The title of this book was almost the subtitle of this newsletter. While a lot is said about judging books by their covers, enough isn’t declared about the power of titles. In this case, the appealing title and the alluring author were more than enough to earn my purchase and devoted reading.
Dawkins’ influence in a wide variety of fields is best captured through these essays. On a more important level, he charmingly illustrates not just what kind of problems exist but also how to approach them in a critical and scientific fashion.
As an educator, I aspire to achieve the sort of clarity that Dawkins champions in these pages. His wit and sarcasm are typical of a British intellectual and one is glad that he does not hold back when it comes to criticizing stupidity and fundamentalism in equal measure.
The Humanities Debate
In a prior post about his book The Selfish Gene, I singled out his perspective towards a certain section of the humanities. A kind commentator even initiated a good discussion on the topic.
Some of the essays in this collection flesh out my argument better. Dawkins has no time for some of the more absurd sections of anthropologists, postmodernists, gender-theorists, and literary ‘theorists’ (the emphasis is Dawkins’- a subtle attempt at sarcasm).
I empathize with his frustration but still maintain that the best possible academic worldview is one that takes both sides into account and in good stride. Gad Saad’s “evolutionary literary criticism” as espoused in a section of his Consuming Instinct is a fair example.
At his core-though, Dawkins is anti-stupidity and not anti-humanities.
Great Minds and Great Thoughts
A format of collected essays and writings is often decried by readers as an attempt by writers to rehash old content and sell them anew. In fact, if writing works out the way I hope it will for me, I would not be surprised if posts of this newsletter make for an excellent special edition compiled paperback.
However, I feel that through the diversity of these pages I was introduced to numerous other thinkers and writers who Dawkins deeply admires (and in some cases deeply disdains). Plenty of new content was unlocked through reading this book and numerous mind-boggling examples collected to unleash upon the classroom.
I may change my mind regarding the collected non-fiction genre after all. (Neil Gaiman’s excellent The View From the Cheap Seats, however, was always a happy exception.)
Do furnish your life with books and think of starting with this one rather than some of Dawkins’ heavier offerings. While you are at it, furnish this post with a like, comment, and a follow- it is for science.
Keep reading and keep thinking.