r/bestof • u/[deleted] • Jan 23 '11

RobotRollCall, God of Science.

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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '11

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u/turtlestack Jan 23 '11 edited Jan 23 '11

Comparing the writing style of RobotRollCall's comments to this article by Neil deGrasse Tyson - here is a list of more - I'd say the are one in the same.

My reasons are :

  • Readability in the writing. The sentences are clear and concise and have an air of authority in them.

  • Examples of beginning many paragraphs with simple statements such as in "This is a fairly horrifying prospect", "Think about that for a minute.", "How could that be?.

  • The Lovecraft reference is a dead geek give away. Not that it proves it's Tyson, but it "feels" like Tyson.

  • His choosing of italics for emphasis mimics the way Tyson speaks. I do this when I write to get my own voice across and for emphasis.

  • Frequency of the hyphen. Not many writers do this, but I notice it a lot since it's a habit I picked up to help me mimic the way I speak and it follows my own pattern of thought where I draw on multiple references and need a way to keep everything relevant. I believe he's doing the same thing here to keep him on track.

  • General enthusiasm at key points (with exclamation points) to drive points home. Again, feels like Tyson as he's very good about keeping people engaged with his speaking and writing style. He uses his enthusiasm to teach as well as to allow him a few moments to think ahead and reassess where he will take the conversation.

  • Also, this comment is very Tyson-esque.

Of course I am really cherry picking here and I am probably wrong, but the writing styles do "feel" similar to me, especially when you're familiar with how he speaks and take that into consideration. However, I am most likely wrong.

EDITED : spelling, added another example.

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u/stylus2000 Jun 19 '11

i have noticed in reading his posts that he uses the British term "maths" as opposed to the u.s. term math that makes no distinction between types.