The Student Room Group

Do you think that Richard Dawkins is an intellectual snob?

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Original post by RayApparently
A party can win a solid majority with 35% of the vote (and GE turnout can be expected to be lower than referendum turnout). Britian is leaving the EU because 52% of voters wished to leave - numbers wise almost double the votes that a major policitcal party might win in a general election. If the media really have the power or inclination (let's not forget that major newspapers like The Sun, which unfortunately seem to have a lot of influence over a large number of people's thinking, came out in favour of Leave) to prevent a europhobe party winning power then surely they would have caused the Remain campaign to win. I do not think it's particularly hard to believe that an anti-EU Tory Party could have won a general election.


Ok I completely agree with this. This its what kind of discredits his position because if a party had won an election on a manifesto pledge to leave then there wouldn't be that much difference.
No. I like the guy and it is a valid argument. Of course some people are more informed about the EU than others, that is not snobbery.

I disagree with his undemocratic political views though. I also don't like the "almost every educated person" comment. That is not at all true but I will let him off. Most people have a tendency to think they are right about everything.
Some of the dumbest people i've ever met have been at university. Brexiters are more qualified to make the decision, considering most of the them are actually in paid employment and not la la land.
Original post by Sternumator
No. I like the guy and it is a valid argument. Of course some people are more informed about the EU than others, that is not snobbery.

I disagree with his undemocratic political views though. I also don't like the "almost every educated person" comment. That is not at all true but I will let him off. Most people have a tendency to think they are right about everything.


if you read the earlier posts this is exactly what I wrote. But you have to remember that people vote in elections which have similar outcomes. Also parliament voted for the Iraq war which was a disaster.
He is and I strongly dislike the man, although he is absolutely correct here.

Original post by Sternumator
I disagree with his undemocratic political views though. I also don't like the "almost every educated person" comment.


It's a fairly accurate statement given that the single strongest determining factor for voting outcome in the referendum was level of education, with overwhelming support for continued membership at the highest level of education.
(edited 7 years ago)
Yup.
Can't stand him. It's really not that hard to say accurate stuff without being an obnoxious and inflammatory [insert expletive]. Just requires a modicum of emotional self control.

Original post by Terry Tibbs
Not a snob if he's right.

That's ridiculous. You can be arrogant about being right, while also being right. Snobbery is an attitude. Accuracy isn't.
Original post by Craghyrax
Yup.
Can't stand him. It's really not that hard to say accurate stuff without being an obnoxious and inflammatory [insert expletive]. Just requires a modicum of emotional self control.


PRSOM, although I think the issue with Dawkins is less a lack of self-control and more the fact that he's realised he can earn a lot of money and attention by being an obnoxious and inflammatory [insert expletive].
Original post by Plagioclase
PRSOM, although I think the issue with Dawkins is less a lack of self-control and more the fact that he's realised he can earn a lot of money and attention by being an obnoxious and inflammatory [insert expletive].
Fair point :dry: Professional troll. Like Clarkson and Hopkins :yucky:
Original post by Scrotumus Cicero
Some of the dumbest people i've ever met have been at university. Brexiters are more qualified to make the decision, considering most of the them are actually in paid employment and not la la land.

Last time I checked, those of us teaching and researching in Universities are paid and employed :lol:

We also inhabit human bodies, eat, excrete, sleep and aren't unicorns :smile: Surprising though that may be.
(edited 7 years ago)
Sometimes he comes across that way but not in that video; he sounds completely reasonable and is bringing up perfectly valid points.
Original post by Craghyrax
Last time I checked, those of us teaching and researching in Universities are paid and employed :lol:

We also inhabit human bodies, eat, excrete, sleep and aren't unicorns :smile: Surprising though that may be.


I'm talking about students. And academic environments are notorious for inbreeding and people with similar viewpoints.
Original post by Scrotumus Cicero
And academic environments are notorious for inbreeding and people with similar viewpoints.


They're also notorious for employing extremely intelligent people who are trained in understanding and processing complex data, something which can not be said for the general population. You cannot seriously be arguing that most people who voted in the referendum genuinely had a working understanding of what the EU was when poll after poll revealed a shocking level of ignorance amongst the general public.
Original post by Scrotumus Cicero
I'm talking about students. And academic environments are notorious for inbreeding and people with similar viewpoints.
"Inbreeding?" :lol: That's a new one on me. Guess it can't be all that notorious.

So... you hang out with people who have completely different world views to your own do you? You must get on really well with them. I can tell by how you talk about differences of opinion so openly and respectfully.
He's an a**hole, but he does have good points.

"the god delusion" was a good book with some compelling reasoning, but he is just so preachy and convinced that everything he says about religion is correct. Sometimes its needed, but other times he just comes off as a bit of a pr**k really...
Original post by Plagioclase
They're also notorious for employing extremely intelligent people who are trained in understanding and processing complex data, something which can not be said for the general population. You cannot seriously be arguing that most people who voted in the referendum genuinely had a working understanding of what the EU was when poll after poll revealed a shocking level of ignorance amongst the general public.


Could have fooled me. No, most people (including myself) don't have 30 years of experience working in the EU so we go based on our extremely generalized and poorly researched decisions. At least we don't hide behind being 'academic' to give us undue credibility.
Original post by Craghyrax
"Inbreeding?" :lol: That's a new one on me. Guess it can't be all that notorious.

So... you hang out with people who have completely different world views to your own do you? You must get on really well with them. I can tell by how you talk about differences of opinion so openly and respectfully.


I have no choice but not to, and you can talk about not respecting differences of opinion.
Original post by Scrotumus Cicero
At least we don't hide behind being 'academic' to give us undue credibility.


Is this an inferiority complex I sense or do you genuinely believe what you're writing?
Original post by Plagioclase
Is this an inferiority complex I sense or do you genuinely believe what you're writing?


Great argument. If we're going to throw in pseudo psychology, here's a Freudian term for you.

Projection
Original post by Scrotumus Cicero
Could have fooled me. No, most people (including myself) don't have 30 years of experience working in the EU so we go based on our extremely generalized and poorly researched decisions. At least we don't hide behind being 'academic' to give us undue credibility.

How is credibility based on scientific evidence 'undue'?
Of course I don't know which of the vast and varied number of humans that can be found studying and working in Universities you are talking about, or what reasoning they used to defend the views you're dismissing. But being "academic" means referring to information that is gathered through empirical research which tends to bring to the table a wider volume of information, and to test it for biases. The only reason research is worth any trouble or effort is because that tends to give us a better indicator than just relying on how things seem to us and our friends. That's kind of the point.
Original post by Craghyrax
How is credibility based on scientific evidence 'undue'?
Of course I don't know which of the vast and varied number of humans that can be found studying and working in Universities you are talking about, or what reasoning they used to defend the views you're dismissing. But being "academic" means referring to information that is gathered through empirical research which tends to bring to the table a wider volume of information, and to test it for biases. The only reason research is worth any trouble or effort is because that tends to give us a better indicator than just relying on how things seem to us and our friends. That's kind of the point.


How many of these academics have actually worked at the EU? Yet they comment on it like they know everything. I do not pretend to have expertise in an industry i've never been employed in, that's called prejudice and leads to ridiculous conclusions.

How can an academic have scientific evidence about something they've never worked in? Scientists do experiments.
Original post by Scrotumus Cicero
I have no choice but not to, and you can talk about not respecting differences of opinion.

I never claimed that I respect opinions. You presented the view that people in Universities are 'notorious' for 'inbreeding' with people of 'similar views'. So I asked you whether you befriend and date people with different political and social perspectives to your own. Because if you don't, then your suggestion that humans outside of Universities are better at making reliable political decisions falls down. I mean it wasn't really standing up very well as it was, but that was one of the more glaring issues :p:

And no, sorry... I don't respect you. But I also don't feel morally obliged to respect somebody who starts out by claiming I live in 'La la land' and that I'm 'inbred' :s-smilie:

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