More Recent Comments

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Censorship in the Scientific Community

 
Richard Dawkins interviews Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America. You really have to watch this if you want to understand what science is up against in some parts of the world.

Richard tries very hard to be patient and respectful. I would not have been so kind in the face of such massive stupidity and ad hominem attacks by Wendy Wright. I find it absolutely astonishing that she attacks scientists and accuses them of stupidity and conspiracy then complains about ad hominem attacks when Richard asks why she rejects evolution.








I don't know how much of this you can stand. Parts 5, 6, and 7 are here.


13 comments :

athel said...

I watched part 1 on Pharyngula. That was much more than enough. I thought that Richard Dawkins showed an incredible degree of patience, and remained polite to the end of what I saw. So much for the strident new atheists!

Brett W. McCoy said...

I watched about 2 minutes of it and gave up. Maybe if I get a little drunker I might be able to tolerate more.

Adrian said...

Seven parts! Oh my god, you're kidding. I made it nearly to the end of part one but her insufferable smugness combined with her cow-like, wide-eyed ignorance was infuriating.

When Richard asked her if she might have some emotional reasons for rejecting science, I thought it was meant as a dig at the common theistic accusation that atheists were hurt by God or something but no, it looks like that was just a crack in his patience and he let a little exasperation show. I have no idea how he rallied and lasted another hour with that person. Just painful.

Marc said...

She is simply regurgitating an abridged version of "Expelled".

Anonymous said...

I agree with Marc, especially her thinly veiled references to the folks mentioned in Expelled who were "censored." Sad, just sad. Especially when you consider the time in which we live in, when amazing discoveries (both in the fossil records, like Tiktaalik and at the genetic level) are being made every month. All of these true wonders of nature are ignored by folks like this. I'm amazed Dawkins didn't ask her for her definition of "species" when she kept parroting "no body has seen a species evolve into another!" We gotta keep an eye on the school boards folks in order to keep science standards from completely crumbling.

gingerbeard said...

It really shows how awful the "new Atheists" are. So rude and condescending. I see exactly what Mooney was going on about. I mean what a horrid and rude educator that Dawkins fella is. He asked her to go to a museum, asked what evidence she wanted, and agreed with her that a Darwinian society was a bad idea. And his rude language and constantly raising his voice. My oh my, the vapours over came me and I needed my fainting couch...

Ok reality now:

After watching all 7 clips I am blown away by how patient RD is. If this is an example of poor communications, poor outreach and offending believers, I don't see how you can ask a question of their beliefs without being one of those "new atheists" who should just sit down and shut up. RD really is a shining example of polite behavior while still challenging ignorance.

Bayesian Bouffant, FCD said...

"... There is no evidence of evolution going from one species to another species. If evolution had occurred, then surely, whether its going from birds to mammals, or even beyond that..."


She thinks that mammals evolved from birds?

athel said...

She thinks that mammals evolved from birds?

No, she thinks we think that.

Georgi Marinov said...

I second the feeling expressed by many that I couldn't have possibly endured this for an hour. I would have probably punched her, or at least told her that if she thinks that humans and chimps are not related then human beings who present irrefutable proof that they haven't passed the intellectual level of a chimp should not be given the rights the rest of human beings have, and she is a prime example of that. Or something of that sort.

As much as I wish I had Dawkins' patience though, he conceded quite a lot of ground in that conversation (and the other videos where he interviews creationists and priests in the same series) and I am not sure this was the correct thing to do

Harriet said...

Don't laugh. Some of us (who teach at non-elite universities) have to attempt to teach students like this.

Unfortunately I no longer drink.

KevinHower said...

Wow.. Dawkins has a mind-blowing amount of patience. I would love to have that kind of patience, but at the same time I wouldn't like having to exercise it by dealing with someone that infuriating who is so completely and utterly out of touch with reality.

Bryan said...

There is no evidence of evolution going from one species to another species

I expected RD's head to explode at this point. Seriously, we've never observed an speciation event? I wonder what DrVries saw in 1905...or all those other scientists since.

The irony is she parades her ignorance like it were a virtue of some sort...

DiscoveredJoys said...

"no body has seen a species evolve into another!"

...and no body has seen a species poofed into existence either.