Fiirso.com

Richard Dawkins and Paula Kirby sit down for a 40 minute conversation at Eden Court Theater. There, they talk about evolution, religion and the importance of science. This is followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Credit:
UHI Millenium Institute
April 2 2008
http://www.library.uhi.ac.uk/dawkins/
For other material like this, please visit Richarddawkins.net:
http://www.richarddawkins.net/

Tags for this video: Atheism Atheist Christianity Dawkins Delusion Evolution God Islam Kirby Paula Religion Richard Science

Find more videos in the "Education" category
See more videos uploaded by PiroNiro

Comments for this video on YouTube

Darwinian evolution ... ( 2 months ago by Intraquarkic)

Darwinian evolution doesn't make atheism mandatory. Darwin was not alone in removing God from explanations for parts of the universe. Pierre-Simon Laplace explained the solar system scientifically. Friedrich Wöhler disproved vitalism by ynthesizing urea. David Hume argued that design was not necessary for the origin of life. Anyway, a deistic god could be behind the natural processes of evolution

This is Dawkins at ... ( 2 months ago by 4mattb)

This is Dawkins at his best, talking brilliantly and elegantly about evolution.

*nod* Gotta love ... ( 2 months ago by curiouslittleboy)

*nod* Gotta love those creationist pieces of shit. :3 ;P

I don't usually ... ( 1 month ago by Ryszze)

I don't usually comment on what I see on here, and I'm still early in this one. But this is, as said, incredibly beautifully, eloquently and still understandably put. And from what I've seen from his other "lectures" is that he's equally eloquent when answering questions.

Yes, but you ... ( 1 month ago by hackenbollox)

Yes, but you immediately run into problems. Firstly, you're suddenly talking about something closer to the deist worldview, rather than the theist one, because god suddenly has no work to do. In that sense, it's very difficult to hold on the conventional theology, because god is not necessary beyond the setting up of the system. At that point, you may simply apply Occam's Razor and strip away the unnecessary, namely god.

"GEOLOGY GIVES US ... ( 3 weeks ago by bohinj53)

"GEOLOGY GIVES US APPROXIMATELY 4 BILLIONS YEARS OF EARTH HISTORY". Now Mr. Dawkins you mean to tell me you can tell the rest of us mortals, that you know what was taking place on earth 151 million years ago? Have you an idea of how far back that is? And how about 2.2 billion years ago? What was earth like? What kind of animals were already living? You see history must be based on facts, evidence and preferably eyewitnesses. I am not fooled by your elegant eloquence. you may be deluded sir!

Oh by the way mr. ... ( 3 weeks ago by bohinj53)

Oh by the way mr. dawkins, let's say that things did go as you say (only for the sake of argument of course), that in 4 billion years..long long long time the surviving species passed on genes that helped them fly better, swim better, hunt better. But how do you explain for example the symmetrical drawings on a butterfly's wings? You mean to tell me that mindless evolution is capable to produce Michelangelo like works of art? Actually even Michelangelo does not get close to that.

to think that we ... ( 2 weeks ago by gavinsstuff)

to think that we might have a vice president tomorrow (the idiot palin) who believes the earth has only been around for a matter of thousands of years... And they actually consider allowing these people to govern us???

evidence like said ... ( 2 weeks ago by badmashabhi)

evidence like said earlier doesn't need to be 'eye-witnessed'. A murder-scene may not have eye-witnesses but it has evidence.

badmashabhi, yea... ... ( 2 weeks ago by bohinj53)

badmashabhi, yea.... true enough. But evidence by itself does not tell us "who dunn'it". So at the scene of the crime investigators need to look for fingerprints, clues that point to the murderer. Concerning the earth, man must look in an honest and rational fashion at the evidence. At the end of the day... one can choose to take a giant leap of faith in mere chance 4 billions years ago...or one can place his faith in an Intelligent Being, who created the earth and all it contains.

"At the end of the ... ( 2 weeks ago by eddieindahouse)

"At the end of the day... one can choose to take a giant leap of faith in mere chance 4 billions years ago...or one can place his faith in an Intelligent Being, who created the earth and all it contains. " BUT god is NOT an explaination, because ur immediately creating something more complex and intelligent that what u are trying to explain in the first place. if u say there is a god, then fair enough, but the question still remains, who created god. you see the question is not...cont

...answered by a ... ( 2 weeks ago by eddieindahouse)

...answered by a god. a god only creates more questions than it does answers.

You have a point, ... ( 2 weeks ago by bohinj53)

You have a point, the moment you bring God into the equation, you bring something more complex and intelligent that somehow needs to be explained. However, what is more plausible to believe that the amazing and wonderful world we live in came into existence by mere chance? How can a thinking, rational mind come from mere inert matter? What about the moral code? How did the concept of good and evil evolve? your side of the equations has many questions nonetheless.

"However, what is ... ( 2 weeks ago by eddieindahouse)

"However, what is more plausible to believe that the amazing and wonderful world we live in came into existence by mere chance?" be very careful when u stereotype the universe as "wonderful". remember that for every good thing about our universe there is something bad and flawed. would a creator really design a universe where the sun is going to eventually combust and make life impossible? where diseases and natural disaster kill us? where natare is as crual as it is? im not soo sure

"How did the ... ( 2 weeks ago by eddieindahouse)

"How did the concept of good and evil evolve? your side of the equations has many questions nonetheless. " good and evil comes from common sense, love and respect of others. nothing to do will an invisible deity

you said:"good and ... ( 2 weeks ago by bohinj53)

you said:"good and evil comes from common sense, love and respect of others. nothing to do will an invisible deity." Easier said than done. To do that you need a mind. You haven't answered how a living, thinking, rational mind came into existence from inert matter. We all know that only living things generate living things. For a criminal common sense might be hitting an old lady and robbing her. for someone else it is to give her his seat on a bus. Good and evil require absolutes!

"You haven't ... ( 2 weeks ago by eddieindahouse)

"You haven't answered how a living, thinking, rational mind came into existence from inert matter." im not a biologist, im not an authority to say , but we are products of evolution, that is an undisputed fact in the scientific world now. even if it the mind cant be explained (im sure it can be, im the wrong person to ask) but even if it can, its a massive leap of faith to go from, we cant explain it, god did it.

you say: "we are ... ( 2 weeks ago by bohinj53)

you say: "we are products of evolution, that is an undisputed fact in the scientific world." Evolution is not a fact, it is a theory. Even mr. richard dawkins doesn't know how life began and has entertained the idea that if it didn't start on earth, perhaps it was seeded by intelligent beings that for sure according to him evolved. What i am saying is that both views are not based on facts. No one was there for creation or for evolution. They both are theories. both require faith.

"Evolution is not a ... ( 2 weeks ago by eddieindahouse)

"Evolution is not a fact, it is a theory" im sorry to say, u dont understand science. there is no such thing as "proof" or "facts" in science. for example if u ask me is the "theory of gravity" a fact (aka has it been proved?) then the answer is no. its true however that the theory of gravity is SUPPORTED by an overwhelming mountain of evidence. its the same with evoultion, yes its a theory like everything else in science, but like the theory of gravity, it is backed by...cont

..an overwhelming ... ( 2 weeks ago by eddieindahouse)

..an overwhelming mountain of evidence. so its as "true" as anything in the scientific world. i assume by hearing ur denial of evolution that u are religious. u need to get over the fact that 95% of the worlds biologists agree that evolution happened and is still happning.

definition of fact: ... ( 2 weeks ago by bohinj53)

definition of fact:"actuality, certainty; truth, verity, gospel. antonym lie, fiction". it is a fact that the water is polluted reality". A fact depends on actuality (like the law of gravity) witnesses of some event or in scientific matters something that has been proven using the scientific method: Hypothesis, experiment, result (repetition of experiment with same results). neither creation nor evolution is a fact. No one witnessed it; it cannot be recreated in a lab. Both a matter of faith

"Both a matter of ... ( 2 weeks ago by eddieindahouse)

"Both a matter of faith " keep kidding urself that. evolution is backed by a mountain of evidence. creationism is backed by nothing. im glad that in the 21st century religion is being shown for what it is, a bronze aged myth written by ignorant goat herders who knew nothing about science and the cosmos. religion is on decline, lets hope it continues. good debating you.

Evolution has ... ( 1 week ago by adolthitler)

Evolution has occurred in the lab of farms all over the world. Farmers have bred cows for meat, and cows for milk. They have bred chickens for eggs and chickens for meat. They have bred wheat from original wild strains that might have 6-8 grains in the head to 24 grains in the head. They have even bred varieties of wheat with different percentages of protein and carbs for different jobs. Such as baking, and brewing. All that breeding on the farms is evolution in action.

"neither creation ... ( 5 days ago by ChemEBeaver)

"neither creation nor evolution is a fact" i dont think you know what fact in the scientific terms means, nor theory. perhaps u should enlighten yourself before making accusations.