I used to think Dawkins was just a science writer rather than a working scientist. Not a great scientist. Or even a very good scientist. Not a theoretical or experimental scientist of any distinction. Just a flashy popularizer. But now I take it all back. He's made a novel and hitherto unsuspected discovery: "We are going to die!"
Why did it take science so long to stumble onto that elusive fact? I think Dawkins should be awarded a Nobel prize in biology for his stunning new discovery. This catapults him to the ranks of Newton, Einstein, Dirac, and Pauling.
"Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born." Merely possible people? Sounds... metaphysical. Wait. No. This is science. He is doing science. Excuse me while I hide my brain in my Darwin-envy beard to clap loudly at the end of the video.
ReplyDeleteDawkins impresses me. No matter how far I lower my standards of expectation for his philosophical thinking, he still manages to squeeze beneath the bar.
ReplyDeleteI just cried; I was so moved!
ReplyDelete