Wednesday, November 4, 2009 | Science : In the News | print version

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Darwin's pit bull not so aggressive in real life

by James Dacey - physicsworld.com

http://physicsworld.com/blog/2009/11/darwins_pit_bull_not_so_aggres.html

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We are like detectives who have arrived on the scene after the crime has been committed; we find traces of evidence everywhere including DNA footprints.

A good scientific theory is one that is vulnerable to being proven wrong but has not yet been disproved.

Historically, religion has attempted to dispel confusion but science does this too and it does it better!

These were just three sound bites that stuck in my mind after going along to see Richard Dawkins as he delivered another dogged defence of the theory of evolution in Bristol yesterday.

Speaking at the city’s Festival of Ideas, Dawkins was accompanied on stage by his wife Lalla Ward, an English actress best known for appearing in the BBC science fiction series Dr Who where she played the part of Romana in the late 1970s.

According to Dawkins, the couple have been giving talks as a double act for the past few years — ever since Lalla stepped in when Dawkins lost his voice on a tour of the US.

The couple used the first section of the event to read extracts from Dawkins’ new book The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. “This is not another anti-religious book - I’ve done that and got the T-shirt. Evolution is now a fact and this book will finally lay out all the evidence,” he said.
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Posted: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 | Permalink

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1. Comment #429523 by Mr DArcy on November 4, 2009 at 8:46 pm

Pit Bull? Naw! Richard's a pussy cat.

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2. Comment #429529 by JemyM on November 4, 2009 at 8:57 pm

He's a British gentleman among barbarians.

Other Comments by JemyM

3. Comment #429536 by SaintStephen on November 4, 2009 at 9:15 pm

He's a rottweiler, dammit:

Other Comments by SaintStephen

4. Comment #429547 by Duff on November 4, 2009 at 9:58 pm

Well, isn't that just amazing! The professor has a sharp wit but not a sharp tongue. Will wonders never cease!

Other Comments by Duff

5. Comment #429548 by j.mills on November 4, 2009 at 10:09 pm

Pretty soon they're going to have to breed a new, more dangerous dog, just so they can compare Richard to it. The Canine Ferocity Inflation Index is pushing off the scale. "Darwin's Tasmanian Devil"? "Darwin's Ravening Hound"? It's telling, the absurd labels that are applied to somebody merely for saying what he thinks. Perhaps we should refer to these unthinking columnists as "Creationism's Lapdogs"...

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6. Comment #429554 by HughCaldwell on November 4, 2009 at 10:27 pm

"Huxley was called Darwin's pit bull"

He obviously wasn't for obvious reasons.

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7. Comment #429555 by flobear on November 4, 2009 at 10:44 pm

Well why don't we come up with our own nickname. How about "Darwin's Male Fig Wasp"? They're quite violent and who knows - maybe people will even look up what they are.

Maybe we should alter our strategy and trick people into learning...

Other Comments by flobear

8. Comment #429556 by Jos Gibbons on November 4, 2009 at 10:47 pm

Dawkins was once Darwin's rottweiler, in reference to Huxley being his bulldog. I don't know where pitbull comes from as an alternative, but I do know Dacey isn't the first to use it. Dawkins has pointed out that he and rottweilers are both gentler than is commonly assumed. Whether the media has picked up on this and decided to try something new I don't know. Apparently rottweilers are second only to pitbulls in causing human fatalities. Maybe they're trying to be even more insulting to him than they ever have been before. It's so hard to tell.

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9. Comment #429561 by Sally Luxmoore on November 4, 2009 at 11:04 pm

Obviously no full moon that night.

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10. Comment #429567 by Rodger T on November 4, 2009 at 11:21 pm

Yes, but just wait until he comes at you with a pointed stick.

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11. Comment #429571 by KRKBAB on November 4, 2009 at 11:42 pm

I think R. Dawkins (and others) have it wrong about the Atheist/Agnostic distinction. You don't have to be able to prove god doesn't exist to be an Atheist, you just have to have no belief in a diety to be an Atheist. Am I wrong?

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12. Comment #429577 by SaintStephen on November 5, 2009 at 12:02 am

I think R. Dawkins (and others) have it wrong about the Atheist/Agnostic distinction. You don't have to be able to prove god doesn't exist to be an Atheist, you just have to have no belief in a diety to be an Atheist. Am I wrong?

Check out the Berkeley video for a good explanation from Richard himself, including his seven-point scale Theist (1) to Atheist (7). (Agnostics are all the scores in-between.) An enlightening quote from this presentation:

"We all have to be agnostic about Bertrand Russell's teapot theory, but in practice we're all A-Teapot-ists."

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13. Comment #429602 by Border Collie on November 5, 2009 at 1:31 am

Personally, I would prefer 'Darwin's Border Collie' ...

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14. Comment #429616 by Border Collie on November 5, 2009 at 3:30 am

They discovered that Richard is a decent guy. I'm imagining that next they'll discover that he knows what he's talking about. Naaaah .......

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15. Comment #429618 by sgreilly on November 5, 2009 at 4:29 am

YES! Darwin's Border Collie! I love it!!

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16. Comment #429620 by SaintStephen on November 5, 2009 at 5:09 am

Well why don't we come up with our own nickname. How about "Darwin's Male Fig Wasp"?

Maybe Darwin's Ichneumon? "Wasp" is unfortunately also an acronym for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, which wouldn't work so well...

Then again, consulting this webpage of WASP acronyms, one finds that it also means:

We Are Satan's People
What A Strange Person

and my personal favorite

We Are Sexy Pagans

(Hey flobear is your handle a play on Flaubert?)

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17. Comment #429621 by InYourFaceNewYorker on November 5, 2009 at 5:17 am

No!! Darwin's Labrador Retriever!!! :D

I think he should tone himself down a bit on the message board when dealing with small-minded trolls, but overall I get a very good impression of him. LABRADOR RETRIEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Julie

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18. Comment #429634 by Narvi on November 5, 2009 at 8:10 am

I didn't know that Dawkins was married to (the actress who played) Romana. As a Whoite, I find that awesome.

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19. Comment #429646 by charlie_177 on November 5, 2009 at 11:00 am

lovely

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20. Comment #429655 by Simonw on November 5, 2009 at 11:45 am

This dog metaphor is all terribly unkind.

Perhaps "Darwin's primate"? Which keeps Richard in the correct Order, and has the added benefit of confusing the religious.

Other Comments by Simonw

21. Comment #429657 by mixmastergaz on November 5, 2009 at 12:14 pm

Narvi

Not much of a "whoite" since it's "whovian".

On-topic:-

I agree with those who've implied that it's pretty depressing to think that "Richard Dawkins is a nice guy" is newsworthy.

Just goes to show how much prejudice atheists still face.

Other Comments by mixmastergaz

22. Comment #429659 by Bonzai on November 5, 2009 at 12:33 pm

Darwin's pitbull aka DP? I think that is the user name of some Sarah Palin loving nutjob here. Dawkins is a rottweiler if I recall correctly.

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23. Comment #429661 by Follow Peter Egan on November 5, 2009 at 12:59 pm

"Physicsworld in 'Dawkins is nice' shocker, read all about it."

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24. Comment #429675 by SaintStephen on November 5, 2009 at 3:08 pm

19. Comment #429646 by charlie_177 on November 5, 2009 at 11:00 am

Very nice! Original artwork, mebbe?

The evidence from your illustration proves our tousle-haired Professor is indeed a dog, and a very lucky one at that.

Other Comments by SaintStephen

25. Comment #429677 by George Lennan on November 5, 2009 at 3:15 pm

I was on the phone to EDF (french electricity board) yesterday, furious about a bill that couldn't have been mine. After yelling for five minutes, the lady on the end of my (strident) tirade finally made me shut up long enough to tell me it was a rebate, not a bill.

I'm sure this a fairly common experience, and wondered (after a few similar articles recently) if it could be baptized 'the Dawkins Revelation', when you shut up long enough to discover that had you listened in the first place, you'd discover that you actually agree with what's being said.

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26. Comment #429699 by InYourFaceNewYorker on November 5, 2009 at 4:32 pm

SaintStephen, the illustration in Charlie's comment was done by someone named Eleni. She made it for Dawkins for his birthday in '08. It can be found in the birthday thread.

George Lennan... amusing anecdote. You kick ass! :D

Julie

Other Comments by InYourFaceNewYorker

27. Comment #429701 by SaintStephen on November 5, 2009 at 4:35 pm

26. Comment #429699 by InYourFaceNewYorker on November 5, 2009 at 4:32 pm

I don't mind you getting in my face at all, actually. Thanks Julie!

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28. Comment #429706 by flobear on November 5, 2009 at 4:50 pm

Comment #429620 by SaintStephen:

No, it's Lonesome George he's a tortoise in the Galapagos. The last of his species.

I heard they might have gotten him to mate finally though, so we'll see.

Other Comments by flobear

29. Comment #429712 by SaintStephen on November 5, 2009 at 5:01 pm

28. Comment #429706 by flobear on November 5, 2009 at 4:50 pm

Cool! So flobear isn't a tease on Flaubert? Damn, that quote I posted was awesome, too. Maybe I should've posted it in the thread on happiness vs. depression...

Other Comments by SaintStephen

30. Comment #429721 by InYourFaceNewYorker on November 5, 2009 at 5:30 pm

St. Stephen, time for me to do some more InYourFaceNewYorking... I sent you a PM and it is still in my outbox. I'm guessing that your inbox is full and won't get my PM until you delete some of the stuff in your inbox? Could you do that?

Thanks

Julie

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31. Comment #429726 by SaintStephen on November 5, 2009 at 5:51 pm

30. Comment #429721 by InYourFaceNewYorker on November 5, 2009 at 5:30 pm

Sorry... I keep forgetting to check my Inbox.

You have mail, Julie!

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32. Comment #429728 by InYourFaceNewYorker on November 5, 2009 at 6:01 pm

Thanks. I wrote you back but it's floating in my outbox again!

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33. Comment #429763 by TIKI AL on November 5, 2009 at 7:46 pm

Pitbulls can be quite gentle if not raised by the Michael Vick cult. I don't perceive it as an insult, but as a badge of respect.

Now if they referred to Richard as "Darwin's ear biting bloodthirsty Mike Tyson ...

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34. Comment #429806 by Raiko on November 5, 2009 at 9:03 pm

I think he's Darwin's Leonberger. Not dangerous, but so "big" and impressive, he scares people just by being there.

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35. Comment #429866 by SilentMike on November 5, 2009 at 11:18 pm

Well that was OK. Not too friendly, not hostile. Not biased in favor by acquaintance and yet not mean or unfair. Just... OK. It's nice to see people just writing something fair and nice for a change.

It's kinda sad that all the vicious unfair attacks make me so glad just to see a fair attitude.

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