Science And Novels - Richard Dawkins & Douglas Adams

[happinesson]

sensible man. a good writer, a good speaker. enthusiast in the complexity of the world!

[vibins360]

Somebody should have told him a bout a fantastic invention called a cable tidy.

[micometer]

He was a great man and we have so much of his wisdom and humor preserved for us.

[32780tit]

What is 7 x 7?

[ZachRose88]

This is so sad to see now posthumously. Anyone know how he died? I forget.

[32780tit]

@ZachRose88 Heart attack, while at his home gym in California I think. So long, and thanks for all the fish

[desasterz]

@cacoethes138 I've wached tons of videos I agree with today. You just can't understand them cuz they'r ein french. But hey, so you admite you wanna be drugged?

[desasterz]

But probably absolutely out of nothing... Is the MMMOST STUPID... IDEA! and spending your life following that is time wasted as far as I'm concerned.

[desasterz]

I'd rather spend time with Jesus

[zzzspawn]

nobody's interested in what app he's writing in? =O I sure wanna know =3

[heroesandcons09]

I remember when I was listening to a lecture by Richard Dawkins and he said my friend the late Douglas Adams I just thought SAY WHATT???!!!! I was overly excited to say the least Richard Dawkings and Douglas Adams are my sugar and coffee Richard Dawkings of course is the coffee because he "preaches" atheism with a very blunt tone where as Douglas Adams "preaches" atheism in a more mellow and funny way making him the sugar.

[mysticalsoulqc]

douglas adam s cool! i must have made a mistake on wich vid i did my last comment.

[hipp6y]

@mysticalsoulqc so convince that he lies, 'cause right now all i see is ranting about and abusive language

speaking of which, learn proper english before you ramble on

[Houdinitreehouse]

I was a fan of both Dawkins' and Douglas' work separately. And then when I found out they were friends I literally went bananas!

Both of these people instill awe in me :)

[updebracket]

so refreshing to hear the word 'awesome' used in an appropriate way

[egeusz]

@updebracket yeah, its awesome.



[petphotog]

What a great loss. I Wonder what he would say about the atheist movement now? I cannot respect him too much.

[PlanetCool42]

Douglas Adams was such a marvel of a man; I sincerely wish I could have met him.

May he rest in peace, and be always remembered.

[bigjohn756]

"Seventy or eighty years of your life..."

If only, Douglas, if only...

[CerisePsyche]

Wonderful to see Adams and Dawkins. I read Adams so long ago, then through him I learned about Dawkins Then read the Selfish Gene. So, I have to thank fiction for exposing me to non-fiction. These two people have changed my life.

I will always be thankful to them.

PS. I will be bringing my towel when I travel into the unknown!

[bondfrenchbond]

RIP Douglas :(

[please42]

Shame it wasn't 70 or 80 years. But he sure did make the 49 he had count!

[JoeChrisMorris]

ah I miss this cool frood! he really knew where his towel was!!

Took years to get the Babel fish in your Infocom text adventure Douglas! We miss you guy!

[vibins360]

Look at all those wires hanging out of the back of Douglas Adams' computer. Makes me glad I have my macbook.

[kdurston1]

I'm surprised dawkins would allow this. something came from nothing? there is no evidence of nothing. nothing has never been observed, measured, or tested? not to mention, in order for it to be nothing, something cannot come of, through or because of it. no a very convincing clip sadly

[RenegadeSalmon]

Bit of a Vogon-like comment. Let's take everything literally and disregard the fact that writers, especially humorists, depend on exaggeration to make the different aspects of their stories interesting. Now if we could have a hardcopy of the interview, lose it, find it, subject it to public inquiry, bury it in soft peat for three months and recycle it as firelighters.

[ZombieJesusLovesMe]

you sir, are a retard.

[kdurston1]

profound argumentation there. you sure showed me alright. my rational critique is shot to pieces because i've been called a retard. well i'll just pack it in then. i've clearly been bettered by an intellectual giant.

[broadcastyamum]

If nothing has never been observed why are you talking about it?

[kdurston1]

one cannot say an argument for God is from the negative and then say nothing is something because we are talking about it. we must be consistent in our method of discourse

[broadcastyamum]

The Christian idea of nothing is different to the scientific idea of nothing. The bible insinuates that God existed when there was nothing. Regardless of whether God was immaterial or not, this suggests that time existed when there was nothing. Whereas the idea of the "Big-Bang" type of nothing is the true nothing; no time, no empty space, just nothing. There is some evidence for this, such as the universe is expanding from a point. But I'm no physicist, just a thinker...

[totaldynamix]

Both are my heroes!

[glebber]

aww. he seems like such a lovely man. i feel like i've missed out by not meeting him.

but his books will always keep him alive in our hearts and brains. (mostly in our brains though.).

[ViperRob42]

Adams will always live forever in our hearts!

[noswonky]

"Space is BIG!" - Adams

[TomMSTie]

"Really BIG!"

[ViperRob42]

Reallly, Really Big, you wouldn;'t believe how ming boggling big it is! ...and so on...

[TomMSTie]

Damn, I can't remember the next part. :-\

[T0mNZ]

"You may think it a long way down to the chemist but thats just penuts to space, listen..."

[TomMSTie]

Thank you.

[ahdkaw]

You might think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's nothing in comparison to space. Listen.

[TomMSTie]

Thank you.

[JoeChrisMorris]

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so!

[petehjr1]

"The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book."

Goodbye again Douglas you are missed. If there is a life after this save a Pangalactic Gargleblaster for me.

[pokermaster54]

Pfttt. Life after death. i seriously doubt he believed in such nonsense.

[ChangePerTime]

Sorry for the inconvenience.

[designinsight]

The answer is 42

[will070361]

But what is the question?

[TomMSTie]

What do you get when you multiply 6 by 9?

[Albinoceros]

R.I. P. Douglas. Life became a little less funny when you died.

[grenangle]

I feel selfish but we missed out on a lot losing him to early.

[jakrum]

A man worth so much more remembrance than any prophet or preacher. Do something worth while go buy one of his books and spread the smiles.

[threewiseman1]

...All claim that these things are real. However, in the real world we don't see the required results if this were the case. If someone starts praying for an injured person, they don't start glowing and heal instantaneously. Dead people don't come back to life. This is a very simplified summary but do you gather my reasoning? Maybe I'm way off, but religious people don't seem to have a good grasp of what our world "should" look like if the claims of their religions are true.

[lostagainrob]

49 is to early to die.

Even though I never met you, I miss you.

[SatanOfTheAngels]

Damn it...  Why did he have to die? He's so awesome.

[NeverarGreat]

Douglass's last comment has a (albeit unintentionally) savage irony about it.

[dummbatz48]

RIP Douglas

Love both these guys

[wimscheers]

Hope Richard brought his towel.

[Raedan23]

DONT PANIC!

[Zoobeezoo]

Novels are a way of stirring the imagination. From imagination comes ideas to work forward to making a reality, using what knowledge you have accumulated, or have available to you in the form of scientific books.

[Ryan44567]

Douglas Adams and Richard Dawkins, what a badass team.

[Car2oon12]

how old was Richard Dawkins he looks like he's 20

[daichi2097]

I'm sure he'd thank you for that! He was 55 when the programme was made (1996).

[MagnusIan]

I feel like Douglas Adams did when it comes to science.

Science FTW : )

[daudnew2009]

This is one of the themes I'd like to develop in the following days (the uselessness of novel literature compared to scientific literature), when I will have some time from exams, and papers. Because we really need many more scientists than writers of novels. We are still in complete ignorance of so much stuff, that as human race we should understand how dangerous it is to be in such condition. Instead many people don't care a little bit.

[arcanics1971]

Whilst it would be good to have more scientists I have to disagree about the "uselessness" of the novel. If i hadn't had novels as a way of escape I would have killed either myself or a shit-load of other people by now. Art is not useless it just doesn't have the same obvious practical use as science.

[threewiseman1]

I agree that we could certainly stand to have more popular science writers, however I would hardly call novel literature useless even in a comparitive sense. Personally, I am a fan of fantasy novels, and I have found that they are an excellent medium by which one can understand and determine reality. Furthermore, it was my interest in fantasy worlds that led me to take further notice of science and philosophy, and I'm sure I'm not a unique case.

[daudnew2009]

So let's see if I understand your reasoning. You like fantasy novels, which are based on Real Writers who made it up to explain a real thing, they probably read in a scientific book, since most writers don't quote their sources and you could also understand just reading a scientific book? It seems a little childish to me, I don't need double sources. Further fantasy novels cannot be used to "determine" reality, an experiment can determine reality, a novel is just a novel.

[threewiseman1]

Let me put it to you this way. You state that my reasoning is childish, however, I was a child when I read most of the fantasy books that I would consider classics. When push comes to shove, if children are given the choice between reading fiction or non-fiction, they are going to pick fiction. Therefore, isn't it a positive thing that these fiction novels discuss and explore scientific and philosophical concepts in a setting that is appealing to young people?

[daudnew2009]

Well as you have surely read Plato in the Republic, he would argue that those books are corrupting young minds (the fantasy novel with ideas of magic, prayer and all the other stuff) and wouldn't help them to grow but just hinder them. In fact as you can notice we have people who really believe that the world was created 6500 years ago, because unfortunately they remained at child level mentally. The same for the guys who made themselves explode because 72 virgins are waiting them.

[threewiseman1]

Surely you do not mean to imply that the human mind is so weak that it believes whatever it reads is true. The examples you gave? It is not because of scripture, in and of itself, that these people suffer delusions, it's because of religious culture, herd mentality.

I maintain that reading fiction is an excellent way of expanding ones imagination, and that expanding ones imagination is important. Where do you think science would be without it? Dawkins himself says the same thing.

[daudnew2009]

Well I believe there are some facts you are forgetting, there are 2 billion of individuals who believe that a palestinian virgin gave birth to god. Another billion individuals believe that a pedophile who had sex with a 9 year old was contacted by an angel and wrote a holy book, also if he was a bedouin and didn't even know how to write. Frankly I don't need novels to expand my imagination, is enough to take a trip to mexico, or Brasil and watch some kids used as organs reservoir.

[davesake]

But reading is good yeah?

[threewiseman1]

"Further fantasy novels cannot be used to "determine" reality, an experiment can determine reality, a novel is just a novel."

Since you're commenting on a Dawkins vid I assume you are at least familiar with the creation/evolution "debate". Now, I would assert that most fantasy novels explore worlds that are designed and influenced by deities. In these worlds there is magic. Prayers work. There are "chosen ones". And quite often there are prophecies. In some form or other, religions...(cont)

[PunkCabaretFTW]

I love seeing videos with Richard Dawkins and Douglas Adams together. It's magic. :)

[FusionNinjin]

nice computer

[Athaeus]

Rest in peace, Mr. Adams.

We miss your creativity and sharp wits.

[billythefifer]

I bought my daughter two science books for her 1st year in university over £200-, a science fiction novel would only have cost about £20-.

Im struggling as it is just to get the books my daughter needs so just cant afford informal science books. You charge to much, you are competing with the woo pedlars get real with the costs.

I would like to be able to buy some Dawkins books but have any idea what the relevant cost is to me, I earn less than £50- a day.

[daudnew2009]

why don't you go to a library? Here in US most of the libraries have books of Dawkins as well as other philosophers.

[forensicgirl3]

I spent a large portion of my teenaged years reading Douglas Adams.

That was time well spent too!

[2bsirius]

Such a good one! Thanks!

[1GOD1JESUS]

i eat porcupine sandwiches!!!

[Oxygaunt]

mm.. yum yum

[sy1234]

I wish he had 70 or 80 years to spend. =(

[ViperRob42]

ooooo, is this new vid we haven't previously seen of Adams? I haven't seen this one online b4, sweet, I miss him =( We need the genius of Adams now as we did when he lived.

[SCX2k]

i miss him too :(

[chris3443]

when did he pass away?

[Kwijibo87]

i'm so tired.....

[fathead8489]

=(  I still get sad about Douglas Adams even now ten years later.

[SCX2k]

yeah....

[nozr138]

douglas was, is and always will be the shat.

[astat1]

why?

[nozr138]

he is one of the best!

[astat1]

but why "the shat"? What do you mean by that? I don't think it's the best epithet to describe D. Adams.

[nozr138]

what i meant was douglas adams is the shit. no disrespect at all. he is great. by far one of my favorite authors.

[kandtell]

shouldn't that read "if the villains behind this plot find you are to"?

[Rowdyeh]

Top stuff! Douglas Adams, now where's that fish interface thingy, lol!

[SCX2k]

fish interface?

do you mean the babelfish?

[Rowdyeh]

Yep!

[yahyahtoopy]

awesome

[MrMetal616]

Nice :)