He deserves the position, just as Hawking deserved his high
position in physics (I forgot what it was called). But they're
honorary roles signifying past achievements. It gives them the
uniquely British license to be loonies in their old age. We
don't really have an equivalent in the USA to that. We expect
our heads to be on the ball, top notch in their fields. In
Britain, it's like, "Oh yeah him, well, yeah." == WAIT - we have
Tenure. Ok, yeah we have the same thing here. == I just can't
take him seriously. I liked him, the little I saw in the 80s +
early 90s. But when he went on the warpath against religion, he
just started sounding loonier and loonier. I can't take him
seriously though* I've been a fan of British culture since I was
a kid and I know all about their caustic, biting vitrol and
humor - it's part of their culture. Just about raised on Monty
Python and I was a New Jersey kid, and NJ (home of George
Carlin), ALSO has a similar sense of humor to the Brits. But
Dawkins is... I dunno.... I'm glad he's an inspiration to some
people but I can't take him seriously. == Modern evolution is
more on-the-ball. But Dawkins is a neo-Darwinist. == Thing is,
for a functioning society, evolution vs intelligent design
doesn't matter. I think it's ridiculous but whatever. There's
not too many careers that it makes a difference in. ==
