Groovy Science Dude
Happy birthday.
(He's married to Romana from Dr Who too -- ultimate geek kudos )
Happy Birthday Richard Dawkins
- boudicca
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Hmm, I find his attitude to religion a bit sixth-form at times (the Osama Bin Laden of Atheism... maybe not ) but yeah, he has made some very worthwhile contributuons to popular science, no doubt.
There's a man with a mullet going mad with a mallet in Millets
- Obviousman
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Quite enjoyed the selfish gene and a mate has given me three more of his books I am still to read
Have a good one
Have a good one
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He's as bad as theists, putting all his faith into science. I really dislike positivism, it's as unhealthy as rampant theism.
I think it was Nietzsche who pointed out that each generation realizes the arrogance of the former generation for thinking they had the truth, but then makes the exact same mistake. But instead of realizing this and saying reason is practical and useful, they proclaim it's self-correcting, but you have to have a lot of faith to think it's correct this time or will one day be absolute, since there are thousands upon thousands of questions out there and we're not going to be around forever.
Also, I wonder if Dawkins has heard of David Hume's problem of induction, or read Nietzsche's On Truth and Lies, two works which have greatly influenced my way of seeing things and really put me off positivism.
EDIT - I should edit this properly when I have the chance, at the moment it looks like the ravings of a lunatic. But for now I'll just say I'm not overly impressed with Dawkins.
I think it was Nietzsche who pointed out that each generation realizes the arrogance of the former generation for thinking they had the truth, but then makes the exact same mistake. But instead of realizing this and saying reason is practical and useful, they proclaim it's self-correcting, but you have to have a lot of faith to think it's correct this time or will one day be absolute, since there are thousands upon thousands of questions out there and we're not going to be around forever.
Also, I wonder if Dawkins has heard of David Hume's problem of induction, or read Nietzsche's On Truth and Lies, two works which have greatly influenced my way of seeing things and really put me off positivism.
EDIT - I should edit this properly when I have the chance, at the moment it looks like the ravings of a lunatic. But for now I'll just say I'm not overly impressed with Dawkins.
Last edited by nick the stripper on 26 Mar 2007, 16:16, edited 1 time in total.
- Obviousman
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Someone seems to have his/her birthday today? Don't really suppose so, but anyhowboudicca wrote:Wait a minute, is he on here?!?Obviousman wrote: Have a good one
- 6FeetOver
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nick the stripper wrote:Also, I wonder if Dawkins has heard of David Hume's problem of induction, or read Nietzsche's On Truth and Lies, two works which have greatly influenced my way of seeing things and really put me off positivism.
Wow, thanks for those, Nick, seriously - so rare that I get to use my brain first thing in the morning!
I left my heart in Ballycastle...
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You certainly do look like that. Though I have to agree Dawkins is a narrow minded fool.nick the stripper wrote:EDIT - I should edit this properly when I have the chance, at the moment it looks like the ravings of a lunatic. But for now I'll just say I'm not overly impressed with Dawkins.
Y quedo llorando, llorando, llorando, llorando por tu amor
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Christ, I love Wikipedia! I could sit here and follow link after link after link all day, information wh0re that I am!
Oh, wait - I already do that, never mind.
Oh, wait - I already do that, never mind.
I left my heart in Ballycastle...
- boudicca
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Arch Deviant wrote:You certainly do look like that.nick the stripper wrote:EDIT - I should edit this properly when I have the chance, at the moment it looks like the ravings of a lunatic.
I think he has a good point, personally
There's a man with a mullet going mad with a mallet in Millets
- Dr. Moody
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HBD ....
seems to be a few interesting interviews n essays here...
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/science/
http://www.infidels.org/
seems to be a few interesting interviews n essays here...
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/science/
http://www.infidels.org/
- bushman*pm
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sorry about this, but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
well thats bored the (.)(.) off me!
well thats bored the (.)(.) off me!
LAND ROVER: THE BEAST FOUR BY FOUR BY FEAR! KICKS THE ARSE OFF RICEBURNERS!
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bushman*pm wrote:sorry about this, but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
well thats bored the (.)(.) off me!
*Note to self: no discussions of existentialism with the bushman, if/when we ever meet up. Check!
Pffffffffffffffffft. I guess there's always the weather, eh?
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I agree. Dawkins may be a fine scientist, but he is a lousy philosopher and has given little or no thought the limits of reason or to the limits of scientifc method. It's a method designed for describing things in terms of mechanical causality--i.e., efficient and material causality, nothing more. Where Dawkins goes wrong is in his applications of knowledge of efficient and material causality to claims about formal and final causality; to put it another way, he presupposes (a rather crude) positivism and builds his arguments from there, rather than proving that positivism is the case. At the end of the day, he's a very fine scientist but he fundamentally lacks the necessary skills and knowledge of philosophy to try and make the arguments he's making--thus, all he can do is preach to the converted; and his shockingly rude rhetorical scorched-earth strategy will win him few, if any, converts. At the end of the day, I have yet to see any reason to take him seriously as a philosophical thinker.boudicca wrote:Arch Deviant wrote:You certainly do look like that.nick the stripper wrote:EDIT - I should edit this properly when I have the chance, at the moment it looks like the ravings of a lunatic.
I think he has a good point, personally
Last edited by sultan2075 on 27 Mar 2007, 03:12, edited 1 time in total.
--
The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable, that removes the sense that there is an outside.
The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable, that removes the sense that there is an outside.
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I *heart* studying and blabbing about philosophy.
In spite of this, my take on it all is: you won't *really* know until you're dead, and maybe not even then. Meh.
In spite of this, my take on it all is: you won't *really* know until you're dead, and maybe not even then. Meh.
I left my heart in Ballycastle...
I alway believe a wee bit, it's playing the odds, if you believe in a God and you die, well, you're Quids in , if you don't believe and you die and there is a God..................you're fucked, if there's not a God.........doesn't really matter either way.SINsister wrote:
In spite of this, my take on it all is: you won't *really* know until you're dead, and maybe not even then. Meh.
Being brave is coming home at 2am half drunk, smelling of perfume, climbing into bed, slapping the wife on the arse and saying,"right fatty, you're next!!"
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scotty wrote:I alway believe a wee bit, it's playing the odds, if you believe in a God and you die, well, you're Quids in , if you don't believe and you die and there is a God..................you're fucked, if there's not a God.........doesn't really matter either way.SINsister wrote:
In spite of this, my take on it all is: you won't *really* know until you're dead, and maybe not even then. Meh.
Yeah, but I wanna know ALL of it, and I wanna know all of it right NOW.
I left my heart in Ballycastle...
bloody Women, and if you found out you'd only say it was wrong, that it was all Men's fault and you'd just go and change everythingSINsister wrote:
Yeah, but I wanna know ALL of it, and I wanna know all of it right NOW.
Being brave is coming home at 2am half drunk, smelling of perfume, climbing into bed, slapping the wife on the arse and saying,"right fatty, you're next!!"
- 6FeetOver
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scotty wrote:bloody Women, and if you found out you'd only say it was wrong, that it was all Men's fault and you'd just go and change everythingSINsister wrote: Yeah, but I wanna know ALL of it, and I wanna know all of it right NOW.
Nah - I only care about logic. All of that "men/women" stuff is illogical, irrational, unreasonable, and often, really effin' silly (not to mention, effin' annoying) and therefore, I can't be arsed to think about it.
I left my heart in Ballycastle...
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nick the stripper wrote:Also, I wonder if Dawkins has heard of David Hume's problem of induction
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm...thanks, yet again, for this: I hadn't delved into Hume at skool, and was unaware that someone else (hehe) thought about cr@p like this, too. My friends think I'm just nuts when I attempt to discuss such things; well, if I'm "nuts," at least I know now that I'm not alone, hee...
And yeah - I demand PROOF, dammit!!! Always. GRRRR.
I left my heart in Ballycastle...
- Obviousman
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BTW: If you like Dawkins, watch this, never watched it myself (cause I can't be arsed to just watch my computer screen without doing anything myself for about half an hour) but it's said to be quite good!