Q&A: PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins in conversation

[alpha2470]

LOLOLOLOL this guy (Dawkins) really believes his own crap rofl

[Bobahat]

@alpha2470 Wow. What an amazing, intelligent and thought-through argument. I'm blown away by your reasoning, sir.

[freiheitsalv]

WTH? who dares to replace Attenborough's voice?! that's insane XD

[macgeek2004]

@feanando

"Dr." Craig is a professional debater and apologist...nothing more. He won the debate with Hitchens using cheap debater's

[hungryman211]

@macgeek2004 I think you are correct in labeling Craig's methods as cheap, however I don't think that is why he beat Hitchens on the night. I'm a big fan of Hitch and have probably seen all of his debates. Hitchens was definitely off form that night; he actually looked ill (I'm not insinuating any connection with his current illness) as soon as he walked on stage (he was certainly sweating quite a bit). On a normal night I think he would have demolished those same arguments.

[mallingask]

@MumblingMickey Parents care for their children and they will decide what is best for their children. Parents care for the children's future and they care for their education, health, safety and much more. When they are grown up and independent, he/she will choose from what has been presented to them. Little children won't know anything, so parents will choose best food, best dress and best life and best culture that would give them good life and good future and good charactor.

[MumblingMickey]

@mallingask parents are not bullet proof...their view of the world at 45 is no more or less valid than the 25year old child they just raised to adulthood.

and no... parents are not given a manual on how to raise kids..

Thankfully children are instinctively programmed to believe their parents are infallible.

If you tell a child aircraft crash then they would probably never get on a plane. Children adopt the bad bits of their parent too. Even if the parents think the bad bits are good bits.

[nonrealist]

I enjoyed Dawkin's scientific books especially 'River out of Eden' but his 'God Delusion', I feel, was setting up straw men. My main criticism was his unwillingness to 'tackle' the philosophy of the more sophisticated theologians such as Hans Kung, Bonhoeffer, Tillich? It's my hope that Dawkins does not put off people wishing to read the works of these inspirational theologians because of his anti -religious dogma.

[ackmonra]

@nonrealist

When you realise that there is no evidence for the existance of any Gods - don't you look at the job title "theologians" or "apologist" a little suspiciously?

To me - these people may seem scholarly. But so does the person steeped in zodiacal texts - the Astrologer.

A human can only fit so much information in their head - so i'd rather that people learn applicable Science than useless religious (or Astrological) nonsense.

[MumblingMickey]

@nonrealist The audience Dawkins went for with his God Delusion tome is totally different... I too was disappointed in it, even his writing style moved down several IQ points.... I've heard all these arguments before....heck plato and even theists like St Augustine presented a few of them....

However we are not the intended audience! He did sell 2.5 million copies of it ...and every literate person I've spoken to atheist and theist alike slams it for the same reason you just did!

[MumblingMickey]

CONT. I think its problem is it is caught in limbo... it is not cerebral enough to garner support from reason...and not childish enough to be read by the people it was intended for..(the redneck country hick!)

This might seem unfair... but if you read some creationist comments and the abysmally low level of basic education some have... then had he brought out an anti-theistic coloring book it might have sold 10 million!

[ThanksDoctorThoctor]

17:44 can you speak up! outrageous! 

[freiheitsalv]

Oprah Winfrey? really? :S

[Greyhound1405]

Don't bother a scientist to debate with a moron! lol

[dionstrezlecki]

lol at the reasons they gave for not debating creatonists why debate someone who ownes your soul in every way possible lol

[gbratboy1]

Very nice. Cosmos by Carl Sagan is a must see, seriously. Buy it, or if you are broke perhaps download it somehow... ;)

[mallingask]

Richard Dawkins thinks that once a child is raised in faith, he/she won't be able to disbelief. He compares it to a child's language learning ability. Can these two abilities be compared first of all? He himself says that he was brought up an Angelical Christian and he became an atheist at the age of 17.

[Wolfhaines]

@mallingask He never said that. The woman posing the question said that. He said it was a rather pessimistic view. He was also raised an Anglican christian, not angelical. Please watch these things carefully, and get external facts right before crediting people with what they have or haven't said, or have done.

[mallingask]

@Wolfhaines He did not say that in this video, somewhere else, I am searching for that one. I will post it as soon as I find it. "Please watch these things carefully, and get external facts right before crediting people with what they have or haven't said, or have done." I agree with that and I am sure he said that in one of the videos.

[MumblingMickey]

@mallingask Yeah but if you watch the video again you'll see that it wasn't Dawkins that said that...but rather a pretty good looking woman in the audience that brought it up... in fact dawkins argued against the idea....

Now of course I could have just been imagining all that...and again when I went back to check...So can you tell me where he mentions this and puts forward the idea?

[mallingask]

@MumblingMickey, He did not say that in this video, somewhere else, I am searching for that one. I will post it as soon as I find it.

[MumblingMickey]

@mallingask I think if that's your position...then by your own admission there you'd also have no problem with a child having no religious instruction whatsoever...leaving them free to choose their own religion when they have the ability to both read and reason the assorted propositions of the worlds assorted religions... yes?

Or would you rather just one religion of your choosing was foisted on children who being children believe a man in a red suit delivers presents?

[mallingask]

@MumblingMickey "Or would you rather just one religion of your choosing was foisted on children who being children believe a man in a red suit delivers presents?" If you have watched "Richard Dawkins against the world part 1,2 &3" Dawkins said that it is ok to give presents and introduce then to Santaclause. When you are a child it is ok to do so for them to be happy." He aparantly did that to her daughter. Atheists can argue either ways, because they are not tied to any point of reference.

[MumblingMickey]

@mallingask that is okay... its perfectly okay to give children the idea there is mystery in the world... so long as you don't go on to create whole churches of santa claus and continue with the madness until the day they die..and brainwashing them into avoiding any information to the contrary.... now that would be fucked up!

[smp1smp2smp3]

PZ Myers says that Muslims are very poor and oppressed. Where does he get this idea from?

[MumblingMickey]

@smp1smp2smp3 What he really means is 'well fanatical muslims are crazy uneducated morons that really will kill you'

Which in fairness is reason enough not to shine the light of critical thinking onto them! Let them keep going the way they are. Nature will sort them out...the way it does every civilization that makes decisions contrary to optimum... ie. it kills them off! Moreover we shouldn't be giving them hi-tech shit we developed, that'd be like handing a tribe of vikings a bunch of M16's!

[smp1smp2smp3]

@MumblingMickey

Well maybe so. I just wish these guys were harder on Islam, that's all.

[MumblingMickey]

@smp1smp2smp3

why bother? did you know that Spain alone translates more books from English to Spanish in one year than all Islamic nations have translates to Arabic in 800 years...

Do you think that give them an advantage?

If you think not... then what sort of chance would you give any philosophy they have?

[smp1smp2smp3]

@MumblingMickey

Fair point, but not exactly what I'm getting at. My point is that the New Atheists are very hard on Christianity and Christians...but are very rarely critical of Islam.

[MumblingMickey]

@smp1smp2smp3

Maybe they like the idea of continuing to live?

The problem with Islam is not only that it is a stricter religion...with more fundamentalists...one that treats its own adherents like cattle Its worse than that, the problem is that poor education has led to them throwing tantrums and they are now frustrated by the fact the rest of the world treats them like dangerous childish sand savages. And deservedly so!

Plus, you didn't see my image for draw Mohammad day!

[MumblingMickey]

@smp1smp2smp3 However since I am an atheist what I can tell you having spoken to a lot of muslims (somehow you might be missing all that) is that their level of understanding and capacity for reason is several percentage points below fundamentalist christians or creationists...

It truly is like talking to a donkeys arse!

[smp1smp2smp3]

@MumblingMickey

I'm glad you said that. I feel that the Qur'an is much more obscure than the Holy Bible, also their attempts at reconciling science and religion are more amusing.

Good on you for drawing Mohammad :D

[TheAaaargh]

Hehehe, PZ's future sounds like Europe, or atleast the Netherlands, go (northern-)Europe!

[2LegHumanist]

Anyone who thinks the Americans changing Attenborough's voice over is funny should watch the UK version of Myth Busters with the British voice-over!

[AcroStigma]

Those seats don't look terribly comfortable...

[ke7ma]

Im dissapointed. I could barely hear this.

[afordian]

ms cleo will not be happy wityh this

[GodlessMorality]

We absolutely need to expose religion for the terrible institution that it is!

[perrin6]

How come we've pretty much mastered reliable quality video image recording and playback but sound quality still seems relatively poor, variable and unreliable.

[lagerbaer]

Absolutely brilliant

[zauii89]

A smart blonde, nice!!

[chrish12345]

@zauii89 thanks

[sylviabombs15]

pz myers reminds me of santa clause.

him and daniel dennet should have a baby

[MVT44]

@sylviabombs15 And release the video of them making that baby. Gay atheist porn will be the new tactic to get creationists to give up their beliefs

[kjdayton]

My "belief" is that there should be NO COMPROMISE in matters regarding supernatural fairy tales. Evidence rules!

[MumblingMickey]

@kjdayton

They certainly don't like being asked to 'put up, or shut up' do they?

What I sense is more or less total amazement. The religious are absolutely gobsmacked that they are being asked to provide some evidence that their decisions are based on something valid.

Nobodys ever asked them to provide any reason before now!

They also know solid arguments from the likes of harris and dawkins will decimate the huge moderate Christian population who just never thought about asking anything.

[rogan71]

"You don't need to say what you don't believe in because there's absolutely no reason to believe in it in the first place" - Dawkins at his most sublime.

[dionstrezlecki]

@rogan71 then why does this guy spend his life doing just that (dawkins)?

[ritchloui]

"Religion is an admission of failure" PZ Myers, "Yes, and they glory in it" Richard Dawkins. Hahaha