Video
Christopher Hitchens Illustrated
This is the brilliant opening statement that Christopher Hitchens gave in a religion vs. atheism debate with Alister McGrath on October 11, 2007. Instead of simply watching Hitchens at the podium, here the speech’s audio is overlayed with illustations to try to do justice to the logic of this very compelling argument. Thanks to Fegor for the link.
Teapot Atheism
A succinct explanation of Bertrand Russell’s “teapot atheism” metaphor by Richard Dawkins.
Dan Dennett: A secular, scientific rebuttal to Rick Warren
Philosopher Dan Dennett thinks of religion as a natural phenomenon, a human feature that has evolved over millennia to meet each society’s changing needs. From this, he makes a brilliant case for studying religion — all religion — as rigorously as we do science. Dennett, who followed Rick Warren on stage at TED2006, then takes a few minutes to analyze Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life and dispute several of its claims — among them a belief that in order to be moral, one must deny evolution.
Carl Sagan: A Universe Not Made for Us
Words from Carl Sagan over images.
Just how special are human beings? Is there any other species close to us?
Savage-Rumbaugh asks whether uniquely human traits, and other animals’ behaviors, are hardwired by species. Then she rolls a video that makes you think: maybe not. The bonobo apes she works with understand spoken English. One follows her instructions to take a cigarette lighter from her pocket and use it to start a fire. Bonobos are shown making tools, drawing symbols to communicate, and playing Pac-Man — all tasks learned just by watching. Maybe it’s not always biology that causes a species to act as it does, she suggests. Maybe it’s cultural exposure to how things are done.
