No one gets it right all the time, and people should never be held to impossible standards. Only religion attempts to do that. In the aggregate, Daniel Dennett's work weighs heavily on the positives side of the scale.
I learned of Dan's death right after I had sent him an email about a minor tax issue, relating to the business we formed for the play. We only talked about our mutual interests; I had no knowledge of his comments on trans issues.
This is Daniel Dennett in a sentence. He always seemed to be soft-spoken, perhaps not as brash as Hitchens or as showy as Sam Harris, but he knew how to make a statement and make it stick. He had no time for bullshit or ignorance, and he knew well how to counter both.
And we're gonna miss him like all get-out. Thanks for what you brought to us, Daniel. We owe you a lot.
"identity politics and cancel culture had βtorn apartβ the Humanist movement" β this grinds my gears almost as much as "the MSM won't tell you this but ..." (when 10 seconds of googling proves them wrong.)
1. People who claim to have been "cancelled" always seem to find a platform somewhere from which they can bore us to death. Often from the MSM.
2. If "identities" got the same results from the political process as everyone else, there would be no identity politics. But they don't, so there is. And they're probably always will be because that's the nature of politics.
I get tired of reminding these arseholes that it was identity politics that got women the vote and improved the lives of black Americans in the 1950s and 60s. The fact that there is institutional racism today, means that identity politics are needed. So fuck 'em.
I think it is one of the FRIENDLY ATHEIST's most appealing strengths that he is sensitive and nuanced in his views in ways both insightful and compassionate. Kindness is most appreciated in the presence of cold reason and hard facts. Dennett was a brave contributor to a better future. Thanks Hemant!
No, no, no - remember, figures like Dennett, Harris, and Dawkins are our prophets, our idols, our paragons of atheism. It is a blasphemous sin to criticize or question anything they say or do. We must - must I say! - revere them as flawless exemplars, the shining white templars of our atheist religion!
I had never heard of the man before today, and it sounds like he did a lot of good work, but I find it troubling that Hemant seemed almost to dismiss his anti-trans views. On one hand he mentioned it, which apparently few others did, but he seemed to have an 'Oh, Grandpa' attitude when talking about it.
Dennett sounds like a man who could've been educated, not locked into his bigotry and would have benefited from getting to know a trans person or two.
Yet another confirmation of my oft-repeated admonishment: Never make ANYONE into your hero. Luminaries can illuminate some things for us, but not everything. They may be brilliant in their field, but they are fallible and limited like everyone else. Accept from them what is valuable and beneficial to you, but never automatically assume that everything they say and do will be correct and proper. Daniel Dennett's work was and will remain of great value and benefit to people wanting to improve how they think. We can honor him by forgiving him for his biases and errors, and by not discarding all of his gifts.
Breaking the spell is one of my favorite treatments of 'the new atheism'. When I was young my paternal GF was a Madeline Murray O'Hara in-your-face atheist. My maternal grandparents were very soft-spoken about their non-belief. I never could believe because of the lack of any proof and the whole problem of theodicy. I think I shall reread Dennett.
Dennett also wrote a book titled "Consciousness Explained" that is a very interesting explanation for how we created the reality that allows for religion and beliefs manifest.
No one gets it right all the time, and people should never be held to impossible standards. Only religion attempts to do that. In the aggregate, Daniel Dennett's work weighs heavily on the positives side of the scale.
I learned of Dan's death right after I had sent him an email about a minor tax issue, relating to the business we formed for the play. We only talked about our mutual interests; I had no knowledge of his comments on trans issues.
There's an obituary of him at the NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/books/daniel-dennett-dead.html?searchResultPosition=1 (subscribers only). I will sorely miss him. What a great guy he was.
π·πππππ‘π‘ πππ π πππππππππππ‘ πππ ππ₯ππππππππ βππ€ ππππππ ππ’πβπ‘ π‘π π‘βπππ ππππ’π‘ ππππππππ π€ππ‘βππ’π‘ βππ‘π‘πππ πππππππ ππ£ππ π‘βπ βπππ π€ππ‘β ππ‘.
This is Daniel Dennett in a sentence. He always seemed to be soft-spoken, perhaps not as brash as Hitchens or as showy as Sam Harris, but he knew how to make a statement and make it stick. He had no time for bullshit or ignorance, and he knew well how to counter both.
And we're gonna miss him like all get-out. Thanks for what you brought to us, Daniel. We owe you a lot.
POOW WIDDLE djt.
βI wouldnβt believe him if his tongue was notarized.β
β Prospective juror.
"identity politics and cancel culture had βtorn apartβ the Humanist movement" β this grinds my gears almost as much as "the MSM won't tell you this but ..." (when 10 seconds of googling proves them wrong.)
1. People who claim to have been "cancelled" always seem to find a platform somewhere from which they can bore us to death. Often from the MSM.
2. If "identities" got the same results from the political process as everyone else, there would be no identity politics. But they don't, so there is. And they're probably always will be because that's the nature of politics.
I get tired of reminding these arseholes that it was identity politics that got women the vote and improved the lives of black Americans in the 1950s and 60s. The fact that there is institutional racism today, means that identity politics are needed. So fuck 'em.
I think it is one of the FRIENDLY ATHEIST's most appealing strengths that he is sensitive and nuanced in his views in ways both insightful and compassionate. Kindness is most appreciated in the presence of cold reason and hard facts. Dennett was a brave contributor to a better future. Thanks Hemant!
No, no, no - remember, figures like Dennett, Harris, and Dawkins are our prophets, our idols, our paragons of atheism. It is a blasphemous sin to criticize or question anything they say or do. We must - must I say! - revere them as flawless exemplars, the shining white templars of our atheist religion!
Now where *did* all this straw come from?
I had never heard of the man before today, and it sounds like he did a lot of good work, but I find it troubling that Hemant seemed almost to dismiss his anti-trans views. On one hand he mentioned it, which apparently few others did, but he seemed to have an 'Oh, Grandpa' attitude when talking about it.
Dennett sounds like a man who could've been educated, not locked into his bigotry and would have benefited from getting to know a trans person or two.
OT
Birthday Number 77 for Iggy Pop
https://youtu.be/3mZ0sSStW6Y
Yet another confirmation of my oft-repeated admonishment: Never make ANYONE into your hero. Luminaries can illuminate some things for us, but not everything. They may be brilliant in their field, but they are fallible and limited like everyone else. Accept from them what is valuable and beneficial to you, but never automatically assume that everything they say and do will be correct and proper. Daniel Dennett's work was and will remain of great value and benefit to people wanting to improve how they think. We can honor him by forgiving him for his biases and errors, and by not discarding all of his gifts.
Trump bond fraudsters.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4606053-ny-ag-trump-civil-fraud-judge-declare-175m-bond-without-effect/?
I read Dennett['s "Caught in the Pulpit a couple years ago. Great stories of those who lost their superstition and found the light of reason.
We are real people.
https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/439311874_3204952619638082_5096782157644946272_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=Eeyhkbc8o4QAb51nNxS&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfA2wK4ZgF_TiU9QSnFooZtZFfXZrHlo-zmA8hNilRUvqQ&oe=6629B41F
He made the world a better place. The world is poorer without him.
Breaking the spell is one of my favorite treatments of 'the new atheism'. When I was young my paternal GF was a Madeline Murray O'Hara in-your-face atheist. My maternal grandparents were very soft-spoken about their non-belief. I never could believe because of the lack of any proof and the whole problem of theodicy. I think I shall reread Dennett.
Dennett also wrote a book titled "Consciousness Explained" that is a very interesting explanation for how we created the reality that allows for religion and beliefs manifest.