Know about Richard Dawkins's views on atheism and his idea of religion as a virus
Learn about Richard Dawkins's objections to religious belief.
© Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Gemini is the third sign of the zodiac, said to govern between May 21 and June 21.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.An extra day is added to the calendar about every four years. Why?
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about the life and thought of René Descartes.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.How did a Christian holiday get scrambled up with colored eggs?
-
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzLearn about the history of Hanukkah.
-
© Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Learn about Karl Marx's opposition to religion.
-
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Bequest of George D. Pratt, 1935 (41.170.72)Learn about religion in the Middle Ages.
Transcript
60-Second Adventures in Religion. Number Four, Religion as a Virus. Richard Dawkins is an atheist evolutionary biologist and probably not someone you should ask to be a godfather. He said that religion and science can't sit side by side because belief in God doesn't stand up to scientific scrutiny.
But religion is still so popular because it's like a virus, with an innate desire to spread itself and its various symptoms, like believing in things without any scientific evidence and judging people with different beliefs. Like a successful gene, this cultural phenomenon or meme has features that made it likely to be passed on, like being adopted by music or art, or threatening that non-believers will be put to death.
Dawkins's ideas have been pretty successful at spreading themselves. Nowadays, he's more widely known for his views on atheism than his work on evolution, although for book sales, he's got a long way to go to catch up on religion. Maybe he should try some viral marketing.
But religion is still so popular because it's like a virus, with an innate desire to spread itself and its various symptoms, like believing in things without any scientific evidence and judging people with different beliefs. Like a successful gene, this cultural phenomenon or meme has features that made it likely to be passed on, like being adopted by music or art, or threatening that non-believers will be put to death.
Dawkins's ideas have been pretty successful at spreading themselves. Nowadays, he's more widely known for his views on atheism than his work on evolution, although for book sales, he's got a long way to go to catch up on religion. Maybe he should try some viral marketing.