Neil deGrasse is is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator.
Smart dude.
For several years after 9-11 he repeatedly quoted one of then President George W Bush’s responses shortly after the attacks.
GB2 had supposedly said “Our God is the God who named the stars”.
Many times, in seminars, lectures, presentations, articles, etc Mr. deGrasse criticised that quote and the mindset behind it.
Feeling firstly, it attempted to create a ‘them and us’ division.
A ‘My God is better than your God’ type thing.
And he also, correctly, pointed out that 2/3rds of all stars were discovered by Muslims and have Arabic names.
There was one slight problem though.
Georgie boy never said that.
People started questioning the quote when they couldn’t find any record of it.
deGrasse insisted that he distinctly remembered seeing it on TV and noted it down for future use.
Eventually, when no one could find any proof whatsoever of it, he apologised.
“I was wrong” he said.
“My bad”
## Genuine, but abbreviated quote that ##
The closest people could find was a quote after the 2003 Columia Shuttle disaster.
“The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today”.
If a dude as smart as he is could make such a mistake, it’s not surprising we all do from time to time.
People sometime misunderstand and misremember what we recommend.
I’ve had this exact conversation more than once over the years:
Me: “So, how’s your eating been recently”
Person: “Good. I’ve cut out all carbs”
Me: “Why’ve you done that?”
Person: “You told me to”
Me: “No I didn’t”
Person: “Yes you did. I remember it. You specifically said “Cut out all carbs””
Me: “That never happened”
The same thing has happened here.
People have heard part of what’s being said.
And framed it around what they were currently thinking and what they believe and know.
And remembered something that didn’t actually happen.
For the record, we recommend a balanced diet.
Approximately equal amounts of your energy from carbs, protein and healthy fats.
A 2:2:1 ratio in volume terms as far is twice as energy dense (check myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting if the food side of things is something you struggle with).
Most people who come to use have, essentially, been on the Mega-High-Carb Diet.
Ratios more like 6:2:2 or even 8:1:1 aren’t uncommon.
So, for them, a reduction in carbs and more fats and protein will benefit them.
No mention of cutting anything out.
No mention of carbs being ‘bad’.
Just a redressing of the balance.
If you’re not sure what that balanced diet looks like in real terms, a few days of tracking can help.
Record what you’re eating with something like MyFitnessPal or the tracker on our members’ site.
You don’t need to do it forever – that’s no way to live your life.
But a few days will give you a better idea.
I’ll give you a quick hint though…….
Cereal / porridge / toast / juice for breakfast definitely IS NOT a balanced meal.
Much love,
Jon ‘Derf’ Hall and Matt ‘Bob’ Nicholson
P.S. Tricky middle names those – 25 points if you get them without googling 🙂
RISE Macclesfield – myrise.co.uk
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Or check out our monthly find-out-more meeting if you want to learn more about our free ’20lbs weight loss in 8 weeks’ and ‘Beach Body’ challenges –> myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting
