meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Tom Bilyeu's Impact Theory

Conversations with Tom | Richard Dawkins on Why the Truth Matters More than Ever

Tom Bilyeu's Impact Theory

Impact Theory

Education, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Technology, Society & Culture, Business, Self-improvement

4.75.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2019

⏱️ 38 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Tom with guest Richard Dawkins, one of the leaders of a group of thinkers promoting rationality and the scientific method in an era where supernatural thinking appears to be gaining steam. In this episode, Dawkins describes the awe and wonder that scientific investigation can induce, discusses the history of time, and talks about how important it is to pursue the truth. This episode is brought to you by: Impact Theory University. Check out Impact Theory University at: http://bit.ly/ImpactTheoryUniversity2 SHOW NOTES: Richard explains why truth is evolutionarily important [0:37] Richard advocates believing in evidence to avoid the echo chamber effect [1:36] Why are some people attracted to mystical answers and supernatural nonsense? [3:41] Is occasional self-delusion healthy? [4:53] Richard talks about how astronomy and astrology both tap into awe, but only one is true [6:31] Richard describes the motivation behind Outgrowing God [8:19] Richard describes the wonders of natural life [9:44] Richard shares his journey to becoming a scientist [12:38] Richard debunks the idea of intelligent design [14:37] Richard explains the history of life, and how recently human beings appeared [18:03] Richard and Tom discuss cultural adaptation [20:10] Richard strongly advocates investigating reality, and skeptical rationality [25:08] Richard and Tom discuss mentalists, conjurors, and magicians [26:00] Richard and Tom discuss whether a scientific worldview will lead to a more fulfilled life [29:55] Richard advocates that we create the purpose in our life [32:42] Richard and Tom discuss the biology of emotions, love and beauty [33:48] Richard explains how we know that evolution is real [36:24] FOLLOW RICHARD: WEBSITE: www.richarddawkins.net INSTAGRAM: https://bit.ly/33s2c8U FACEBOOK: https://bit.ly/33oxPQF TWITTER: https://bit.ly/2JXxOeU

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Everybody, welcome to another episode of Conversations with Tom.

0:03.6

I am here with the absolute legend, Richard Dawkins.

0:07.2

And we are going to be talking about his latest book, Out Growing God,

0:10.3

and hopefully a whole bunch of other things.

0:11.9

You've written such a library of seminal works that revolve around rationality,

0:17.4

the pursuit of true secularism as a power for good,

0:21.6

and wanted to dive into something that I'm particularly obsessed with,

0:27.0

which what is the advantage of truth?

0:30.9

Why do you think it's so important for people to start there?

0:34.3

From an evolutionary point of view, I think that truth probably helped you to survive.

0:40.2

I mean, you need a realistic assessment of where the lines are,

0:44.6

where the waterhole is, and all that kind of thing in our ancestral past.

0:48.1

Today, I think it's perhaps even more important,

0:50.4

where we're actually assailed by political leaders who are,

0:55.2

who believe in alternative truth, where they actually want to distort truth for their own purposes.

1:02.1

So I think the truth is the biggest weapon against demagogues.

1:05.9

And demagogues are one of the things we have to deal with today.

1:08.9

So in a world where truth is routinely distorted,

1:12.2

where you get social media rabbit holes where people can create that sort of echo chamber around themselves,

1:18.2

how do people, because I don't know that everybody ends up there on purpose to be quite frankly,

1:23.2

to be quite frank.

1:24.0

So how do you recommend people approach,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Impact Theory, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Impact Theory and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.