Skyscript Astrology Forum

This notice was sent by Mick O'Neil:

The next two Mondays at 8pm - 9pm on UK Channel 4 will see Richard Dawkins' TV shows, titled Enemies of Reason. No doubt this will
be an attack on everything from Astrology to Zoroastrianism, but best to be forewarned.

I think this is the one in which Rupert Sheldrake says when evidence was offered to Dawkins he refused to even look at it.
Nonetheless, the Channel 4(ie Dawkins') blurb below claims that "a respect for evidence is a precious commodity".
Mick


http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsi ... cpage_box3

Slaves to Superstition is on Channel 4 Mon 13 Aug 2007 8:00pm - 9:00pm; part 2 Mon 20 Aug 8:00pm - 9:00pm

In his last Channel 4 series, Root of All Evil?, the evolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins explored how organised faith
and primitive religious values blight our lives.

But the fault line runs deeper even than religion. There are two ways of looking at the world ? through faith and superstition or
through the rigours of logic, observation and evidence ? in other words, through reason. Reason and a respect for evidence are
precious commodities, the source of human progress and our safeguard against fundamentalists and those who profit from obscuring the
truth.
Richard Dawkins

Yet, today, society appears to be retreating from reason.

Apparently harmless but utterly irrational belief systems from astrology to New Age mysticism, clairvoyance to alternative health
remedies are booming.

Richard Dawkins confronts what he sees as an epidemic of irrational, superstitious thinking...

He explains the dangers the pick and mix of knowledge and nonsense poses in the internet age, and passionately re-states the case
for reason and science.

Hi Deb and All,

As AFAN's Media Watch chair, I'm be very interested in the content of these programmes.

Unfortunately, a regular old VCR recording won't work for me due to PAL/NTSC conversion issues.

Is anyone on the forum capable of recording the programmes to a computer in mpeg format?

Hi Frank

That all sounds too technical for me. (I haven't learned to use the video recorder properly yet).

However, it might be really easy for you to get the program straight off the internet in the week after its been shown. Channel Four run a service called 'on demand' where you can download a small application (for free) and then download most of their programs for free.

Details are on this link:
http://www.channel4.com/4od/index.html

Let me know if that might be an easy answer.

Best wishes
Deb

Thanks, Deb! I'll check that out when I get home.

Neil Spencer (who appeared briefly in the Dawkins programme) has posted this account of his take on the whole thing:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/s ... 75,00.html

Thanks, Gary. I saw that on Sunday when it showed up on my Google Alerts.

I'm waiting to see the whole show itself when it shows up on the Channel 4 Web site. I'm sure it will eventually make its way over here on one the cable stations.

Here's another bit of coverage:

http://www.newstatesman.com/200708160033

This writer isn't biased, is she?

The section from Dawkins' documentary that focuses on astrology is up on Youtube now if anyone wants to check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW-vTaQGtx8

The full video of part 1 of the series is available through googlevideo here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 3707640763


There is a great line about a third of the way into clip where Dawkins states that

(astrology) ...was developed in the 2nd century AD by the philosopher Claudius Ptolemy, and has not moved on since, despite the discovery of new planets, and despite a shift in the Earth?s rotational axis that has thrown Ptolemy?s zodiac out by 23 degrees.

Classic. I wrote an article disecting the statement last night if anyone is interested: http://apotelesmatics.com/2007/08/18/ri ... s-history/

Great job, Chris!

One minor thing, it's "toe the line," not "tow the line."

Frank (former copy editor)

Frank wrote:Great job, Chris!

One minor thing, it's "toe the line," not "tow the line."

Frank (former copy editor)

Oops. Thanks Frank!

It beggars belief how the skeptics can get away with such blatant disregard and ignorance of what they are rubbishing. The fact that Dawkins "tests" astrology with a Sun sign newspaper column just leaves me gobsmacked. And the clanger about astrology being invented in the 2nd century and not taking account of the new planets is just ridiculous. Has he never picked a book off the shelf in Waterstones?!!!! He clearly knows not the first thing about astrology. He is worse than the "enemies of reason" which he debunks because he does it in the name of "science" and reason, yet his approach is anything but scientific, and anything but reasonable. What a miserable man he must be...

I wonder what would happen if a complaint was made to the relevant broadcasting authority regarding this mis-representation? Would Dawkins be required to make a public apology?

Robin
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