The Four Horsemen HD: Hour 1 of 2 – Discussions with Richard Dawkins, Ep 1
richarddawkins.net – On the 30th of September 2007, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens sat down for a first-of-its-kind, unmoderated 2-hour discussion, convened by RDFRS and filmed by Josh Timonen. All four authors have recently received a large amount of media attention for their writings against religion – some positive, and some negative. In this conversation the group trades stories of the public’s reaction to their recent books, their unexpected successes, criticisms and common misrepresentations. They discuss the tough questions about religion that face the world today, and propose new strategies for going forward. This video is provided free online by The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (RDFRS) and http . If you would like to support our work and help us provide more videos like this, please purchase the DVD through our online store richarddawkins.net and/or consider donating to RDFRS: richarddawkinsfoundation.org Books by these authors: “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins “The End of Faith” by Sam Harris “Letter to a Christian Nation” by Sam Harris “God is Not Great” by Christopher Hitchens “Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon” by Daniel Dennett Filmed and Edited by Josh Timonen
Tagged with: Dawkins • Discussions • Four • Horsemen • hour • Richard
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@Calhor It’s like the unplugged version of your favourite music album, lol. I think musicians would have more to drink though, hahaha. Only one drink guys? Come on. Maybe hour 2 will more intoxicating… no pun intended.
19:43 The bearded fellow makes an excellent comparison between organised religion and everyday con artsits.
The 17:20 Tom Harris’s wise words on the deadly self-deception machine instigated inappropriately by the ingrained idea that evidence is unnecessary and that there’s (erroneously so) something “noble” about not using evidence is dangerous, the basis of the perpetuation of a lot of religion, but brilliantly dissected and dismantled by Sam.
@JimHisself Well, I don’t think it’s “profuse” intelellctual radiation, but there’s unquestionably a lot of high IQs controlling the voices at the table!
@masteroftheobvious86 why does one assume that god rewards us based on our belief alone? perhaps he rewards intellectual honesty and rationalism? or perhaps she rewards those who die glorious deaths in battle. or maybe god reserves special places in heaven for the best-dressed guys and gals of the season.
@masteroftheobvious86
Do you think you would earn your reward for acting like you believe for safety’s sake, while not truly believing…
Its not really belief if you believe only because of fear…though i feel you must realize this…if god exists he would see right through your lip service and ask you why you didnt believe.
Im not sure if your comment was facetious…if it was i apologize
@masteroftheobvious86 Well, the problem with Pascal’s Wager is that it assumes that the possibility of both scenarios are equal in probability. But that doesn’t work. I am, according to what I’ve seen, positive that the chances that there is no afterlife are much greater than the opposite. By how much, I can’t really say, but I’m sure it’s somewhere around 99:1.
I used to think that the way Hitch always interrupts his oppenent to make one more point was a brilliant tactical strategy meant to take control of a discussion, but seeing the way he interrupts Dennett makes me think that that’s just the way he is. Ideas just keep coming and they must get out.
43:14 ouch
I like reading how everyone has a favorite horseman. haha. Im going with Sam Harris!
These guys seem to miss the fact that many “religious” people are terrified of social ostracism.
Re: free will. I would argue that the fact that you can choose whether or not to believe an idea proves free will absolutely. The fact that we have debate at all proves that we have the ability to alter our behaviour, even our very thoughts, as an act of volition. If there were no free will people wouldn’t lose their faith because they COULDN’T lose it. This is one of many points where I disagree with Mr Dennet, although we seem to agree absolutely about religion.
Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins especially are wonderful. However, all four of them make great point at some point during this conversation.
I often contemplate, what if I’m wrong?
And Pascale’s Wager always wins out for me, despite the fact it is totally unfit for defending my faith entirely. If I’m wrong, and when I die, I cease to exist totally, sweet! If I die and rock up at Judgement Day, then that’s even better.
But I still believe entirely that I’m not wrong, even though sensibility tells me, yes, I might be indeed wrong about this whole show.
i believe in the flying spaghetti monster, question my beliefs and make me offended.
Interesting. Good post.
Hitchens is awsome. I wish he was my father. I’m not joking.
@FCScorpio79 ,,,,,,,nice pick,,,,,Dennet really knows how to pick his spots….when he does , he`s spot on, and i`m glad he caught your att`n, …because that makes two of us…
Dennett encapsulates my thoughts entirely at 12:12.
This awesome,still cant believe if someone dont like this movie. Just watched it at Free Movie Zone . n e t
look up the endnote that sam mentions on google books. i have to share with you all now that i am now a firm believer in the divinity of the snapper filet.
jeez, turn a light on
They are so articulate and completely right. I wish people would see it as that way. Rational people would not act or react so irrationally when confronted with reason and sound logic.
Piqued by these four, four religious heads (say A, B, C and D) got together in a meeting.
A said softly: Born to a virgin, my god is, is so compassionate – he suffered for all your past, present and future sins:)
B screamed: Peace be unto him, my god is a veritable terror and he has killed many believers and disbelievers…
C chimed in : Duh, My god is so intelligent – he designed disaster, disease, death…
D quipped: But then, I have many, many gods who can do all of the above…
@Neueregel u dont know that for sure. depending on how far the cancer has spread , survival rate’s go above 70% if i remember correctly.