Skewering James Shapiro (Introduction)

by broken_cynic , Saturday, August 13, 2011, 01:22 (4852 days ago) @ David Turell

New paradigms are always hard to swallow for so many.
> > 
> > It's the self-promoting bullshit that sticks in my craw.
> 
> You haven't read the book. How do you know it is bs? The book has finally made it to my bedside. A biochemical review will follow. And aren't PZ & Dawkins self-promoting bs? I hope you have read Thomas Kuhn.-
Matt sent me a link to a talk of his on youtube some months ago. I was able to watch about 10 minutes before I had to turn it off in disgust. The review you linked conveyed almost precisely the same impression of his book as I got from that brief exposure. Does that necessarily make me 'right?' Not at all, but it does make me completely uninterested in anything he has to say and of a very low opinion of the man.-I have not read Kuhn, but unlike Shapiro, his is on the list of books I intend to read. I will bump it up that list a ways.-No, I would not consider PZ and Dawkins to be self-promotional. Neither of them are trying to sell their own product. Of course, they are both happy to sell more books (even if PZ is only just getting started on that venture,) but I'm referring to the ideas they promote. Neither of them is saying anything new or unique, or making any claim to do so. Shapiro on the other hand has a huge stake in convincing people that his ideas are revolutionary.