Richard Dawkins - most stupid smart person in the world?

The King of Moo

What do you think of Richard Dawkins?

I've just read that on Twitter he's complained about Ahmed Mohamed (the young man who was arrested for assembling a clock and bringing it to class) because his claims that he built a clock are "fraud" because he only assembled it, not building it from scratch (he's 14).
He then went on to suggest that Ahmed knew what he was doing and knew he'd be arrested so he could get national attention so he could go to the White House.

More details here:

http://gawker.com/priorities-confused-1731919698

https://twitter.com/richarddawkins/status/645555802636464129

Now Dawkins is a very smart man when it comes to evolutionary biology, but he seems to be really clueless about basic human behaviour and psychology.
Why on Earth he would feel the need to point that Ahmed didn't actually build a complete clock from scratch is beyond me, as is his bizarre notion that it's all a publicity stunt.
I sense this whenever I hear him talk about religion. He makes a lot of good points about its influence on the world, but he seems to have no understanding why people would be religious, or how to convince the religious about of what he believes.

Are you a fan?

Brian from Bray

Dawkins is like most atheists, arrogant and always craving attention.

iDave

Brian from Bray wrote: »

Dawkins is like most atheists, arrogant and a bit thick.

That there is discrimination

The King of Moo

Brian from Bray wrote: »

Dawkins is like most atheists, arrogant and always wanting attention.

I don't think that's fair.

There are plenty of grating, patronising high-profile atheists like Dawkins or Ricky Gervais, but there are equally many more who get on with their lives and tolerate people who believe differently from them.

pablomakaveli

Dawkins is an arrogant twat. Does more harm to the atheist movement than good.

A Primal Nut

When Dawkins first started criticizing Christianity liberals loved him. He even wrote columns for the Guardian.

Then all of a sudden he started criticizing Islam and so liberals turned on him.

I'd describe him as a stupid, smart, but most of all, smug person.

He has an air of superciliousness that makes me want to disassociate myself from him, since he appears to have been appointed some sort of spokesperson for all atheists.

I'm an atheist, but I'd hate to come across the way he does.

J. Marston

Criticising Dawkins in After Hours? You're going to be torn to pieces, OP.

I'll pray for you.

dirtyden

Dawkins always comes across as the type of guy who takes great pleasure in the smell of his own farts.

His comments here accusing the young Texan of a publicity stunt smack of hypocrisy, as he is blatantly doing what he is accusing the kid of.

Pink Lemons

I used to be an atheist but then Richard Dawkins & Ricky Gervais converted me.

RWCNT

I play a guessing game with my mate sometimes where we guess if quotes are from Katie Hopkins or Richard Dawkins. This one will be good for it.

Cienciano

Notice the words "I don't know. Possibly..."

Brian from Bray

The King of Moo wrote: »

I don't think that's fair.

There are plenty of grating, patronising high-profile atheists like Dawkins or Ricky Gervais, but there are equally many more who get on with their lives and tolerate people who believe differently from them.

I'm sure there is but the majority of atheists I have come across seem to have a huge chip on their shoulder and tend to get angry very swiftly if you don't agree with them.

iDave

iDave wrote: »

That there is discrimination

Not discrimination, just ignorance.

The Randy Riverbeast

He should probably learn to tone it down a bit, his comments like that make it difficult for atheists as people come out with bigoted crap like this:

Brian from Bray wrote: »

Dawkins is like most atheists, arrogant and always craving attention.

SpaceSasqwatch

Brian from Bray wrote: »

but the majority of atheists I have come across seem to have a huge chip on their shoulder and tend to get angry very swiftly if you don't agree with them.

Maybe stop god bothering them???

mickstupp

I think he's a fool, deliberately provocative, prone to using fallacious 'arguments' to persuade his followers. I would have thought, being a scientist, he would know better.

I think he makes atheists look bad.

GerB40

Brian from Bray wrote: »

Dawkins is like most atheists, arrogant and always craving attention.

I'm an atheist and I hate Dawkins because of the reasons you put forward. He is arrogant and just one look at his twitter proves he loves attention. But to say all atheists are like him isn't only unfair, it's not true. I don't go around waving my atheist flag and thinking I'm always right. I live a good life, I love my friends and family and I go about my days just like the majority of people in Ireland, the only difference is that I don't believe in god. Some atheists are assholes, some are decent people. Some theists are assholes, some are decent people. The one thing both have in common is that we're all just people.

I will admit that seeing tweets from atheists after a tragedy saying things like "Where's your almighty now?" really pisses me off. They're assholes. But usually those tweets are flooded with responses from decent atheists saying things like "Show some fúcking compassion" or "this isn't point scoring between us and them, this is a human tragedy".

If you're angry towards atheists then that's okay, but we're not all the same. The vast majority of people I know and love are catholic and I've never gotten angry at any of them because of that. It's just dangerous to make generalisations..

Clankatron

Brian from Bray wrote: »

Dawkins is like most atheists, arrogant and always craving attention.

Utter bollox.

The Backwards Man

Brian from Bray wrote: »

I'm sure there is but the majority of atheists I have come across seem to have a huge chip on their shoulder and seem to get angry very swiftly if you don't agree with them.

Maybe you should keep it in your pants then so.:p

An old schoolteacher of mine used to always rant after a few brandy and ports about how he would organise a one way bus trip to the moon filled with all the bores and nudniks that had irked him that day. He always said I could drive it.

Pretty sure Dawkins would be on it.

Brian from Bray

GerB40 wrote: »

I'm an atheist and I hate Dawkins because of the reasons you put forward. He is arrogant and just one look at his twitter proves he loves attention. But to say all atheists are like him isn't only unfair, it's not true. I don't go around waving my atheist flag and thinking I'm always right. I live a good life, I love my friends and family and I go about my days just like the majority of people in Ireland, the only difference is that I don't believe in god. Some atheists are assholes, some are decent people. Some theists are assholes, some are decent people. The one thing both have in common is that we're all just people.

I will admit that seeing tweets from atheists after a tragedy saying things like "Where's your almighty now?" really pisses me off. They're assholes. But usually those tweets are flooded with responses from decent atheists saying things like "Show some fúcking compassion" or "this isn't point scoring between us and them, this is a human tragedy".

If you're angry towards atheists then that's okay, but we're not all the same. The vast majority of people I know and love are catholic and I've never gotten angry at any of them because of that. It's just dangerous to make generalisations..

I'm agnostic myself so I would have no anger toward atheists or people of faith. But hardcore athiests are proper pain in hole though and same goes for religious whackjobs.

54and56

The King of Moo wrote: »

I don't think that's fair.

There are plenty of grating, patronising high-profile atheists like Dawkins or Ricky Gervais, but there are equally many more who get on with their lives and tolerate people who believe differently from them.

That's a bit of an oxymoron. Dawkins and Gervais cant possibly tolerate people who "believe differently to them" because by definition Dawkins and Gervais don't "believe" anything and thank god for that :-)

The King of Moo

Brian from Bray wrote: »

I'm sure there is but the majority of atheists I have come across seem to have a huge chip on their shoulder and tend to get angry very swiftly if you don't agree with them.

Well I'm an atheist and I'm lovely.

GerB40

pablomakaveli wrote: »

Dawkins is an arrogant twat. Does more harm to the atheist movement than good.

Exactly. It's a shame he became a figurehead for atheism when there's people like Neil DeGrasse Tyson or Sam Harris out there who don't provoke or feed off controversy. Rather they discuss, debate and most importantly, they listen... Saying that, Dawkins has written some very good books. Perhaps he should've stayed at that.

DivingDuck

Brian from Bray wrote: »

I'm sure there is but the majority of atheists I have come across seem to have a huge chip on their shoulder and tend to get angry very swiftly if you don't agree with them.

You've probably met tons of respectful atheists and just didn't realise they were one, since they never brought it up.

Atheists/agnostics are unfortunately subject to the same prejudice as vegans/vegetarians, where the insufferable loudmouths are so vocal and visible that they leave everyone who isn't one with the impression that the entire group are chip-shouldered planks.

The King of Moo

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

That's a bit of an oxymoron. Dawkins and Gervais cant possibly tolerate people who "believe differently to them" because by definition Dawkins and Gervais don't "believe" anything and thank god for that :-)

Well, maybe they don't blindly believe anything, but they do believe things. And if you want to get into semantics you can say that they believe that this universe does not have a creator.

Gervais also definitely believes that he's funny and has important things to say about society.

GerB40

Brian from Bray wrote: »

I'm agnostic myself so I would have no anger toward atheists or people of faith. But hardcore athiests are proper pain in hole though and same goes for religious whackjobs.

The extremes of any belief are fools. They have their minds made up and nothing will change that making an intellectual discussion impossible...

Dick phelan

Richard Dawkins makes me want there to be a god, just to see the look on the smug fcukers face.

Links234

A Primal Nut wrote: »

Then all of a sudden he started criticizing Islam and so liberals turned on him.

He's suggesting that the kid wanted to be arrested, that the police were duped by him, and it was his plan all along to be invited to the white house. That's not "criticizing Islam" it's an unbelievably ridiculous idea, and sadly not out of character for Dawkins as of late.

Not to mention, if he's right and this was what Ahmed Mohamed had planned all along, he must be Lex Luthor levels of magnificent genius, the kind of calculating 50 steps ahead of the enemy at all time level of superhuman intelligence you wouldn't see outside of comic books and anime. If Dawkins is right, then the kid deserves an even bigger pat on the back, because that eclypses building a clock, maybe Ahmed Mohamed is actually just a cover identity for Lelouch Vi Brittania!

There's criticizing Islam, then there's opening your gob and shoving both feet in, guess what Dawkins has been doing?

A Primal Nut

In this he's wrong I'll admit.

Brian from Bray

Besea wrote: »

What makes him arrogant?

Just a smugness about him that I don't like.

Clankatron

Brian from Bray wrote: »

I'm agnostic myself so I would have no anger toward atheists or people of faith. But hardcore athiests are proper pain in hole though and same goes for religious whackjobs.

So what you're basically saying is that some people are gob****es, regardless of their beliefs? Fancy that.

DivingDuck

Links234 wrote: »

Not to mention, if he's right and this was what Ahmed Mohamed had planned all along, he must be Lex Luthor levels of magnificent genius, the kind of calculating 50 steps ahead of the enemy at all time level of superhuman intelligence you wouldn't see outside of comic books and anime.

These days? Really?

The world is full of celebrities and politicians who employ entire teams to comb social media sites looking for examples of people getting shafted which they can then use as positive PR opportunities.

It wouldn't take much genius to capitalize on that-- it just takes luck, clever posting, and balls like spacehoppers.

(I highly doubt this kid had any intentions of this, by the way; I'm only saying that stories like this travel super fast online at the moment, and there are tons of people looking to improve their profile by using them.)

Brian from Bray

Clankatron wrote: »

So what you're basically saying is that some people are gob****es, regardless of their beliefs? Fancy that.

Only the militant ones.

riffmongous

DivingDuck wrote: »

These days? Really?

The world is full of celebrities and politicians who employ entire teams to comb social media sites looking for examples of people getting shafted which they can then use as positive PR opportunities.

It wouldn't take much genius to capitalize on that-- it just takes luck, clever posting, and balls like spacehoppers.

(I highly doubt this kid had any intentions of this, by the way; I'm only saying that stories like this travel super fast online at the moment, and there are tons of people looking to improve their profile by using them.)

Well he would have had to have planned the entire plot starting with assembling the damn clock and then the school, extreme police reaction etc before it would get to social media

DivingDuck

riffmongous wrote: »

Well he would have had to have planned the entire plot starting with assembling the damn clock and then the school, extreme police reaction etc before it would get to social media

I think you can pretty much assume an "extreme police reaction" for most things in the US these days...

meeeeh

Some people shouldn't have twitter account for their own good.

DivingDuck

DivingDuck wrote: »

I think you can pretty much assume an "extreme police reaction" for most things in the US these days...

Most police reaction in the US is like any other, measured and restrained. It's only because the extreme ones make the headlines that it seems to be the norm. It's not, in a country with hundreds of millions of people, the kind of thing that makes the news in Ireland is very rare indeed.

padd b1975

Compared to that whisky soaked oaf Hitchens, Dawkins is very much second division on all aspects of being an insufferable pain in the hole.

deaddonkey15

Brian from Bray wrote: »

Dawkins is like most atheists, arrogant and always craving attention.

Obviously fishing for replies and attempting to go off topic with this remark. Craving attention yourself by the looks of it.

DivingDuck

Candie wrote: »

Most police reaction in the US is like any other, measured and restrained. It's only because the extreme ones make the headlines that it seems to be the norm. It's not, in a country with hundreds of millions of people, the kind of thing that makes the news in Ireland is very rare indeed.

I was being a bit facetious with that last comment (and am generally very supportive of police forces in general), but there have been quite a few examples of intense police responses in the US over the last year or two.

On the whole, though-- you're right, of course.

branie2

He comes across as aloof sometimes

Boring username

Whenever I hear of Richard Dawkins, I'm reminded of the old joke:




How do you know when an athiest walks into a room?
Because they'll tell you.

nullzero

I respect him up to a point ; the point where he imposes his atheistic dogma on all and sundry.

Custardpi

nullzero wrote: »

I respect him up to a point ; the point where he imposes his atheistic dogma on all and sundry.

When exactly has he "imposed" his ideas on anyone? He has published various books, given lectures, participated in various documentaries & (shock horror) sent some tweets. None of which you are obliged to read or watch. You are also free to disagree with them without the threat of a fatwa or papal bull hanging over you as a result.

e_e

I was interested in what he had to say for a while but went off him soon after he went on that self-righteous tirade about having a jar of honey confiscated on a flight. His Twitter is a classic case of grumpy old man syndrome.

Also what is it with prominent atheists often saying really nasty crap about rape?

imme

The world has truly gone mad.
A kid in America gets arrested, makes world headlines.
A professor comments on the kid, makes After Hours thread.

Yes, the world has truly gone mad.
Get on with your short life and don't be concerned with useless crap.

54and56

Let me fix a couple of things for you there.

The King of Moo wrote: »

Well, maybe they don't blindly believe anything, but they do believe things. And if you want to get into semantics you can say that they believe that this universe does not have a creator.

They don't actually "believe" the universe doesn't have a creator. Their position is that they haven't seen any evidence that there is a creator. Quite different things.

The King of Moo wrote: »

Gervais also definitely believes that he's funny and has important things to say about society.

Gervais doesn't have to believe he's funny, the awards he's received and his bank balance are evidence of same.

54and56

nullzero wrote: »

I respect him up to a point ; the point where he imposes his atheistic dogma on all and sundry.

By that standard I'm guessing you respect all clergy of whatever religious persuasion up to the same point?

Diabhal Beag

Don't know a single atheist who doesn't cringe at the "spaghetti monster" stuff he comes out with. Every belief system has their gob****es though.

timthumbni

As an atheist myself I'm somewhat conflicted by Richard. He has obviously made his living through his beliefs. I rarely bring my beliefs out unless someone tries to talk religious nonsense.

I feel he is almost trying too hard nowadays.