Difference between revisions of "Richard Dawkins"

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is a stupid limey i hate limeys so much they caused all the worlds problems with their stupid "british empire"
'''Richard Dawkins''' (b. 1941 as Clinton Richard Dawkins) is an [[Evolutionary biology|evolutionary biologist]], ethologist and [[author]].  As a consequence of his passionate defense of the [[theory of evolution]], and his attacks on [[religion]] and [[superstition]] in general, he is known as "Darwin's Rottweiler". He held the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of [[Science]] at the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008 (he was replaced by Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy).
 
 
 
He initially became known to the general public following the publication of his first book ''The Selfish Gene'' (1976). This popularized a [[Gene-centered view of evolution|gene-centric view of evolution]] which subsequently went on to become the mainstream view.  This book also introduced the world to the idea of [[meme]]s - a concept which went on to become a meme itself. Among his other best-selling books are ''The Extended Phenotype'' (1982), which talked about the way that [[Phenotype|phenotypic]] effects can extend beyond an organism's body and affect the surrounding environment, and ''The Blind Watchmaker'' (1986) which explains how [[natural selection]] works by small, incremental and cumulative steps, keeping what "works" (in terms of the usefulness for survival and reproduction of the [[gene]]s comprising an organism) and discarding what does not. The title, ''The Blind Watchmaker'' is an obvious play on [[unguided evolution]] and William Paley's "watch" [[argument from design]] (Paley also receives extended attention in Dawkin's later book ''The God Delusion'').
 
 
 
Since 1992 he has been married to the former actress Lalla Ward, with whom he has collaborated on several books.  She has contributed artwork, and has also read audiobook versions of Dawkins' work. He has one daughter from a previous marriage.
 
 
 
According to the Brights movement website, Dawkins is also an enthusiastic [[The Brights Movement|Bright]], and he expounded his reasons for this in an article in the British newspaper ''[[The Guardian]].''<ref>http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,981412,00.html</ref>
 
 
 
== Career and qualifications - highlights ==
 
[[Image:HappyDawkins.jpg|thumb|Professor Richard Dawkins]]
 
 
 
Dawkins was an Assistant [[Professor]] of [[Zoology]] at the University of California, Berkeley from 1967 to 1969.  In 1970 he was appointed a Lecturer, and ten years later he was appointed a Reader in Zoology at Oxford University. (For readers from the USA a "Reader" in a [[United Kingdom|British]] university is approximately equivalent to an "Associate Professor" or "Full Professor" in the US.)
 
 
 
In 1995, he was appointed Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford.  This position was endowed by Charles Simonyi with an express intention that Dawkins be its first holder. He has been a fellow of New College, Oxford since 1970. (A fellow is part of the governing body of the university.)
 
 
 
=== Education, positions and degrees ===
 
For completeness his full academic career is shown below.
 
 
 
*1954-1959 Oundle School
 
*1959-1962 Balliol College, Oxford University
 
*1962-1966 Research Student, Oxford University (D.Phil., 1966)
 
*1965-1967 Research Assistant to Professor N.Tinbergen FRS
 
*1967-1969 Assistant Professor of Zoology, University of California, Berkeley
 
*1969-1970 Senior Research Officer, Department of Zoology, Oxford
 
*1970-1990 University Lecturer (US: Adjunct '''Professor''') in Zoology, and Fellow of New College, Oxford
 
*1989 D.Sc. (Oxford)
 
*1990-1995 Reader in Zoology (US: "'''Associate Professor'''" or "'''Full Professor'''"), Oxford University
 
*1995-2008 Charles Simonyi '''Professor''' of the Public Understanding of Science,University of Oxford, and Professorial Fellow of New College<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070225195322/http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/CV.pdf 2007 version of CV]</ref>
 
 
 
== Dawkins and religion ==
 
Dawkins' treatment of evolution has frequently been the target of less literate [[Christian]] [[fundamentalist]]s.  In his book ''The God Delusion,'' (2006) he outraged the religious establishment by counterattacking in their own back yard.
 
 
 
Dawkins takes extreme exception to [[Stephen Jay Gould]]'s ideas of [[Non-Overlapping Magisteria]].  He points out that [[God]] either exists or he does not and that statements about his existence or non-existence can be [[Experiment|tested]] by the [[scientific method]] in the same way as any other statement.
 
 
 
He also went out of his way to suggest that religious teaching could be considered as a form of [[child abuse]].
 
 
 
While many have praised the book, some [[Theology|theological]] [[academic]]s have criticized the book because they feel that he has not mastered their [[Term of art|terms of art]]. Dawkins has responded by saying: "Most of us happily disavow [[fairies]], [[astrology]], and the [[Flying Spaghetti Monster]] without first immersing ourselves in books of Pastafarian theology etc. "<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBaAJcv7Vxg</ref>
 
 
 
Perhaps surprisingly for some, Dawkins does not explicitly state that [[God]] does not exist.  Instead he uses the example of [[Russell's Teapot]] to highlight the extreme improbability of the existence of God. As he points out, absolutely proving the non-existence of anything is very difficult and consequently we should assume that God has the same probability of existence as fairies at the bottom of the garden. That is, they are something not completely and utterly impossible, but so wildly improbable that we can operate under the working assumption that they do not exist.
 
 
 
===''The God Delusion'': support and criticism===
 
There has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding ''The God Delusion''.  Most criticism has come from religious fundamentalists and does not warrant repeating - most of it is fairly unimaginative to the point where Dawkins addresses such critics in the preface paperback edition of the book. More cogent criticism has involved two particular issues: The form of the message, and the content of the message. 
 
 
 
In form, Dawkins' message on [[atheism]] is quite abrasive to many - despite insistence by both him and his supporters that he's actually quite mild mannered ("shrill" gets mentioned a lot, but no video evidence of Dawkins making odd noises has yet been uncovered).  This aggression is not necessarily a bad thing as it does no more than echo the passion of religious fundamentalists that most people take in stride, but his direct and uncompromising approach has alienated many others who fight unreason; especially those who are not atheists, and those who approve of the concept of [[Non-Overlapping Magisteria]]. In content, many have argued that he is not the finest philosopher of atheism, and that his work contains many inconsistencies and poor examples. Specifically, he's repeatedly accused of over-simplifying The Troubles in [[Northern Ireland]], which he reduces to a simple religious feud between [[Catholic]]s and [[Protestant]]s.  However, the book in general is accessible to the public at large, which cannot be said of many of the great philosophical atheist works (or most [[philosophy]] in general).
 
 
 
Dawkins' critics were brilliantly parodied in an article which pretended to criticize the non-existent book ''The Fascism Delusion''.<ref>[http://www.thevalve.org/go/valve/article/more_on_dawkins/ The Valve - Review of ''The Fascism Delusion'']</ref>
 
 
 
== Dawkins and pseudoscience ==
 
Dawkins is no less critical of [[pseudoscience]] than he is of religion.  He recently made his views known about [[Faith healing|faith healers]], [[psychic]] [[medium]]s, [[angel]] therapists, "[[aura]] photographers", [[Astrology|astrologers]], [[Tarot cards|tarot card]] readers and water [[Divination|diviners]], and claimed that Britain is gripped by "an epidemic of superstitious thinking".<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/05/newage105.xml</ref>
 
 
 
==''Root of All Evil?''==
 
''Root of All Evil?'' is a [[television]] documentary by Dawkins, and is essentially the film version of his book "[[The God Delusion]]". The title was forced upon the show by its producers at Channel 4 and the question mark at the end was a concession to Dawkins.
 
 
 
The first part, titled "The God Delusion", explored the beliefs of religion and their conflicts with science, while in the second part, "The Virus Of Faith", he brought in the theory of the meme to explain religions, making them akin to [[virus]]es, and explored the moral implications of religious belief. The programme also included an interview with [[Ted Haggard]] where he showed off his [[wingnut|wingnuttery]] quite nicely, threatening Dawkins for "calling his children animals", i.e., mentioning [[evolution]].
 
 
 
The programme, naturally, received predictably mixed reviews. Religious proponents accusing Dawkins of everything from [[Journalism|journalistic]] [[Deceit|dishonesty]] to concentrating on the bad aspects of religion, whilst ignoring the potential good. While on the other hand, Dawkin's fans and anyone happy to see potshots taken at the [[church]] on mainstream TV loved it.
 
 
 
==Quotes==
 
*“We are all atheists about most of the gods that [[human]]ity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.”
 
*"If you are in possession of this revolutionary secret of science, why not prove it and be hailed as the new [[Isaac Newton|Newton]]? Of course, we know the answer. You can't do it. You are a fake." 
 
*"The universe is a strange and wondrous place. The truth is quite odd enough to need no help from pseudoscientific charlatans."
 
*"[[Faith]] is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate [[evidence]]. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence."
 
*“We are built as gene machines and cultured as meme machines, but we have the power to turn against our creators. We, alone on earth, can rebel against the tyranny of the selfish replicators.”
 
*“Nearly all peoples have developed their own [[creation myths]], and the [[Genesis]] story is just the one that happened to have been adopted by one particular tribe of [[Middle East|Middle Eastern]] herders. It has no more special status than the belief of a particular West [[Africa]]n tribe that the world was created from the excrement of ants.”
 
*"The God of the [[Old Testament]] is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty, [[Ethnic cleansing|ethnic cleanser]]; a [[Misogyny|misogynistic]], [[Homophobic|homophobic]], [[Racism|racist]], infanticidal, [[Genocide|genocidal]], filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."
 
 
 
==Criticism of Dawkins==
 
{{cp}}
 
 
 
Dawkins' outspoken views on religion have earned him many knee-jerk criticisms from religious [[apologist]]s and non-religious persons alike. With the high regard in which religious belief is held,<ref>[http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20070514.gif And I ''respect'' that.]</ref> openly and directly attacking religion has seen Dawkins break one of the greatest taboos still in existence in the western world.  Most critics concentrate on his divisive approach to the subject: he is generally seen to reject all [[theism|theistic]] views, even when they support his own on evolution or [[secular|secularism]], and his dismissal of all the claimed good aspects of religion, which Dawkins either believes are non-existent or completely irrelevant. In ''[[The God Delusion]]'', Dawkins spends most of the introduction of the book addressing potential critics, predicting their arguments quite accurately and putting forward his own counter-arguments.
 
 
 
Theists also criticise what they claim to be a lack of [[logic]] in some of Dawkins' arguments, with several of his point-by-point arguments allegedly ending with "therefore there almost certainly is no God" without what they regard to be sufficient supporting premises. As a result, he is often termed a "fundamentalist atheist".
 
 
 
The criticism of Dawkins and general anti-Dawkins attitudes manifest in many ways, from homemade You-Tube videos to the completely ''[[ad hominem]]'' "article" on him found on [[Conservapedia]]. In September 2008, a Turkish court banned [[internet]] users from viewing the official Richard Dawkins website after [[Harun Yahya]], a [[Muslim]] [[creationist]], claimed its contents were defamatory and [[blasphemy | blasphemous]].<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/19/religion.turkey Creationist Turkey savages Dawkins]</ref>
 
 
 
[http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Judaism/2008/05/Richard-Dawkins-Shameful-Attack.aspx Rabbi Shmuley Boteach] accuses Dawkins of comparing him to Hitler. Dawkins [http://www.beliefnet.com/News/Science-Religion/2008/05/Richard-Dawkins-Responds-To-Rabbi-Shmuley-Boteach.aspx responds].
 
 
 
Another bone of contention for [[liberal]]s is that Dawkins opposes [[affirmative action]], which he compared to [[apartheid]] in ''The Ancestors' Tale''.
 
 
 
===The "11 second pause"===
 
 
 
One of the more famous incidents that Dawkins has been involved in was during an interview in 1997 where he paused for 11 seconds after being asked answer the question "can you give one example of a [[mutation]] that increases information in the genome?" Creationists happily seized on the video as "smoking gun" proving evolution was a [[hoax]]; one of its key proponents stumped on a simple question!<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_MN_O9ICzY This video sums up the situation quite nicely.]</ref> Dawkins has since gone on record explaining that this pause was because he suddenly realised he had been tricked into an interview with creationists - something he doesn't do as policy as such interviews can be used to give [[crank]]s credibility.
 
 
 
Most creationists take the pause to be genuine proof that Dawkins doesn't know what he is talking about and evolution is false and that his reasonings for not interviewing creationists are just any old excuses to dodge their question. [[CreationWiki]] claims that he ''still'' hasn't answered the initial question. Anyone familiar with [[information theory]] and the average creationist tactics and [[straw man]] based arguments should be able to figure out this answer, its certainly not the simple soundbite they were looking for. Of course Dawkins ''has'' answered, and the entire response can be found on Australian Skeptics.<ref>[http://www.skeptics.com.au/publications/articles/the-information-challenge/ Richard Dawkins - The Information Challenge]</ref>
 
 
 
==Books published==
 
Richard Dawkins has published a vast range of material.  His books are:
 
 
 
*''The Selfish Gene'' (1976)
 
*''The Extended Phenotype'' (1982)
 
*''The Blind Watchmaker'' (1986)
 
*''River Out of Eden'' (1995)
 
*''Climbing Mount Improbable'' (1996)
 
*''Unweaving the Rainbow'' (1997)
 
*''A Devil’s Chaplain'' (2003)
 
*''The Ancestor’s Tale'' (2004)
 
*''The God Delusion'' (2006)
 
*''The Greatest Show on Earth'' (2009)
 
 
 
==See also==
 
*[[Antitheism]]
 
*[[Answers in Genesis Dawkins interview controversy]]
 
*[[Meme]]
 
*[[Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed#PZ Myers "expelled" from screening of Expelled|Visit to the Cinema]].
 
 
 
==External links==
 
*[http://www.RichardDawkins.net Official website]
 
*[http://www.fiskemiles.com/books/goddelusionreadingnotes.php A few reading notes on pp. 80-106 of ''The God Delusion'']
 
*Richard Dawkins [http://www.layscience.net/node/428 interviews] [[Derren Brown]] for the documentary "Enemies of Reason".  The full hour-long interview is presented in several segments.
 
 
 
==Footnotes==
 
<references/>
 
 
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawkins, Richard}}
 
[[Category:Atheists]]
 
[[Category:Authors]]
 
[[Category:Biologists]]
 

Revision as of 19:46, 23 June 2010

is a stupid limey i hate limeys so much they caused all the worlds problems with their stupid "british empire"