1. Comment #98862 by Diacanu on December 14, 2007 at 6:59 pm

Cool.
I prefer 4 musketeers, but ah well...

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2. Comment #98865 by drenghdndvtm on December 14, 2007 at 7:12 pm

This should be interesting. I've never seen these guys all in one shot before.

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3. Comment #98867 by phasmagigas on December 14, 2007 at 7:20 pm

i'll watch this later but the pics of the jolly 4 with drinks and smiles must be enough to make many a fundamentalist turn red with fury. i have to say Mr harris could suit a pair of horns on his head. Wow, thats a large brandy for Mr hitchens!! probably not the first and probably not the last.

unmoderated, sheesh!!

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4. Comment #98868 by ChrisMcL on December 14, 2007 at 7:22 pm

OMG! I think I just popped my sprocket.

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5. Comment #98869 by USA_Limey on December 14, 2007 at 7:26 pm

Hour three was the drinking competition but it wasn't filmed.

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6. Comment #98870 by nogodsever on December 14, 2007 at 7:27 pm

Brandy? Surely it's scotch.

Other Comments by nogodsever

7. Comment #98871 by phasmagigas on December 14, 2007 at 7:35 pm

scotch, maybe, well have to ask those in the know!

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8. Comment #98874 by Matt H. on December 14, 2007 at 7:44 pm

Oh this is wonderful! How I have longed for something like this... four of my favourite intellectuals in a room having a good old chat! I will relish this. Thankyou very much RDFRS.

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9. Comment #98875 by admin on December 14, 2007 at 7:46 pm

It was scotch on the table.
Josh

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10. Comment #98878 by Russell's Teapot on December 14, 2007 at 8:03 pm

I was going to ask if Hitch ever combs his hair, but decided to do a Google images search first and I've decided that he can keep it uncombed :)

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11. Comment #98880 by Atticus_of_Amber on December 14, 2007 at 8:08 pm

Is the appropriate expression "geekgasm" or "nerdgasm". Either way, that's what I'm having. ;)

This should be incredible to watch. Unfortunately, I won't be able to get to it until Monday night at the earliest. :(

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12. Comment #98885 by Atticus_of_Amber on December 14, 2007 at 8:30 pm

Josh says, "It was scotch on the table."

So Josh, were RD and DD having Martinis? More importantly, is Sam Harris such a my body-is-a-temple post-Buddhist that he was drinking *water*? ;)

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13. Comment #98886 by admin on December 14, 2007 at 8:32 pm

I think Sam and Hitch were having scotch, and Dan and RD were having Martinis.

Josh

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14. Comment #98891 by sillysighbean on December 14, 2007 at 8:50 pm

Josh, You did a great job with the video..it sounds terrific, clear and immediate. Also, your cutting technique keeps it moving at a comfortable pace that aids in holding interest.

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15. Comment #98892 by maton100 on December 14, 2007 at 8:51 pm

Get your drink on.

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16. Comment #98893 by Socrates on December 14, 2007 at 8:53 pm

Wow... so I wasn't the only one who thought up the idea of the Four Horsemen having a conference. I suppose it's an obvious idea to have atheism's biggest advocates in a room together having an unconstrained conversation.

Oh my goodness- I had to pinch myself after I opened the newsletter about the Four Horsemen discussion I had to pinch myself. This is when the Richard Dawkins Foundation moves from being pretty cool to being kick-ass.

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17. Comment #98895 by dhudson0001 on December 14, 2007 at 9:00 pm

The entire 2 hrs was captivating..felt like I was right there with them. Wonderful-thanks!

Other Comments by dhudson0001

18. Comment #98897 by Rational_G on December 14, 2007 at 9:04 pm

Wow! What a treat!

How 'bout the Fab Four?

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19. Comment #98899 by robotaholic on December 14, 2007 at 9:21 pm

the discussion is adult

"what argument has given you pause?" by Sam Harris-
-the answers by Hitch, Dawkins, and Dennett are awesome
i love Dawkin's biological way of seeing things
i love Harris's "em" when he's "em" on things...
-i want a martini

Other Comments by robotaholic

20. Comment #98901 by Veon on December 14, 2007 at 9:24 pm

I have been hoping someone would make something like this. Getting the four big ones in one go only makes it better.
No disruptive format, no annoying moderator, just a nice informed, and dear I say informal, conversation.

There should be more of this!

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21. Comment #98903 by Cartomancer on December 14, 2007 at 9:34 pm

1. And I saw when the revered lamb of the RDFRS, Josh Timonen, opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four authors saying, Come and see.
2. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a beard; and an artificial heart was given unto him: and he went forth explaining, and to explain. And his explanations were like unto pearls and many were the intricacies contained therein, and on his brow the spell of the faithful was broken and did they find peace.
3. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second author say, Come and see.
4. And there went out another horse that was red: and literature was given to him that sat thereon to take complacency from the earth, and that they should debate with one another: and there was given unto him a great sword, and on that sword were inscribed the words entia non multiplicanda sunt praeter necessitatem, and its edge was sharper than wit and more deadly than poison. And did false saints and charlatans fall to this blade, and was there much scotch consumed and many cigarettes did burn with ardent flame.
5. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third author say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four authors say, A measure of Christianity for a penny, and three measures of Islam for a penny; and see thou hurt not the Jain and the Amish. And the word Atheist did he promote not wholeheartedly, and much were the ruminations on the transcendent and the spiritual that did issue forth unto mixed reception.
7. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth author say, Come and see.
8. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Dawkins, and Reason followed with him. And the selfishness of the gene was rendered plain for all to see, and the phenotype extended, and the watchmakers struck blind and the improbable mountain climbed. Yea, and was the river followed out of eden and was the tale of the ancestor heard and was the Devil's chaplain given dominion over the earth, and the God Delusion exposed. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to enlighten with science, and with philosophy, and with literature, and with the wonders of the earth.

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22. Comment #98907 by toomanytribbles on December 14, 2007 at 9:46 pm

this is a wonderful weekend surprise. i'm listening to it now -- and i wish i was there too.

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23. Comment #98908 by Cartomancer on December 14, 2007 at 9:53 pm

Tune in next week folks for "The Four Horsemen Go Camping", then later "The Four Horsemen and the Case of the Disappearing Panda", "The Four Horsemen Meet the Queen", and "The Four Horsemen Go Mad in Mecca". This could run and run. Am I the only one who now believes that they all live in a big house together and argue over whose turn it is to do the washing up?

Other Comments by Cartomancer

24. Comment #98912 by Don_Quix on December 14, 2007 at 10:10 pm

USA_Limey wrote:

Hour three was the drinking competition but it wasn't filmed.

Note to the producers - I would gladly pay a premium to watch this on DVD.

Other Comments by Don_Quix

25. Comment #98913 by Diacanu on December 14, 2007 at 10:18 pm

That was awsome.

Usually, I download stuff here, listen/watch once, delete.
I'll keep this to listen to a few times, lotta stuff in there.

Other Comments by Diacanu

26. Comment #98915 by devolve on December 14, 2007 at 10:24 pm

Today, we pour over the correspondence between Adams and Jefferson (and many others), and I'm fairly sure that, at the time, neither party expected that their musings would be studied and scrutinized for centuries to come.

Will historians, polemicists, and interested Regular Joes many decades or centuries in the future replay these videos for a peek into one small facet of life in the early 21st century? I certainly hope so.

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27. Comment #98916 by Tim Friede on December 14, 2007 at 10:25 pm

I needed that, thanks J.

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28. Comment #98917 by Don_Quix on December 14, 2007 at 10:27 pm

Does Dawkins have a martini in front of him? He always struck me as a gin & tonic sort of guy. Harris looks like he's drinking scotch or whisky.

EDIT: I'm not trying to belittle the video. This is actually one of the most interesting and compelling videos I have seen of any of the "four horsemen" by themselves :) This is a great venue for the four of them to express and discuss their ideas. I like the roundtable discussion format a lot. It's like an atheist version of the American TV show "The View". Except this is several billion orders of magnitude more intelligent and substantial. heheh.

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29. Comment #98918 by Quine on December 14, 2007 at 10:35 pm

This was wonderful. I suggest Richard read Tavris and Aronson's book on cognitive dissonance to get some added ways to describe what he has noticed about the capability of people to hold these contradictory positions.

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30. Comment #98920 by devolve on December 14, 2007 at 10:39 pm

It's too bad that they didn't film the part where they rolled up a huge Cheech & Chong-sized joint, fired that sucker up, and then watched "Koyaanisqatsi" as nubile 20-something swimsuit models performed scantily-clad interpretive dance to the Philip Glass score.

Other Comments by devolve

31. Comment #98921 by gkkalai on December 14, 2007 at 10:45 pm

At 15:00 minute of second hour,hitchens tells he doesn't want religion to be eradicated.Is it the scotch or what???

Other Comments by gkkalai

32. Comment #98922 by Don_Quix on December 14, 2007 at 10:47 pm

It's really kind of creepy that many ideas that run through my head on a daily basis have already been brought up and answered in this video...and I am only about 2/3 of the way through the first one.

Not that I think any of the four of them are my "saviors" or anything, but I find it funny that I sit around and talk about these same things with my friends in the same sort of setting. And the "four horsemen" are talking about the same things we talk about, but doing it in a much more eloquent way :)

Other Comments by Don_Quix

33. Comment #98923 by sanjiv on December 14, 2007 at 10:48 pm

Comment #98903 by Cartomancer

Thanks for the Revelation. Enjoyed it!

Other Comments by sanjiv

34. Comment #98925 by gkkalai on December 14, 2007 at 11:09 pm

Sorry for posting it here
Why doesn't hitchens write about the stupidity of present president's religious beliefs which he fights against? I haven't read any of his article denouncing bush for his dangerous religious beliefs, which I love to

Other Comments by gkkalai

35. Comment #98926 by Spinoza on December 14, 2007 at 11:14 pm

It is interesting to note the STARK difference between these four men and the majority of their "followers"... on this website and youtube at least.

Other Comments by Spinoza

36. Comment #98927 by gkkalai on December 14, 2007 at 11:15 pm

robotaholic:
I don't think It will benefit science in any way.The History tells us otherwise
As dawkins tells we have to move on leaving stupid arguments behind.This should not be a theatre just for an argument

Other Comments by gkkalai

37. Comment #98930 by nogodsever on December 14, 2007 at 11:36 pm

Crazy theory here, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were all given drinks to make Hitch look less like a lush. While Harris partakes, Dennett and Dawkins barely touch theirs. Hitch, on the other hand, always has a drink on him, even during many of his debates.
It's one of the things I love about him, BTW, that he doesn't give a damn if people like it or not, he's gonna have a little Johnnie Walker at hand.

Other Comments by nogodsever

38. Comment #98931 by Janus on December 14, 2007 at 11:39 pm

That... was awesome. Discussions about religion between atheists are so much more interesting than between an atheist and a theist. I want more! More!

Other Comments by Janus

39. Comment #98934 by Atticus_of_Amber on December 15, 2007 at 12:04 am

I've only listened to three quarters of it because, for some reason, my damn computer only downloaded 45 minutes of each hour. (Yes, I couldn't wait and listened to it while I was doing some work around the house.)

Wow. Fascinating discussion.

In many ways, though, it just confirmed my impressions of the four men.

Hitch - master of rhetorical tactics, talked a lot of sense there. But when it got to substance, he was obviously out of his league. His idea that he'd hate faith to be gone because that would mean the end of the argument illustrates both why he's such a great rhetorician, and why he lacks substance compared to the other three.

RD - still a brilliant teenager - "but is it TRUE!!" Has all the benign naiveté required of the truly great scientist.

Dennett - this man so often seems to be wisdom personified. So reasonable, so decent.

Sam Harris - Still seems to say exactly what I believe, even when I haven't yet realised I believe it. While I think Dennett and Dawkins are the most substantial figures, Sam is still young and I really want to see how far he develops.

Other Comments by Atticus_of_Amber

40. Comment #98937 by eric711 on December 15, 2007 at 12:20 am

This is definitely one for the ages. Thanks RDFRS!

Other Comments by eric711

41. Comment #98938 by InquiringMind on December 15, 2007 at 12:21 am

I tend to think that Sam Harris has the most clearly stated, cogent arguments against religious belief, and End Of Faith would be my recommendation to an Open-Minded person who asked me which of the 4 authors I would recommend as a place to start explorering polemics against faith and religions.

The Daniel, Richard, and Christopher wrote great books as well, but I find them somewhat idiosynchratic in comparison.

I haven't been too happy with some of their debates with the likes of Dinesh d'Souza that use Salesman glibness to win over audiences over their more reasoned but sometimes flustered sounding arguments. Sam Harris' measured and considered presentation and demeanor tends to be more effective.

That being said they are all complimentary to each other, and its been fantastic that these kinds of books have been getting the publicity that they have.

But Daniel, I still don't like the epithet "Brights"......

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42. Comment #98939 by Styrer- on December 15, 2007 at 12:22 am

Fantastic idea and all thanks to Josh for his excellent work!

My only cavil is that two hours was not long enough! Perhaps there was some tiredness evident at the end, except for the Hitch (and Sam?), who was getting into his (admittedly rather contradictory at times!) stride. Looks like the whiskey was kicking in faster than the martinis! :)

I do wonder what on earth the Hitch was banging on about when it came to the eradication of faith issue. Have I utterly misunderstood the import of his book and of his comment, in his debate with McGrath, that the eradication of faith would mean that humankind could begin 'to reach something like its true height' if all such 'childishness was left behind'?

So, which view does he really advocate?

Repeatedly citing the solipsistic nature of religion seems a bit rich when he solipsistically states that he wants the debate to rage on, lest his intellectual entanglements be rendered the poorer for such loss!

In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, and would simply finish by saying - more please!

Best,
Styrer

Other Comments by Styrer-

43. Comment #98941 by Arcturus on December 15, 2007 at 12:33 am

Thank you!

A nice Christmas gift! :)

Other Comments by Arcturus

44. Comment #98942 by nogodsever on December 15, 2007 at 12:43 am

Hitchens and Dawkins both mischaracterize Victor Stenger's book. They say that he claims to disprove 'all gods', when he explicitly admits this cannot be done. What he does in his book is attempt to disprove the Judeo-Christian god specifically.

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45. Comment #98943 by mintcheerios on December 15, 2007 at 12:50 am

Yesterday night I ended up sleeping at 3 in the morning because of the Harris vs. Wolpe video and tonight this.

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46. Comment #98944 by ADePSP on December 15, 2007 at 12:54 am

This is a complete joy... Thanks...

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47. Comment #98945 by hasty toweling on December 15, 2007 at 12:56 am

I absolutely love these guys and the internet is why we have the chance to hear them. Without it, we'd be forced to listen (and not respond) to whatever the traditional big media outlets want us to hear. The result of that obsolete platform has been a wastland of stupidity as exhibited by The View, Fox News, etc...

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48. Comment #98946 by eno on December 15, 2007 at 1:14 am

That was fantastic. It has made my weekend. I hope they get together a lot more in the future.

Josh, you did a great job of filming that discussion as it looks totally professional.

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49. Comment #98948 by Richard Dawkins on December 15, 2007 at 1:29 am

Josh, you did a great job of filming that discussion as it looks totally professional.

Wait till you see the DVD, at full HD resolution!

Thanks Josh. For everything.

Richard

Other Comments by Richard Dawkins

50. Comment #98950 by MikeV on December 15, 2007 at 1:40 am

Amazing piece of work, it was a complete surprise and an utter delight!

Too bad there was no Hour 3 :)

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