Richard DawkinsVerified account

@RichardDawkins

UK biologist & writer. Science, the poetry of reality. Good-humoured ridicule of religions. RTs don't imply endorsement, nor exhaustive research of tweeter's CV

Joined June 2008

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  1. Am I alone in finding the very idea of “Continental Philosophy” ridiculous? What would we think of a university that appointed someone to teach Continental Chemistry? Continental Algebra? Does it tell us something about philosophy as an academic discipline?

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  2. What a nasty country Britain is becoming, post 2016.

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  3. Now in Part 3: “90% chimp, 10% bee.” 3 points before finishing 1. Bee, apotheosis of kin selection, is terrible poster-girl for group selection 2. Groupish individuals flourish but that’s not group selection 3. Isn’t gene-culture coevolution gene-meme coevolution (2 replicators)?

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  4. Aug 9

    Finished “Thinks”, well crafted campus novel by David Lodge. Male scientist & female novelist in (productive) meeting of minds and (inevitable) mating of bodies. Intelligent, sexy, literate (including scientifically), moving. Illuminates “What is it like to be” someone else.

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  5. Aug 9

    From time to time I read a book which I find seminal: seeds new constructive thought. Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind (I’m now half way through) is seminal. Recommended, especially if you’re one of those who fashionably rubbishes Evolutionary Psychology & its “modules”.

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  6. Aug 8

    As the (Nobel-prizewinning) President of the Royal Society, Sir Venki Ramakrishnan is today’s chief spokesperson for British Science. Please take what he says here very seriously and write to your MP.

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  7. Aug 7

    Why I favour (1): Think back from own existence. Hyper-improbability of dad’s lucky sperm making it. Multiply up for 2 grandads, 4 gt grandads etc. Ripple outward back to ur-mammal. Now think forwards. Outward worldwide-spreading causal ripple from any event, even trivial sneeze.

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  8. Aug 7

    Historic contingency “If the second dinosaur to the left of the tall cycad tree had not happened to sneeze …we should none of us be here.” Is this, 1) necessarily true for any dinosaur? 2) Necessarily true only of a dinosaur whose sneeze interrupted its pursuit of the ur-mammal?

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  9. Retweeted
    Aug 3

    Tickets: VIP Tickets: - “Meet & Greet” mit Richard Dawkins & Michael Shermer - Reservierte Sitzplätze bei der Veranstaltung - Streng limitiert, nur 30 Tickets verfügbar Bestellung nur auf Anfrage: joerg@richarddawkins.net

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  10. Aug 7

    Sobbed my way through the film of Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth. Beautifully done. Was the First World War the greatest act of collective folly in all history? Not only itself. It also directly spawned Hitler. Yet we all owe our existence to it (unless we’re well over 100)

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  11. Retweeted

    Limited time offer! Until 8/31, you can get 10% tickets using the code DAWK10. Click the card to get your tickets now!

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  12. Aug 6

    The cameo appearance of the incomparable Douglas Adams in one of my Royal Institution Christmas Lectures “for a juvenile auditory.”

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  13. Retweeted

    It’s time to put a stop to the deception, and give people the facts. That's exactly what we’re going to do. To learn more about the and our case against CVS, click the card below or go to .

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  14. Aug 6

    Language experts (others please don’t reply): Am I correct that the English word “conference” is an interesting example of a “false friend”? I often get invitations from non-English-speakers (most recently Portuguese) to “give a conference.” I suspect they mean “give a lecture.”

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  15. Aug 6

    Thoughtful and balanced talk by Michael Morpurgo:

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  16. Aug 6

    Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind read (well) by author. We are “groupish”: reasoning evolved to win arguments not get truth. OK, but why then elevate “intuition”? His irritating “elephant & rider” metaphor might work better if Americans pronounced rider & writer differently.

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  17. Aug 5

    “The people" have spoken! Have they really? But the slim majority who voted Leave never dreamed they were voting for a no-deal crashout or a bungled travesty deal. Please sign the petition for a vote on the actual terms of leaving. And write to your MP

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  18. Aug 3

    “Jewish child”? “Muslim child”? “Christian child”? Cultural tradition is all very well but don’t label children with the opinions of their parents. If you have comments, consider posting them on rather than wasting them on Twitter?

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  19. Aug 3

    Science would be especially hard hit if Brexit really happens. No wonder top UK scientists support a referendum on final terms. Young people too support it. They will have a long time to live with the outcome. Please sign the petition.

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  20. Aug 2

    Don’t neglect the idea that the much-hyped Homo floresiensis (“Hobbits”) are really small H sapiens similar to living small humans in the area. Admittedly the only skull is abnormal. But the authors () suggest Down Syndrome for this one individual.

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