included in our moral community. That doesn't mean we are going to stop eating them or that they are going to stop dying by our hands but I do think things could be radically different in our dealings with animals and I hope one day it will be. I appreciate Neil speaking up for them. I love the point he made about animals surpassing our exceptations every time we learn something new about them. Intelligence and emotions have roots much further back than humans and it only makes sense that we share these qualities with every living being.