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originally posted in:Secular Sevens
4/25/2013 10:49:46 PM
30
Richard Dawkins named world's top thinker in poll
[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2013/apr/25/richard-dawkins-named-top-thinker]Linky[/url]
[quote]When Prospect magazine listed Britain's leading public intellectuals in 2004 and invited readers' votes, it was Richard Dawkins who emerged as No 1. Nine years on, the biologist, author and campaigner has bettered that by topping its "world thinkers" rankings, beating four Nobel prize winners (and another contender regarded as certain to receive one soon) in a poll based on 65 names chosen by a largely US- and UK-based expert panel.
Joining him in the top 10 are the psychologists Steven Pinker (3) and Daniel Kahneman (10), the economists Paul Krugman (5) and Amartya Sen (7) and the philosopher Slavoj Žižek (6), who all, like him, figured in the magazine's first list of world-class thinkers in 2005.
To qualify for this year's world thinkers rankings, it was not enough to have written a seminal book, inspired an intellectual movement or won a Nobel prize several years ago (hence the absence from the 65-strong long list of ageing titans such as Noam Chomsky or Edward O Wilson); the selectors' remit ruthlessly insisted on "influence over the past 12 months" and "significance to the year's biggest questions".
As for Dawkins, the continuation of wars of religion and terrorist atrocities informed by it means his atheist crusade remains relevant to the year's biggest questions, despite the end of the Bible-bashing, war-mongering Bush era in which he first raised his banner – this week his 670,000 Twitter followers could find him (between musings about socks) rejoicing in France's legalisation of gay marriage, ridiculing a journalist's Muslim beliefs, and retweeting a story that the older Boston bomber "was angry that the world pictured Islam as a violent religion". On Monday, no doubt manfully resisting efforts to deify or idolise him, the world No 1 will attend the premiere in Toronto of a documentary about his roadshow (with Lawrence Krauss) promoting science and reason.[/quote]I commend thee, Mr. Dawkins.
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2 RepliesUgh. I have yet to realize why the scientific community still regales an egotisitcal elitist dumbass like Richard Dawkins.
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Dawkins is remarkably bright, but I disagree with his number 1 ranking. His publicity has largely spawned from his controversial views on religion.
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1 Replyalso: [quote]the philosopher Slavoj Žižek (6)[/quote] huehuehue, funny dude
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Praise be upon our Lord God Savior BAMF Sir Isaac Newton!!!!
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Edited by Diplomat: 4/26/2013 9:26:07 PMDear God no, Stephan Pinker or Krugman should have been given the award. Dawkins is by no means the world's top thinker, he's just a guy who has been a decent proponent of atheism for the past decade. His thoughts on atheism are by no means ground breaking, nor is his research on evolutionary biology. I think his most influential work has been coining the term "meme", but that was over two decades ago.
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They picked a guy who could be the best candidate for the title of "extremist Athiest" While I admire him for his intelligence, he certainly isn't helping to cool the fires.
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3 RepliesThis is so -blam!-ing wrong. Our Lord God Savior Isaac Newton was the greatest thinker to have ever lived!!! BLASPHEMY!!!! KILL THE BLASPHEMERS!!! SHUN THE NON-BELIEVERS!!!
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I thought the internet demographic liked him because of his disagreements with religion.
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Criteria: "influence over the past 12 months" and "significance to the year's biggest questions". Dawkins will do.
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pffft
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lol dawkins fanboys
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How was the poll conducted? Given that Dawkins has an almost fanatical fanbase, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of rally to vote for him (if it was an internet poll).
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Edited by Cosmic Rayne: 4/26/2013 5:21:01 AMOut of all the people, he wins? Did he even release any new papers or books lately? I mean yeah, he's a good biologist, but he's not really top tier.
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Well that's cool, congrats to him.
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9 RepliesThis is stupid. Dawkins is smart to be sure, but he's definitely not in Stephen Hawking's league. Nobody is.
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Inspiring
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I agree with those who have stated that there are others who deserve the award more.
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oh boy, here we go
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Well, he meets the criteria. I'm glad Pinker and Amartya Sen made the list. It's too bad Krugman hasn't been more influential.
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Edited by God: 4/25/2013 11:03:16 PMDon't bawk with the Dawk.
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i do not aprove
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I could beat Dawkins in a smart off, I mean after all I am the 2012 smart off victor.
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Edited by Winy: 4/25/2013 11:32:01 PMDon't think he deserves this. Smart guy, but I can think of a few others that are more worthy of having their intellectual prowess acknowledged.
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2 RepliesHe's a smart man, but there's many people that deserve that praise more that him.
