Richard Dawkins, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Black Atheists, and Your Chance to Win Dawkins’ Book!

The Secular Students at Howard University have some *very* exciting events coming up on Tuesday, September 28^th. Both events are free if you pick up tickets at the box office. (Or you can get the free tickets via Ticketmaster, but you’d still owe them ~~$7.50~~ $12.00 (says Frank in the comments below) in service charges. Punks.)

First, there’s a panel discussion on “Science and Faith in the Black Community,” featuring Richard Dawkins, Anthony Pinn, Sikivu Hutchinson, and Todd Stiefel. It’s an important topic that rarely gets discussed in a formal setting, so this should be interesting.

There’s also a discussion earlier in the day between Dawkins and Neil deGrasse Tyson on “The Poetry of Science: Discussions of the Beauty of Science.” (Why isn’t Tyson on the previous panel?! That sounds like a natural fit, no?)

Still, Dawkins and Tyson? That’s pretty much a dream ticket for me. If only I could be there for the talk!

That brings up a fun question…

Consider all the atheists, philosophers, science advocates, scientists, and atheist-leaning comedians, past and present.

If you could pair any two of them up and hear them have a conversation, who would it be?

Leave your responses in the comments!

I’ll pick my favorite one a week from today and send that person the (just-released) paperback edition of Dawkins’ The Greatest Show on Earth! (Thanks to publisher Free Press for the copy!)

You must be a U.S. resident to win. If you’d like to be considered for the prize, please put the word “spandex” after your comment! Otherwise, I’ll assume you just want to comment for fun.

(Thanks to Debbie for the link!)

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Kahomono

Einstein and Voltaire.

spandex
Benny

Einstein and Asimov
#spandex
Claudia

…grumbles about rules of residence….

Darwin and Sagan

Oh and the Science and Faith in the Black Community event sounds awesome. I can only assume Tyson not being there has to be due to some tragic scheduling issue. I hope they record and post as much of it as they can for those of us that can’t go!
Brittany

I wish I could go!

Alfred Kinsey and George Carlin.

spandex
Christopher

Carl Sagan and Richard Feyman

spandex
Chase

Jesus (if he actually existed) and Christopher Hitchens.

Spandex
Christopher

I think I got it:

George Carlin and Ricky Gervais. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to breathe for most of it.

I also think it would be great if they both would wear spandex.

Spandex
Brendan

George Carlin and Nietzsche.
CharlesP

I’d love to see Carl Sagan and Adam Savage have a conversation… They both embody such a great love of life and science.

Spandex (really?)
Andrew T

Bertrand Russell and Stephen Fry. Two inimitable gentlemen being classy as all hell.
Bob

Actually, I’d love to see Jesus Christ (presuming, of course, that he is a real historical figure) debate someone like Jerry Falwell or Franklin Graham.

At the worst, Jesus would affirm everything Falwell and Graham say; at best, he’d pull a moneychangers-in-the-temple-square job on them.

Spandex.
Ubi Dubium

Mark Twain and Richard Feynman. Then I want everything they say to be set to music by Tim Minchin!

Spandex.
PrimeNumbers

Bertrand Russell and Christopher Hitchens would be my choice.
VancouverMoose

Ricky Gervais and Father Guido Sarducci
Aaron

Sagan and Tyson
Spandex
muggle

Annie Laurie Gaylor and Margaret Sanger.
Feld

Mark Twain and Will Rogers, but they’d both have to have knowledge of what had happened since their death, especially the recent stuff.
Cheryl

There are too many possibilities to decide.

Dawkins and Darwin
Sagan and Tyson
PZ Myers and Greta Christina
Hitchens and Mark Twain
George Carlin and Adam Savage
Daniel Dennett and Bertrand Russell

The list is endless
Spandex
Bob

There was a nice debate at WorldCon in 1996, featuring writer J. Michael Straczynski (Atheist) vs. writer Ross Pavlac (Christian).

Pavlac had a nice sheet of notes (which I’ve tried to find a copy of, no luck) that included Pascal’s Wager, but the audience determined that Straczynski won the debate – there was no God.
Palaverer

I’d be there for Ricky Gervais and Dawkins.

Spandex
Dito

George Carlin and Christopher Hitchens. Irreverence and intelligence squared. They’d tackle everything from the Problem With The Pope to why drugs and alcohol can be good things (in moderation). They could debate who’d look better in spandex – Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris. Or if we could expand the panel to four, I’d have Carlin and Hitchens debate Christine O’Donnell and Fred Phelps, the latter two being securely tied up in barber’s chairs, free to speak, but not to leave. As for the spandex, I imagine Ms. O’Donnell might not be too hard on the eyes, but the Rev. Phelps in spandex would certainly prove once and for all that there is No God.

And once again,

spandex
RiftchaserMej

Voltaire and Dawkins.

I suspect that this pair would learn a lot from each other.

While Voltaire may not have been an atheist by the strictest terms, as a dogma-attacking deist, he wasn’t a far throw from it. With the help of a more modern outlook, particularly on evolution and other mysteries of his time, he might have done away with divinity altogether.

Meanwhile, Dawkins could learn a lot from Voltaire’s wit and eloquence (not to say that Dawkins doesn’t have a lot of his own, but Voltaire set a high bar). Voltaire managed to live a heretical life in a far less enlightened time, which would be a great perspective for modern atheists to learn.

spandex
Ibis

Aristotle and Carl Sagan
Galileo and Neil DeGrasse Tyson

(not a US resident)
Nicholas

I could also think of many mashups:

Dawkins and Darwin
Hitchens and Paine
Einstein and Spinoza
PZ Myers and George Carlin

Though I think a conversation between Carl Sagan and Bertrand Russell would be quite interesting.

Spandex
joe gaughan

Christopher Hitchens and Mark Twain- 100 years separates them but what minds!

spandex
Jim H

Lots of the comments above mentioned George Carlin. I am not one bit surprised. As his partner, I choose Aristotle.

Spandex
Steve Bowen

Tim Minchin and Mark Twain
frank

The tickets end up costing $12 per event online, not $7.50.
anatman

dawkins and ingersoll. no doubt.
Jeff P

Thomas Paine and Richard Dawlins

(it would be interesting to hear them discuss the concept of Deism)

Spandex
Tink

Isaac Asimov and Tim Minchin
Magic would happen and the songs that inevitably rose from said conversation would be amazing. Technically I’d probably prefer a conversation between Asimov and myself, but that’s being selfish.
spandex
Kris Larsen

Headliner- Harry Houdini and Penn & Teller

Highbrow- Einstein and Spinoza

Middlebrow- Freud v. CS Lewis

Crowdpleasing- Mark Twain v. Pat Robertson

spandex
Jeff L

I would love to hear PZ Myers and Phil Plait have a face-to-face discussion on the efficacy of their favored approaches to skepticism (including atheism)… while backing up their positions with citations from peer-reviewed studies on the topic, rather than anecdotes.

And then perhaps the whole “nice vs. dick” argument could finally be laid to rest.

(And if such studies don’t exist… why not? Surely a scientific study of the pedagogy of skepticism would be more useful than unsupported arguments over the “proper” way to be a skeptic.)

Spandex.
synergy

Good grief! So many possibilities!

George Carlin and just about anyone.

Maybe George Carlin and Mark Twain OR
George Carlin and Tyson.

spandex!
Michael Waters

I Second Robert Ingersol and Richard Dawkins
Rich Wilson

My first thought was Dawkins and Darwin for their sake.

But I love Gervais and Carlin for our sake. Just better have oxygen and piss bags handy.
ManaCostly

You must be a U.S. resident to win.

AAAAAAAAAAAARGGHHHH
Eve Leveille

Isaac Asimov and Robert Sawyer.
I’m a science fiction junkie, and would love to hear a conversation between my two favourite authors.
You better damn well have read Calculating God, Hemant.
Justin

😀 Good one Brendan. I second Carlin&Nietzsche

Mark Twain and Carlin

George Carlin and Dawkins

Carlin and Bertrand Russell
steve

james watson and charles darwin– how cool it would be for darwin to have been around for the discovery of DNA!

spandex
Hangnail

I would say James Randi and George Carlin, that would be a great magic/comedy act, and nothing makes you pay attention and learn better then that stuff.
spandex
Robin

I’m going for PZ (Spandex) Myers and Mother Teresa.
WishinItWas

One would have to be David Cross!
hoverfrog

Dawkins and Darwin would be fantastic. Darwin would have all that new evidence available to him and Dawkins would probably gush like a schoolgirl with a crush. Not that this would be a bad thing.

Gene Roddenberry and Gary Gygax. I’m having a nergasm just thinking about it.

Professor Brian Cox and Carl Sagan.

Arrggh too many great choices.
Michael R

Mark Twain and Adam Savage

I feel like a lot of thoughtful talk could come out of it that would be accessible to a main stream audience.
Beauzeaux

Richard Pryor and Carl Sagan

spandex
YoSoyJu

James Madison and Patton Oswalt

spandex
Tony

Bruce Lee and Richard Dawkins.

I think given Lee’s views on philospy and Dawkins’ views on sciience it would be an interesting discussion.
bigjohn756

Darwin and PZ Myers.

spandex
Penny

Eddie Izzard and PZ Myers.
KM

Bill Maher and PZ Myers.
Bill

I would not be able to handle Carlin and anybody, my heat isn’t in that great of shape.
I think Tyson and Dawkins, wait, Sagan and Dawkins, or maybe Attenborough and Dawkins, ARGH!! the possibilities are endless and the chance to learn is so great!
Tyler

Oolon Colluphid (author of “Well That About Wraps It Up For God”)

[or Douglas Adams]

and

Thomas Jefferson
Hitch

CS Lewis vs Christopher Hitchens

Latex
SecularLez

Wow…Secular student org. at Howard?
That’s great.
Icaarus

Justin, you beat me to it (Twain and Carlin)

Eve, I never would have thought of Sawyer and Asimov, but that sounds cool.

Also Twain and Sawyer would be interesting don’t you think?

I wonder how many of the above have already happened.
Shelley Mountjoy

Hemant –

Order Processing Fee($4)

Ticket Fast Delivery($4.75)*

Regular Processing Fee ($3.25)

Total $12

Each ticket (noon and 6:30) are rung up separately… or you can physically go to Howard and pick up the tickets for free.

– Shelley

*needed to have tickets mailed in time for next Tuesday.
Nordog

Edith Stein and Whittaker Chambers.
Julie

Question: What exactly is Dawkins doing on a discussion panel about science and faith in the black community? He isn’t a member of the black community, he isn’t an anthropologist, the most you could say is that he’s a biologist and therefore can contribute to the topic of “science” in general, but not as it pertains to the specific context of this topic.

Honestly, I think this is what people mean when they talk about Dawkins speaking outside of his field. I cannot see anything that he could contribute to such a discussion. He seems to be there strictly as a name on the marquee to bring in an audience.
Rich Wilson

How about Penn Gillette and Glen Beck?

See Glenn’s comments about Gillette (starting at 5min mark): http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-oreilly-offers-glenn-beck-his-post-rally-congratulations/

But neither of them in spandex, please!
Peter N

Mark Twain and Douglas Adams — two brilliant observers of what humans get right, and what we get wrong.
Austin

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Robert Ingersoll.

Hard to leave out Paine and Twain, for me. But these are two of the most commonly overlooked. She stood up for women, African-Americans, and the nonreligious – who else can claim to have led three major civil rights issues? Ingersoll, too, was an excellent orator.
Librarian

Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Amazing women who took on overwhelming battles against religion.

spandex.
StarScream

Galileo and Tyson.

I’m sure Tyson would love it as much as we all would.

spandex
janson

Ayn Rand and Eddie Izzard

*spandex*
Murdoc

Socrates and George Carlin, assuming they can understand eachother.

spandex
AwesomeCloud’s mom

Newton and Tyson, because Tyson raves so enthusiastically about how great it would be to talk to Newton, the only way it’ll fail to be interesting is if Newton turns out to be a jerk. Although it was normal in Newton’s time for white Europeans to regard nonwhites as inherently inferior, hopefully Newton could readjust his attitude once he actually meets Tyson.

Spandex.
Togii

Mark Twain and Douglas Adams — two brilliant observers of what humans get right, and what we get wrong.

Oh good call, Peter.. I was drawing a blank, but I’d be there for that one.

Spandex~
Craig

Baron D’Holbach and Christopher Hitchens
Giordano Bruno and Neil Degrasse Tyson
David Hume and PZ Myers
Joseph Shivers and Lady Gaga

Spandex
Keith

Stephen Fry and Mark Twain. Both intelligent, thoughtful, and painfully funny. I was going to say Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, but that’s happened already. A lot. I’ll also say George Carlin and Patton Oswalt. Carlin was and is a hero of mine since I was seven and saw Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. (A goofy-ass movie which nonetheless gave voice to one of the driving principles of my entire life: “Be excellent to each other.”) The reasons for my opinion got a little more informed once I hit my teenage years, but in some small way, he’ll always be Rufus to me. Oh, and…

Spandex.
Kandy

Sagan and Tyson!

Spandex
Ausfahrt

Samuel L. Clemens:Mark Twain and James A. Baldwin

Spandex
PS: thanks for the HU and CFI lecture tip; I’ll be there.
Vince

Mark Twain and Ricky Gervais would definitely be worth watching, but two people with a penchant for humor does not always an interesting conversation make.

Instead, I would go with Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and Sir Ian McKellan. Vonnegut brings humor and wit to the conversation, while McKellan brings a very deep intellect and rationalism.

Spandex
Ross Cunningham

I’d have to say Galileo Galilee (considering he died for science, I’d call him a science advocate) and Stephen Hawking. Just being able to see Galileo’s reaction to all of the knowledge discovered since his time would be an amazing experience. Also, spandex.
Rob

Richard Dawkins and Doug Stanhope

Spandex!
Kris Larsen

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Jonathan Edwards (of the “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” fame) would give plenty of fireworks for an evening’s conversation.

spandex
Bill P. Godfrey

You must be insane if you think that just because you asked I would myself look really foolish by ending my comment with the word spandex.

🙂
Matt Larimer

Isaac Newton: “The most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion on an intelligent and powerful Being.”
Robert Boyle: “If the omniscient author of nature knew that the study of his works tends to make men disbelieve his Being or Attributes, he would not have given them so many invitations to study and contemplate Nature”
Tom West

One of the best suggestions i’ve seen is Sagan and Russell, but Sagan and Dawkins would be good, as well as Sagan and Brian Cox, but also Will Self – I think he’s quite droll and he has a wide knowledge base, but he’s rarely tested by other commentators in TV appearances. He’s usually the only reasonably intelligent person involved in the discussion, which is a sad indictment of modern television. Carlin is a good suggestion as well, but that’s sort of where i’d leave it for entertainers (okay Tim Minchin and Seth McFarlane for the younger viewers).
Other names include Karl Popper, Peter Medawar and Jacob Bronowski, and those are the relativiely recent ones.
I quite like Bryan Magee from The Great Philosophers TV programme, and Paula Kirby.
I sort of like Stephen Fry but only in small doses.
Spandex?…