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Bigotry is abound, apprently, within these boards.  There is a level of supposed tolerance I will have no part of.  Obviously, it seems to be well-embraced here.  I have finally found something more fucked up than what I'm used to.  Congrats. - Ruby

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Seriously, Mr. Dawkins?

Started by Mesozoic Mister Nigel, November 03, 2013, 09:53:36 PM

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The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: V3X on November 04, 2013, 03:16:34 AM
Quote from: Dirty Old Uncle Roger on November 04, 2013, 03:13:36 AM
Quote from: V3X on November 04, 2013, 03:11:07 AM

No it's not nice at all. But, you know, aside from talking about religion he's probably a nice guy.

When he's not talking about rounding up fornicators and having them stomped, Pat Fagan is probably a nice guy, too.

I put Dawkins on the same level as Rick Warren and other similar assholes.  He is to atheism what WBC is to Christianity.

Well, you know Humans. No philosophy can be taken seriously until there are at least a few assholes out there busting heads to spread the word. If atheism is ever going to be considered a superior alternative to religion, it has to become a religion first.

No philosophy or movement is mature until the whackjobs and fanatics get ahold of it.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Kai

Quote from: Suu on November 04, 2013, 03:17:14 AM
Dawkins needs to just stop talking. Forever.

Agreed. He said some worthy things back in the 1970s, and now, 40 years later, he is speaking like he's senile and needs to /get out of the way/ before he destroys the last smigin of reputation he has. If he hasn't already.
If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. --Loren Eisley, The Immense Journey

Her Royal Majesty's Chief of Insect Genitalia Dissection
Grand Visser of the Six Legged Class
Chanticleer of the Holometabola Clade Church, Diptera Parish

tyrannosaurus vex

The thing is, I can almost see where he is coming from. A modern secular society should be averse to endorsing imaginary friends for grown ups, if for no reason but because that kind of thing discourages critical thinking. But he goes way too far rhetorically and he apparently thinks getting rid of religion would get rid of stupid. The biggest threat to his reputation is that as a smart guy, he should know religious extremism is a symptom of stupid, not the cause of it.
Evil and Unfeeling Arse-Flenser From The City of the Damned.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: V3X on November 04, 2013, 04:08:54 AM
The thing is, I can almost see where he is coming from. A modern secular society should be averse to endorsing imaginary friends for grown ups, if for no reason but because that kind of thing discourages critical thinking. But he goes way too far rhetorically and he apparently thinks getting rid of religion would get rid of stupid. The biggest threat to his reputation is that as a smart guy, he should know religious extremism is a symptom of stupid, not the cause of it.

And yet as a religious extremist himself it's plain that he's not as smart as he thinks he is.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Mesozoic Mister Nigel

"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Anna Mae Bollocks

Quote from: Mrs. Nigelson on November 04, 2013, 04:28:38 AM
Holy shit, but this makes me almost like him. http://gawker.com/what-the-hell-happens-five-minutes-into-this-richard-da-560062576

Almost. WTF.  :lol:

He's going to need better music if he's after the PsychFest crowd.  :lulz:
Scantily-Clad Inspector of Gigantic and Unnecessary Cashews, Texas Division

Dildo Argentino

Quote from: Mrs. Nigelson on November 04, 2013, 03:06:18 AM
Don't get me started on compulsory schooling, which is in my opinion a horrible thing to inflict on innocent children.

Well I realise I am not exactly qualified to do so, but I would like to get you started on that (unless it's already been discussed at length, in which case I would be grateful for a link), because I agree very emphatically and actually think compulsory schooling has become a bane of our civilization. The correct interpretation of "universal education' would also bear examination.
Not too keen on rigor, myself - reminds me of mortis

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: holist on November 04, 2013, 05:32:02 AM
Quote from: Mrs. Nigelson on November 04, 2013, 03:06:18 AM
Don't get me started on compulsory schooling, which is in my opinion a horrible thing to inflict on innocent children.

Well I realise I am not exactly qualified to do so, but I would like to get you started on that (unless it's already been discussed at length, in which case I would be grateful for a link), because I agree very emphatically and actually think compulsory schooling has become a bane of our civilization. The correct interpretation of "universal education' would also bear examination.

I'll start a thread.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Dildo Argentino

Quote from: Mrs. Nigelson on November 04, 2013, 05:33:01 AM
Quote from: holist on November 04, 2013, 05:32:02 AM
Quote from: Mrs. Nigelson on November 04, 2013, 03:06:18 AM
Don't get me started on compulsory schooling, which is in my opinion a horrible thing to inflict on innocent children.

Well I realise I am not exactly qualified to do so, but I would like to get you started on that (unless it's already been discussed at length, in which case I would be grateful for a link), because I agree very emphatically and actually think compulsory schooling has become a bane of our civilization. The correct interpretation of "universal education' would also bear examination.

I'll start a thread.

Thanks.
Not too keen on rigor, myself - reminds me of mortis

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Somewhere on this forum is an essay I wrote on it last year, and ensuing discussion... I'll see if I can track it down.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Dildo Argentino

He is an unmitigated arsehole. Actually, I think he always has been - a smart one back in the day, but he's gradually lost that. The Selfish Gene is terribly overrated. The anthropomorphizing title itself does untold damage to the understanding of evolution.
Not too keen on rigor, myself - reminds me of mortis

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: holist on November 04, 2013, 06:02:05 AM
He is an unmitigated arsehole. Actually, I think he always has been - a smart one back in the day, but he's gradually lost that. The Selfish Gene is terribly overrated. The anthropomorphizing title itself does untold damage to the understanding of evolution.

I liked several of his books, but that wasn't one of them actually. I've skimmed it.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Dildo Argentino

Quote from: Mrs. Nigelson on November 04, 2013, 06:06:13 AM
Quote from: holist on November 04, 2013, 06:02:05 AM
He is an unmitigated arsehole. Actually, I think he always has been - a smart one back in the day, but he's gradually lost that. The Selfish Gene is terribly overrated. The anthropomorphizing title itself does untold damage to the understanding of evolution.

I liked several of his books, but that wasn't one of them actually. I've skimmed it.

Which ones did you like?
Not too keen on rigor, myself - reminds me of mortis

Q. G. Pennyworth

Greatest Show on Earth was the one I read and really enjoyed, haven't been through his other books.

The guy's almost always a dick, but I do feel weird making fun of him for this particular outburst of entitled white man speak. Airport security bullshit should be getting called out all the time by everyone for every stupid thing they do, not just the most egregious offenses. If they're doing 100 horrible things and you only talk about the one worst thing, then they can drop that one thing and still be doing 99 horrible things. And you look greedy if you start complaining about the next thing on the list all of a sudden.