Dawkins: Fairy Tales Are Harmful To Children
 

Full story http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pe...n-9489287.html

"Fairy tales are harmful to children because they ?inculcate a view of the world which includes supernaturalism?, according to Professor Richard Dawkins.

The evolutionary biologist, a leading atheist and author of books including The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, told an audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival that he stopped believing in religion when he was about eight after having seen through Santa Claus when he was just 21 months old.


He suggested children should be taught scientific rigour from an early age.

?Is it a good thing to go along with the fantasies of childhood, magical as they are? Or should we be fostering a spirit of scepticism?? he said, according to The Daily Telegraph.

?I think it's rather pernicious to inculcate into a child a view of the world which includes supernaturalism ? we get enough of that anyway.

?Even fairy tales, the ones we all love, with wizards or princesses turning into frogs or whatever it was. There?s a very interesting reason why a prince could not turn into a frog ? it's statistically too improbable.?

Continued http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pe...n-9489287.html

Kids Really are not allowed to be kids anymore.

Are you on vacation this week? More threads than usual.

his skull dropped him so now he is single

It's going that way, we are told to medicate them if they act like a typical kid :2 cents:

I'm just more obvious now, which probably isn't a good thing :helpme

So sad and so true. A lot of the geniuses we've had in the past would have been lost to medication if they were born these days :helpme

Dawkins is basically an evangelist.

That fucking guy is such a nuisance ...

It really is a form of child abuse to withhold information about the world that they are born into. It is their human right to be given access to the information that their species has been able to collect about the world.

Giving them misinformation is simply lying and nothing more.

That's funny, because I think Professors are harmful to children.

STFU you imbecilic twit.
Santa Claus 4L.

Dawkins is a hero who is way ahead of his time. Someday in the far future when the fundamentalism and anti-intellectualism that still hold so much sway in the world are finally eradicated by the intelligentsia it will actually be illegal to teach children about these harmful ancient mythologies as if they were fact that brainwash them just like it is illegal today in some countries including Germany and Canada to publish information that denies that the Holocaust occurred.

sorry i thought it was a post from dvtimes

OMFG, the IQ here is below that of the police these days.

Since when are professors and teachers of his level a bad thing?

First of all if it weren't for professors of one type or another there wouldn't be any scientists etc.... Just Alchemists etc......

You may thank the many scientists over the last 100 years for the modern gadgets you use on a daily basis and the technology that makes our world run. (good or bad as it is)

This guy is freakin' brilliant, and his arguments are absolutely valid.

If you will try to understand where he is coming from for a minute you will realize he has an understanding of fairy tales and santa clause etc.... from a different perspective. The perspective of an atheist who feels that fairy tales, Santa Clause etc.... are a gateway drug to religion and belief if nonexistent gods.:error
And.... like me he believes that gods and religion are the bane of our existence!!!

Santa spoiler alert!!!!!

I had a huge talk with my wife years ago as to whether to lie to our son about Santa Clause. So I understand both sides of this argument.

Well said Jim +1

What is wrong with you people?
Do you really think the Easter Bunny and Little Red Riding Hood is bad for kids and brainwashing them etc etc?

Really people, get your heads out of your collective asses. Do it for the children.

Jesus Christ! (Now HIM we can discuss...)

the guy is talking out of his ass, he has zero proof folklore is harmful to children and even states he has no clue by asking the question-

What he IS doing is suggesting we raise a world of naysayer fuddy duddy people like himself, the arrogant prick.

Why is he going round telling people that his parents were too stupid to be able to make a two year old believe in Father Christmas?

i tried to catch those little fuckers :( never ate my treats i left near my bed :1orglaugh

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052722/

There is a good thing brilliant people like him are around.

yeah right, bakugans and shit is better

As usual Dawkins does not shy away from unpalatable truths.

He is correct, not only to we create a world where religious beliefs are taken seriously, but we also teach our children that lying to get what you want is acceptable.

e.g.
"If you dont behave well Santa will not bring you a present at Christmas."

This is obviously a lie to get the child to behave the way we want them to.

We teach our children to lie and manipulate from birth.

Well, at least it taught you that if you acted like a little shithead you weren't gettin any presents. Lie or not, pretty good life lesson if you ask me.

Many of the older fairy tales are harmful in that they imprint a view of the world and of self that is not healthy (from the distant past up to present day).

But, many children's stories that are more recently written are just fine.

lofuckingl

Newsflash.. this 'genius' who is 'way ahead of his time' believed in santa claus at one point, and was also told fairy tales. Now, if he turned out 'undamaged', that's 100 proof that santa and fairy tales are not the actual cause of any fucking problem whatsoever.

children's fairy tales are a loooooong way off religious brainwashing. Thing is, this cunt is just the other end of the extreme religious nuts, and with this shit, is just as dangerous.

'yeah I'm intelligent enough to have been able to hear fairy tales and turn out ok, but no other kid is'......what an absolute cunt lol

Where does he say it is?

He is still right. But Ill still tell stories to my kids, but make sure they know that a story is always just a story.

Canada has a charter of rights and freedoms that include freedom of expression and free thought. Consider it roughly equal to free speech in the USA. Denying the holocaust is not a crime in Canada.

Dawkins is 100% right.

Yes but you can teach the same life lesson without lying to the child.

However this is incredibly deeply ingrained.

I lie to my children in this way all the time. It was the way I was brought up and I perpetuate this nonsense.

So when someone like Dawkins suggests we might like to actually take a look at our behavour he is attacked from all sides.

It does not mean he is not right though.

:2 cents:

is a way for kids to cultivate imagination, creativity, etc. in dawkins world we're all robots i guess.

I didn't say he says it is, which is why I specifically went on to state what he did say. The title, however, does. Here, I'll post it here since you missed it-

title of thread for those who missed the title of the thread-

hope that helps sort it all out for ya!


:)

Don't be so sure about that. If you "offend" one of the protected classes they can have you hauled up before one of the various Human Rights Commissions which are nothing but a bunch of kangaroo courts run by unaccountable bureaucrats. Just look up the stories of Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn who were both brought before a number of both provincial and federal human rights "courts" for "trials" after complaints that they "insulted" Islam. Both were eventually acquitted but the punishment was in the process - it took years and tens of thousands of dollars for them to defend their cases while the complainants didn't have to spend a dime.

Dawkins: defends ?mild pedophilia,? says it does not cause ?lasting harm?

http://www.salon.com/2013/09/10/rich..._lasting_harm/

The guy is an idiot and nobody should listen to anything he has to say.

QFT. I love how the Baby Boom generation bashes the very way they were brought up and became so successful. NOW everything is BAD. LOL Fucking joke.

*4 years ago it was Jacque Fresco and his idiot Star Trek fantasy about having robots wipe everyone's ass so that society could become artists and philosophers.

*3 years ago it was a group of Granola eating Internet morons occupying and blogging parks with the idea of trying to use Facebook "likes" to restore democracy

*2 years ago it was the Mayan 2012 doom prophecy

*Last year it has been this asshole Richard Dwakins theory that the world will end if religion does not end.

*In the last few months it has been neo-nazis and other hate groups typing "libertards" and playing rednecks versus feminists or anyone that dare disagree with them.

In short today's young white males really need to turn off their computers and go out and find jobs and girlfriends. Because they just look like fucking morons to anyonoe with half a brain or more.

Richard Dwakins has issues because he was fondled as a child by some teacher and his wife has never explained to him why she can't use her Tardis to change the event. He's married to a Timelord so I guess fairytales are bad but science fiction is acceptable.

Little girls are taught that they should be treated like princesses and many grow up as adults turning into parasitic gold diggers.

Well, can't argue with that one....LOL

The only thing more annoying than a devout Christian is a devout atheist

Dawkins is the Pat Robertson of the Atheist world...

sheesh... hansel & gretel ruins lives, but teachers' playing with a kid's cock is A-Ok. Whatta guy!