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Tequila
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26 Apr 2013, 9:35 am

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Richard Dawkins voted top 'world thinker'
  • Famous atheist author Richard Dawkins has been named the world's top thinker in a global vote that counted 10,000 voices from over 100 countries.
When Richard Dawkins, the Oxford evolutionary biologist, coined the term 'meme' in The Selfish Gene 37 years ago, he can't have anticipated its current popularity as a word to describe internet fads," said Prospect Magazine, which conducted the poll, in explaining the biologist professor's popularity.

"But this is only one of the ways in which he thrives as an intellectual in the internet age. He is also prolific on Twitter, with more than half a million followers – and his success in this poll attests to his popularity online. He uses this platform to attack his old foe, religion, and to promote science and rationalism."

The author of The God Delusion is one of the leaders of the New Atheist movement, and has based his career on trying to show how life and the universe can be explained entirely by secular science, rejecting all supernatural explanations.



ruveyn
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26 Apr 2013, 9:45 am

I admire Dawkin's writing and all that, but Number One Thinker?

ruveyn



TheValk
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26 Apr 2013, 9:55 am

That's a bit sad, but then again, among whom do you choose in this age?



Shatbat
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26 Apr 2013, 9:59 am

ruveyn wrote:
I admire Dawkin's writing and all that, but Number One Thinker?

ruveyn


Basically this. I enjoy reading his writings, and I can't deny he is very smart, but I wonder what is it that makes him THE number one.


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mikassyna
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26 Apr 2013, 10:02 am

I think Stephen Hawking is way, way smarter



mikassyna
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26 Apr 2013, 10:03 am

Shatbat wrote:
but I wonder what is it that makes him THE number one.


He was able to sell a lot of books
He probably socializes and networks and markets himself well
That's about it



GGPViper
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26 Apr 2013, 10:30 am

mikassyna wrote:
Shatbat wrote:
but I wonder what is it that makes him THE number one.

He was able to sell a lot of books
He probably socializes and networks and markets himself well
That's about it

He has also dedicated his career to defending science against its enemies.

In other words, Dawkins is out there making sure that all those scientists who are smarter than him can dedicate their great minds to scientific work without being harassed...

But I digress... Prospect Magazine is not the ultimate arbiter on who is or is not an intellectual thinker, so people are free to agree or disagree with their rankings as much as they like...



Last edited by GGPViper on 26 Apr 2013, 10:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

VIDEODROME
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26 Apr 2013, 10:34 am

Could it partly be from repeatedly debating?

Also, what he supports in his debates is basically Reason. So he is out there in defense of Critical Thinking instead of Faith.



BeautifulTechno
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26 Apr 2013, 11:58 am

mikassyna wrote:
I think Stephen Hawking is way, way smarter


I agree. Nevertheless, Dawkins did have his contribution to the scientific community and he was very influent(oh yes, a bit controversial).

Christopher Hitchens is a fabulous thinker too, one of my favourites.



OliveOilMom
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26 Apr 2013, 12:18 pm

Jesus I'm an idiot. y first thought was "He's just the host of Family Feud, he's not THAT smart! They give him the answers!"


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Tequila
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26 Apr 2013, 12:59 pm

BeautifulTechno wrote:
Christopher Hitchens is a fabulous thinker too, one of my favourites.


Was, you mean. He died in December 2011.



VIDEODROME
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26 Apr 2013, 1:18 pm

I wish Dawkins could debate the Pope.



Robdemanc
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26 Apr 2013, 1:24 pm

I would say he's a good candidate for number one thinker. I admire him a lot.



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26 Apr 2013, 1:59 pm

VIDEODROME wrote:
I wish Dawkins could debate the Pope.
I wish he debated against the Black Hebrew Isrealites that preach hatred in Times Square!


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boywonder
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26 Apr 2013, 3:10 pm

Awards are often given for political reasons



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26 Apr 2013, 4:32 pm

Number 1 Thinker? No way.

A great Christian apologist debater like William Lane Craig could easily defeat him in an official debate because he actually sucks at philosophical arguments.