Richard Dawkins on Alan Colmes show

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Medic
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Richard Dawkins on Alan Colmes show

Post by Medic »

The usual razz.Interview, whackjob callers, Richard Dawkins accent.

Actually one thing was very amusing, the 1st caller goes off on a tangent demanding proof of transitional fossils, claiming none exists, wildly pointing out the Cambrian Explosion and finally identifying himself as a New Earther or something (but not a YEC), and saying how carbon-14 isn't accurate to date the age of the earth (which is why we don't).

ANYWAY, Dawkins finally identifies 'tictolic' (a transition between fish and amphibians) and goes on his own tangent how this mantra that transitional forms is uttered so loudly and often that people actually begin to believe it finally saying: "it is total and utter bullshit."

*cue Alan Colmes stuttering 'uh, uh, we're on delay you can't say that'* as if he were in Sean Hannity pop-up target mode. :lol: It was so worth it just for that, I'm actually only barely past that point in the interview, though the 2nd caller is convinced evolution is PROOF of a god. :? (this is about halfway through, I'm listening to it in the url window)

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Post by Medic »

... :x Mantra really should read "rant"
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Post by Brother-Captain Gaius »

Wow, I did not see that "bullshit" line coming. :D That was fuckin' beautiful.

Colmes is one of the least objectionable Fox News figures, so the interview was actually fairly respectable. Though it was kind of funny when even Colmes was getting audibly irritated with a lot of the dumbshits calling in. :lol:
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Post by Soontir C'boath »

I like how Colmes kept on asking her where in the Constitution we can't offend other people and she replied "It's not the point" and hung up. :lol:

Commenters on Dawkin's webpage say he was impatient but I didn't get that while listening to him.
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Post by Medic »

Brother-Captain Gaius wrote:Wow, I did not see that "bullshit" line coming. :D That was fuckin' beautiful.

Colmes is one of the least objectionable Fox News figures, so the interview was actually fairly respectable. Though it was kind of funny when even Colmes was getting audibly irritated with a lot of the dumbshits calling in. :lol:
Yeah, I think Alan Colmes on his Fox News television outings is either just past the point of caring, or actually has it in his contract to be a pop-up target for Hannity, cause he's actually got a spine in this radio show. :shock:

I also like how... IIRC, virtually every caller disagreed with Dawkins in one way or another and yet not a one was nearly at his calibre in articulating a position, certainly not CORRECT ones either. :lol:
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Post by Singular Intellect »

SPC Brungardt wrote:I also like how... IIRC, virtually every caller disagreed with Dawkins in one way or another and yet not a one was nearly at his calibre in articulating a position, certainly not CORRECT ones either. :lol:
Actually, one male caller did thank him for demostrating the idiocy of circular logic and reasoning. He called solely for the purpose of thanking Richards for "fighting the good fight" so to speak.
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Post by Rye »

Also, that was the only caller who understood the use of words like "tautology" too. I wish I was asked to do radio programs all the time.
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Post by Molyneux »

It's "Tiktaalik", by the way.
I don't have the time to listen at the moment, but I'm looking forward to doing so later.
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Post by Plekhanov »

You can download an mp3 of the show from richarddawkins.net which I'm currently doing, hopefully the adds will be pruned.
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Post by Molyneux »

Plekhanov wrote:You can download an mp3 of the show from richarddawkins.net which I'm currently doing, hopefully the adds will be pruned.
Thanks very much for the heads-up!
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Post by TithonusSyndrome »

Brother-Captain Gaius wrote:Wow, I did not see that "bullshit" line coming. :D That was fuckin' beautiful.
Oh, you thought that was awesome? Check this.
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Post by Darth Wong »

It drives me nuts whenever talk-radio shows cover evolution, because I know the ratio of opinions from callers will be at least 95% creationist. Talk-radio is one venue where truckers and other assorted imbeciles rule, simply by virtue of the audience demographics and the lack of anything better to do than call talk-radio shows and wait on hold.

I remember trying to call a talk-radio show before. Once I get put on hold, I just hang up, because I have other things to do. A trucker doesn't. He's looking at miles and miles of blacktop ahead of him, and nothing else.
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Post by wautd »

It was allright. Quite suprised at Alan Colmes (in a positive way)
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Post by D.Turtle »

wautd wrote:It was allright. Quite suprised at Alan Colmes (in a positive way)
Yeah, that was my reaction too.

I can't believe that guy is on Fox News. The way he smacked down some of the callers was unexpected, to say the least.
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Post by Brother-Captain Gaius »

TithonusSyndrome wrote:Oh, you thought that was awesome? Check this.
Yeah, but that's jokingly; he's just goofing around in that clip. He really means it on the Alan Colmes show.
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Post by wautd »

Going off topic here but looking at the comments from the OP's link I've found someting interesting:

Looks like a 7th century muslim was ahead of Darwin :shock:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Jahiz
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Post by SCRawl »

This was a pretty good listen -- I put it on my iPod and listened to it while washing the dishes last night. Nothing new, for those who've read his stuff, but it is interesting to listen to him put the mouth-breathers in their place.

Is it just me, or does Colmes seem like a lightweight on this show? I suppose it could also be that in relative terms, considering who his guest was, he was definitely outclassed.
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Post by Brother-Captain Gaius »

wautd wrote:Going off topic here but looking at the comments from the OP's link I've found someting interesting:

Looks like a 7th century muslim was ahead of Darwin :shock:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Jahiz
wiki is the authoritative subject on science and history am i rite??

Really, true or not, I thought we were above quoting wikipedia in a place like SLAM.
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Post by wautd »

Brother-Captain Gaius wrote:
wautd wrote:Going off topic here but looking at the comments from the OP's link I've found someting interesting:

Looks like a 7th century muslim was ahead of Darwin :shock:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Jahiz
wiki is the authoritative subject on science and history am i rite??
No, but it would be impressive if true
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Post by Molyneux »

wautd wrote:
Brother-Captain Gaius wrote:
wautd wrote:Going off topic here but looking at the comments from the OP's link I've found someting interesting:

Looks like a 7th century muslim was ahead of Darwin :shock:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Jahiz
wiki is the authoritative subject on science and history am i rite??
No, but it would be impressive if true
So would it be if bees could think, or if a battle between Muhammad Ali and an eighty-foot-tall mechanical Joe Frazier destroyed the Earth. Doesn't make them any more accurate.
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Post by Mange »

Gaius and Molyneux, you did notice that the article contained footnotes?
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Post by Darth Wong »

wautd wrote:Going off topic here but looking at the comments from the OP's link I've found someting interesting:

Looks like a 7th century muslim was ahead of Darwin :shock:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Jahiz
Animals engage in a struggle for existence; for resources, to avoid being eaten and to breed. Environmental factors influence organisms to develop new characteristics to ensure survival, thus transforming into new species. Animals that survive to breed can pass on their successful characteristics to offspring
It's entirely feasible that someone could have thought of that long before Darwin; the idea seems almost obvious in retrospect, and there were actually plenty of people working on various theories of evolution before Darwin. The difference is that Darwin actually made a viable scientific theory out of it by marshalling evidence and laying out a thoroughly described mechanism.

Really, this is kind of like the people who say that Leonardo Da Vinci invented the helicopter. He had an idea that looked kind of like a helicopter, but he didn't invent jack shit.
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Post by wjs7744 »

Darth Wong wrote:Really, this is kind of like the people who say that Leonardo Da Vinci invented the helicopter. He had an idea that looked kind of like a helicopter, but he didn't invent jack shit.
Well, the important point there is not the superficial look of the thing, but if he had discovered/invented aerodynamic lift. On the other hand, from what I've seen here this guy did seem to have some idea about the mechanism of evolution (mechanisms are the important thing, after all).
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Post by Shogoki »

TithonusSyndrome wrote:
Brother-Captain Gaius wrote:Wow, I did not see that "bullshit" line coming. :D That was fuckin' beautiful.
Oh, you thought that was awesome? Check this.
It's much better when seen with some context.

And that's so SDN of him, lol.
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Post by JediToren »

I really noticed how often callers used the word "intellectual" as an insult, especially the part where the caller said "Jesus wasn't an intellectual! He was born in a manger!"
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