On February 12, I presented the Darwin Day Lecture, an annual event of the estimable British Humanist Association (BHA). The venue was The Institute of Education, part of University College London, and my title was “Evolution and Atheism: Best friends forever?” I originally didn’t have the question mark, but they asked me to put it in, perhaps to hedge my original declarative title.
The theme was how and why both the facts of evolution and the implications of evolution discomfit religious people, and, at the end, how we can promote the acceptance of evolution, the decline of religion, and the flourishing of humanism. Much of the material in the talk is new, and my self-appointed task was to connect the resistance to accepting evolution with the topic of humanism. That nexus is drawn at the end.
You can judge how well I succeeded: I won’t, because, as usual, I can’t bear to watch myself speak. I did watch the introduction so I could remember the order of speakers. Robert Ashby, chair of the Trustees of the BHA, spoke first, and announced that Richard Dawkins, who was supposed to introduce me as “chair”, was ill. But I had a great substitute: Steve Jones, an old friend and a collaborator in field work on fly migration. Steve is a natural comedian, and his introduction, discussing how he’d been repeatedly mistaken for Richard, was hilarious. Steve is a hard act to follow!
The moderator for the post-talk questions was Alice Roberts, an anatomist, Professor of Public Engagement at the University of Birmingham, and a very popular television presenter of science shows in the UK. She’s a devout secularist (excuse the oxymoron), and, as I hadn’t met her before, we had a nice chat after my talk.
Well, here it is. If it’s slow and disjointed, I was talking on very little sleep. There were also some problems with advancing the slides, but, since I’m not gonna watch this, I’m not sure whether they edited them out. I’lll add that the audience (1000+) was the largest audience I’ve had whose first language was English, exceeded only by a talk on evolution a few years back at the Middle East Technical University (1200 or so). The BHA audience size can’t be attributed to me: the Darwin Day lectures are always sold out, for the British Humanists are a science-friendly bunch.
Before the talk: Steve Jones and Robert Ashby.
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Unfortunately that question mark more closely resembles what Jon Stewart called a Cavuto mark.
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Of the three definitions Merriam-Webster gives for “devout”, “devout secularist” makes perfect sense.
Go for it.
W H O A, Dr Coyne !
“And that’s pretty sad.”
Of Americans only 12%, one in eight, believe that in students’ science classrooms, “only evolution” (and not it PLUS pieces / parts of religious ideologies, too !) should be taught. “This is really bad.”
Yeah.
I haven’t viewed all of your lesson. I cannot. In one go.
I shall take a break, go scrub the dishes or something and come back to the rest of it later. Cuz it is so, so disheartening these statistics.
(Darling Dr Jones’ introduction, however ! = TRUE !)
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But younger Americans are less and less adhering to traditional religious groups so that is surely a plus…
Don’t worry Jerry, all the problems with the slides and a few other bumps have been edited out.
I was at the talk and actually the problems with the sizes are rather amusing, a sort of antidote to slickness.
Jerry, please elaborate on your tie knot!
Double Windsor, collar button open because I hate to be choked.
Double Windsor is the knot!
I quite agree. But was it a silk tie?
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Of course. That’s the only kind of tie I have (with a very few exceptions).
The “best” answer would be: What else are ties made of? 😀
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Ingersoll was a great way to conclude!
In response to the introduction: I’ve also used bananas as fruit fly bait. Not for science, but because I had that kind of roommate and the flies were quite attracted to the smell of the alcohol markers I was working with. He left out a half eaten banana like he always did, I placed it in a bag and left it overnight, then harvested my flies in the morning.
It was fascinating to actually be there in London for the talk, and great to now have the talk recorded so I can go back over the huge amount of information presented at my leisure. Thank you.
It may not have been perfect but I don’t think you could get any closer. The right person for the right job.
Many thanks for an excellent lecture. I need to watch it again.
The quote about needing a destructive monologue was freakin’ brilliant I had to go back and listen to it again a couple times. Bravo.
So glad to have access to your talk. Would have loved to been there in person. However, I listened to it while driving and could only try and visualize the slides. Now I have to play it again. This time in front of a screen :o)
Very nice talk!
I was at the lecture but have really enjoyed watching it again.
One big advantage of attending was being able to get a signed copy of WEIT, together with drawing of cat!
Actually a stimulating talk containing much useful information. Does a transcript exist?
Nope; I don’t write out talks.
Great talk. Congratulations.
Fantastic lecture.
It was a fine talk & Steve Jones has a terrible (in a good way) sense of humour! Alice Roberts is very lovely too. A very good artist – look at the sketches in some of her books… she is a prolific author as well as her teaching & TV & having a family.
Excellent talk, and I particularly liked the way you rounded it off at the end with a plea for universal healthcare and an end to income inequality, as a way to end religiosity and promote acceptance of evolution.
Thank you for an excellent lecture. My claim to fame is now that moment when I handed you my book and told you my name was Will. I wish I had talked for a few seconds longer, but my mind went blank.
I’ve finally had a block of time to view the whole thing and it was an excellent lecture, Dr. Coyne. I saw no flubs with the slides, so that’s been cleaned up as someone else said. Just a small feedback that I hope you might find helpful… Whenever you expressively cover your mouth with your hand or fingers, the volume tended to fall off a bit, and I had to listen very closely or play back. You do talk fluently and eloquently, if on the fast side compared to other people. So I was wondering if it might help to try a second mike standing on the opposite side of the stage, to catch the sections when you turn your head to look at the slides. Even with the clip on, a few sections were a tad muffled.
Thanks for posting this great talk.
… I meant ‘second standing mike’…