[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That splendid music, the coming-in music --
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.00,0:00:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The Elephant March" from "Aida" -- is the music I've chosen for my funeral --
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.00,0:00:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.00,0:00:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-- and you can see why. It's triumphal.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.00,0:00:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I won't feel anything, but if I could,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.00,0:00:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would feel triumphal at having lived at all,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.00,0:00:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and at having lived on this splendid planet,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.00,0:00:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and having been given the opportunity to understand
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.00,0:00:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something about why I was here in the first place, before not being here.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.00,0:00:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Can you understand my quaint English accent?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.00,0:00:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like everybody else, I was entranced yesterday by the animal session.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.00,0:00:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Robert Full and Frans Lanting and others --
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.00,0:00:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the beauty of the things they showed.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.00,0:01:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The only slight jarring note was when Jeffrey Katzenberg said of the mustang,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.00,0:01:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"the most splendid creatures that God put on this earth."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.00,0:01:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now of course, we know that he didn't really mean that,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.00,0:01:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but in this country at the moment, you can't be too careful.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.00,0:01:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.00,0:01:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm a biologist, and the central theorem of our subject: the theory of design,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.00,0:01:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.00,0:01:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In professional circles everywhere, it's of course universally accepted.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.00,0:01:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In non-professional circles outside America, it's largely ignored.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.00,0:01:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in non-professional circles within America,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.00,0:01:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it arouses so much hostility --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.00,0:01:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.00,0:01:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-- that it's fair to say that American biologists are in a state of war.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.00,0:01:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The war is so worrying at present,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.00,0:01:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with court cases coming up in one state after another,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.00,0:01:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I felt I had to say something about it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.00,0:02:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you want to know what I have to say about Darwinism itself,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.00,0:02:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm afraid you're going to have to look at my books,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.00,0:02:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which you won't find in the bookstore outside.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.00,0:02:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.00,0:02:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Contemporary court cases
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.00,0:02:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,often concern an allegedly new version of creationism,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.00,0:02:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,called "Intelligent Design," or ID.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.00,0:02:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Don't be fooled. There's nothing new about ID.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.00,0:02:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's just creationism under another name,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.00,0:02:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rechristened -- I choose the word advisedly --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.00,0:02:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.00,0:02:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-- for tactical, political reasons.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.00,0:02:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The arguments of so-called ID theorists
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.00,0:02:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are the same old arguments that had been refuted again and again,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.00,0:02:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,since Darwin down to the present day.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.00,0:02:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is an effective evolution lobby
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.00,0:02:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,coordinating the fight on behalf of science,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.00,0:02:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I try to do all I can to help them,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.00,0:02:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they get quite upset when people like me dare to mention
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.00,0:03:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we happen to be atheists as well as evolutionists.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.00,0:03:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They see us as rocking the boat, and you can understand why.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.00,0:03:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Creationists, lacking any coherent scientific argument for their case,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.00,0:03:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fall back on the popular phobia against atheism.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.00,0:03:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Teach your children evolution in biology class,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.00,0:03:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they'll soon move on to drugs, grand larceny and sexual pre-version.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.00,0:03:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.00,0:03:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, of course, educated theologians from the Pope down
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.00,0:03:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are firm in their support of evolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.00,0:03:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This book, "Finding Darwin's God," by Kenneth Miller,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.00,0:03:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is one of the most effective attacks on Intelligent Design
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.00,0:03:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I know, and it's all the more effective
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.00,0:03:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it's written by a devout Christian.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.00,0:03:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People like Kenneth Miller could be called a "godsend" to the evolution lobby --
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.00,0:03:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.00,0:03:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-- because they expose the lie that evolutionism is, as a matter of fact,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.00,0:03:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tantamount to atheism.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.00,0:04:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People like me, on the other hand, rock the boat.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.00,0:04:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But here, I want to say something nice about creationists.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.00,0:04:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not a thing I often do, so listen carefully.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.00,0:04:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.00,0:04:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think they're right about one thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.00,0:04:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think they're right that evolution
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.00,0:04:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is fundamentally hostile to religion.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.00,0:04:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've already said that many individual evolutionists, like the Pope,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.00,0:04:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are also religious, but I think they're deluding themselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.00,0:04:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I believe a true understanding of Darwinism
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.00,0:04:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is deeply corrosive to religious faith.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.00,0:04:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, it may sound as though I'm about to preach atheism,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.00,0:04:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I want to reassure you that that's not what I'm going to do.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.00,0:04:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In an audience as sophisticated as this one,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.00,0:04:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that would be preaching to the choir.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.00,0:04:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No, what I want to urge upon you --
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.00,0:04:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.00,0:05:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-- instead what I want to urge upon you is militant atheism.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.00,0:05:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.00,0:05:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.00,0:05:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that's putting it too negatively.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.00,0:05:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If I was a person who were interested in preserving religious faith,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.00,0:05:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would be very afraid of the positive power of evolutionary science,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.00,0:05:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and indeed science generally, but evolution in particular,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.00,0:05:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to inspire and enthrall, precisely because it is atheistic.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.00,0:05:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, the difficult problem for any theory of biological design
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.00,0:05:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is to explain the massive statistical improbability of living things.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.00,0:05:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Statistical improbability in the direction of good design --
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.00,0:05:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"complexity" is another word for this.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.00,0:05:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The standard creationist argument -- there is only one; they all reduce to this one --
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.00,0:05:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,takes off from a statistical improbability.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:52.00,0:05:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Living creatures are too complex to have come about by chance;
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.00,0:05:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,therefore, they must have had a designer.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.00,0:06:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This argument of course, shoots itself in the foot.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.00,0:06:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Any designer capable of designing something really complex
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.00,0:06:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has to be even more complex himself, and that's before we even start
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.00,0:06:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the other things he's expected to do,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.00,0:06:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like forgive sins, bless marriages, listen to prayers --
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.00,0:06:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,favor our side in a war --
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.00,0:06:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.00,0:06:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-- disapprove of our sex lives and so on.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.00,0:06:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.00,0:06:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Complexity is the problem that any theory of biology has to solve,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.00,0:06:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you can't solve it by postulating an agent that is even more complex,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.00,0:06:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,thereby simply compounding the problem.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.00,0:06:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Darwinian natural selection is so stunningly elegant
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.00,0:06:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it solves the problem of explaining complexity
Dialogue: 0,0:06:45.00,0:06:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in terms of nothing but simplicity.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:49.00,0:06:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Essentially, it does it by providing a smooth ramp
Dialogue: 0,0:06:52.00,0:06:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of gradual step-by-step increment.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.00,0:06:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But here, I only want to make the point
Dialogue: 0,0:06:58.00,0:07:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the elegance of Darwinism is corrosive to religion
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.00,0:07:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,precisely because it is so elegant, so parsimonious, so powerful,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.00,0:07:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so economically powerful.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.00,0:07:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It has the sinewy economy of a beautiful suspension bridge.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:18.00,0:07:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The God theory is not just a bad theory.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.00,0:07:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It turns out to be, in principle, incapable of doing the job required of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.00,0:07:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, returning to tactics and the evolution lobby,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.00,0:07:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to argue that rocking the boat may be just the right thing to do.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.00,0:07:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My approach to attacking creationism is unlike the evolution lobby.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.00,0:07:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My approach to attacking creationism is to attack religion as a whole,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.00,0:07:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and at this point I need to acknowledge the remarkable taboo
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.00,0:07:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,against speaking ill of religion,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:56.00,0:07:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I'm going to do so in the words of the late Douglas Adams,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.00,0:08:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a dear friend who, if he never came to TED,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.00,0:08:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,certainly should have been invited.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:04.00,0:08:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Richard Saul Wurman: He was.)
Dialogue: 0,0:08:06.00,0:08:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Richard Dawkins: He was. Good. I thought he must have been.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:08.00,0:08:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He begins this speech which was tape-recorded in Cambridge
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.00,0:08:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,shortly before he died.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:13.00,0:08:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He begins by explaining how science works through the testing of hypotheses
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.00,0:08:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that are framed to be vulnerable to disproof, and then he goes on.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.00,0:08:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I quote, "Religion doesn't seem to work like that.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.00,0:08:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It has certain ideas at the heart of it, which we call 'sacred' or 'holy.'
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.00,0:08:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What it means is: here is an idea or a notion
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.00,0:08:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you're not allowed to say anything bad about.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:36.00,0:08:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You're just not. Why not? Because you're not.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:40.00,0:08:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:08:44.00,0:08:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why should it be that it's perfectly legitimate to support the Republicans or Democrats,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:48.00,0:08:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this model of economics versus that, Macintosh instead of Windows,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.00,0:08:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but to have an opinion about how the universe began,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:56.00,0:09:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about who created the universe -- no, that's holy.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:00.00,0:09:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, we're used to not challenging religious ideas
Dialogue: 0,0:09:03.00,0:09:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's very interesting how much of a furor Richard creates
Dialogue: 0,0:09:06.00,0:09:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when he does it." He meant me, not that one.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:10.00,0:09:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Everybody gets absolutely frantic about it,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:13.00,0:09:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because you're not allowed to say these things, yet when you look at it rationally,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.00,0:09:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is no reason why those ideas shouldn't be as open to debate
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.00,0:09:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as any other, except that we've agreed somehow between us
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.00,0:09:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they shouldn't be." And that's the end of the quote from Douglas.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:32.00,0:09:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In my view, not only is science corrosive to religion;
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.00,0:09:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,religion is corrosive to science.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.00,0:09:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It teaches people to be satisfied with trivial, supernatural non-explanations
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.00,0:09:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and blinds them to the wonderful real explanations that we have within our grasp.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:52.00,0:09:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It teaches them to accept authority, revelation and faith
Dialogue: 0,0:09:59.00,0:10:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,instead of always insisting on evidence.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:04.00,0:10:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's Douglas Adams, magnificent picture from his book, "Last Chance to See."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:10.00,0:10:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, there's a typical scientific journal, the Quarterly Review of Biology.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:14.00,0:10:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm going to put together, as guest editor,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:17.00,0:10:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a special issue on the question, "Did an asteroid kill the dinosaurs?"
Dialogue: 0,0:10:22.00,0:10:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the first paper is a standard scientific paper
Dialogue: 0,0:10:26.00,0:10:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,presenting evidence, "Iridium Layer at the K-T Boundary,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:30.00,0:10:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Potassium-Argon Dated Crater in Yucatan,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:32.00,0:10:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Indicate That an Asteroid Killed the Dinosaurs."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:35.00,0:10:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Perfectly ordinary scientific paper.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.00,0:10:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, the next one, "The President of The Royal Society
Dialogue: 0,0:10:42.00,0:10:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Has Been Vouchsafed a Strong Inner Conviction" -- (Laughter) --
Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.00,0:10:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"... That an Asteroid Killed the Dinosaurs."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:49.00,0:10:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.00,0:10:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"It Has Been Privately Revealed to Professor Huxtane
Dialogue: 0,0:10:59.00,0:11:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That an Asteroid Killed the Dinosaurs."
Dialogue: 0,0:11:01.00,0:11:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:11:04.00,0:11:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Professor Hordley Was Brought Up
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.00,0:11:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to Have Total and Unquestioning Faith" --
Dialogue: 0,0:11:10.00,0:11:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter) --
Dialogue: 0,0:11:11.00,0:11:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"... That an Asteroid Killed the Dinosaurs."
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.00,0:11:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Professor Hawkins Has Promulgated an Official Dogma
Dialogue: 0,0:11:23.00,0:11:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Binding on All Loyal Hawkinsians
Dialogue: 0,0:11:26.00,0:11:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That an Asteroid Killed the Dinosaurs."
Dialogue: 0,0:11:29.00,0:11:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:11:32.00,0:11:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's inconceivable, of course.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:36.00,0:11:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But suppose --
Dialogue: 0,0:11:38.00,0:11:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:11:48.00,0:11:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-- in 1987, a reporter asked George Bush, Sr.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:51.00,0:11:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether he recognized the equal citizenship and patriotism
Dialogue: 0,0:11:54.00,0:11:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of Americans who are atheists.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:57.00,0:12:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mr. Bush's reply has become infamous.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:00.00,0:12:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"No, I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:04.00,0:12:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,nor should they be considered patriots.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:06.00,0:12:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is one nation under God."
Dialogue: 0,0:12:09.00,0:12:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Bush's bigotry was not an isolated mistake,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:12.00,0:12:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,blurted out in the heat of the moment and later retracted.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:15.00,0:12:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He stood by it in the face of repeated calls for clarification or withdrawal.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:20.00,0:12:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He really meant it.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:21.00,0:12:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,More to the point, he knew it posed no threat to his election, quite the contrary.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:27.00,0:12:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Democrats as well as Republicans parade their religiousness
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.00,0:12:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if they want to get elected. Both parties invoke "one nation under God."
Dialogue: 0,0:12:37.00,0:12:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What would Thomas Jefferson have said?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:42.00,0:12:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Incidentally, I'm not usually very proud of being British,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:47.00,0:12:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but you can't help making the comparison.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:51.00,0:12:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:12:59.00,0:13:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In practice, what is an atheist?
Dialogue: 0,0:13:02.00,0:13:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,An atheist is just somebody who feels about Yahweh
Dialogue: 0,0:13:06.00,0:13:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the way any decent Christian feels about Thor or Baal or the golden calf.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:13.00,0:13:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As has been said before, we are all atheists about most of the gods
Dialogue: 0,0:13:17.00,0:13:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:22.00,0:13:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:13:25.00,0:13:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:13:32.00,0:13:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And however we define atheism, it's surely the kind of academic belief
Dialogue: 0,0:13:35.00,0:13:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that a person is entitled to hold without being vilified
Dialogue: 0,0:13:39.00,0:13:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as an unpatriotic, unelectable non-citizen.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:44.00,0:13:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nevertheless, it's an undeniable fact that to own up to being an atheist
Dialogue: 0,0:13:47.00,0:13:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is tantamount to introducing yourself as Mr. Hitler or Miss Beelzebub.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:53.00,0:13:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that all stems from the perception of atheists
Dialogue: 0,0:13:56.00,0:14:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as some kind of weird, way-out minority.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:01.00,0:14:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Natalie Angier wrote a rather sad piece in the New Yorker,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:04.00,0:14:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,saying how lonely she felt as an atheist.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:06.00,0:14:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She clearly feels in a beleaguered minority,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:09.00,0:14:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but actually, how do American atheists stack up numerically?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:15.00,0:14:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The latest survey makes surprisingly encouraging reading.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:18.00,0:14:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Christianity, of course, takes a massive lion's share
Dialogue: 0,0:14:20.00,0:14:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the population, with nearly 160 million.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:24.00,0:14:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what would you think was the second largest group,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:27.00,0:14:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,convincingly outnumbering Jews with 2.8 million, Muslims at 1.1 million,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:33.00,0:14:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Hindus, Buddhists and all other religions put together?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:36.00,0:14:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The second largest group, of nearly 30 million,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:39.00,0:14:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the one described as non-religious or secular.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:44.00,0:14:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can't help wondering why vote-seeking politicians
Dialogue: 0,0:14:47.00,0:14:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are so proverbially overawed by the power of, for example, the Jewish lobby.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:52.00,0:14:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The state of Israel seems to owe its very existence
Dialogue: 0,0:14:54.00,0:14:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the American Jewish vote, while at the same time
Dialogue: 0,0:14:58.00,0:15:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,consigning the non-religious to political oblivion.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:03.00,0:15:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This secular non-religious vote, if properly mobilized,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:07.00,0:15:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is nine times as numerous as the Jewish vote.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:11.00,0:15:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why does this far more substantial minority
Dialogue: 0,0:15:14.00,0:15:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not make a move to exercise its political muscle?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:18.00,0:15:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, so much for quantity. How about quality?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:22.00,0:15:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is there any correlation, positive or negative,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:25.00,0:15:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between intelligence and tendency to be religious?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:28.00,0:15:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:15:36.00,0:15:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The survey that I quoted, which is the ARIS survey,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:39.00,0:15:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,didn't break down its data by socio-economic class or education,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:42.00,0:15:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,IQ or anything else.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:44.00,0:15:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But a recent article by Paul G. Bell in the Mensa magazine
Dialogue: 0,0:15:48.00,0:15:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,provides some straws in the wind.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:50.00,0:15:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mensa, as you know, is an international organization
Dialogue: 0,0:15:52.00,0:15:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for people with very high IQ.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:56.00,0:16:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And from a meta-analysis of the literature,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:00.00,0:16:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Bell concludes that, I quote, "Of 43 studies carried out since 1927
Dialogue: 0,0:16:06.00,0:16:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the relationship between religious belief and one's intelligence or educational level,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:10.00,0:16:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all but four found an inverse connection.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:15.00,0:16:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That is, the higher one's intelligence or educational level,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:18.00,0:16:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the less one is likely to be religious."
Dialogue: 0,0:16:21.00,0:16:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, I haven't seen the original 42 studies and I can't comment on that meta-analysis
Dialogue: 0,0:16:26.00,0:16:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I would like to see more studies done along those lines.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:30.00,0:16:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I know that there are, if I could put a little plug here,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:32.00,0:16:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there are people in this audience
Dialogue: 0,0:16:34.00,0:16:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,easily capable of financing a massive research survey to settle the question,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:40.00,0:16:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I put the suggestion up -- for what it's worth.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:42.00,0:16:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But let me know show you some data
Dialogue: 0,0:16:44.00,0:16:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that have been properly published and analyzed
Dialogue: 0,0:16:46.00,0:16:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on one special group, namely, top scientists.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:51.00,0:16:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1998, Larson and Witham
Dialogue: 0,0:16:54.00,0:16:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,polled the cream of American scientists,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:57.00,0:17:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,those who'd been honored by election to the National Academy of Sciences,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:01.00,0:17:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and among this select group,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:03.00,0:17:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,belief in a personal God dropped to a shattering seven percent.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:10.00,0:17:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,About 20 percent are agnostic, and the rest could fairly be called atheists.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:15.00,0:17:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Similar figures obtained for belief in personal immortality.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:18.00,0:17:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Among biological scientists, the figures are even lower:
Dialogue: 0,0:17:21.00,0:17:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,5.5 percent, only, believe in God. Physical scientists: it's 7.5 percent.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:28.00,0:17:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've not seen corresponding figures for elite scholars
Dialogue: 0,0:17:31.00,0:17:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in other fields, such history or philosophy,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:34.00,0:17:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I'd be surprised if they were different.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:37.00,0:17:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, we've reached a truly remarkable situation,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:41.00,0:17:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a grotesque mismatch between the American intelligentsia
Dialogue: 0,0:17:46.00,0:17:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the American electorate.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:48.00,0:17:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A philosophical opinion about the nature of the universe,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:52.00,0:17:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is held by the vast majority of top American scientists
Dialogue: 0,0:17:56.00,0:18:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and probably the majority of the intelligentsia generally,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:00.00,0:18:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is so abhorrent to the American electorate
Dialogue: 0,0:18:02.00,0:18:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that no candidate for popular election dare affirm it in public.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:08.00,0:18:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If I'm right, this means that high office
Dialogue: 0,0:18:11.00,0:18:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the greatest country in the world
Dialogue: 0,0:18:13.00,0:18:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is barred to the very people best qualified to hold it -- the intelligentsia --
Dialogue: 0,0:18:19.00,0:18:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unless they are prepared to lie about their beliefs.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:22.00,0:18:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To put it bluntly, American political opportunities
Dialogue: 0,0:18:25.00,0:18:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are heavily loaded against those
Dialogue: 0,0:18:28.00,0:18:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who are simultaneously intelligent and honest.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:31.00,0:18:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:18:38.00,0:18:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm not a citizen of this country, so I hope it won't be thought unbecoming
Dialogue: 0,0:18:42.00,0:18:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if I suggest that something needs to be done.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:45.00,0:18:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:18:47.00,0:18:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I've already hinted what that something is.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:50.00,0:18:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From what I've seen of TED, I think this may be the ideal place to launch it.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:54.00,0:18:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Again, I fear it will cost money.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:57.00,0:18:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We need a consciousness-raising,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:59.00,0:19:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,coming-out campaign for American atheists.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:03.00,0:19:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:19:05.00,0:19:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This could be similar to the campaign organized by homosexuals
Dialogue: 0,0:19:08.00,0:19:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a few years ago,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:10.00,0:19:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,although heaven forbid that we should stoop to public outing
Dialogue: 0,0:19:13.00,0:19:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of people against their will.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:15.00,0:19:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In most cases, people who out themselves
Dialogue: 0,0:19:18.00,0:19:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will help to destroy the myth that there is something wrong with atheists.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:22.00,0:19:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the contrary,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:24.00,0:19:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they'll demonstrate that atheists are often the kinds of people
Dialogue: 0,0:19:26.00,0:19:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that could serve as decent role models for your children,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:29.00,0:19:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the kinds of people an advertising agent could use to recommend a product,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:34.00,0:19:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the kinds of people who are sitting in this room.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:38.00,0:19:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There should be a snowball effect, a positive feedback,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:41.00,0:19:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,such that the more names we have, the more we get.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:44.00,0:19:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There could be non-linearities, threshold effects.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:47.00,0:19:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When a critical mass has been attained,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:49.00,0:19:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's an abrupt acceleration in recruitment.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:52.00,0:19:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And again, it will need money.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:55.00,0:19:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I suspect that the word "atheist" itself
Dialogue: 0,0:19:59.00,0:20:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,contains or remains a stumbling block
Dialogue: 0,0:20:02.00,0:20:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,far out of proportion to what it actually means, and a stumbling block to people
Dialogue: 0,0:20:06.00,0:20:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who otherwise might be happy to out themselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:09.00,0:20:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, what other words might be used to smooth the path,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:12.00,0:20:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,oil the wheels, sugar the pill? Darwin himself preferred "agnostic" --
Dialogue: 0,0:20:19.00,0:20:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and not only out of loyalty to his friend Huxley, who coined the term.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:25.00,0:20:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Darwin said, "I have never been an atheist
Dialogue: 0,0:20:27.00,0:20:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the same sense of denying the existence of a God.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:31.00,0:20:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think that generally an 'agnostic'
Dialogue: 0,0:20:33.00,0:20:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would be the most correct description of my state of mind."
Dialogue: 0,0:20:37.00,0:20:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He even became uncharacteristically tetchy with Edward Aveling.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:42.00,0:20:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aveling was a militant atheist
Dialogue: 0,0:20:44.00,0:20:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who failed to persuade Darwin
Dialogue: 0,0:20:46.00,0:20:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to accept the dedication of his book on atheism --
Dialogue: 0,0:20:49.00,0:20:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,incidentally, giving rise to a fascinating myth
Dialogue: 0,0:20:52.00,0:20:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that Karl Marx tried to dedicate "Das Kapital" to Darwin,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:55.00,0:20:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which he didn't. It was actually Edward Aveling.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:57.00,0:21:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What happened was that Aveling's mistress was Marx's daughter,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:02.00,0:21:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and when both Darwin and Marx were dead,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:05.00,0:21:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Marx's papers became muddled up with Aveling's papers
Dialogue: 0,0:21:09.00,0:21:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a letter from Darwin saying, "My dear sir, thank you very much
Dialogue: 0,0:21:14.00,0:21:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I don't want you to dedicate your book to me,"
Dialogue: 0,0:21:16.00,0:21:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was mistakenly supposed to be addressed to Marx,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:19.00,0:21:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that gave rise to this whole myth, which you've probably heard.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:22.00,0:21:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a sort of urban myth,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:24.00,0:21:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that Marx tried to dedicate "Kapital" to Darwin.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:27.00,0:21:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Anyway, it was Aveling, and when they met, Darwin challenged Aveling,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:35.00,0:21:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Why do you call yourselves atheists?"
Dialogue: 0,0:21:42.00,0:21:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"'Agnostic,'" retorted Aveling, "was simply 'atheist' writ respectable,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:46.00,0:21:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and 'atheist' was simply 'agnostic' writ aggressive."
Dialogue: 0,0:21:50.00,0:21:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Darwin complained, "But why should you be so aggressive?"
Dialogue: 0,0:21:54.00,0:21:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Darwin thought that atheism might be well and good for the intelligentsia,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:57.00,0:22:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but that ordinary people were not, quote, "ripe for it."
Dialogue: 0,0:22:02.00,0:22:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which is, of course, our old friend, the "don't rock the boat" argument.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:06.00,0:22:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not recorded whether Aveling told Darwin to come down off his high horse.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:11.00,0:22:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:22:13.00,0:22:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in any case, that was more than 100 years ago.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:15.00,0:22:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You think we might have grown up since then.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:18.00,0:22:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, a friend, an intelligent lapsed Jew,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:23.00,0:22:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who incidentally observed the Sabbath
Dialogue: 0,0:22:25.00,0:22:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for reasons of cultural solidarity,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:27.00,0:22:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,describes himself as a "tooth fairy agnostic."
Dialogue: 0,0:22:31.00,0:22:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He won't call himself an atheist
Dialogue: 0,0:22:33.00,0:22:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it's, in principle, impossible to prove a negative,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:37.00,0:22:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but agnostic on its own might suggest that God's existence
Dialogue: 0,0:22:40.00,0:22:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was therefore on equal terms of likelihood as his non-existence.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:44.00,0:22:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, my friend is strictly agnostic about the tooth fairy,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:49.00,0:22:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it isn't very likely, is it? Like God.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:54.00,0:22:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hence the phrase, "tooth fairy agnostic."
Dialogue: 0,0:22:56.00,0:22:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Bertrand Russell made the same point
Dialogue: 0,0:22:58.00,0:23:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,using a hypothetical teapot in orbit about Mars.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:02.00,0:23:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You would strictly have to be agnostic
Dialogue: 0,0:23:04.00,0:23:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about whether there is a teapot in orbit about Mars,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:06.00,0:23:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but that doesn't mean you treat the likelihood of its existence
Dialogue: 0,0:23:09.00,0:23:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as on all fours with its non-existence.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:12.00,0:23:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The list of things which we strictly have to be agnostic about
Dialogue: 0,0:23:15.00,0:23:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,doesn't stop at tooth fairies and teapots. It's infinite.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:19.00,0:23:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you want to believe one particular one of them --
Dialogue: 0,0:23:21.00,0:23:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unicorns or tooth fairies or teapots or Yahweh --
Dialogue: 0,0:23:26.00,0:23:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the onus is on you to say why.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:28.00,0:23:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The onus is not on the rest of us to say why not.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:32.00,0:23:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We, who are atheists, are also a-fairiests and a-teapotists.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:37.00,0:23:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:23:39.00,0:23:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we don't bother to say so,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:42.00,0:23:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this is why my friend uses "tooth fairy agnostic"
Dialogue: 0,0:23:45.00,0:23:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a label for what most people would call atheist.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:48.00,0:23:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nonetheless, if we want to attract deep down atheists to come out publicly,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:54.00,0:23:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we're going to have find something better
Dialogue: 0,0:23:56.00,0:24:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to stick on our banner than "tooth fairy" or "teapot agnostic."
Dialogue: 0,0:24:01.00,0:24:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, how about "humanist"?
Dialogue: 0,0:24:04.00,0:24:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This has the advantage of a worldwide network of well-organized associations
Dialogue: 0,0:24:09.00,0:24:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and journals and things already in place.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:11.00,0:24:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My problem with it only is its apparent anthropocentrism.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:14.00,0:24:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the things we've learned from Darwin
Dialogue: 0,0:24:16.00,0:24:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that the human species is only one
Dialogue: 0,0:24:18.00,0:24:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,among millions of cousins, some close, some distant.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:22.00,0:24:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there are other possibilities like "naturalist,"
Dialogue: 0,0:24:25.00,0:24:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but that also has problems of confusion,
Dialogue: 0,0:24:27.00,0:24:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because Darwin would have thought naturalist --
Dialogue: 0,0:24:29.00,0:24:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"naturalist" means, of course, as opposed to "supernaturalist" --
Dialogue: 0,0:24:32.00,0:24:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it is used sometimes --
Dialogue: 0,0:24:34.00,0:24:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Darwin would have been confused by the other sense of "naturalist,"
Dialogue: 0,0:24:37.00,0:24:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which he was, of course, and I suppose there might be others
Dialogue: 0,0:24:41.00,0:24:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who would confuse it with nudism.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:43.00,0:24:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:24:45.00,0:24:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Such people might be those belonging to the British lynch mob
Dialogue: 0,0:24:52.00,0:24:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which last year attacked a pediatrician in mistake for a pedophile.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:57.00,0:25:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:25:02.00,0:25:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think the best of the available alternatives for "atheist" is simply "non-theist."
Dialogue: 0,0:25:07.00,0:25:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It lacks the strong connotation that there's definitely no God,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:10.00,0:25:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it could therefore easily be embraced by teapot or tooth fairy agnostics.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:16.00,0:25:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's completely compatible with the God of the physicists.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:20.00,0:25:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When atheists
Dialogue: 0,0:25:24.00,0:25:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein use the word "God,"
Dialogue: 0,0:25:28.00,0:25:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they use it of course as a metaphorical shorthand
Dialogue: 0,0:25:31.00,0:25:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for that deep, mysterious part of physics which we don't yet understand.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:36.00,0:25:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Non-theist" will do for all that, yet unlike "atheist,"
Dialogue: 0,0:25:42.00,0:25:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it doesn't have the same phobic, hysterical responses.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:49.00,0:25:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I think, actually, the alternative
Dialogue: 0,0:25:51.00,0:25:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is to grasp the nettle of the word "atheism" itself,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:54.00,0:25:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,precisely because it is a taboo word
Dialogue: 0,0:25:57.00,0:26:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,carrying frissons of hysterical phobia.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:01.00,0:26:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Critical mass may be harder to achieve with the word "atheist"
Dialogue: 0,0:26:05.00,0:26:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than with the word "non-theist,"
Dialogue: 0,0:26:06.00,0:26:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or some other non-confrontational word.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:08.00,0:26:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But if we did achieve it with that dread word -- "atheist" itself --
Dialogue: 0,0:26:12.00,0:26:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the political impact would be even greater.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:16.00,0:26:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, I said that if I were religious, I'd be very afraid of evolution. I'd go further.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:20.00,0:26:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would fear science in general if properly understood.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:23.00,0:26:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this is because the scientific worldview
Dialogue: 0,0:26:27.00,0:26:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is so much more exciting, more poetic,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:30.00,0:26:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more filled with sheer wonder than anything
Dialogue: 0,0:26:33.00,0:26:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the poverty-stricken arsenals of the religious imagination.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:39.00,0:26:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As Carl Sagan, another recently dead hero, put it,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:44.00,0:26:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science
Dialogue: 0,0:26:48.00,0:26:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and concluded, 'This is better than we thought!
Dialogue: 0,0:26:53.00,0:26:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The universe is much bigger than our prophet said,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:55.00,0:27:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,grander, more subtle, more elegant?' Instead they say, 'No, no, no!
Dialogue: 0,0:27:01.00,0:27:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'
Dialogue: 0,0:27:06.00,0:27:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A religion, old or new,
Dialogue: 0,0:27:08.00,0:27:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that stressed the magnificence of the universe
Dialogue: 0,0:27:11.00,0:27:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as revealed by modern science
Dialogue: 0,0:27:13.00,0:27:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe
Dialogue: 0,0:27:16.00,0:27:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hardly tapped by the conventional faiths."
Dialogue: 0,0:27:21.00,0:27:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, this is an elite audience,
Dialogue: 0,0:27:24.00,0:27:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I would therefore expect about 10 percent of you to be religious.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:31.00,0:27:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Many of you probably subscribe to our polite cultural belief that we should respect religion,
Dialogue: 0,0:27:38.00,0:27:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I also suspect that a fair number of those
Dialogue: 0,0:27:42.00,0:27:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,secretly despise religion as much as I do.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:46.00,0:27:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:27:47.00,0:27:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you're one of them, and of course many of you may not be,
Dialogue: 0,0:27:50.00,0:27:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but if you are one of them, I'm asking you to stop being polite,
Dialogue: 0,0:27:53.00,0:27:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,come out and say so, and if you happen to be rich,
Dialogue: 0,0:27:57.00,0:28:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,give some thought to ways in which you might make a difference.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:02.00,0:28:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The religious lobby in this country
Dialogue: 0,0:28:05.00,0:28:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is massively financed by foundations -- to say nothing of all the tax benefits --
Dialogue: 0,0:28:10.00,0:28:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by foundations such as the Templeton Foundation and the Discovery Institute.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:15.00,0:28:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We need an anti-Templeton to step forward.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:21.00,0:28:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If my books sold as well as Stephen Hawking's books,
Dialogue: 0,0:28:24.00,0:28:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,instead of only as well as Richard Dawkins' books, I'd do it myself.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:30.00,0:28:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People are always going on about, "How did September the 11th change you?"
Dialogue: 0,0:28:39.00,0:28:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, here's how it changed me.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:41.00,0:28:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's all stop being so damned respectful.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:46.00,0:28:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you very much.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:48.00,0:28:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)