Introduction to Unweaving the Rainbow - Richard Dawkins

[MrKGatl]

@SpencerBenedict2nd What a dumb commet. Why do you hate smart people? Is it because you are jealous and don't understand anything ?

[XXISimplicityXXI]

The cup is half full

[zytigon]

I enjoyed 'Unweaving the rainbow'. 'The Ancestor's tale' is excellent too. For great analysis of the facts about the Bible & other old Writ & comparative religion try also John W. Loftus, Robert M. Price, Dan Barker, Valerie Tarico, Ken Humphreys, Keith Parsons, Ken Pulliam, David Mills, Gary Greenberg, Bart Ehrman, Joseph Wheless, C. Dennis Mckinsey, Richard Carrier, Christopher Hitchens, Bertrand Russell, Israel Finkelstein, James Frazer, Jason Long, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett

[Forthright1]

Beautiful, inspiring words from a true genius - above all, a true human. May you keep going strong for a long, long time Prof Dawkins.

[Abrakebabra]

Word.

[Metal1998]

As an athiest i get confronted by belivers saying what about the supernatural and paranormal, tthey ask me if i belive in ghosts and i answer NO, i say to them that our brain sometimes has false paterns that some time people mistake seeing ghosts, can anybody back me up?

[tontube79]

@Metal1998 about the paranormal tell them that if they know any practitioners that they believe are not fraud then they should take on the James Randi 1 million dollar challenge.

about the paranormal google hume of miracles about which paranormal events belong unless repeatable at will (and if so they can be scientifically studied).

[TheGoatherdGod]

heeeey! what if i am offended that you think a comet killed the dinosaurs!

[ChowMeinChowdown]

Richard Dawkins is a poet.

[natmanprime]

...and then, he took out his machine gun. and machine gunned he audience.

[ShizuokaDolphin]

Top fella, and top mind. Respect. :)

[WampaStomper]

amazing :' )

[nordhorny]

Professor Richard Dawkins M.A., D. Phil., Dr. Sc., FRS, FRSL

[jackbliss]

The opening lines from Dawkins makes us feel more special about ourselves and our existence here than all the falsified glories mentioned in the scriptures of ANY religion or faith.

[kick08ful]

@jackbliss You couldn't have said it any better my friend. The great mr Dawkins has in deed made an admirable mark on humanity and will go down in history as a legend in his own time. It would be my fantasy to win an incredible lottery and turn him loose with the monetary power.

[XUltra00]

Dawkins = God! <3

[MrDerby2u]

@XUltra00 uhhh... what?

don't let him hear u say that.

i think it might piss him off.

[airhead516]

GAY POWER

[MrDerby2u]

Does anyone else think the title sounds a little.... gay?

[jbat100]

@MrDerby2u "His starting point is John Keats' well-known accusation that Isaac Newton destroyed the beauty of the rainbow by explaining it. The agenda of the book is to show the reader that science does not destroy, but rather discovers poetry in the patterns of nature." Gay doesn't seem to be the right word, no.

[muetter]

@MrDerby2u no

[Boogers32150]

@MrDerby2u No.

[d3st88]

@MrDerby2u

Fuck you, rainbows and unicorns are manly and macho.

[unionofuniversalists]

What a beautiful speech. And I thought he was an Atheist. The beauty and colour of this world could not possibly be here by a chance awakening of billions of souls.

[TehFair]

@unionofuniversalists he is an atheist lol

[simeon94]

@unionofuniversalists What the fuck?

[MrSwedenik]

@unionofuniversalists Well, somebody completely missunderstood

[MrJohnnyrace]

He is helping others come out of the dark ages of religions. He is a refreshing dose of reality.

[icameupwiththisname]

6 billion people on the planet . . . every single one of them is going to die. all our loved ones; everyone we have ever cared about, is going to die.

thumbs up if everyone should just get over it and enjoy life. :)

[pupil8]

He should be knighted!!!! SIR RICHARD DAWKINS has a ring to it , no?

[STEPHENWRAYSFORD33]

@pupil8 yes he is a wonderful science writer.

[Poleschs]

Every time I hear this, a few tears leave the corner of my eyes. I feel a boost of vitality, I new insight, a new view, this is inspiring. From the day I first read a book by Richard, my life changed greatly. Nothing means more than science for me now, I find everything I need in science, I love it and I'm grateful. For this I have decided to study the sciences, cosmology or evolutionary biology, or both. Thank you, You will forever have changed me to the better. What a man.

[sSereth]

I love you Richard.

[MotaroMKD]

@vladbcom ...The difference between you and me is not more than the difference between two hard disks of the same type with different things saved on them. Same thing in two places. I know it sounds strange, but for me this makes sense. How can you explain the fact that now on Earth there are 7 billion people, and in 120 years not a single one of them will be alive, but there will be 10 billion? Who are those people, do you think there is a total discontinuity?

[MotaroMKD]

@vladbcom Yes I understand you, and in some things I agree with you. But let me now present my opinion on this question. You and I are molecular machines produced in the same DNA "technology", and in our construction we are 99,99% the same. The differences between You and me is that I am "here" on this location and you are "there" on that location, and that in your memory (brain) you have different things written than me, because of our different surroundings.

[MotaroMKD]

@vladbcom I respect you opinion, but that is exactly what I am opposing here, both in these Dawkins lines (who by the way is my favourite scientist) and in your explanation. You said "If there had been another sperm ahead of yours to make it through and fuse with the egg, you wouldn't be here to write these lines". I think this is not true. If another sperm fused I will maybe had darker hair, bigger nose, green instead of brown eyes, but I will be "I" and I will be here.

[jcarb57]

This makes me feel so enthralled about being human and being alive. Couldn't be put any better than how Richard Dawkins has said it. Poetic, enchanting, and accurate. Awesome!

[sinatrabooth89]

This is my favorite passage out of all the works of Mr. Dawkins.

[MotaroMKD]

I am a huge fan of Dawkins, but I really dont like these lines. I dont think they correspond to reality. I think whatever the combination of genes the end result (person) is practically the same, only some traits will vary. We are all clones, replicas of each other, 99% same DNA code, all the same. The same applies for all of the living world

[DormroomJim]

@MotaroMKD sorry gonna have to disagree with you there:

the word "clone" makes takes into account that remaining 1% and gives it meaning and relative significance. we can't all be clones of one another because the term clone takes our evident near-identicality to one another and proposes that the remaining differences disappear. Dawkins is recognizing the significance of that small amount of variance and giving it appreciation and meaning.

[DormroomJim]

@MotaroMKD sorry gonna have to disagree with you there:

the word "clone" makes takes into account that remaining 1% and gives it meaning and relative significance. we can't all be clones of one another because the term clone takes our evident near-identicality to one another and proposes that the remaining differences disappear. Dawkins is recognizing the significance of that small amount of variance and giving it appreciation and meaning.

[jtsmash12]

@MotaroMKD So why keep living? Why not kill yourself? It is obviously of quite little consequence since there are numerous others that are practically the same as you that can go on living. If you have a harddisk, and the information on it is important in some way to you, you would not condone somebody destroying it and giving you an empty harddisk instead. Regardless of whether or not you or left with an identical structure...

[jtsmash12]

@MotaroMKD ... what is important is the uniqueness of our experience. The information that is encoded onto us if you will. It is not the similarity of structure that makes each person who they are, so Dawkins is quite right in saying that there are a great number of people who have not and will not exist. Had I been born a month prematurely I would be and identical genetic replica of myself but likely a vastly different person altogether.

[Darthcaboose87]

@MotaroMKD True, however we as humans have placed a very great value on the differences in the 1% that can vary. It's that difference that makes me, me and you, you. Humanity has always found finding differences much easier than finding common-ground (why war is so much easier than peace).

[questionsamson]

I used to be a religious person. But after I read that book and that first paragraph, I felt chills that failed to compare to the chills when I was religious.

[ANDREWSABAT]

he is AMAZING.

[murthymail]

Beautiful. Period.

[harlosik13]

beautiful quote... "we are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones"

down to the sperm that "won" to the meteorite that could have missed earth by 20 minutes 65 million years ago

[r022218]

somebody pls find a way 2 clone RD!

[mohi001]

Just because there are so many possibile humans does not mean that they could have been and certainly not that they should have been and so, we are not really lucky because they were not unlucky; we just are and they were not.

[rytullis]

we are lucky if you value life. i think it's fair to say most people value life so chances are if they were born they would, so maybe that makes them unlucky to not be born. i think you make a good point. luck might be a false way of looking at it...

[MrLoGiK85]

the chances of you being here even 100 years ago were very slim, think of all the conditions which had to come into effect for you to be here, your gran must of met ur grandad and conceved at the correct time otherwise your mother or fathers sperm would not have fertilised the egg, u get me ? unless you believe in a fate set in stone

[mohi001]

The chances of my being anywhere 100 years ago is exactly zero because I exist now and I am not 100 years old. There is nothing lucky about who I am or that I am. The universe doesn't play dice. Luck is a term used to fill in where our knowledge fails.

[MrLoGiK85]

You have misunderstood what I am trying to explain, i used 100 years as an example to show you that even at such a short time scale away the chances of you being here where very slim, never mind the chance of you being here at the start of time.

[MrLoGiK85]

So basically you are saying that there is nothing lucky about you being here right now, that statement I find incredible, do you really believe that at the start of time the probability of you being born on whatever day you were born were 1? The path in which reality had to take inorder for you to be here, all the possible outcomes had to be perfect or otherwise you would not be here, Dawkins is trying to make people appreciate life and see it in an extremely down to earth viewpoint.

[mohi001]

The chances of my being here are exactly 1 with perfect knowledge. It is because we do not have perfect knowledge that we rely on superstition such as religion to fill in the gaps. The concept of luck is also such a superstition. The universe is deterministic not probabilistic. Induction is just a human tool to make up for our lack of knowledge. I'm not saying, of coarse, that anyone (or thing) could ever have such perfect knowledge.

[MrLoGiK85]

So... you are claiming that since the dawn of time, your existence on this planet has always been an absolute certainty? That would meant that, for instance, you sons existence is an absolute certainty, which would in fact mean that you have absolutely no control over your life as you are being driven by some kind of (as you put it) 'deterministic' force driving you to the moment in which you conceive him...

[mohi001]

Everything is a certainty with absolute knowledge. We don't have absolute knowledge, nothing does, but the record of absolute knowledge is in the existence of the physical universe. Any time knowledge increases mystery decreases. Mystery and chance only exist with ignorance, therefore, to say you are "lucky" is only to say you didn't know how to predict an outcome.

[mohi001]

(continued)

The unferlment of space and time has no truck with "luck" and the use of such a term supposes man has a greater position in the coarse of things than say a rock, tree or penguin. Such an assertion would be wish thinking as is the use of the word "luck" to describe being here.

[draperture]

i would have been clapping loudly at the end too......

[grogtgs]

If he is going to have that read at his funeral then it will be kinda boring. I would reconsider it if I were him.

[hpholland]

Why can't there be a moving portion to a funeral?

I'm all for the partying and happiness, but these words are too great to be excluded.

[grogtgs]

I wonder what kind of a funeral he will have, being an Atheist. Why even have a funeral? He should donate his body to science

[JalalHaddad]

That doesn't stop having a ceremony.

[hpholland]

You can have a funeral without a body, or you can donate to science after the funeral. What's your point? Anyone can have a funeral, it's a universal tradition, aka "ceremonial burial".

[davidmcdonald86]

Why must a funeral be religious? That's actually a ridiculous notion.

[Exavian]

You don't need a body to have a funeral. In fact, I'm sure most people who donate their bodies to science still have funerals. A funeral is for the living, not the one who has died.

[TheDerekdub]

It's only boring in your own mind. I think it's beautiful

[SigDrums]

Amazing! Richard Dawkins, my hero, you have give me a voice!

[YogzDaBeatChild]

Amazing.

[gigaboy47]

He said it hisself 1:26 to 1:31 he said "what are the odds that a planet pick at random will have these properties."

[cartonhead]

Richard Dawkins is Jesus Christ for atheists

[hpholland]

Well, at least he exists.

[NakedCreep]

@cartonhead No, his words are Jesus Christ for nonbelievers, not just Atheist.

Words cannot be used to describe someone's mental status but to point to it.

We do not believe that Richard Dawkins will save us. We will not wait until a great being will appear and save us.

We have to save ourselves. We have to be inspired.

I am not going to wait on a Jesus Christ.

Richard Dawkins is human, and so are we.

[Aerensiniac]

@NakedCreep

"Atheism has its own symbol. It's own Evangelists. It's own fund-raisers and weekly gatherings. And there is no way to prove a god doesn't exist but they believe it strongly."

[NakedCreep]

@Aerensiniac You're thinking about antitheism.

[cartonhead]

when a Christian jacks off, does god watch him ?

[makedonas86]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

[MiloVCI]

This is pure poetry!

[bttsstewart]

I love Richard Dawkins and his arguments because he's not afraid to offend! He's not afraid to step on toes when trying to get the truth out there. He's not afraid of social taboo of questioning religion or openly critisizing it. He does whatever he needs to get facts and truth known.

;-)

[wickedinsight]

Richard Dawkins rules

[WhitePilgrim86]

Question: Why do you help the poor?

Christian answer: because it's my religious duty.

Atheist answer: Because they need help.

[1moreAtheist]

well said

[LatinFreethinker]

Thank you,

[felixtatman]

For the people who say he's had a rosy life and what discomfort has he known: how about spending your life trying to help others to understand what they have and being vehemently shot down by less-informed individuals and groups? I respect the man's conviction.

[hpholland]

LOL Great perspective. The world is a beautiful place. We are incredibly lucky.

This is our only life.

Stop trying to hasten our return to the void, because you have faith that there is something better waiting, when there is not.

[scottie0904]

*very likely there is not :D

[jamesrobertdobbs]

The book Unweaving the Rainbow saved me from a life of mystical woo woo. Thank you professor.

[Iambecome]

Very powerful words, they help undercut the fog of habituation to our world.

[hpholland]

Wonderful.

[toneshun]

read this book last year; beautifully written with a such intense zeal & passion of our human understanding on our origins! it changed some of the perspective on how i look at my own self as the unique human animal...

[NegativeNick]

I don't want to be a negative nick here but these sentiments are coming from a happily married man, with millions of his books being sold all over the world, millions of fans and dollars to support him when he gets too old to give lectures or write. So, what would he know about depression, or despair? that being said, i think what he says should be enough to bring anyone, successful or not out of despair and into a happier life.

[pjcWizard]

I've been really down, if not depressed, lately, for some good reasons, I think. I found this reading to be beautiful and uplifting.

[LeafHuntress]

That happily married man is now married for the second or i believe the third time. Most of the money he made (and as a scientist you don't get payed all that much!) is going towards his foundation to get people educated and thinking.

He lectures for free or a reduced fee for lots of audiences because those are students.

Personally i think that almost nobody can get to the age he is WITHOUT experiencing some of life's discomforts.

[NegativeNick]

are you sure its for free?

[HighZombiesRule]

Inspiring words.

[mohfoz77]

EXCELLENT.

RICHARD DAWKINS is an inspiration.

[tormentedteapot]

I'm not using hyperbole when I say that everyone on the planet needs to see this short video.

Then we'll see what the world thinks of Atheism.

[zynot91210]

Dont worry. I think we are finding that some of the best marketers are in the ranks of the Atheists. Marketing is all that is needed for reason.

[steveb0503]

"We are granted the OPPORTUNITY to understand WHY our eyes are open - and WHY they see what they do - in the short time before they close forever".

A life philosophy if I've ever heard one.

One more: Question EVERYTHING.

Food for Thought.

[qaplatlhinganmaH]

I eat food from the garden of the universe

I drink water from the fountain of the universe

I breathe the air of the whole universe

My life comes out of the whole universe.

Being pulled by the gravitational force of the whole universe

I become pure and clear.

The whole universe is where I return.

[NegativeNick]

And though I never forget that I am nothing special, I am forever grateful to be able to articulate that thought.

[Lupus737]

What a beautiful introduction.

[phlewis86]

He is truly an excellent writer.

[Tullyj07]

Poetic science.

[Hyeto]

Awesome words of wisdom!

[ivanmikhailov]

Dawkins service to humanity, I think, is beyond value. His beautifully and convincingly clear words made me realize, for the first time, that I was in fact an atheist. I even remember the moment in a North Carolina bookstore on a cushy, badly decorated, plush chair. Too bad his books aren't in every hotel room.

[wowowowye3]

Beautiful words from an amazing person.

[hyhhy]

I am on drugs in a dark room right now and this video is awesome.

His words give me that feeling of religious exaltation that I imagine those who believe in supernatural gods get in their own ceremonies.

[zefirum]

I'm doing my work in a microbiology lab, and sadly sober. This is pretty awesome.

[BrunnhildeDieWalkure]

I will forever be gratefull to Dawkins for showing me again the wonder of the World and of me, as a biological creature.

[anetchi]

He's a saint!!!

I love Richard Dawkins, what a brilliant person!

[uitlegklas]

Makes my flesh creep. Thank you so much for these beautiful words. I really hope that these words will ever been spoken out loud in every church and mosque in the world.

[sisyphusorianus9787]

A truly beauteous orison for Atheism: we should be thankful for what we already have, and to have acquired it through sheer fortune and statistical altruism. I can only applaud, smile, and perhaps tear a little. Bravo, Mister Dawkins! I'm proud to be a member of your RDFRS cause, and wear my red "A" shirt with no remorse.

[spunkkymunkky]

so true.. the oracle from the matrix couldnt have said better

[G3org3Master]

We are very lucky to be here, now I fyou say that it must have been God.. then if you were not here then you wouldnt be able to say that, if it was someone else, they would say it, and so i would have to repeat this paragraph.

[G3org3Master]

Wow. I would have said what the people said below but what came to my mind halfway through about the ship was: 'Star Trek'.

[kwolf71]

"Amen!" Inspirational and heartwarming. I read Unweaving the Rainbow. It's a beautiful book.

[steveb0503]

That book is an absolute treasure!

Carl Sagan's - Demon Haunted World is another -- both should be required reading for all Humans

P.S. possibly throw in Sam Harris' - Letter to a Christian Nation (just to help "break the spell")

[0ldsage]

I love Carl Sagan. That book is brilliant. I have Cosmos on DVD and he has one of the best education styles I've heard.

[steveb0503]

There is also a fair amount of the same attempts to "raise conciousness", as Dawkins puts it, in The God Delusion - in between the arguments against the existance of God (obviously the main thrust of that book).

The whole study of cognitive neuropsychology is quite fascinating in it's own regard.

[datuna]

The beauty of these words is not only in a poetic sense but in in the sense of truth! Dawkins showed that truth can be as (or even more) beautiful than poetically metaphorically or indirectly expressed words and sentences and i'm happy & proud of that!

[adraim69]

I'm definitely getting this read at my funeral

[PunkCheerleaderBetch]

I can see why you would want this read at your funeral, this is poetry!

[CdnBiggles]

What a straightforward, beautiful, and compelling message by Prof. Dawkins. Everyone should hear or read this!

[BBMix]

Poetic an inspirational, some of these words should be in the constitution. Bravo

[NewVGSkeptic]

I, and at least one friend of mine, also would like this passage read at our respective funerals.

If you are not familiar with this passage, you must listen to it all the way through. Just after 3:30 Dawkins explains a 'trick' he uses earlier in the passage.

Why are we here?: "If the planet were suitable for another kind of life, it is that other kind of life that would have evolved here."

It's that simple.

Some of the best, and most inspirational, contemporary writing in science.

[jtbovis]

Absolutely stunning. That opening is such a massive inspiration.

[darkmatteruniverse]

Dawkins is my hero. He saved me from a life of ignorance and servility to an unseeable,unknowable, and frankly impossible God. Many thanks to Richard Dawkins, for now I am truly free!

[KingMushroom]

WOW i respect you! most religious types are unable to re-think what they were brought up on.

[FuzzyDuck]

Beautiful. I adore that book. I want this read at my funeral.

[SGplayer08]

Fantastic video. Probably should read this book once I'm through with some others.