"I'm Not a Scientist"
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About
"I'm not a scientist" refers to a flippant remark Republican Senator Marco Rubio made in response to a question regarding the age of the earth. Online, the term became a way to poke fun at someone's ignorance or avoidance of a topic they were ignorant of, especially conservative politicians.
Origin
In November of 2012, GQ[2] published an interview with Senator Marco Rubio. Within the interview Rubio is asked, "How old do you think the Earth is?" a reference to the same question stumping Rick Perry, the then Governor of Texas, in August of 2011.[1] Rubio replied:
"I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I'm not a scientist."
Spread
The quote was covered by several sites in November of 2012, including Politico[5], the Telegraph[6] and Science Blogs.[7]
On February 5th, 2013, Buzzfeed's YouTube channel[4] posted a video clip from their Buzzfeed Brews interview with Rubio titled "Marco Rubio Not Concerned About Climate Change."
The following day The Atlantic[3] published an article titled "Is Marco Rubio a Scientist or Not, Man?"
On May 30th, 2014, New York Magazine[8] published an article titled "Why Do Republicans Always Say ‘I’m Not a Scientist’?" which explains:
"I’m not a scientist” allows Republicans to avoid conceding the legitimacy of climate science while also avoiding the political downside of openly branding themselves as haters of science. The beauty of the line is that it implicitly concedes that scientists possess real expertise, while simultaneously allowing you to ignore that expertise altogether."
On June 4th, The Daily Show featured a segment covering the trend of conservative politicians saying they aren't scientists. The following day the segment was covered by The Wire[12] and Yahoo.[13]
"I'm Not an Evolutionary Biologist"
On September 16th, 2014, Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana,[9] told a reporter:
"I'm not an evolutionary biologist."
When he was asked if he believed in evolution. The quote was covered the same day by many websites including The New Republic[10] and Raw Story.[11]
Search Interest
External References
[1] MSNBC – Rubio on Earth’s age: ‘I’m not a scientist, man’
[2] GQ – All Eyez on Him
[3] The Atlantic – Is Marco Rubio a Scientist or Not, Man?
[4] YouTube – Buzzfeed Central
[5] Politico – Marco Rubio on the Earth's age: 'I'm not a scientist'
[6] Telegraph – 'I'm not a scientist, man': Marco Rubio doesn't know how old the Earth is
[7] Science Blogs – “I’m not a scientist, man”: Is Marco Rubio’s science denial stupid?
[8] New York Magazine – Why Do Republicans Always Say ‘I’m Not a Scientist’?
[9] Mother Jones – "Bobby Jindal: "I'm Not an Evolutionary Biologist"
[10] New Republic – Someone Tell Bobby Jindal You Don't Need to Be a Scientist to Understand Science
[11] Raw Story – Bobby Jindal, former biology scholar, won’t say whether he believes in evolution
[12] The Wire – Jon Stewart Analyzes the Republican Strategy of 'I'm Not a Scientist'
[13] Yahoo – Jon Stewart Analyzes the Republican Strategy of 'I'm Not a Scientist'
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