Dan Dennett: A secular, scientific rebuttal to Rick Warren
Posted by admin in Finance Friday, 21 May 2010 21:01 25 Comments
www.ted.com Philosopher Dan Dennett calls for religion — all religion — to be taught in schools, so we can understand its nature as a natural phenomenon. Then he takes on The Purpose-Driven Life, disputing its claim that, to be moral, one must deny evolution.TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers are invited to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes — including speakers such as Jill Bolte Taylor, Sir Ken Robinson, Hans Rosling, Al Gore and Arthur Benjamin. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, politics and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at http
@darkmiles22 Your response demonstrate supreme ignorance of the known historical facts and learned opinion. History, like science, is not based on proven absolutes but rather, it is based on “weight of evidence”. I have studied a great many Jewish, secular and Christian historians and none of them have concluded that Moses didn’t exist. Rather, such fairy tales are reserved for the historically naive like Christopher HItchens, who frequently invents history out of thin air.
@darkmiles22 And, any desert archeologist will confirm that entire civilizations have been known to be swallowed up by shifting desert sands without leaving a trace for thousands of years, let alone a group of wandering nomads who didn’t live in an established major city. A city mentioned in the story of Abraham for example, once thought mythical, was discovered recently in the middle of the desert, where it had been unnoticed for thousands of years.
@darkmiles22 This is absolutely false. According to the Britannica, which is peer-reviewed by the global scholars, the majority of historians believe either Moses or a leader like Moses existed. There is significant evidence from three cultures including Egyptian locating a warrior like people matching the Hebrews description and no other known culture, living in Egypt at the time of the Exodus.
@richardaberdeen The Egyptians certainly would have recorded their enslavement of the Hebrews though. Israeli archaeologists have officially, according to the state of Israel, disproved the canonical story of exodus from Egypt. No remains of a 40 year journey through the Sinai Desert or an escape from Egypt. Some theorists speculate there was an escape from Canaanite control, goading the Jews to genocide as later revenge. Others say the Sinai story is a reference to a volcano.
@skabudaw1 Yeah, we can really count on those Egyptians, who are well known to have left out entire battles they lost. They most certainly would have included in their records such a ignoble defeat by runaway slaves. And, Egyptian records do note the existence of the “Hibrus” living in Goshen (formerly part of Egypt), as do both Median and Hebrew sources. Thus, there is a minimum of three confirming sources.
@darkmiles22 Anyone who pretends that Catholocism either proves or disproves the existence of God belongs in a mental hospital. Human religions, as Jefferson, Paine and a host of others have pointed out, have no relation to the existence of God. Dennett represents one of the most ill-informed atheists I’ve ever heard open their superstitious and totally contradictory mouths. Catholicism doesn’t even belong in a legitimte discussion on God.
@richardaberdeen
moses didn’t exist
the Egyptians would have told us, if there was and exodus or a moses
@ericita1 Yeah, that really qualifies as “evidence” of why Dennett’s absurd position of magically appearing universes is correct. If Dennett was legitimate at all, he would never mention Catholicism, as anyone who has taken bonehead philosophy 1-A would know that Catholicism neither proves nor disproves the existence of God, thus it doesn’t even belong in a discussion on atheism.
@richardaberdeen Wow, you really don’t understand what you’re arguing against. Way to make yourself look like a dumbass.
google Doe’s Account
@richardaberdeen And, I have studied several Jewish and many other legitimate historians and NONE of them claim that Moses probably didn’t exist. Legitimate historians believe there was an Exodus by Hebrews out of Egypt and that they most likely had a leader like Moses, which is what any rational human beings would conclude who has studied Fertile Crescent history to in any depth.
@EphraimTRR And, to give you an example of how bad of a lie that is that Hitchens told, according to the Britannica, which is contributed to by several Jewish historians, the majority of historians believe that either Moses or a leader like Moses probably did exist, the exact opposite of what Hitchens claims “all Jewish historians” believe.
@EphraimTRR No wonder you are wasting your time on Daniel Dennett page. For those who like “specious bullshit”, he’s difficult to beat. You might check out Christopher Hitchens, who seems to be the biggest bullshitter out there. He often invents history out of thin air and then pretends that historians agree with him. I’ve heard him state that “all Jewish historians” now believe Moses probably didn’t exist”, which is a total lie.
@richardaberdeen Thanks. I enjoy reading specious bullshit and you really helped me out!
I also agree with the proposal, but I have to disagree with the last comment. I was required to take world religions in Catholic high school. That writer was clearly misinformed about something. Or a religious bigot. Understanding other religions was immensely helpful in understanding and forming my own convictions. I don’t see how it could possibly be harmful.
Gee, Leroy, there’s a house, I suppose someone made it. Gee, Elbert, there’s Stonehenge, I suppose somone made it. Gee, Amos, there’s a universe, I suppose someone made it. Oh, shut up, said Richard Dawkins. I can’t actually disprove someone made them, but I’m 6 of 7 certain. After all, you didn’t see anybody make them, so obviously they just spontaneously appeared on their own. Who the hell needs to go by evidence to follow the great Boogieman god of Dawkins?
Regarding Dennett’s proposal…is this not already in place? Throughout my public schooling I learned about all the major world religions…
I completely agree. If people are better informed on the principles and histories of various religions they will grow up with better critical thinking skills, more empathy for people who are different, and a wider base of knowledge to draw from philosophically. Perhaps if everyone were taught about religions objectively and comparatively, then when I try to talk about primate culture and interesting fossils the conversations won’t be hijacked into theology. Talking about evolution isn’t a debate
I’m surprised. Dennet calls for teachings on religions, and says they should be presented factually, but, religion only exists when people ‘believe’, so the kids will assume a religion! No!!!!!
I think that is an excellent idea.
We actually had that in our school, but I was agnostic long before that so I can’t speak to the efficacy of the approach.
@aziansn4k3 lmao, he mentions that in one of his lectures xD He said he was balding so he decided to grow a beard for the lols xD
Completely Agreed. Awesome.
omg its darwin :O
@thesparitan LMAO!
@MrThunderbeast LOL AWESOME.
Yeah I didn’t realize his head that thick.