Richard Dawkins vs. Tyson - Fuck Off

[Troy Spiral (13)]

[phee]

I <3 Dawkins.

[Slogo]

I find both men very intelligent but I loved dawkins comment at the end

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Neil DeGrasse Tyson - Host of Nova: Science Now host of and author of the highly recomended:

Nova: Origins (usually the first documentary of the Trifecta of the "science" documentaries i always recomend - Cosmos by Carl Sagan, The Ascent of Man by J. Bronowski being the other (and better) two)

Richard Dwakins - Author of too many good books to mention, the two most nessisary , The Greatest Show On Earth and The God Delusion.

That clip is taken from the excellent (if a bit technical and more for HARDCORE science nerds,not the average science buff)

Beyond Belief 1.0

[Destroit]

Cool stuff, much bigger fan of Tyson than Dawkins. I think over time Dawkins has gotten more tied up pushing his own agenda than actually focusing on science.

Cool stuff, much bigger fan of Tyson than Dawkins. I think over time Dawkins has gotten more tied up pushing his own agenda than actually focusing on science.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Probably the biggest pro-religion name in science is a guy named Francis Collins , there are other scientists (and i dont mean some random high school teacher) that tend toward Deism (Michael Behe and William Dembinski being the key names surrounding the scientific-sounding "Intelligent Design" movement, scientists both) But Collins has a huge amount of credibility in the scientific community, having been the head of what is arguably the most significant scientific project of this generation (the human genome project...) His book The Language of God is an interesting read... damn i forgot what my point was going to be, lol.

In their old age a lot of the bigger names become more vocal about their "anti-religion" I guess because they are secure in their careers and just feel more bold and tend to not be afraid to speak out publicly about such things.

Carl Sagan

Steven Weinberg

Albert Enstien

Steven Hawking (just recently)

Richard Dawkins

Bertrand Russell

all seem to have shifted to more of this in similar fashion in advanced age.

I think dawkins views his vocal atheistic campagins as a direct defense of science that few other than him are willing to undertake, which might be an error on his part and alienate more people from it than it brings into science.

[darknight1]

I have to respectfully disagree with the idea that Dawkins is pushing his own agenda. What he sees, rather accurately, is a push by right wing Christianity to mix religion with science. And quite honestly, I'd rather side with Dawkins on this one. Look at what science has proved since the beginning of the Enlightenment. Religion, by comparison, seems to offer no proof of it's teachings, it's own version of Earth's history and man's as well. Quite simply, it's all myth. What Dawkins sees is an attempt by the right to turn the world back to the Dark Ages.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

I have to respectfully disagree with the idea that Dawkins is pushing his own agenda. What he sees, rather accurately, is a push by right wing Christianity to mix religion with science. And quite honestly, I'd rather side with Dawkins on this one. Look at what science has proved since the beginning of the Enlightenment. Religion, by comparison, seems to offer no proof of it's teachings, it's own version of Earth's history and man's as well. Quite simply, it's all myth. What Dawkins sees is an attempt by the right to turn the world back to the Dark Ages.

I'd call it "pushing reality". Which, I guess we all have our own agenda. Crazy that whole reality thing.

[phee]

I'd call it "pushing reality". Which, I guess we all have our own agenda. Crazy that whole reality thing.

Indeed... and with all the resistance that he (and other reality pushers like myself try to be) get, it's not surprising... think about all the things even a healthy human does to escape reality, drugs, religion, reality TV (ironically named).

Edited August 8, 2011 by phee

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Indeed... and with all the resistance that he (and other reality pushers like myself try to be) get, it's not surprising... think about all the things even a healthy human does to escape reality, drugs, religion, reality TV (ironically named).

Part of the problem is even in QUESTIONG certain "sacred" ideas , people instantly get offended so its (in their mind) not even open for discussion. Which, even though I'm all about keeping the peace, if I can't even bring up were I might disagree about something , in at least some cases, they are just going to have to suck it up. I generally try to value kindness over "raw search for truth" but truth-searching (even if it turns out to be in error or not) wins when its something that is all-encompassing and affects your whole worldview.

[phee]

Part of the problem is even in QUESTIONG certain "sacred" ideas , people instantly get offended so its (in their mind) not even open for discussion. Which, even though I'm all about keeping the peace, if I can't even bring up were I might disagree about something , in at least some cases, they are just going to have to suck it up. I generally try to value kindness over "raw search for truth" but truth-searching (even if it turns out to be in error or not) wins when its something that is all-encompassing and affects your whole worldview.

Yeah... the problem I see is that instant offense taken you mentioned.... but when it comes to religion that offense is somehow accepted... If someone gets offended about their drug habit being called out, he/she is being unreasonable, but when someones religion is called into question... that's a no no.

If someone was walking around with a painted face, chicken feathers, and refusing to go to school because of their belief and devotion to a certain video game... they would be institutionalized... but if someone does it because they say it is their religion, we are like "okay that is their right."

People can get away with so much psychotic, unreasonable, crazed behavior as long as they say it is their religion or spirituality... when any other excuse they would be looked at as insane... I just think there should be the same scrutiny for everything, whether they are saying they are doing it because aliens tell them too, or some invisible imaginary friend in the sky.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Yeah... the problem I see is that instant offense taken you mentioned.... but when it comes to religion that offense is somehow accepted... If someone gets offended about their drug habit being called out, he/she is being unreasonable, but when someones religion is called into question... that's a no no.

Sort of a survival of the fittest in ideology/meme, probably one of the (many misguided) reasons these ideas survive long after they are proven wrong by any real measure. If built into the idea is that questioning the idea at all is somehow wrong/evil/rude/offensive, then the idea tends to survive longer than it would otherwise. So this special class of "evolved" ideas has a protective artificial shell. Unfortunately a lot of the ideas are parasitic or just plain silly / wrong. But they survive due to emotional defense, rather than survive due to critical reasoning deciding they are the most accurate.