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NO HE CANNOT SO HE SHOULD SHUT THE HELL UP |
Academics can sometimes be very stupid. As Sandy Toksvig said, Cambridge is full of people who can split the atom but can't change a light bulb. How true... yet in their field some academics - scientists especially - have a God-like status. I think that's the trouble with Dawkins: for an intelligent man he's a ****ing idiot.
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Science first and foremost, at the very core of everything that makes it science at all, must be evidence-backed. Science doesn't deal in opinions, ever. Theory, yes, but that has to be backed up with observed statistics and facts to be scientific.
The Rooney example, what I'm saying is, just because Rooney is a professional footballer does not mean that just because he's playing a game, the game automatically becomes football. Likewise, just because Dawkins is a professional scientist, does not mean that everything he says must be scientific. This is basic casual opinion. He would abort - fine. He decided to throw in a comment about the "senselessness" and "immorality" of not aborting - why? I suppose only he knows. None of it can even be described in the loosest of terms as "science". In my opinion, he is a very clever man, and as such the comment wasn't made thoughtlessly. It's a clear and deliberate shock tactic to increase his (very profitable) notoriety. I even think I have a good idea why. His academic and scientific works are complex and wonderful. However, he realised at some point that they are ultimately pointless, because people are not on the whole very intelligent, and can't hope to grasp it. People en masse, being idiots, are good for only one thing: exploiting that idiocy for financial and personal gain. Something that he has done expertly for years. The only choice that really makes sense, sadly. |
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do we test the drugs on the animal? do we risk £10 billion studying new treatments? do we spend billions on journeying further into space? do we allow a man to live or die? do we terminate pregnancies? do we have enough public money to afford each sick and disabled child all he/she needs ? to get around to assist their daily living? should we clone? what should we clone? how much often often and why? its an endless journey into the unknown, most of which is based on trial and error and a faith that some progress and breakthroughs will be made. the majority of scientists down the centuries have been religious men too. as are many surgenons and doctors.....go to any hospital in the world, visit the hospital church and watch the surgeons pray between surgeries |
The only thing I've learnt from this is that The Truth's copy and paste function works quite well
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you laugh as millions of babies get burned? you dont even possess a sense of humour |
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You don't even possess common sense or a capital letter. |
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You can't murder what isn't alive in the first place.
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Yes, that's right truth. :thumbs: Obviously I love a bit of mass murder. :idc:
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Saying that it's murder is ridiculous and ignorant. |
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saying that is itsnt is ridiculous and ignorant and immoral. you dont even bother to consider the timescale, shame on you:nono: |
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I'd say there were moral and ethical considerations to gene science you can't place the two on separate sides or that really would be nazi territory. |
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The trouble with dawkins is that too many are conditioned into a certain mindset and a specific list of social mores that compartmentalise things very neatly, not allowing for any self exploration whatsoever to even consider he may have a point. We fear what we don't understand is all and masque our own ignorance with mockery and censorship. |
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If Hitler was alive I'd love to serve him. I pity you for not engaging in such a fun hobby. |
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I also read The Selfish Gene cover to cover when I was 15 and found it utterly fascinating, and agree wholeheartedly with a lot of what he has to say in the media. I just know the difference between Dawkins the academic and Dawkins the attention *****. If he doesn't make statements like this one to deliberately shock and cause controversy, then he is an idiot. And he is not an idiot. Therefore, it is his intention. For recognition, for notoriety, to maintain his status as a "household name". Failing to see what's right in front of your face whilst accusing others of being ignorant, is utterly baffling. |
Of course embryos are not babies, that's a given, surely.
The question is one of eugenics, a tetchy subject at the best of times. You have to balance emotion, economics and evolution and subsequently question a contribution to future society. I have two healthy children. Was I tested for downs and other birth defects? Yes. Would I have aborted if it was shown I was carrying a downs or other severely disabled child? Yes. I realise I am likely to be hated on for this post but if I am I think it will be emotion-based rather than anything. One of the greatest things about humanity is its ability to empathise, sympathise, and protect. In evolutionary terms, this is a weakness. The next evolution will be a human / technological hybrid. There will be little room for emotion. There will be massive wars between the humans and the androids. The ones that will survive will be those that still have some semblance of control over the hybrids. Does this sound like SF? The more we develop AI, the more it will become reality. Birth defects will become a thing of the past, and inhumanity (not meaning evilness) will prevail. It's up to us to keep a lid on that if we can. |
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Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins · 12h
I apologise for impugning the morality of the approximately ten percent of women who deliberately choose NOT to abort a Down's fetus. Well there we have an apology, let's hope that keeps the twitterati happy... |
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