Twit, Twitter, Twittest
Aug. 8th, 2013 06:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
steepholmI had hoped that after his Dear Muslima letter a couple of years ago Richard Dawkins might manage to stop being so shrill and strident. I hoped in vain. Today he apparently tweeted:
First, let me note that Trinity College has never won a Nobel Prize, even if some of its graduates and Fellows have. Since institutions regularly win Nobels, the point is worth making. And yes, I know it's only 140 characters, but no one forced Dawkins to use Twitter.
So what's he saying here? As the screenshot shows, several of his more adulatory groupies have taken the line that if something is factual, no one can possibly object to it. Context, implication, intent - all these are irrelevant in respect of the grand shining Fact, to which we should all do unthinking obeisance.
I'm uncertain whether Dawkins is more or less subtle than his disciples. If tomorrow he tweets that black people have comparatively flat noses, we'll know for sure. Until then, I'll provisionally adopt the more obvious interpretation, which is that he is a tedious old bigot.
All the world's Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.
First, let me note that Trinity College has never won a Nobel Prize, even if some of its graduates and Fellows have. Since institutions regularly win Nobels, the point is worth making. And yes, I know it's only 140 characters, but no one forced Dawkins to use Twitter.
So what's he saying here? As the screenshot shows, several of his more adulatory groupies have taken the line that if something is factual, no one can possibly object to it. Context, implication, intent - all these are irrelevant in respect of the grand shining Fact, to which we should all do unthinking obeisance.
I'm uncertain whether Dawkins is more or less subtle than his disciples. If tomorrow he tweets that black people have comparatively flat noses, we'll know for sure. Until then, I'll provisionally adopt the more obvious interpretation, which is that he is a tedious old bigot.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-09 12:01 am (UTC)