Dawkin's Delusion

The Dawkins Delusion was the title of the lecture that was presented Thursday evening. It incorporated many different subjects into the discussion including the world of biology and religion. I have to be honest, I wasn't really sure what the speaker was trying to get across or what he was trying to demonstrate or argue. I did pick up on a few things that helped me gain a very general idea of what the discussion was about, however. Several of these things include the topics of emergence, evolution, cognitive thought, the universe, God, and their relationship with science and religion.

At some moments during the talk, I felt as if the speaker that was demonstrating Richard Dawkins' Ð''delusion' was challenging the ideals of religion. One of the first things that was talked about was Dawkins' opinion that faith is dangerous and unhealthy and should not be imposed on the youth. Following this, most of what was discussed focused on the theme of emergence and evolution Ð'- how from something so small as the concept of the universe prior the big bang can lead to the current complex universe, as well as how we went from no living being on earth, to that one bacterium, to animals and finally humans. From here he discussed the notion that there could even be more complex organism other than ourselves in the universe. Then after was when I became slightly confused. More towards the end of the talk, there was more mention of God, and some kind of corresponding higher spirit was mentioned. This higher and Godly spirit could have been mentioned to describe the explanation of what the universe is now in relation to humans and the decreasing chain of living beings less complex then us. When it was time for questions, I noticed that one of the questioners was one of the professors in the religion department. From the looks of it, he seems just so slightly agitated with whatever the speaker had to say. I was interested in the professor's comment, which was the idea that science and religion can go hand in hand; one cannot exist in harmony without the other. Where one is lacking, the other can compensate. Religion is necessary because it answers the questions that science currently cannot.

Another part of the discussion that I feel should definitely be noted is the mention of the concept of meditation in relation to cognitive activity and relevance. Scientists have recently been undergoing research scans that involve careful analysis of the brain and its functions and behaviors using PET scans. The main focus is comparing a relatively resting brain to a meditating brain. The motive behind all this is to determine