Richard Dawkins

Episode EF4 is dedicated to Richard Dawkins, a British evolutionary biologist, and reason-fanatic who, like Ian Ament in Episode EF4, might be willing to cut off his head if it would prove something fundamental about science. It would have to be something dear to his heart, however; perhaps something like disproving the existence of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Dawkins coined the term meme just like Monty Python coined spam. His work on popularizing the gene as the central unit of evolutionary selection puts him on ‘Darwin of the modern era’ lists, at least in the popular sphere. And similar to the ubiquitous utility of the word spam in an internet flooded with junk, the word meme is synonymous with the current fake news epoch. It’s also likely to be the key concept for which Dawkins will be known.

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EF4 Show Notes

DEDICATION: Episode EF4 is dedicated to Richard Dawkins, a British biologist, and a reason-fanatic atheist who might just cut off his head to prove something fundamental about science–for example, like to prove there is no such thing as the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Similarly, the Episode EF4 protagonist goes all in to shake the very foundation of humanity without questioning the possible downsides or what might physically happen to him. Progress, it seems, only has a single direction.

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(EF4) S1-E2: The Decapitation of Reason A Skeptics Guide The Evolve Faster Podcast with Scott Ely Season One

EF4 (S1-E2): The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide

At the height of his success, a controversial philosopher named Ian Ament reveals a dangerous plan to do a head transplant swap with his brother. Nobody knows why and both the scientific and medical communities at large are concerned. In a tense live interview with a potential surgeon named Ross Hunter, Ament methodically explains his reasoning to the world. Yet his reasons only bring more questions. Is there something more behind Ament’s plan? For the next 60 minutes of this interview, the historical arc of reason—and Ian’s head—are both on the chopping block as we wait to find out if the ax will fall.

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