Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Dawkins

30 minutes with Richard Dawkins: What Should I Ask?

JaiMahodara — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:25:47 -0800

Asking for a friend: What questions should he ask Richard Dawkins during a radio interview? Tomorrow my friend will be interviewing Richard Dawkins for a radio program. The interview will not be aired live, so there will be a chance to edit. The interview is in person and will last 30 minutes.

Now, I know Metafilter and Mr. Dawkins have a bit of a sordid history, and he isn't always a popular person on the blue. So please no Dawkins bashing suggestions - I'm looking for intelligent, thoughtful and illuminating questions that would be received well by Dawkins and would lead to interesting answers/conversations.

The interview is part of his tour to promote his new book The Greatest Show on Earth.

So, what should he ask him?

What do we know about gregariousness in human behavior?

bru — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:17:45 -0800

What do we know about gregariousness in human behavior? My Google-fu is failing me: I thought that I would find tons of studies about the role (or effect, or influence) of "gregariousness" in human social behavior and I find almost nothing. Sheep, mice, bonobos, yes. Human, no. (I also searched with sociology, psychology, anthropology, neuroscience, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins.) What am I missing?

Memetic or splenetic?

Elmore — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:18:26 -0800

What is the proper pronunciation of the word "meme"?

Are memes just the extended phenotype?

whatgorilla — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 22:46:11 -0800

How are memes anything other than an extension/expression of the extended phenotype? And I mean "phenotype" in the generalized-Richard Dawkins-sense. It seems the meme meme is taken so seriously by so many, but I can't figure out how they are anything other than an interesting thought experiment/model.

Could someone please step off the meme-wagon and explain it to me--are memes anything other than an extension/expression of the extended phenotype?

I'm confused about this, so I hope I'm not sounding like an idiot--please forgive me if I do. Be gentle.

Atheist strategy and ethics

Anything — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 08:39:24 -0800

Dialogues with atheist figureheads, Richard Dawkins in particular, on strategy and ethics of atheist proselytism? On the topic of high-profile criticism of religion, one common view - from many fellow atheists - is that many prominent critics are often counterproductively harsh, even cruel, in their attacks on religious beliefs.

This MeFi thread is an example.

Do you have any links to discussions on this issue, between the leading "bad cops of atheism" and the atheists who disagree with them?

Help me buy an audiobook not for sale in the US

travis vocino — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 08:56:48 -0800

How can I get around the geographic restrictions on purchasing some books and/or where can I buy the audiobook for The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins in the US? I purchased the book The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins from a physical Borders store with no problem. Now I want the audiobook and it seems that it is not for sale in the US. Audible.com tells me "We can not sell you this audiobook due to your geographic location, it has been removed from your cart." Changing my account location to London, UK doesn't seem to hax0r the system either.

A search in iTunes for the book in the US store returns no results but if I move to the UK or other stores I'm able to get it listed but I can't purchase it -- "You are only authorized for purchases at the US iTunes Store. Clicking OK will take you there now."

I even tried Bit Torrent sites (I figured, I purchased the book already and simply can't get what I need available) but I couldn't find it.

Any ideas where I might be able to download or otherwise obtain this?