1. Richard Dawkins on The Alan Colmes Show

Comment #146074 by Jamesthesecond on March 18, 2008 at 3:17 pm

( 130. Comment #144945 by phaseshift ) :

Crikes, a lot of you seem to think this interview was a blast, went well, etc. It doesn't give me a good feeling personally to hear
how idiotic and stubborn a few of these callers were. It's frustrating at best, scary at worst. It reinforces the impression that
many people simply will never understand how to reason, and even more - their emotional reactions scare me a bit.
If I were Richard I'd be a bit freaked out. I hope he makes it through many more years of these sorts of interviews without some freak
shooting him down or whatever.

I must say I share the same, but even stronger fear as phaseshift, the source of it being daily interactions with young people of all kinds
of cultures where I'm living ( Brussels, Belgium ). Most people I talk to have had a decent education, but their incapacity to reason in a logical way, not mistake their wishes for facts and put aside their emotions when trying to think, astonishes and scares me beyond anything.
One time a 22-year old muslim expressed his opinion that "homosexuals should be burnt because of their deeds" was the most scary
comment I heard. He was a biology student but refused to believe in biological evolution (???).

Those callers were amazing. I thought people like that were myths.

Well, believe it or not, but here in Belgium ( Brussels ) you can meet such "myths" every hour of the day...


( 125. Comment #144843 by mintcheerios ) :

I think a lot of people find it hard to believe people like this exist, especially in Europe. The bogus idea that these people are only
the fringe needs to be expelled. I get tired of moderates saying that there are only a few people like this thus people like Dawkins are
mostly attacking a straw man. They wouldn't be able to say that if they lived in Texas for 23 years (or even just 23 days).

I agree. As I said, where I live they are everywhere. And according to me, what is specifically characteristic of them is not even their willingness to accept something without evidence, their wishfull thinking, nor their striking misunderstanding of the Darwinian theory, but the arrogance that goes hand in hand with their ignorance...


I'm afraid it is time for all of us to wake up and recognize the hidden danger...

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"Don't underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups..."

2. Richard Dawkins on The Alan Colmes Show

Comment #144736 by Jamesthesecond on March 16, 2008 at 5:00 pm

Very interesting comparison by loki in Comment 18 :

...I still listen to these programs because I enjoy it as a sort of intellectual gladiatorial ring. Where, the gladiators of reason have all the amour and sharp weapons and the poor religious gladiators have nothing...

But unfortunately, if you ask me, the religious gladiators often have 90% of the spectators ( and probably the emperor too ) on their side. This perhaps answers, I think, your question further on in the text... :

Why is it that although the arguments are clearly won, people still either refuse to understand them or like myself feel the need to keep hearing them ?

So I fear, in spite of all this armour, sharp weapons and glorious victories, the gladiators of reason are still in great danger of being thrown before the lions...

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"Don't underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups..." ( unknown )