Skip to main content

History Deniers

By
I'm currently reading Richard Dawkins' latest book The Greatest Show on Earth.  It's been described as a book that really shouldn't need to be written.  The evidence for evolution is everywhere we look, and having to point it out to people like this seems like overkill.  People should already know this stuff! However, since a very large percentage of the educated world (and an even larger percentage of the uneducated one) seem to think we were all poofed into existence "around the time of the domestication of the dog" it seems that this book is not only important, but vital.

I've been engrossed since the first page.  OK : there might be a certain amount of preaching to the converted here (I love that phrase when applied to atheism!) but it's excellent reading well written prose by someone who knows their subject well.  It's obvioulsy not my first Dawkins book, and I'm 100% sure it'll not be my last.

One of the terms the book introduced to me was the concept of a History Deniers  - someone who denies that certain aspects of history have taken place.  In fact, not only that, but also that certain events have taken place (unblemished by anything so banal as actual evidence). 

I love this new term!  It instantly describes these kinds of people to a tee - and it also means we have an excellent word for lumping all kinds of people together - holocaust deniers are a particular type of history denier.  As are creationists, moon-landing deniers and various conspiracy theorists.  Thanks Richard ;)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Arráncame la vida

By
Last night we attended the first night of the Hola Mexico Film Festival in Wellington.  The first movie of the season was Arráncame la vida (Tear This Heart Out) , the story of a woman who marries a Mexican General in the years following the Mexican Revolution of 1910 .   I found it to be a real genre breaker as far as Mexican cinema goes.  Over the years, we've seen several Mexican movies, and the general theme seems to be heart breaking tragedy, and rarely a happy ending.  This one was different however.  Although tragedy played a huge part in the story (I don't want to give anything away, but don't get too attached to the Carlos character.  He doesn't last long..), the ending seems quite uplifting.  Well, comparatively at least. The story starts when the protagonist is 15 years old, and being whirlwinded into a marriage with a famous (or infamous) general, twice her age.  It tracks her sexual awakening as a teenager, through to her...
2 comments
Read more

Older. Wiser? Wise up.

By
God it’s been ages since I wrote anything here. Well I’m still alive and now I have progeny! We have a son who is16 months old and a baby girl due in May. Life is good although sometimes I feel like if you don’t pay attention, you’ll suddenly find yourself in your 40’s. Or is that just me? To show my age, here are my top decade defining 90’s songs Wonderwall by Oasis Champagne Supernova by Oasis Song 2 by Blur Parklife by Blur Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve Jeremy by Pearl Jam There She Goes by The Boo Radleys Enter Sandman by Metallica Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth Common People by Pulp Agree? Disagree? See if I care...
Post a Comment
Read more

Conchas - attempt 2

By
Turns out Conchas made properly are fan- bloody - tastic . The extra kneading takes it's toll on your fingers and hands, but the final result makes up for it. I guess this is true for all bread recipes, but it's cool to realise the fact through results. They turned out rounded, plump and were sweet and tasty. The sweet bread reminds me a little of a French Brioche, but the topping makes it less poncy. They contains lots of eggs and butter, so I guess this is why they taste so good. So we brought the second attempt to our Mexican friends for them to try, and the were very impressed, so I reckon that's pretty cool. I'm making some more tonight. I'll not bother posting any more about this mind you. I think you get the idea.
Post a Comment
Read more