Richard Dawkins documentary online/free

Richard Dawkins's television documentary, "The Root of All Evil?" is linked below. It focuses on the greatest danger facing mankind today: "the process of non-thinking called 'faith'."

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6193866746249268230

Dawkins has been very clear in that he doesn't believe that religion is the root of ALL evil, thus the title ends with a question mark. But clearly, religion is the greatest problem mankind has ever faced, and is almost certain to be the eventual cause of our extinction.

 

I watched this docu in the UK when it first broadcast. I found it an excellent programme and I highly respect Richard Dawkins.

Personally I think religion is the worse man-made invention ever created by man.

 

Sunlion

Dont agree.. Religion is 'one of the symptoms' of the greatest danger facing mankind today.
Willfull ignorance or willfull 'non thinking' as you term it.

Being ignorant 'of the processes of reality and humanities desired place in it'.
Is HOW WE ALL START.

But MOST jack up somewhere along the line and say 'this is all i need'
to be comfortable , to be complacent, or just 'be' and go with the flow.
Rational thought is not easy. it requires EFFORT to build a belief system
and a methodology, and not just a 'cut and paste' of someone elses ideas.
BUT YOUR OWN.

We can all do it. And occam thinks , like convergent evolution, we would come together as a species. And in so doing strengthen the species by orders of magnitude.
In the process, religion/faith would fall away like the 99% of all existant species that have been.And now are gone.
Species/ideas that used to inhabit earth.
Religion /faith needs a niche, that niche is ignorant self aware beings.
Without them... it dies.

Occam

 

Dont agree.. Religion is 'one of the symptoms' of the greatest danger facing mankind today.
Willfull ignorance or willfull 'non thinking' as you term it.

Just to be sure I understand... I think that you're saying that "willful non-thinking" is the real problem, with religion being just one of its symptoms. Right? Well... you're simply... right... I very incorrectly stated that religion itself was the real problem. Some of the great atrocities of history, I recall now that I give it another moment's thought, were committed by secular states and movements. I thank you for the polite correction, by the way. I'm a bit humbled by the rather blatant error

 

SunLion

Not a blatant error at all..It's that religion/faith is the most prominent aspect
of willfull ignorance and fills the media at this time with all the stuff related to
'terrorism'. Agree that it is most frustrating to see such stupidity willfully accepted
by supposedly rational beings.

There are many other examples.

Fashion and the cult of appearance. How SO many offhandedly judge others by their appearance.
Material goods and 'success'. The falsity of the idea that to be a successfull human being one must be 'rich'.
[ask einstein about that one]

and so it goes

Yes, some of the greatest atrocities we also commited by
'the good guys' ...check out the firebombing of dresden by the allies in feb 1945
The atrocities of stalin,hitler and pol pot are secular as well

Occam thinks we walk the same path on this topic. So much human potential thrown away for the 'false bliss' of ignorance.
So much freedom abandoned for prepacked philosophies by people
who could not be bothered to think about reality and meaning.
Yes. It is their choice...but when it is pushed onto others.
Like all the little girls having their genitals mutilated.
It is evil. And all evil needs to flourish
is for rational beings to say or do, nothing.

all the best

Occam

 

If you define a religion as something that cannot be totally proven and some aspects have to be taken on faith then Mathematics is indeed a religion. A more interesting quote form a mathematician whos name evades me is 'Not only is mathematics a religion it is the only religion to have proven it is a religion'. Thats not completely relevant but interesting i think none the less.

 

Fat tony

Yes, interesting.
Occams definition of religion is something that cannot be proven at all.
And which is loaded with logical contradictions and absurdities.
Never based on existant phenomena or effect.
So Math does not apply

Many might point to say davies and signs of direction in the massive organisation of reality. this is fine...it is not evidence for religion but evidence for direction.

And yes some may think all this off topic but in many ways it is on topic
For example, how you define the validity of a subject of scientific
inquiry.? Must it be an observed phenomenon? If so.
Then the entire science of singularities/blackholes is based solely on
the phenomena of their effects on obsrved reality.. not the things themselves.

Occam

 

Had to see this quoted. Occam, I really enjoy reading your posts.

 

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Fritz

Thank you my friend.
It lifts the heart and will to know others strive as occam does to
understand reality by their own efforts.
SO many think they have not the abillity to understand.

This is a LIE

Occam

 

Shaggie

So...science should be thrown away cause the USERS will USE it.?
PAP
Occam should look forward to going backwards
He will enjoy spending 15 hours a day grubbing for a meagre diet to
stay alive.

Cant have science.. someone will exploit it and we will end up with the abillity to explore reality

Timidity is the breeding ground for disaster

Occam

 

Religion and Science both have the same weakness they are dangerous when they get into the hands of morons. Its not that religion or science is inherantly bad (in general at least) but theres no shortage of morons, thats the problem. Though people do seem to believe science more easily than religion talk about the ministry of Jesus (the time when he was actively preaching), possibly the most documented period of ancient time and people often discard it out of hand, so im told. However when people ask me about the big bang they never seem to ask they just accept it, which is just as well as if people started asking about the evidence there wouldnt be half as many believers.

 

Yes..
That is the operative term

'hands of morons'

well said

Occam

 

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Here's a start to stoping all ideologies from being misused.

Teach people critical thinking skills. Expect that they be used.

It blows my mind how many people are convinced that everything was created six thousand years ago by Yahweh. It also blows my mind how many people could be duped into thinking that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11.

I would love to see such blatant ignorance be marginalized by society. However, are those in control interested in a general public armed with critical thinking skills?