Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Dawkins on "Fresh Air"
On the drive home today I caught Terry Gross's entire interview with Richard Dawkins. I should be able to hear her interview with Francis Collins tomorrow.
I think he was fantastic. Terry's questions led Dawkins in many different directions and he was able to address a good number of arguments for atheism. To my dismay, they didn't get to my current favorite(s) the Problem/Question of evil.
more below the fold
There was nothing new to me in the arguments for atheism but Dawkins did address the charge of being a "fundamental" atheist quite nicely. He did so by contrasting science and faith...implying that his view, if presented with proper evidence, could change like any good scientists would where a true fundamentalist's view, no matter the evidence, wouldn't change at all.
There were a couple of straight biology questions and I found one of his analogies compelling. He likened, and seemed quite excited about, biology to computer science. He said that DNA can be thought of just like machine code and though it's quaternary rather than binary the same principles of copying, cutting and pasting etc apply.
I'd not heard him speak before, but if that is an example of his work, I'm proud to have him representing atheists worldwide.
I'm trying to keep an open mind for tomorrow's interview, but I just think it's going to be painful.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
dawkins interview by gros on today's NPR Fresh Air 3/7/08
HE'S BACK! Today, I caught the last 30 minutes of the show, Fresh Air, with a few interruptions as I drove along the freeway from phone calls such that I'm in the dark as to whether this was a re-broadcast of the same interview prompting this thread last year, or a new or updated interview - as it included Collins' interview in the last 10 minutes of the show (before the reviewer guy's 5 min. show-ending segment played). It's probably excerpted from the two interviews making up the two back-to-back shows aired in 2 days last year, but it's nice to see further circulation of the rationalist's POV in any medium, even one where the audience is made up of many members of our "choir."
When I turned the show on, Dawkins was explaining that his discussion of religion as the counter-agent for the proper/natural human evolution of knowledge was limited to one place in "the book" (later revealed to be The God Delusion). This I found a bit puzzling, since to me, the entire book was all about how religion/theism retarded the intellectual growth of individual believers.
Anyhow, FYI.
Actually . . .
This was a re-broadcast. Fresh Air is always rebroadcasts on Friday. I caught most of it while I was running errands as well.
Actually, the book he was reading from then was The Ancestor's Tale.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
"god" damned cell phones and "god" damned brain cells
Thanks for the info clearing up the confusion. I wouldn't have bothered answering the cursed device but for my wife's riding shotgun and need for me to do so.
I came here in search of any serious attempts to track the neurological impediments I believe are visited on children's brains when they're forced to accept the irrationalists' dogmas against their intuitive powers of reason, the latter of which are compromised and thereby stunted - perhaps permanently.
Are you aware of any such studies or places/people who are considering same?
We kick it around...
...from time to time, such as here and here. But that's fairly incidental. I'm not aware of any formal studies being conducted - anyone else?
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Where can I download this
Where can I download this interview?
It's available
It's available at the link below:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9180871
How and where?
Hi, As a Brit in Hong Kong I'm not familiar with Terry Gross or her program - can any of you point me at somewhere I can download an MP3 of her interviews with Dawkins and Collins? I've found streams etc - but I need an MP3 I can dump to a portable player so I can listen.
I have really limited web access at the moment so an email to flippertie (at) yahoo (dot) com would be much appreciated...
Thanks
Email sent.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
As I've said before (for Axis)
If we have the believers arguing about scientific proof, they have already lost.
For the others, my definition of a fundamentalist atheist is simply: one who will continue to stand by the null hypothesis until something better comes along. Until that happens, see the point above.
"You better start giving me some inner peace before I mop the floor with you." - Homer S.
or
"Pinky, you excel at random." - the Brain
Fundie Atheists
Dawkins has a better answer than me to the charge of being a "fundamentalist atheist." My somewhat longer answer is:
To be a fundamentalist, you have to have some original "text" or holy book which your culture originally accepted. Then contemporary religious practice has to diverge from that text. Finally, there has to be a group that says "Enough of that. We're going back to the FUNDAMENTALS, to the original meaning of our holy book."
Since there is no atheist bible, there is nothing to wander from and then fundamentalize back to. Therefore, fundamentalist atheists simply cannot exist.
There can be EAGER atheists. STRIDENT atheists. OUTSPOKEN atheists. EVANGELICAL atheists. ... And I hope there are, more of all of them.
But fundamentalist atheists? No.
Bear in mind also that the phrase "fundamentalist atheist" is meant as a slur. Considering who originally popularized the modern usage of the term "fundamentalist" – fundamentalist Christians themselves – it's pretty funny.
It's like those people who say "Science is a religion" and don't realize they're basically saying "Your beliefs are every bit as stupid and unfounded as mine."
mostly right
Not quite Hank. Athiests may not have a solid carved in stone book like the Bible to refer back to, but one can always regress to a previous set of rules even without that. The way evolution is often taught in schools for example is generally always portrayed as one species giving rise to another ad nausium (although this is true it is only a pixel of the real picture and by itself is misleading). An athiest who is not particularly learned can always fall back on the information that is generally relayed to the public. True they won't all have the same "Bible" to fall back on like the religious fundamentalists, but they may still resist changes based on newer or more complete information.
God does not play dice with the universe. - Albert Einstein
But the Dungeon Master does! - me
I caught it all while at
I caught it all while at work. Good stuff. I’m a fan, but I admit he can come off very caustic at times, especially to believers. He did a fantastic job in this interview though. Terry Gross was excellent as well, like always.
Projection
Fundamentalism as an insult hurled at atheists always struck me as odd. It's just like when creationists try to paint evolution as a religion. And they attempt to make their religion look good by making it look like science (e.g. Intelligent Design) Is it just me, or do Creationists/Fundies have a pretty low opinion of religion and faith?