Thursday, December 30, 2010

Neil deGrasse Tyson Gives Direction to Richard Dawkins

I stumbled across this video this afternoon, and I thought Neil deGrasse Tyson makes his case beautifully. In his friendly rebuke of Richard Dawkin's scorched-earth tactics in arguing with (really at) atheists, Tyson makes the useful distinction between teaching and just putting the information out there.

I've long been impressed with Tyson, and I've heard him speak twice already at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco in recent years. He fills the auditorium each time he comes here, and I'm sure he does the same when he speaks in other forums. Pertinent to this discussion, he does a great job of teaching, of explaining, of persuading, and even entertaining his audience even as he discusses complicated scientific concepts.

Dawkins' response, nonetheless, is priceless (and gracious).

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