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Monday, May 17, 2010

Clarity vs Obscurity

 
Richard Dawkins says, "There are people who are so in love with obscurity—a nice warm fuzzy feeling of obscurity and obscurantism—that, if you say something clearly, they feel threatened." See the video below.

For some reason this reminds me of a book I just read by Keith Ward called "The Big Questions in Science and Religion." Perhaps it's because of the blurb on the back cover that says,
Ward effortlessly flows from one fascinating insight to another about the often contentious relationship between diverse religious views and the new scientific knowledge. Writing with both passion and clarity, he masterfully converys the depth, the difficulty, and the importance of the greatest intellectual and existential questions of the modern age.
"Clarity"? Don't make me laugh. Keith Ward has never met an example of obscurantism that he doesn't embrace.

Ward is a colleague of Dawkins at Oxford. I wonder if Dawkins was thinking of him when he made his statement? Or, he may have been thinking of another colleague, Alister McGrath.



[Hat Tip: Clarity - A very nice statement by Dawkins, at RichardDawkins.net.]

1 comment :

Anonymous said...

Dawkins' reputation for stridency is an odd thing - he comes across as calm and rational. Puts me in mind of a country parson!