1. On TV: The Genius of Charles Darwin: Presented by Richard Dawkins

Comment #232186 by creator on August 17, 2008 at 7:58 pm

In part two, Richard attributes altruism to kin selection and tribal reciprocation, and hypothesizes that empathy and altruistic behaviour toward those we know will never reciprocate is an artifact, like moths navigating into candles.

But in addition to kinship and tit for tat, I suspect there are evolutionary advantages to being likable by complete strangers of both sexes. For example, one might be more likely to survive an encounter with a dominant male from another tribe if one is friendly and submissive,
perhaps avoiding a losing battle by offering food or sexual favours.

2. The Boundaries of Belief

Comment #205229 by creator on July 6, 2008 at 9:53 pm

"The survey was intended to be taken by Christians and Atheists only."

Nevertheless, Harris's questions identify the Biblical literalists among the Christians. Some would say Biblical literalists are a subset of Christians, while some Christians will argue that those who interpret the Bible literally are not
Christian. Similarly, those who are not Biblical literalists are not necessarily atheists.

3. The Boundaries of Belief

Comment #205026 by creator on July 6, 2008 at 12:08 pm

Isn't lack of belief in the Biblical God a poor way to identify atheists? By that criteria, Muslims are atheists, as are diests who believe an "intelligent agent" initiated the big bang and pantheists who believe God is synonymous with the cosmos. Belief that the Bible is the word of God is an even worse measure of theism.

Nor is belief in the God of the Bible or the
belief that the Bible is the word of said God
a way to identify Christians.

"Christian - of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ."