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Richard Dawkins on JRE

We're not living in 2006 anymore, OP.

I don't get it. Richard Dawkins is not cool anymore? I'm not cool anymore? Current Year is not cool anymore? Just shut up and enjoy the video, you ain't getting a like this time.

Edit: I jest, in case you can't tell. As a Buddhist, I support pro-science, and I'm anti-anti-reason. I hope this conversation is fun and enlightening.
 
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The dude is a legit WEIRDO. Motherfucker advocated for cannibalism at one point. Must've been a side effect from his last stroke. Can't say it was the genius kind of stroke lol.

Cool. To be honest, I've not got around to reading anything by him, yet. I don't know his stance on religion, other than he hates it. I'm gonna watch now and read his books later. I posted this because I thought this would be a controversial podcast - I'm sure Dawkins pisses off the alt-left too no doubt probably maybe (white male science).

My take is that religion and science can work together quite easily, with better results than anything anti-reason and feminism and the alt-left have ever done.

Hopefully this podcast goes into these topics.
 
Cool. To be honest, I've not got around to reading anything by him, yet. I don't know his stance on religion, other than he hates it. I'm gonna watch now and read his books later. I posted this because I thought this would be a controversial podcast - I'm sure Dawkins pisses off the alt-left too no doubt probably maybe (white male science).

My take is that religion and science can work together quite easily, with better results than anything anti-reason and feminism and the alt-left have ever done.

Hopefully this podcast goes into these topics.
The dude is a militant athiest. He literally wants no religions to exist and calls for the destruction of the Abrahamic religions explicitly.

His books have been refuted in the past and his contributions have not had a long-lasting impact on both science and society. The only thing that society accepted from him is the term "Meme" which they turned into a mockery of sorts (and they say God isn't a comedian).
 
The dude is a militant athiest. He literally wants no religions to exist and calls for the destruction of the Abrahamic religions explicitly.

His books have been refuted in the past and his contributions have not had a long-lasting impact on both science and society. The only thing that society accepted from him is the term "Meme" which they turned into a mockery of sorts (and they say God isn't a comedian).

OK. Yeah, I've heard a few times these Atheists think they coined the term meme and give long complex answers about how the whole of language and reality is a meme and that that is where the word comes from.

I've got one answer to that.

HONK
 
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There's a great series on YouTube about how the anti-science movement managed to destroy some of the Atheist movement, in case I get blasted for linking the religious cult of the alt-left (the Fabians shhh) to Buddhism, science, and this JRE podcast.

 
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jonnyp

Member
The dude is a militant athiest. He literally wants no religions to exist and calls for the destruction of the Abrahamic religions explicitly.

His books have been refuted in the past and his contributions have not had a long-lasting impact on both science and society. The only thing that society accepted from him is the term "Meme" which they turned into a mockery of sorts (and they say God isn't a comedian).

Militant atheist? Criticizing BS dogma is not militant.
 

Shrap

Member
OK. Yeah, I've heard a few times these Atheists think they coined the term meme and give long complex answers about how the whole of language and reality is a meme and that that is where the word comes from.

I've got one answer to that.

HONK
Dawkins invented the word and its definition in the 70s. It's a unit of cultural information that is spread by imitation. Since he's a biologist he created it as a cultural version of a gene, which is why it has a similar sounding name and definition.
 
Dawkins invented the word and its definition in the 70s. It's a unit of cultural information that is spread by imitation. Since he's a biologist he created it as a cultural version of a gene, which is why it has a similar sounding name and definition.

giphy.gif
 
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E-Cat

Member
We're not living in 2006 anymore, OP.
Dawkins is a respected evolutionary biologist who wrote a seminal book on the subject, The Selfish Gene:


Just because the religious right's hate towards him peaked in the mid-2000s, or whatever, does not make his serious scientific work any less relevant today.
 
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dan76

Member
I think Dawkins is great. Looking forward to this. Shame it's only an hour.

The whole believe what you want to believe is fine as long as your not forcing that belief on anyone else, or harming others with your belief and practises - and I'd include animals in this. Dawkins is a legit pushback against delusional beliefs.
 
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Lister

Banned
Dawkins personsl hot yskes in his latter years dont take away from his accomplishments in science or his grest arguments against the idiocy that is religion.

A lot of his books are a great introduction to how evolution works and the long road we took to learn about it.
 
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Ornlu

Banned
I believe to everyone their own. Believe what you want to believe. But I swear when I look at a lot of atheist, they believe so hard that they don't believe in anything that they almost seem like a religion

Atheism is 100% a religion/cult. It's just replacing belief in a power higher than man, and enjoying the sense of moral superiority that comes from being "more intelligent" than the religious masses. Unfortunately "more intelligent" usually really translates to "being a person with a lot of disposable time and wealth, with no desire for responsibility or accountability".

There is a vast, vast gulf between "Well I don't really know what exists beyond what can be observed" and "All religion is poisonous lies, and must be destroyed by force!".
 

E-Cat

Member
It is when you do so in a condescending manner, like calling it "BS".
Not being considerate of religious people's feelings by calling their beliefs ridiculous is being militant? lol. When I hear the word 'militant', I'm thinking lynchings and suppression of civil liberties, but okay then.

Atheism is 100% a religion/cult. It's just replacing belief in a power higher than man, and enjoying the sense of moral superiority that comes from being "more intelligent" than the religious masses. Unfortunately "more intelligent" usually really translates to "being a person with a lot of disposable time and wealth, with no desire for responsibility or accountability".

There is a vast, vast gulf between "Well I don't really know what exists beyond what can be observed" and "All religion is poisonous lies, and must be destroyed by force!".
While there are probably neckbeards like you describe, you are ascribing a really petty philosophy to atheists by claiming that their position on THE question (whether or not the Universe has a supernatural component) is dictated by a smug desire to feel superior to the masses.

Eh, nevermind. I just realized you probably draw a huge distinction between "agnostic" and "atheist". I would describe myself as an atheist for all intents and purposes, except for the part where I am 100% sure (because it is physically impossible to know anything for certain). Even with that, I would really, really prefer there to be a God, because it would make the world a lot more interesting. But my atheism, or whatever you wish to call it, stems from a "best guess" given the evidence/lack thereof, and has nothing to do with my ego or how I would like things to be. Why should that have any bearing on what I think is true?
 
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Sounds accurate. I mean what else do you call iron age sheepherder mythology when taken seriously at face value by someone in this century?

Besides people like you would be offended if we called it anything other than "the gospel truth".
You wanted militant atheism to be defined, well, this defines it.

But really that's just, like, your opinion man. Pretty bold and arrogant of you to claim it's mythology.
 

Ornlu

Banned
Not being considerate of religious people's feelings by calling their beliefs ridiculous is being militant? lol. When I hear the word 'militant', I'm thinking lynchings and suppression of civil liberties, but okay then.

While there are probably neckbeards like you describe, you are ascribing a really petty philosophy to atheists by claiming that their position on THE question (whether or not the Universe has a supernatural component) is dictated by a smug desire to feel superior to the masses.

Eh, nevermind. I just realized you probably draw a huge distinction between "agnostic" and "atheist". I would describe myself as an atheist for all intents and purposes, except for the part where I am 100% sure (because it is physically impossible to know anything for certain). Even with that, I would really, really prefer there to be a God, because it would make the world a lot more interesting. But my atheism, or whatever you wish to call it, stems from a "best guess" given the evidence/lack thereof, and has nothing to do with my ego or how I would like things to be. Why should that have any bearing on what I think is true?

And I can respect where you are coming from. I take no issue with your stated position. However, your position really doesn't sound like a hardcore atheist, at all. Not believing in what you cannot see/prove is perfectly acceptable. Being so against the thought of people believing in something more than themselves, that you base your whole life and worldview around it is when one becomes an atheist of the stripe common on the internet.
 

Aurelian

my friends call me "Cunty"
Atheism is 100% a religion/cult. It's just replacing belief in a power higher than man, and enjoying the sense of moral superiority that comes from being "more intelligent" than the religious masses. Unfortunately "more intelligent" usually really translates to "being a person with a lot of disposable time and wealth, with no desire for responsibility or accountability".

There is a vast, vast gulf between "Well I don't really know what exists beyond what can be observed" and "All religion is poisonous lies, and must be destroyed by force!".

No, it's not. There are some people who act that way, but ultimately atheism boils down to this: I believe that the scientific method is valid... and because there is no scientific evidence that gods exist, I operate on the belief that there are no gods.

What you're describing is militant atheism, not atheism as a whole. I'm not in a rush to see religion end, and I know it sometimes inspires things like selflessness, compassion and humility. I just think it eventually will end, and that it poses real dangers at times -- particularly when it's codified into law.
 
Dawkins invented the word and its definition in the 70s. It's a unit of cultural information that is spread by imitation. Since he's a biologist he created it as a cultural version of a gene, which is why it has a similar sounding name and definition.
I thought meme was used in psychology?
 

E-Cat

Member
I thought meme was used in psychology?
It is, a British psychologist by the name of Susan Blackmore wrote a whole book on it called The Meme Machine:


Though, it's more about how memetics gives a plausible explanation for the unusually rapid evolution and expansion of the human neocortex. But she got the term from Dawkins and, incidentally, he wrote the foreword for the book.
 

Atrus

Gold Member
You wanted militant atheism to be defined, well, this defines it.

But really that's just, like, your opinion man. Pretty bold and arrogant of you to claim it's mythology.

Is it arrogant to claim Greek and Roman deities mythology? How about Celtic and Norse myths? Aztec myths? Native American myths? Berber myths?

The same is true of Abrahamic religions.

All are stories created by struggling human brains to deal with the enormous complexity of reality in a cold and indifferent universe.

People want to believe in a universe that revolves around them. They are temporary beings that want to exist forever and fear erasure.

Believing that you are the chosen creation of some penultimate being with a destiny and that you might live forever is just comforting to many.
 

Tesseract

Banned
Since politically conservative people are more religious in general, it stands to reason that there's also a larger subset of religious snowflakes vs liberal (religious) snowflakes . Or, are you disputing my point about GAF's general political leanings?

more so the latter, you are of course right about the former

the snowflake bit is questionable, most go to church and get on their way
 
Of course Joe tells him to try psychedelics within the first 10 minutes.

Interestingly for the same reasons as a religious person: "you spent your whole life believing in something which turned out not to be true".

i.e. If Atheist Dawkins saw, through drugs, the spiritual connectedness of the universe, he would have been gutted at the age of an old man.

Not belittling the guy though, it was a great well balanced conversation.
 
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C

Contica

Unconfirmed Member
You wanted militant atheism to be defined, well, this defines it.

But really that's just, like, your opinion man. Pretty bold and arrogant of you to claim it's mythology.

How is it not a mythology? There is nothing inherently more believable in the Bible than in Norse mythology or the Illiad.

Where do you draw the line? God is okay, but claim you saw a ghost or an angel and everyone thinks you're a loon.
 

Ornlu

Banned
How is it not a mythology? There is nothing inherently more believable in the Bible than in Norse mythology or the Illiad.

Where do you draw the line? God is okay, but claim you saw a ghost or an angel and everyone thinks you're a loon.

Well, for one thing, there are 2 meanings to the word "myth".

1. a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.

2. A widely held but false belief or idea



So are you asking about the former, or the latter? Literally any story, at all, true or not, is technically a "myth" according to the former, or will become one, given time. Or, if referring to the latter, as used in most modern language, a "myth" is a common belief that is incorrect.

If you're saying someone is stupid for believing in or seeing the value of an old story, that is obviously going to irritate people. Especially when done for no reason other than to demean the value of the story. Or claiming that a story is BS because it is old.
 
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