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Lawrence Krauss
9/10/2015 8:08:32 PM
Noam Chomsky
jeffrey E. [jeeyacation@gmail.com];
Re: an article you may both hate. or like.
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Importance: High
Yup.
Lawrence M. Krauss
Director, The Origins Project at ASU
Foundation Professor
School of Earth & Space Exploration and Physics Department
Arizona State University, P.O. Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287-1404
Research Office: Assistant_____________
Origins Office
origins.asu.edu I twitter.com/Ikraussl I krauss.faculty.asu.edu
Sent from my iPhone
On Sep 10, 2015, at 12:09 PM, Noam Chomsky <
I quite agree. And I'm pretty sure Lawrence does too.
From: jeffrey E. [mailto:jeevacation@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2015 3:02 PM
To: Noam Chomsky
Cc: Lawrence Krauss
Subject: Re: an article you may both hate. or like.
wrote:
I think religion plays a major positive role in many lives. . i dont like fanaticism on either side. . sorry
On Thu, Sep 10, 2015 at 7:52 PM, Noam Chomsky < wrote:
Thanks for sending. A wide area of agreement, but not total.
On confronting dogma, I of course agree — though in my opinion the secular religions — nationalist fanaticism, etc. — are
much more dangerous. And if some find rational discussion offensive — as, for example, mainstream academics find
dismantling myths of "American exceptionalism" or "Israeli self-defense" or Obama's mass murder campaign, etc.,
offensive — so be it.
But I don't see why that should extend to ridicule. That includes astrologists. Astronomers can refute astrology, while
recognizing that perfectly honest and deluded people may believe it and should be treated with respect, while their
beliefs are confronted with evidence. I also don't see why we should ridicule religious dogma, just as I don't think we
should ridicule the much more pernicious secular dogmas. Rather, we should respond to irrational belief with
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argument and evidence, while recognizing that their advocates (like most of the intellectual world in the case of secular
dogma) are people who we should be responding to but without ridiculing them. It may be hard sometimes. For
example, when the icon and founding father of sober non-sentimental Realism in International Affairs informs us that
the US, unlike other countries, has a "transcendental purpose," and the fact that it constantly acts in contradiction to
its purpose doesn't matter because the facts are just "abuse of history" while real history is "the evidence of history as
our minds reflect it," then it's hard to avoid ridicule. But we should. There's no point ridiculing virtually the entire IR
profession and the major journals, even though such extraordinary irrationality leads to major human disasters.
On Davis, I frankly think that's a non-issue. If she decides she cannot do her job as the conditions of employment
require (including following the law), then she can quit and look for another job. As in any other such case.
Noam
From: Lawrence Krauss [mailto__________________________
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2015 1:51 AM
To: Noam Chomsky jeffrey E. <jeevacation@gmail.com>
Subject: an article you may both hate. or like.
hope all is well.
Lawrence
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/all-scientists-should-be-militant-atheists
Lawrence M. Krauss
Director, The Origins Project at ASU
Co-Director, Cosmology Initiative
Foundation Professor
School of Earth & Space Exploration and Physics Department
Arizona State University, P.O. Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287-1404
Research Office: Assistant
Origins Office
origins.asu.edu I twitter.com/Ikraussl I krauss.faculty.asu.edu
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