History Creator / RichardDawkins

* MagnumOpusDissonance: While ''The God Delusion'' is Dawkins' best known work among the general public, he considers ''The Extended Phenotype'' his most important contribution to scientific literature. The fact that it is much more scholarly compared to the rest of his works has made ''The Extended Phenotype'' his least-read book and its ideas haven't had the widespread recognition that things like "memes", religion being a "mind virus" and the idea of "the selfish gene" have.

In ''The Selfish Gene'', he coined the word "{{meme}}" to discuss how culture is transmitted, by analogy with genes and with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimesis mimesis]]. Interestingly enough, a rival coinage, culturogen, was coined at roughly the same time, but by a process of [[ShapedLikeItself memetic competition]] the word meme became more popular and the word culturogen is almost never used anymore. Although he often refers to it, he admits his initial coinage was not a serious cultural theory but was mostly used to make an illustrative point about his theory of replicators.

He played himself in a news clip in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "The Stolen Earth". He's also married to Lalla Ward, who played the second Romana in that show. The two met via DouglasAdams (who was writing the show at the same time Lalla Ward was starring in it), who Dawkins referred to as "possibly my only convert".

He's briefly mentioned in ''StandAloneComplex'' (as one of the writers which one of the Tachikoma has been reading up on, ''The Selfish Gene'' is specifically mentioned).

* MagnumOpusDissonance: Dawkins considers ''The Extended Phenotype'' his most important contribution to scientific literature, but it is much more scholarly compared to the rest of his works, making it his least-read book and the concept itself hasn't had the widespread recognition that things like "memes", religion being a "mind virus" and the idea of "the selfish gene" have.
** The key words here is "scientific". Sure, ''God Delusion'' is his best known work among the general public, but the ideas from ''Selfish Gene'', further developed in ''The Extended Phenotype'' have indeed revolutionized certain areas of biology and opened tons of ways for further exploration (while not necessarily being 100% right on their own).
** Gossip has it that Lalla Ward first caught Dawkin's eye when she met him at a party and started gushing about [[ShownTheirWork ''The Extended Phenotype'']].

** Gossip has it that Lalla Ward first caught Dawkin's eye when she met him at a party and started gushing about [[ShownTheirWork ''TheExtendedPhenotype'']].

* MagnumOpusDissonance: Dawkins considers ''The Extended Phenotype'' his most important contribution to scientific literature, but it's his least-read book and the concept itself hasn't had the widespread recognition that things like "memes", religion being a "mind virus" and the idea of "the selfish gene" have.

Richard Dawkins (born in 1941 as Clinton Richard Dawkins) is an evolutionary biologist and an outspoken UsefulNotes/{{atheis|m}}t who, in addition to his work in biology, is also critical of religion and religious people, as well as of supernaturalism, superstition and alternative medicine. He has written and presented several documentaries on British television, has written a number of books, and gave the Royal Society Christmas Lectures in 1991. YMMV/RichardDawkins

Richard Dawkins (born in 1941 as Clinton Richard Dawkins) is an evolutionary biologist and an outspoken UsefulNotes/{{atheis|m}}t who, in addition to his work in biology, is also critical of religion and religious people, as well as of supernaturalism, superstition and alternative medicine. He has written and presented several documentaries on British television, has written a number of books, and gave the Royal Society Christmas Lectures in 1991.

* MindVirus: His view of religion.

* AppealToWorseProblems: Invoked in "[[http://www.redlightpolitics.info/post/7263060171/dear-muslima-stop-whining-will-you-yes-yes-i Dear Muslima]]", written in response to "[[ScandalGate Elevatorgate]]" in which feminist "Skepchick", Rebecca Watson, complained that a man hit on her in an elevator.

* FirstWorldProblems: Invoked in "[[http://www.redlightpolitics.info/post/7263060171/dear-muslima-stop-whining-will-you-yes-yes-i Dear Muslima]]", written in response to "[[ScandalGate Elevatorgate]]" in which feminist "Skepchick", Rebecca Watson, complained that a man hit on her in an elevator.

This sort of thing is usually done alongside his work promoting scientific understanding among the general public, which was his role as Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University (a position that he held from 1995 to 2008, when the mandatory retirement age rules of the University forced him to retire), Oxford also being the place where he studied. More recently, he campaigned during the Pope visit to Britain to have the Pope arrested on suspicion of conspiring with other levels of the Church to cover up child abuse scandals (note: the Pope has diplomatic immunity as a head of state, so this would be legally impossible), and he supported the Singh side of the Singh vs. Chiropody controversy.

This sort of thing is usually done alongside his work promoting scientific understanding among the general public, which was his role as Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University (a position that he held from 1995 to 2008, when the mandatory retirement age rules of the University forced him to retire), Oxford also being the place where he studied. More recently, he campaigned during the Pope visit to Britain to have the Pope arrested on suspicion of conspiring with other levels of the Church to cover up child abuse scandals *hottip: the Pope has diplomatic immunity as a head of state, so this would be legally impossible*, and he supported the Singh side of the Singh vs. Chiropody controversy.

* ''The God Delusion'' (2006) - Easily his most controversial book, not least of all because of its ''anti''-theistic stance and often informal tone. Dawkins deconstructs the concept of a supernatural creator expressed in his God hypothesis (his main target is monotheism) using rational arguments, while deconstructing rival arguments, before answering questions such as how religion might have originated, how it came to be so influential, whether we really derive our morality from it or not (also offering AlternateCharacterInterpretation to depict Yahweh as evil), and how it can lead to damaging behaviours. He also explicitly sets out to endorse the [[UsefulNotes/{{Atheism}} atheistic]] point of view, tackles the social roles of religion (and suggests alternatives), raises awareness of religious extremism (though mainstream religion is also heavily criticised), and encourages closet atheists to come out, likening their plight to that of the homosexuals in the late 20th century. [[invoked]]

This sort of thing is usually done alongside his work promoting scientific understanding among the general public, which was his role as Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University (a position that he held from 1995 to 2008, when the mandatory retirement age rules of the University forced him to retire,) Oxford also being the place where he studied. More recently, he campaigned during the Pope visit to Britain to have the Pope arrested on suspicion of conspiring with other levels of the Church to cover up child abuse scandals, and he supported the Singh side of the Singh vs. Chiropody controversy.

In July '11, he unexpectedly became the target of another group: When the blogger "skepchick" Rebecca Watson had an UncomfortableElevatorMoment at an atheist conference in Dublin. She made [[http://skepchick.org/2011/06/about-mythbusters-robot-eyes-feminism-and-jokes/ a video]] about it, how uncomfortable she felt, and Dawkins' [[http://www.redlightpolitics.info/post/7263060171/dear-muslima-stop-whining-will-you-yes-yes-i answer]] in deep SarcasmMode ([[AppealToWorseProblems oppressed muslimas shouldn't complain, western women are asked out in elevators]]!) created trouble in the blogosphere.

''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' made fun of him in the 2-Part Episode ''Go God Go'', and [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne the only aspect of it he complained about was that they didn't give him a proper British accent]].

* FirstWorldProblems: Invoked in "[[http://www.redlightpolitics.info/post/7263060171/dear-muslima-stop-whining-will-you-yes-yes-i Dear Muslima]]", written in response to "[[ScandalGate Elevatorgate]]" in which Rebecca Watson complained that a man hit on her in an elevator.

Richard Dawkins (born in 1941 as Clinton Richard Dawkins) is an evolutionary biologist and an outspoken [[UsefulNotes/{{Atheism}} atheist]] who, in addition to his work in biology, is also critical of religion and religious people, as well as of supernaturalism, superstition and alternative medicine. He has written and presented several documentaries on British television, has written a number of books, and gave the Royal Society Christmas Lectures in 1991.

!!'''Tropes that apply to Dawkins. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Tread lightly]]:'''

* AntiNihilist: Particularly in the beginning of Unweaving the Rainbow, in which he recounts the reactions many people had to his first book.
* FirstWorldProblems: "[[http://www.redlightpolitics.info/post/7263060171/dear-muslima-stop-whining-will-you-yes-yes-i Dear Muslima]]", written in response to "[[ScandalGate Elevatorgate]]" in which Rebecca Watson complained that a man hit on her in an elevator.

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: ''Unweaving the Rainbow'' from John Keats' ''Lamia''; ''The Ancestor's Tale'' as a ShoutOut to Chaucer. ''River Out of Eden'' might also count.
* MagnumOpusDissonance: Dawkins considers ''The Extended Phenotype'' his most important contribution to scientific literature, but it's his least-read book and the concept itself hasn't had the widespread recognition that things like "memes", religion being a "mind virus" and the idea of "the selfish gene" have..

* MeasuringTheMarigolds: The ironically named "[[MeasuringTheMarigolds Unweaving the Rainbow]]" addresses the idea that science and art are at odds. Dawkins was accused of this in response to some of his books, so he put this out there to explain that sees [[TheWorldIsJustAwesome the world as full of wonders and a source of pleasure]] ''because'' he's a scientist.
* MindVirus: His views on religion, and one of the main reasons he gets criticized.

* QuoteMine: Dawkins is frequently the victim of this. In the introduction to ''The God Delusion'', he goes to the trouble of pointing out when he himself does it - directly addressing the fact that others have quote-mined him with less honesty - and then explains the context more fully, with a LampshadeHanging to boot.
* ShoutOut: Guess which page number the first DouglasAdams quote in ''The God Delusion'' is on.

* AgentScully: Of course.
** Dawkins even criticized ''X-Files'' itself as an example of pop culture endorsing of superstitions and obscurantism. He argues that the show systematically presents a one-sided view of the world, making an anvilicious aesop "between a rational and a supernatural explanation of some mystery, it's supernatural which is always right". His analogue is a detective show where AgentMulder is always biased towards the black suspects and AgentScully biased towards the white. And week after week, the black suspect turns out to have done it.
* CreateYourOwnVillain: For the first two decades of his career as an author, Dawkins was basically a scientist writing about evolution for other scientists and knowledgeable laymen. 1996's ''River out of Eden'' was his first "coffee table" book intended for a more general audience, however he had already been singled out by creationist writers for vilification as an arch-atheist. It would be a further ten years before Dawkins picked up the gauntlet with the publication of ''The God Delusion''.
* DeadpanSnarker: And HOW!
-->"[Pope John Paul II] suffered an assassination attempt in Rome, and attributed his survival to intervention by Our Lady of Fatima: 'A maternal hand guided the bullet'. [[FridgeLogic One cannot help but wonder why she didn't guide it to miss him altogether.]] Others might think the team of surgeons who operated on him for six hours deserved at least a share of the credit, but perhaps their hands too were maternally guided. The relevant point is that it wasn't just "Our Lady" who in the Pope's opinion guided the bullet, but specifically Our Lady of Fatima. Presumably Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Guadeloupe, Our Lady of Medjugorje, Our Lady of Akita, Our Lady of Zeitoun, Our Lady of Garabandal, and Our Lady of Knock, were busy on other errands at the time."
** Once in his book he quoted Aquinas about how the punishment of the damned should entertain saints in heaven and replied: "[[SarcasmMode Nice man]]." This isn't much, but the audiobook recitation was especially comedic, where he used {{beat}} to great comedic effect.
** In response to the canard that evolution is "just a theory": "Gravity is a theory. It is also a fact. Anyone who disagrees is invited to jump out a tenth storey window."
* TheDreaded: Called "[[CharlesDarwin Darwin's]] [[AngryGuardDog Rottweiler]]" by detractors, joining "Darwin's Bulldog", Thomas Huxley. Ironically, [[StiffUpperLip he's generally soft-spoken and calm even in the middle of a debate with a religious opponent]].

* PrecisionFStrike: Dawkins reads his hate (e)mail: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-ZuowNcuGsc

* SocialDarwinist: Averted. While his original theory of MemeticMutation is basically applying natural selection to society and culture as a whole (in this context, memes that are more adaptive, imitable and easily spread will pass on more from person to person, like how in original Darwinian selection those that have traits that are more adaptive to their environment will be more likely to reproduce), he's very likely to be one of the biologists who will get annoyed if you ever accuse them of being advocates of "survival of the fittest" in political circles.
*ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: On the subject of science: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6hxo1sC-dU It works...bitches]]

In July '11, he unexpectedly became the target of another group: When the blogger "skepchick" Rebecca Watson had an UncomfortableElevatorMoment at an atheist conference in Dublin. She made [[http://skepchick.org/2011/06/about-mythbusters-robot-eyes-feminism-and-jokes/ a video]] about it, how uncomfortable she felt, and Dawkins' [[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/07/always_name_names.php#comment-4295492 answer]] in deep SarcasmMode ([[AppealToWorseProblems oppressed muslimas shouldn't complain, western women are asked out in elevators]]!) created trouble in the blogosphere.

* FirstWorldProblems: "[[http://www.redlightpolitics.info/post/7263060171/dear-muslima-stop-whining-will-you-yes-yes-i Dear Muslima]]", written in response to "[[ScandalGate Elevatorgate]]" in which Rebecca Watson complained that a man hit on her on an elevator.

* MeasuringTheMarigolds: The ironically named "[[MeasuringTheMarigolds Unweaving the Rainbow]]" addresses the idea that science and art are at odds. Dawkins was accused of this in response to some of his books, so he put this out there to explain that sees [[TheWorldIsAwesome the world as full of wonders and a source of pleasure]] ''because'' he's a scientist.

** The key words here is "scientific". Sure, ''God Delusion'' is his best known work among the general public, but the ideas from ''Selfish Gene'', futher developed in ''The Extended Phenotype'' have indeed revolutionized certain areas of biology and opened tons of ways for futher exploration (while not necessarily being 100% right on their own).
* MeasuringTheMarigolds: Anybody that talks about [[TheWorldIsJustAwesome "the poetry of reality"]] isn't going to be this.
* MindVirus: His views on religion, and one of the main reasons he gets criticized.

* SymphonyOfScience - Quotes from Dawkins' documentaries are common. The 5th song, "''The Poetry of Reality''" is named after the quote at the top of this page.

!!'''Tropes that [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment arguably]] apply to Dawkins:'''

Richard Dawkins (born Clinton Richard Dawkins) is an evolutionary biologist and an outspoken [[UsefulNotes/{{Atheism}} atheist]] who, in addition to his work in biology, is also critical of religion and religious people, as well as of supernaturalism, superstition and alternative medicine. He has written and presented several documentaries on British television, has written a number of books, and gave the Royal Society Christmas Lectures in 1991.