Richard Dawkins

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I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread on him, considering his name consistently pops up in the religious threads in this section.

Ive been watching interview after interview with him on youtube and am absolutely amazed that no matter how thorough, logical and most of all, respectful, Dawkin's is, much of what he says is either ignored or immediately discarded. And, many of the questions need not be asked if the askers had even the slightest knowledge or understanding of evolution/natural selection/adaptation and Dawkin's position on life in general . Questions like "howcome we are afraid to die" and " why is there something instead of nothing" etc etc etc.

I also noticed that he is constantly on the defensive and i have yet to see him beat around the bush or refuse to answer a question. Every answer he gives comes with reasoning and evidence, something that at this point just isn't expected of his opposition. And, I find that quite ridiculous.

I guess the majority of modern man just isn't ready to even consider the possibility that much of what we have been made to understand could be false and that there are alternatives that are, in fact, more likely to be true then what we are clinging to now.

Anyway, what do you guys think of him?
 
God Bless Richard Dawkins :)

but seriously Dawkins is my dawg. He is SUCH a smart man and his videos are simply outstanding. I suggest reading his awesome book "The God Delusion"(or if you are lazy like me - listen to the audio version that he himself reads)
 
He kicks Godbotherer ass.
 
I'm huge fan of Richard Dawkins, I'm very interested in his scientific books and theories such as memetics, selfish gene theory, gene-centered view of evolution and others. His book The Selfish Gene changed my view of life and my philosophy, I was always an atheist and I believed in Darwin's work but now I'm very strong atheist and neo-darwinist. Later I noticed his strong criticism religion and saw his awesome interviews with stupid believers and creationists (like great dope Ted Haggard). His arguments are absolutely amazing, wise and sometimes funny. World needs more wise men like Dr. Dawkins.

Website of Richard Dawkins
 
I find his sociobiological theories interesting as debate, but I'm far more impressed with his emminently reasonable religous takedowns.

Personally, I'm more on the Sam Harris boat, although I've read Harris but only watched Dawkins on TV.
 
Shit, that was a comprehensive ass kicking. :LOL:

'I would strongly encourage any members of Liberty University that may be here, to leave and go to a proper university.'
 
Absolutley, dawkins is my favorite modern intellectual. He goes directley to the point, is clear conscise and has brilliant reasoning. Unfortunatley this is what makes him ineffective. People simply label him "arrogant" or "mad" and stop listening to him. It's really a shame.

I would suggest watching the Beyond Belief series of talks (which richard is in at some point, talking with Sam Harris and others) My favorite quote from those talkes is when Richard Dawkins responds to a lady who suggests finding vauge evolutionary references in the bible and using them as ammunition against fundamentalists, to which he replies, "Why not just tell them the bloody truth? No vauge poetic references to the bible, show them the evidence!"

EDIT: I also just finished reading the blind watchmaker, and it makes me feel much more confident in explaining evolution to people. There were alot of things I did not understand, like sexual selection, cumulative selection and an answer to the "5% of an eye is no good" that creationists like to throw at me (The answer, it's better than zero percent!)
 
I find his sociobiological theories interesting as debate, but I'm far more impressed with his emminently reasonable religous takedowns.

Personally, I'm more on the Sam Harris boat, although I've read Harris but only watched Dawkins on TV.

They make a terrific tag-team. As somebody who finished both "The God Delusion" and "The End of Faith" relatively recently, I'd say they both have their strengths.
Both are terrific at pointing out the insanity of faith, but they do it differently. Harris tends to focus more on the practical consequences of worldwide faith and the danger it presents, whereas Dawkins spends more time ripping apart deities on a conceptual level. Dawkins' arguments against religion also usually go hand in hand with his support of evolution.

When you come across somebody who thinks religious moderation is rational or acceptable intellectually, you point them to Harris.
When you come across an ID proponent, you point them to Dawkins.

I'd also say Dawkins is a far more acerbic person. Admittedly, Harris' work is laden with wonderful sarcasm (ie. "cracker genocide"), but he's generally more soft-spoken. But Dawkins doesn't pull any punches. He seems less concerned with bringing people around to his views as much as he simply enjoys saying "You're flat-out ****ing wrong, you idiot".
 
An article on Yahoo written by Dawkins was one of the main factors in my breaking down of mental barriers against questioning my faith.

The resulting explosion of intellectual honesty led to my AH-HA moment and rapid deconvesion.

Today I am a stronger person, a more self reliant person, and I have stronger values and morals than I've ever had.

I can't describe how wonderful it is to be able to think clearly and honestly, free from all the "doublethink" (To use 1984's terminology) necessary to substantiate my old belief system.

Dawkins is a good person and brilliant scientist and speaker.

He is also, in fact, the shit.
 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QERyh9YYEis[/youtube]

ROFL
 
My idiot of the day:
[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/watch?v=KB05Ijr2Ios[/YOUTUBE]
 
i cant listen to that guy...can someone post some of his good vidoes so i dont have to find them?
 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QERyh9YYEis[/youtube]

ROFL

I don't get it. Is this really just trying to be stupid, or is it somehow trying to debunk Dawkins through shitty parody?

I just Googled "Terry Tommyrot" and all I'm seeing is a bunch of theists masturbating over this alleged "OMG SO FUNNY" deconstruction, which is nonsense.
 
I don't get it. Is this really just trying to be stupid, or is it somehow trying to debunk Dawkins through shitty parody?

I just Googled "Terry Tommyrot" and all I'm seeing is a bunch of theists masturbating over this alleged "OMG SO FUNNY" deconstruction, which is nonsense.

Oh well I thought they were just being funny. I really love Dawkins and everything he stands for.
 
That was a really funny parody :) My life, that bloke is a ****ing retard in the video above me.
 
Yay, picked up the God Delusion and I am reading it now.
See you in hell :p
God Delusion is fantastic, there is also television documentary called The Root of All Evil? and it's based on this book.
First part:
[GVIDEO]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6169720917221820689&q=god+delusion[/GVIDEO]
 
I hadn't previously seen his religious debates - I became a fan after reading "The Blind Watchmaker" and his position as an evolutionary biologist. Downloading the videos now.

edit - good heavens, that radio DJ is a total cretin!
 
This is a nice show hosted by Richard Dawkins himself, about evolution (primarily).


Part 1-5 respectively

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlQcMRq0oug[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9SsxUX_NQc[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjfW4kA_dOU[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMfc3J1wX2U[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmUJak3cYdI[/youtube]


Edit: "Why are we here?"
[youtube]13NPZ5Nv_fc[/youtube]
 
Oh wow, The Christmas Lectures! I used to love watching them when I was a kid, but I had no idea Dawkins did one. Thanks for posting them!
 
Richard Dawkins on CNN
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR6Mu5JULBo[/YOUTUBE]
Kickass! Ending is awesome.
 
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