The Fifth Ape (3/5) - Richard Dawkins

Third (of five) part of the 2008 Channel-4 documentary 'The Fifth Ape'. The documentary is part of the series 'The Genius of Darwin'. In this episode Richard Dawkins deals with some of the philosophical and social ramifications of the theory of evolution.

Dawkins starts out in Kenya, speaking with palaeontologist Richard Leakey. He then visits Christ is the Answer Ministries, Kenya's largest Pentecostal church, to interview Bishop Bonifes Adoyo. Adoyo has led the movement to press Kenya's national museum to sideline its collection of hominid bones pointing to man's evolution from ape to human. The collection includes the Turkana Boy discovered by Kamoya Kimeu, a member of a team led by Richard Leakey in 1984.

Dawkins discusses social darwinism and eugenics, explaining how these are not versions of natural selection, and that "Darwin has been wrongly tainted".

He then meets with evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker to discuss how morals can be compatible with natural selection. He goes on to explaining sexual selection, with peafowls as an example. To find out whether sexual selection plays a role for altruism and kindness among humans, he visits women who are looking for sperm donors, as well as a sperm bank manager. Dawkins also explains kin selection and selfish genes.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Sterilization
• Genocide
• Rwanda
• Hitler
• Bosnia
• Pigeons
• Altruism
• Safari
• Psychology
• Morality
• Brains
• Manhattan
• IVF
• Darwin
• Darwinism
• Darwinian
• Evolution
• Nature
• Science
• Biology
• Animals
• Primates
• Humans
• Species
• Mammals
• Genes
• Struggle
• God
• Allah
• Churches
• Faith
• Atheism
• Religion
• Fertilisation
• Peafowl
• Peacock
• Racism
• Sex
• Cowboy

[2plus2is9]

Hello I'm Steven Pinker. Welcome to my office. Here you will find many books and some dude's BRAIN!

[3234718]

I want a brain in a jar. It'll be a conversation piece

[ignorantswede]

It aggravates me the way he uses the word "altruism".

[JonLambert89]

@palerider1775 Okay, I'm not going to be a wanker and block you but I don't think this conversation is going anywhere. I don't mind if you have the last word but this will be mine. When a man makes a documentary about the negative effects of religion on society and calls it The Root of All Evil, they are voicing an opinion on morality.

[palerider1775]

@JonLambert89 ...seems more like a human responsibility. People are being misled by this nonsense, and yet, someone who supposedly takes the position of fence sitting wants to jump down and take the side religious immorality? What a backwards world we live in...

[palerider1775]

@JonLambert89 Yeah. Religion had a big part in shaping it, alright! What religion did to morality was shut it off, in the minds of people, by making them believe that there was some supreme being doing all of the tough thinking for them, so that they could massacre, rape, and pillage, without having to give it a second thought. Religion was not about law and order, it was about a few megalomaniacs convincing their followers that their's was THE way. Scientist or not pointing these things out...

[palerider1775]

@JonLambert89 LOL. Are you implying that arms dealers are scientists? Goodness...

Also, both of the booms killed less than 300,000 people. A mainland invasion was estimated to have killed millions on both sides. I'm not sure what history books you're reading (if any?!), but the Japanese fascists weren't exactly the negotiate/give up kind. The plain Jane truth is that the atomic bombs (did you know that the Japanese refused to surrender after being hit with the 1st?!) was the lesser of 2 evils.

[JonLambert89]

@palerider1775 Morality is a human construct and while there was most likely no god that created it, religion had a big hand in shaping it. Religion is an early attempt by mankind to install law and order. Its become obsolete but that doesn't make it dangerous. Parts of religion encourage violence and oppression but then again so did/do many laws created with no religious basis. When scientists start pinpointing a cause of societies problems, that is taking an interest in morality.

[JonLambert89]

@palerider1775 The Holocaust was religious, but the rest of WW2 had no religious basis, it was mostly revenge for WW1 as well as Imperialism. Plus it was the market crash of 1929 that helped Hitler gain power. Isn't war profiteering exploiting waring nations to sell weapons technology? And are you trying to defend US bombing of Japan? They could have ended the war through negotiations but chose to attack civilians instead. Using statistics to say that was the best option is a bit messed up.

[palerider1775]

@JonLambert89 Also, scientist don't bother dictating morality, because morality is a social construct, and thus relative, taking it very far from anything that science is concerned with. Tell me; do you believe some "god" created morality?...

[palerider1775]

@JonLambert89 They knew what the atomic bomb was going to be used for, to bring the war to a stop. (Aside: Are you aware that the estimated casualties, on both sides, should the U.S. had proceeded to invade mainland Japan would have been? It makes the atomic bomb look like a joke. Look it up!) Many also regretted it soon after. Please give me examples of how the scientists were exploiting irrational people. Stating that WWII, in particular, was not influenced by religion is a BIG leap of faith.

[palerider1775]

@JonLambert89 There's a belief that global Atheism will create a Utopia? First I've ever heard about that, dude. Give me an example of scientist exploiting beliefs for "personal gain". If you are blind to all of the things that religion has it's dirty hands on, then just state it. But stating that economics are more dangerous than religion?...really? When was the last time that genocide was committed in the name of, or as a principle of economics?