Michael Powell profiles Richard Dawkins

Enjoyed this piece on Richard Dawkins, A Knack for Bashing Orthodoxy, by Michael Powell. Powell’s piece reminds us that Dawkins was never much of a scientist, but was a terrific synthesizer, and that we need synthesizers like Dawkins to create the path for new, complex ideas.

It also shows how Dawkins can be an extremist in some regards, and reasonable and engaging on others. Powell even manages to get Dawkins to say something not negative about Simon Conway Morris, who believes in God perhaps as passionately as Dawkins does not.

The piece includes a useful video interview about Dawkins moving to atheism. He’s no more convincing than Francis Collins on becoming a believer. I suppose that’s just me.