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“The poetry of reality”
What does Dawkins mean by that? Well, he explained in a u-tube interview with Andrew Gold, January -24,
and he said:
“The poetry of understanding”. “The fact that we can understand it, the fact that we can apprehend it, the fact that our ancestors up to a century ago, two centuries maybe, really hadn’t a clue why we existed and where we come from, and we now have a very good understanding of that, and it’s beautiful. I mean the beauty of understanding; the poetry of understanding is what I mean by the science is the poetry of reality.
That is a remarkable statement.
First of all, Dawkins´ simplistic theory (yes, it’s a theory in the true sense of the word) of the “selfish gene” and the “blind watchmaker” has been disproven a long, long time ago.
Evolution is a LOT more complex than Dawkins wants us to believe. Not to mention – how did it all start? He doesn’t have even a theory for that (“it’s a minor question”. He and Darwin have solved “the Big one” he says).
And then, why would a host of molecules (certainly not just DNA) develop with a drive to produce ever more complex forms of life? Just like that, out of nothing.
Now we are talking about true faith – faith in intellect and science, which are of course extremely successful and useful tools, but nowhere near to explain the big questions.
Secondly – if we are to take Dawkins at face value – which I suppose he expects, he actually literally says, that people on earth up until one, or maybe two centuries did not have access to “the poetry of reality”.
How can a reasonably intelligent and very eloquent person come up with such a stupid idea?
In Dawkins’ world there are two alternatives:
You are either religious, which means lost in a realm of lies, dogma and supernatural fantasy. And of course, possibly also driven by lethal fanaticism, prepared to kill indiscriminately for your faith.
Or you are a disciple of the Poetry of reality =science, reason and Truth (which didn’t exist two centuries ago).
No alternatives.
Now, how about for instance Chinese and Japanes ink painting; sumi-e, which originated before the 14th century*,* or Japanese Haiku poetry, originating in the 17th century? Aren’t these among the foremost expression of the poetry of reality? True poetry of reality.
No, of course not. Not in Dawkins’ bleak universe. And he of course knows the Truth.