Don’t Press the Button

The other night, Jon Stewart interviewed Richard Dawkins on the Daily Show.  Dawkins is famous for being an unapologetic evolutionist and believer in science.   Richard Dawkins often pushes back against religious dogma and teachings that clash with scientific views.  At one point the conversation turned to the possibility that, one way or another, man is capable of self-annihilation.  Jon Stewart asked Dawkins which he believed might be more likely to bring forth the end of civilization: advancements in our science or advancements in religious strife.

Dawkins suggested that the bad fruits of scientific advance are clearly a danger as are religious radicals who are willing to sacrifice all as martyrs on their way to paradise beyond.  “The answer,” he finally said, “is probably both.”  Dawkins went on to say that there is an increasing possibility that a religious radical will end up with some form of new destructive device and ultimately use it thinking that is what God desires.

This kind of thinking is pessimistic and disturbing all at once, but such discussions always trigger my own cascade of related thinking.  Sometimes I start my thinking at the events of nine-eleven and drop from that point.

What if this? 

What if that?

On the scientific side, I often think about some of the researchers working on the early atomic bomb tests during the 1940s.  A few of the scientists were concerned that the first test might set fire to the atmosphere surrounding the earth and bring an end to all life as we know it.

Funny thing…they pressed the button anyway.   

--Mitchell Hegman