TED2006: Skeptics and believers

Fifth session of TED2006 (background): running notes.

Michael Shermer is the editor of Skeptic magazine, a great publication focusing on debunking claims of any kind (para-scientific, religious, commercial, conspiracies, etc) and seeking reasonable clarifications. He's also the author of a book on "Why people believe weird things" and that's the topic of his speech, in which he runs through a number of examples, including absurd beliefs (the Virgin in the cheese sandwich and similar things) and subliminal messages (such as those to be found at Reversespeech).

Follows a musical break with the provocative/funny lyrics of songwriter Stew.

From him to the next speaker the transition is a weird one: because up comes pastor Rick Warren (picture below left) who's probably currently one of the most powerful people in the US after his book, "The purpose-driven life", sold more than 30 million copies - and keeps selling one million tomes per month (TED attendees received a free copy in the "gift bag"). Many people consider him one of the leaders of the US Christian right, but he says that he's also good friend with John Kerry and other Democratic leaders. "A bird needs both wings to fly", he says. (Applause).
He starts his speech saying that he believes the success of the book is due to the fact that "spiritual emptiness is a universal disease". "Many people exist - they fill their life with work, stress, parties, etc - but they don't live". "Questions of meaning are not religious issues: they are human issues". Warren comes across as modest and genuine despite the book-derived riches, fame and power. He says he didn't expect the success, "I don't even consider myself a writer".
But "when the book became the number-one bestseller in the world, I had to ask myself: what is the purpose of this?". He and his wife started by taking five decisions on what to do with the money: not use it on themselves (they still live in the same house and drive the same car); he stopped taking a salary from the church where he is a pastor, and actually added up what he had received in the last 35 years and gave it back; they set up three foundations working on literacy, poverty and pandemic diseases; "and we started reverse tithing", giving away 90% of what they earn: "a good life is not about being good, it is about doing good; significance in life comes from serving, from giving". Then he had to figure out what to do with the notoriety and the attention. He refers back to a passage of the Bible encouraging to speak up for those who have no influence. "What's in your hand?" he asks referring to the Bible verse. "What have you been given - education, creativity, health, income, intelligence, talent, influence, identity - and what are you doing with that? The answer to this question is the purpose of life. It's not about you, it's about making the world a better place". ("It's not about you" is the first sentence in the book).

On for another difficult transition: Dan Dennett is an American philosopher (and professed atheist) who's done some groundbreaking thinking on the nature of consciousness. He goes on stage and says that religions are natural phenomena that have been domesticated and redesigned and adapted over time. "Today's religions are brilliantly designed". But they lack context: "democracy depends on an informed citizenship". He advances a policy proposal: "give education on all the world religions to all children in all schools - a fact-based curriculum about all religions in the world - as we teach reading and writing and maths". With this contextual background "anyone can profess his/her own creed" in an informed way.
Dennett turns to Warren's book: "It's a great book; a brilliant redesign of traditional religious themes, updating them and quietly dropping obsolete parts". But: "I see one problem: the truth will set you free, and some of the bits in the book, I don't think they are true. Some are a difference of opinion: for example, we don't need a belief in God to be good, or to separate right from wrong; there are many good, committed, engaged atheists and agnostics, like there are many believers who hide themselves behind their faith". Warren, says Dennett, seems also "to be arguing that if you want to be moral you have to deny the theory of evolution. Others are not differences of opinion: they're just false", for example the way in which para-scientific language is misused.
Unfortunately Rick Warren has already left the conference to fly back home, so no reply from him.

But Al Gore, who's in the room, stands up to underscore a detail: "Rick Warren was one of 85 evangelical leaders who stood up, broke with president Bush and called for bold policy action to change the government attitude in the fight against global warming".

(tags TED2006 - TED 2006) (TED site  - flickr photos)