'Scientists: Band of misfits?'

Scientists: Band of misfits? (BBC)

Why have the makers of Wallace and Gromit decided to rebrand their latest film in the US so that it does not include the word “scientist”?

Just wondering whether this BBC article has any relevance to any of the endless discussions about the role of science and religion, particularly in a US context. I don't really have any comment on it, but I thought some LT posters might be interested.

Wow. I didn't know that the "t" in the middle of "scientist" came from an etymology derived from "artist."

Overall, I see a lot of complaining about how nerds and geeks are looked down upon and a call for "rebranding" but no thought about why the problem exists. It's actually a lot like how black kids in the 'hood look down on their peers who "act white." It's not cool to imitate your slave masters no matter how you slice it. Similarly, when you send your kids to those day-prisons called "schools," the kids who become their teacher's pet will also be looked down upon while the "misfits" who remain uncowed are seen as cool. It's the natural outcome of captivity and has nothing to do with religion.

>2: I think Lunar's got it about right. It's less a question of religion vs. science than it is cultural perceptions of education in general. That is, I would see this as akin to the decision to rebrand Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone into Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, a rebranding that apparently has stuck on LT. (In putting in the touchstones, I've discovered that the standard title of the first Harry Potter book on LT is Sorcerer's, not Philosopher's; indeed, the touchstone for Philosopher's Stone doesn't even lead to the original volume, but instead to the Latin translation!)

>2

Interestingly enough, this is why successful blacks tend to dislike their less successful peers even more than whites do. The lobster analogy is used a lot. (Lobsters in a tank in the store; if they cooperated, some of them would get out and possibly assist those left it. But they don't; they spend their time tering down those who might have a chance to get out.) So, the blacks who do get out (or are run out) are rather bitter.

ARGH!

(that is all.)