1. Dawkins warns of human extinction

Comment #155248 by Richard Feldmann on April 4, 2008 at 9:15 am

Artful_Dodger (Comment #155138):

I've never seen such bowing and scraping as before the name of Richard Dawkins on this site.

You mean the thousands of years of groveling and sacrificing before the altars of gods, both dark and light, didn't actually happen? And idol worship didn't start until Dawkins wrote TGD?

I do agree, though, that some people need to lose the "fan boy" mindset, but that applies as equally to religious icons as it does to secular icons. After all, it's the Jesus (and Muhammad, etc) fan boys (and girls!) who are doing all the whining.

As for me, I'm glad that people such as the Four Horsemen are doing what they're doing while people such as yourself continue to push drug-induced hallucinations as fact.

2. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #149903 by Richard Feldmann on March 26, 2008 at 10:24 am

I'll add my voice to the chorus:

Happy Birthday, Richard!

3. Sue Blackmore debates Alister McGrath

Comment #149317 by Richard Feldmann on March 25, 2008 at 1:00 pm

SilentMike: I have to say something about Dr. Blackmore. A lot of people here have expressed their positive impression of her. I've just finished listening to her opening statement and she's quite annoying. I mean a lot of what she says is interesting and/or true, but she says it all like she's very very excited and pumped up with caffeine or something. I have to say that I find this very irritating and personally I am not impressed with her style thus far. It's not just that she sounds silly. I don't like the feeling I get that she's trying to pull one over me with this perpetually excited tone. Whenever someone talks to me (or at me) like that I begin to suspect foul play. From he opening statement it seems that the woman lacks nuance.

I disagree. I believe she was very excited to do the debate and had a lot to say in a finite amount of time. Her excitement was contagious.

I cannot say the same of Professor McGrath. As soon as he began speaking I just couldn't stand it; he's just not very interesting (the first time I heard him he was, but now I can barely listen to him). I actually stopped the audio and jumped forward to Sue's continuation, which I actually feel a little guilty about; I need to listen to the "arguments" put forth by McGrath but I just find it painful to listen to him.

4. Religion 'linked to happy life'

Comment #145987 by Richard Feldmann on March 18, 2008 at 12:58 pm

I, personally, feel more content now that I've freed myself from the guilt-crafted shackles of belief in the supernatural. I was constantly emotionally charged believing that I was doing something wrong, aka sinful.

I am much more at peace now as a atheist/secularist/humanist. I suppose you could say that I'm happier now.

5. The Atheist Apocalypse

Comment #145977 by Richard Feldmann on March 18, 2008 at 12:38 pm

Thumbs up, indeed.

6. Immune system differences found

Comment #145150 by Richard Feldmann on March 17, 2008 at 10:09 am

The Chicago University team looked at over 9,000 genes in 180 people, half Caucasian and half from Nigeria.

*start sarcasm*

I didn't know there was a country called Caucasia.

*end sarcasm*

Sometimes I hate political correctness.

7. I don't believe in atheists

Comment #143690 by Richard Feldmann on March 14, 2008 at 9:58 am

In case no one else posted it, here's the link to the debate between Harris and Hedges:

http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/20070617_religion_politics_and_the_end_of_the_world/

8. In Defence of Selfish Genes

Comment #140358 by Richard Feldmann on March 7, 2008 at 7:41 am

Richard,
I know little about selfish gene theory; however, as a professional in the Advertising business, I know you should never misspell the title of your book.

Each time is a marketing opportunity.

Sam

You're joking, right? What exactly did he misspell?

9. Contribute to science directly by volunteering some of your computer's processing power!

Comment #139717 by Richard Feldmann on March 6, 2008 at 12:30 pm

I also contribute CPU time to Folding@Home. If there's a good team that anyone here is involved in, let me know. I'd be glad to join up.

I'll definitely check out BOINC, as well, but I'm afraid my little GNU/Linux server can't stand much more. :)

10. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #134261 by Richard Feldmann on February 27, 2008 at 1:45 pm

Well done, Richard.

Is it just me that gets riled every time I hear someone mispronounce Richard's last name as Darkins? I must be sensitive to that sort of thing because people do it my last name all the time. I know, wash or warsh, potahto or potayto, etc. :)

I do think that most people who call in to such shows have simply never read any of Richard's books and have never had a discussion with an intelligent atheist (angst-ridden teens just don't represent it very well). The only arguments they know are what they've heard from the pulpit or from Sunday brunches after service.

So, was the interviewer supposed to be an atheist? I loved how when Richard said "of course you and I are too [reasonable/intelligent] to believe in such things" and she stammered. Perhaps she's on the fence and just got tipped in the right direction? ;)

11. DLD08 - Life: a gene-centric view

Comment #130349 by Richard Feldmann on February 20, 2008 at 11:43 am

I watched it via the original link with very few problems. Of course, my work has a lot of bandwidth, so that certainly helped.

There are some very interesting points, especially in the last ten minutes or so. The concept of viruses and bacteria gathering and depositing genetic material across a broad array of species is fascinating. I also like Venter's comment about life being a universal concept, due to the transmission of genetic material between planets and within our own galaxy.

My only gripes about the video are that the coordinators seem very, well, uncoordinated and the format seemed rather unwieldy. Plus, there certainly were some dull people in the audience. The sound team needs to get their thing together. :)

Other than that, I thought it was great.