Richard Dawkins on the Late Late

5uspect

Tubridy interviewed Dawkins a couple of years ago on his Radio One show with David Quinn.
Audio here:
http://richarddawkins.net/article,193,Ryan-Tubridy-interviews-Richard-Dawkins,RTE-Radio-1-Richard-Dawkins

Galvasean

Was talking to my (lapsed Catholic) Mam today. She said Dawkins was very good on the Late Late. What I find interesting is that she said she had heard about him before and thought he would be all grumpy and in your face, but she actually liked him and found his points interesting.

And THAT my friends, is why Dawkins bothers.

The Mad Hatter

DanCorb wrote: »

As someone above me said, you must be pretty naive to think he was not referring to Christianity throughout this interview.

Just to clarify, I don't think Jakkass is generally naïve, but I think he's acting it in this case.

philologos

I guess it's more a faux pas in our cultures which have been influenced by Abrahamic religions to ask "Do you believe in God?". However this question can be answered by people of other faiths quite easily too. I.E it's probably not intentional.

Galvasean

Jakkass wrote: »

I guess it's more a faux pas in our cultures which have been influenced by Abrahamic religions to ask "Do you believe in God?". However this question can be answered by people of other faiths quite easily too. I.E it's probably not intentional.

I'd say other religions werent on Tubridy's mind when he asked the question. The Late Late live audience is notoriously God fearing Catholic and he knows that.

Zillah

Silverhog7 wrote: »

Could someone who has observed non living matter generate a living being please post their experience and that will put an end to the concept of there been a God. After all Dawkins says the onus is on Christians to prove there is a God, so the same onus is on an atheist to gave examples in observing nature were life just starts out of nothing. One example will do fine thanks.

Silverhog7 wrote: »

I actually totally agree with you, but some of the posts on this are just to confident without hard evidence and I thought I'd balance the books.

Oh dear. Let's clear up a few things first:

- Evolution describes the process of variation and natural selection we see in lifeforms. Abiogenesis is the idea of life appearing from 'non-living' matter. These are two entirely unrelated concepts. Just look at the Catholic Church, they accept that life evolves but that God started the whole thing.

- Proving that abiogenesis is possible does not rule out God, nothing can rule out God, that's what makes it such a useless hypothesis.

- An atheist doesn't need to prove anything about the origins of life to reject a baseless claim such as "God did it", any more than you are required to prove it wasn't a magical pixey. You are an apixieist, right?

So you're not even talking about evolution, you're talking about abiogenesis. One problem with life starting again somewhere is that it is both extremely unlikely (and therefore needs a huge amount of time to occur) and it is very fragile. Any basic molecular replicators that appeared now would almost certainly just be eaten by the rich diversity of micro-organisms already existent.

So the best way for us to work out how life began is to look for evidence of the means by which it could have occurred. Such as the creation of amino acids through natural processes in the primordial soup. They did this, look up the Miller-Urey experiment where they recreated a hypothesized primordial soup in which 22 amino acids arose spontaneously via electrical activity. Bi-lipid layers, which can create a basic cell membrane, can easily form spontaneously.

It is by no means an easy question, and there is a ton of work to be done on it before we have a consistent theory on the specifics, but progress is being made.

As for evolution, there are tons and tons of hard evidence. A thoroughly, undeniably solid body of evidence. They have literally watched evolution occur in the lab. There is no question.

philologos

Galvasean wrote: »

I'd say other religions werent on Tubridy's mind when he asked the question. The Late Late live audience is notoriously God fearing Catholic and he knows that.

I'm merely saying if I were in Tubridy's position, I probably would have made the same mistake.

Zombrex

Silverhog7 wrote: »

Could someone who has observed non living matter generate a living being please post their experience and that will put an end to the concept of there been a God.

That has been observed.

Strangely it didn't cause all religious people to stop believing in God :P

dylanrose

I am a strong atheist and often feel stifled in a society where not believing in god shows you as weird. I was asked not to tell my bf parents that I dont believe at the risk of insulting them. They were quite offended that Dawkins was on the Late Late but I was glad this staple show showed another view of life outside catholic ireland

davef1000

So no-one else objects to the Atheism=Nihilism thing, then?

Ok so, don't mind me then - I'll be over here in the corner, incandescent with rage. Talk quietly amongst yourselves.

DoireNod

davef1000 wrote: »

So no-one else objects to the Atheism=Nihilism thing, then?

Ok so, don't mind me then - I'll be over here in the corner, incandescent with rage. Talk quietly amongst yourselves.

:pac:

Fight your own battle!

Dave!

davef1000 wrote: »

So no-one else objects to the Atheism=Nihilism thing, then?

Ok so, don't mind me then - I'll be over here in the corner, incandescent with rage. Talk quietly amongst yourselves.

Ahh Dave it's become apparent that Kernel was a troll in sheep's clothing all along ! Best not to worry about her/his silly points

davef1000

Dave! wrote: »

Best not to worry about her/his silly points

But, but, but... I'm *incandescent*! That's even worse than apoplectic...

Dave!

Best steer clear of flammable materials in that case !

Kernel

pH wrote: »

Before Kernel gets a chance to be all superior, I think I should remind you that Dawkin's first name is Richard, commonly shortened by to "Dick", so apart from a minor capitalisation issue, there's nothing much wrong with the statement "Dawkins is a dick, literally".

Good man pH, looks like a lot of others (including a mod) didn't understand the pun.

Zillah wrote:

I remember the days when you weren't an absolutely terrible poster.

Pity.

I remember when you didn't have to resort to personal insults rather than engage in rational debate. Pithy.

Zillah

Kernel wrote: »

I remember when you didn't have to resort to personal insults rather than engage in rational debate. Pithy.

Ideally I'll do both wherever possible, though I usually have to obscure it a little.

Muppet Man

Really dissappointed with Tubs. Poor interview.

Felt Sorry for Dawkins who must have been a bit pissed at the lack of focus on his new book.

Thought I'd never say this, but I think the Priest in the audience was the winner on the night. Honest, non-dissmissive of Dawkins, not ramming his view down anyones throat and trying to reconcile sceince with religion.

Absolutely shocked at the audience show of hands. My feeling is that atheists/agnostics in Ireland are somewhat embarrassed / shy / repressed by their stance on the matter (especially on Live TV). I'm wondering if it was a secret / private vote, what would the result have been.

Cheers,
Muppet Man.

devilsad

For all those annoyed by the pathetic interview that Tubridy gave, make you feelings known. I have. Complain, he deserves not to get away with treating a guest so badly, it was shocking.

The Late Late show can be contacted here:

latelate@rte.ie

Better yet, the RTE complaints deparment can be contacted here:

complaints@rte.ie

The child himself can be contacted here:

tts@rte.ie

Do it. Make your voice heard. Nothing well ever change unless we tell the muppets that they're muppets! Do it now and bombard them with complaints.

Turtwig

devilsad wrote: »

For all those annoyed by the pathetic interview that Tubridy gave, make you feelings known. I have. Complain, he deserves not to get away with treating a guest so badly, it was shocking.

The Late Late show can be contacted here:

latelate@rte.ie

Better yet, the RTE complaints deparment can be contacted here:

complaints@rte.ie

The child himself can be contacted here:

tts@rte.ie

Do it. Make your voice heard. Nothing well ever change unless we tell the muppets that they're muppets! Do it now and bombard them with complaints.

Actually,

I'm not sure I'd bother complaining. Dawkins put a very good smiley happy face on atheism and Turbridy just looked flustered. It would have been nice to see them speak about evolution, but Dawkins appearance got a few talking and that can only be a good thing...
Turbridy, was woeful and because of that he did atheism a favour, me thinks

liamw

Malty_T wrote: »

Actually,

I'm not sure I'd bother complaining. Dawkins put a very good smiley happy face on atheism and Turbridy just looked flustered. It would have been nice to see them speak about evolution, but Dawkins appearance got a few talking and that can only be a good thing...
Turbridy, was woeful and because of that he did atheism a favour, me thinks

He still didn't do his job well. He should have at least done some research on the new book and created some intellectually stimulating conversation, when given an opportunity with a man like Dawkins. He was just... pathetic, like a child who just met his first atheist, and he treated Dawkins like some sort of idiot. What really did my head in is when Dawkins wanted to talk about his new book and Tubridy was like 'we'd rather talk about something interesting'. Wow, what an insult. More interesting than evolution?? No, he wanted to talk about something controversial.

super_furry

I still don't get all the complaints about the meat of the interview. Surely Richard Dawkins is best known among the average public for his God Delusion book and atheist views? I personally first learnt of him from South Park. As an atheist spokesman, self-elected or otherwise, then most people who are only familiar with him and his work in passing would be most interested in hearing him speak about what he's most famous for on a topical chat show?

It's kind of like going to a festival and seeing a band you don't know play their biggest and best songs rather than their latest material. Sure they might want to plug their new album but the people only want to hear the hits.

As a layman as it were, I don't really want to hear him speak about his new book, I wanted to hear his view on religion and atheism.

ClutchIt

stevejazzx wrote: »

Such a shame to be Irish in this time.

Jesus, that's embarrasing that you said that. No loyalty. What the f**k, you're embarrased to be Irish because a lot of people in an audience dissagreed with a self-righteous snob like RD?

You are a very closed minded person, and it's a shame a person like you is irish.

Sam Vimes

ClutchIt wrote: »

Jesus, that's embarrasing that you said that. No loyalty. What the f**k, you're embarrased to be Irish because a lot of people in an audience dissagreed with a self-righteous snob like RD?

You are a very closed minded person, and it's a shame a person like you is irish.

Who is more closed-minded, the person who says that he has no idea how life came into being and is searching for the answer, or the person who says that he know exactly how it came into being because his old book tells him that his God did it and that all other theories are wrong, including all the other books that say their gods did it?

robindch

ClutchIt wrote: »

You are a very closed minded person

Next insult and you're out of here.

20goto10

Roro4Brit wrote: »

I actually logged on to start a post about this and I saw on the home page one had just started.

I have always considered Ryan a retard and tonight has confirmed it. I was about to go to bed when I heard him introduce Dawkins so of course I watched it in anticipation of a good theological or scientfic debate with some interesting and hopefully eye opening discussions. Instead Ryan proved to be an embarrassment to the country yet again.

Firstly, he did nothing but talk about the topic of The God Delusion and not his new book.

Secondly, he had done zero research, had clearly never read a word written by the man and as far as I could tell, all he knew was that 'some english bloke who didn't believe in God' was coming on the show.

His questions were inept and lacking any substance. His posture was defensive and dismissive. He had a constant smirk on his face and not once did he attempt to actually dig deep into any of the questions instead asking retarded questions like 'have you thought about your funeral' and asking him to speculate what humans will look like millions of years from now. His linguistic repertoire was laughable forcing phrases into the chaps mouth like 'easter bunny' later using the term to mock the mans arguement.

Then to top it off, he decided to ask for a show of hands of those who believe in God as if his pathetic audience of 100 people were some sort of credible source on theological matters....oh look 95% of Irish retards say they believe in God ergo God exists.

All in all it was a disgrace of an interview that has forever cemented Ryan as one of the most hateable people on the planet in my mind.

I'd be tempted to write a letter or ring RTE however I've a sneaking suspicion it would fall on deaf ears....

RYAN YOU ARE A ****

Nicely said Roro4Brit! Tubridy needs to stick with what he's good at, interviewing Z list celebrities. I wish Dawkins could come here and have a serious interview. I'd love to know his opinion on the intertwining of church and state, in particular how I must baptise my child to get him into the school across the road.

Cactus Col

Thought Turbidy did a decent enough job. It was a bit awkward, and more attention should have been paid to Dawkin's new book, but I think it was necessary to explore Dawkin's beliefs (or lack of them) for people watching who weren't familiar with him.

Thought Dawkins was a slightly stand offish once the topic moved on from his book, and that's what kickstarted the awkwardness of the rest of the segment. Maybe he didn't want to put any believers off buying his book.

Antbert

ClutchIt wrote: »

Jesus, that's embarrasing that you said that. No loyalty. What the f**k, you're embarrased to be Irish because a lot of people in an audience dissagreed with a self-righteous snob like RD?

You are a very closed minded person, and it's a shame a person like you is irish.

Loyalty to what exactly? Disgraceful show of hands in the audience or not, I don't have any blind patriotism thank you very much.

I was embarrassed because RD may now think that the audience represents an accurate cross section of the Irish demographic. In other words, he'll think we're all like you.

Tim Robbins

devilsad wrote: »

Do it. Make your voice heard. Nothing well ever change unless we tell the muppets that they're muppets! Do it now and bombard them with complaints.

Not sure if that's the strongest argument in the world.

I watched the show, thought Tubirdy did well. I am not sure what people expect. It's not a philosophical or science program - it's The Late Late.

It was interesting to see so many who still believe in a random straw poll of the nation. Also, the Priest in the audience, I actually met once at a Skeptics gig. A very decent fellow, I was wincing with the references to the Vatican just being "toy town". It's a shame Dawkins engages in such rhetoric but if he didn't (as many have said) would we have even heard about him?

Meanwhile, Karen Coleman (who has interviewed Dawkins before) did a pretty poor interview for Newstalk. She really needs to read some pop science books and stop asking such stupid questions.

Her program is supposed to be for intelligent, educated people - she has no excuse.

Antbert

Tim Robbins wrote: »

I was wincing with the references to the Vatican just being "toy town".

I believe what he said was it was a very expensive waste of time. Tubridy said Toy Town.

20goto10

I got a sense that Tubridy was trying to win over his audience. The majority of Irish people are religious, especially the late late audience. Talking to Dawkins like he was a crackpot is prob the best thing for him to do as regards to his ratings. He did it with the Taoiseach too. The majority of the country don't like the guy, so Tubridy thinks talking to him like an idiot is going to win over the majority of his viewers. With the taoiseach it was "where's my NAMA", good man Tubridy pat yourself on the back. and with Dawins it was "I'm going into the crowd, say a prayer for me Richard" with his tongue stuck out. You can just picture all the blue rinses spitting their false teeth out with laughter.