Cheap Cds - The Richard Dawkins Collection (The Genius of Charles Darwin, The Enemies of Reason and The Root of All Evil?)

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Summary: Rational thought in irrational times
Comment: When it comes to God, Richard Dawkins is very clear that we can't disprove a God, but neither can we
disprove an orbiting tea-pot around Mars (See what he did there? Although apparently it's fine and
rational to muse upon an unprovable and convenient possibility like a 'multiverse', but that's
because a 'multiverse' is sensible where as the tea pot analogy is purposefully stupid. See again
what he did there? He does that a lot, especially in 'The God Delusion') nor can we sit back and
allow religious loons to kill us because we don't believe what they do and vice versa. The fact
that Richard Dawkins isn't telling us anything new is testament to the power of these 3
documentaries provided in this boxed set. And even though I don't agree with everything he says, or
where his arguements sometimes lead, I feel that Prof. Dawkins is the nearest thing we godless
heathens have to a national treasure.

In this set you get the excellent 'Root of all
Evil?', the so-so 'Enemies of Reason' and the dividing 'Genius of Charles Darwin'. Personally I
really liked 'Genius' where as others thought it less about Darwin and more about Richard Dawkins
attacking religion again. Well, judging by some of the idiots in this documentary - and the
alarming interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury who blatantly doesn't take anything he teaches
literally but is on too much money to say otherwise - frankly they deserve it. In fact, it is
painful to watch some of the interviews because many seem to be brainwashed and lacking any genuine
passion (or evidence), just as Dawkins springs to life about evolution and backs it all up with more
evidence than you can shake a fossil at.

Of course he injects Darwinian evolution with
his own 'selfish gene' reading of the process, no other view is covered, although a critic of this
view engages in a chat with dawkins over a gorilla or two.

On the downside, some of the
camerawork on 'Genius' is appalling. It's as if nobody could be bothered to think ahead and plan
out shots, or even edit around gaffes in post. Dawkins at the piano and the interview with Daniel
Dennett (especially where the cameraman - seemingly drunk - staggers in between the 'over the
shoulder' shots) is pretty shoddy.

'Enemies of Reason' is perhaps an easier shot at
irrational thought than religion or a belief in God. It's pretty unremarkable to be honest. The
only noteworthy aspect of the programme is the disclosure of just how much taxpayers money goes into
loony practices on the NHS and how a 'guru' like Deepak Chopra makes gazillions on the back of the
seemingly endless gumph he writes and lectures about.

Okay, so it's a mixed bag.
Hardened fans of Dawkins (usually people that go around quoting dawkins and saying how silly tea
pots are, along with faeries and unicornzzz-z-z-z) will lap it up. Most other reasonable free
thinking humanists will see it all for its strengths and flaws.

Customer Rating:

Summary: 2 Disc Set!
Comment: I've checked on other sites and can confirm it is definitely a 2 disc set with 9hrs content (not 1
disc as stated above). I missed the last episode on channel four so I'm looking forward to my boxed
set of the series, as I thoroughly enjoyed the first two episodes.

Customer Rating:

Summary: The uncomfortable truth
Comment: Cuddly he aint! Richard Dawkins reminds me of a former work colleague (a palaeontologist as it
happens) who never let sensitivities get in the way of winning an argument. But, uncomfortable
though his words may be for many devout people, Richard exposes the difference between ideas based
on blind trust (faith), self-delusion (alternative medicine) and those based on mountains of
peer-reviewed researched evidence(such as evolution).

This DVD set is bound to have
religious fundamentalists and mystics foaming at the mouth so watch out for their reviews trying to
bring it down. Richard takes on his opponents with unnerving calm and some get quite upset. Prepare
to be enlightened by a surgically precise dismantling of religious dogma and pseudo-scientific
'alternative' nonsense, followed by the presentation of reasoned fact in its place.

As
Dawkins has said, the reality is wonderful enough without having to invent any more of it. />

Customer Rating:

Summary: A voice of reason.
Comment: Often reviled by religionists foaming at the mouth by his calmly reasoned heresy, Dawkins gamely
tries to promote science - which provides irrefutable evidence for evolution despite the oft
repeated strawman arguments of the creationists who'd sooner we revert to idiocy than acknowledge
reality - over the irrational and often offensive beliefs of those indoctrinated into bronze age
thinking, where all the wonders and marvels of the universe, instead of being explored and
understood, are blindly attributed to a magic sky-fairy, who is probably the most unpleasant
character in popular fiction.

These programs are fascinating, thought provoking, and
long overdue.

The inexplicable rise of christian neo-fascism in america, with threats
of ID being taught in schools, and creationist museums springing up depicting some kind of lunatic
live-action flintsones with cavemen and dinosaurs living together as a factual rendition of the past
(despite the 65 million year gap in time)- its time to address these delusional belief systems,
which far from being just a useful tool for social control and personal comfort, seems increasingly
intent on bringing violence, terrorism, racism, homophobia and mysogonism to us all.
/>While science doesn't yet provide the answers to *all* the big questions - it has emphatically
answered how mankind came into existence, where the planet earth came from and approximately how old
it is.

Also - unlike the best selling religious texts - scientific work is updated and
revised to stay at the forefront of human knowledge, rather than being rooted thousands of years in
the past.

Dawkins beliefs aren't "beliefs" - they require no "faith" - its not a system
- its not a form of "religion"; its simply how things are in reality. A lot of people would sooner
bury their heads in the sand rather than go to a museum or read a science book.
/>Dawkins may not be the most diplomatic or unbiased of commentators (!) but established religion
has only relatively recently stopped murdering non-believers. Thankfully - its about time we heard
an educated perspective, rather then mumbo jumbo.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Truth
Comment: Dawkins comments on belief systems are consise, refreshing and hit their mark with perfect accuracy.
The reaction he gets from "religious" folk is wonderful and speaks volumes about the doubt he
instills in them.
Brilliant stuff

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