The new atheist Richard Dawkins has a reputation for being an angry, aggressive and abrasive man (see: Richard Dawkins and anger and Abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins).
According to Glenn Gandelman, MD, "A recent study indicates that angry men have higher blood pressure and increased risk of heart disease.[1] PubMed has numerous studies relating to anger and high blood pressure.[2][3]
Due to his chronic high blood pressure, Dawkins has been repeatedly warned by his doctors to avoid controversies.[4]
Despite the medical advice of his doctors, Dawkins had a very active Twitter presence before his minor stroke (with a number of Twitter controversies) and numerous public controversies (see: Richard Dawkins and women and Elevatorgate and Richard Dawkins and Islamophobia accusations).[5]
Dawkins has accumulated over 30,000 Twitter tweets.[6] The Independent reported, "Dawkins also admitted he wasn't very good at managing Twitter and the strong reactions his posts tend to provoke. 'Twitter is very difficult medium to handle,' he said. 'I’m not much of a diplomat.'"[7]
In 2013, Martin Robbins wrote in the New Statesman concerning the public persona of Dawkins: "Increasingly though, his public output resembles that of a man desperately grasping for attention and relevance..."[8]
Atheist Hemant Mehta reported about Dawkins' stroke and Dawkins' report that he had been once again invited to the conference:
“ | It was the result of stress-related higher blood pressure, which he says he may have had as a result of recent controversy, including being booted from the NECSS conference. He added, however, that on February 5, he received a letter from conference organizers apologizing for disinviting him and asking him back to the conference.[9] | ” |
In short, Dawkins repeatedly ignored the medical advice of his doctors.
Irony of new atheists engaging in unsound health practices
See also: New Atheism leaders and unhealthy lifestyles
According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the new atheists "believe empirical science is the only (or at least the best) basis for genuine knowledge of the world, and they insist that a belief can be epistemically justified only if it is based on adequate evidence."[11]
Doctors of medicine receive years of extensive training in fields such as biology, chemistry, biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, and medical science. Additionally, they have extensive clinical experience. Furthermore, excellent doctors keep themselves abreast of the latest developments in medicine through medical journals. Yet, Dawkins disregarded the medical advice of his doctors and had poor results to show for it.
In addition, there are multiple examples of new atheists engaging in unhealthy lifestyle choices (see: New Atheism leaders and unhealthy lifestyles).
Furthermore, medical historians and others point out numerous sound health practices contained in the Bible (see: The Bible and sound health practices).
See also
- Richard Dawkins, Charles Darwin and mentally caused illness
- Charles Darwin's illness
- Atheism and health
- Atheism and depression
- Atheism and suicide
- Atheism and alcoholism
- Atheism and drug addiction
Satire:
External links
Notes
- ↑ Anger, Stress and High Blood Pressure, Glenn Gandelman, MD, MPH
- ↑ PubMed - Anger and hypertension
- ↑ PubMed: Anger and high blood pressure
- ↑ Richard Dawkins says stroke caused by stress over controversy, Religion New Service
- ↑
- Richard Dawkins says stroke caused by stress over controversy, Religion New Service
- The 12-Stage 'Evolution' Of A Richard Dawkins Twitter Scandal by Paul Vale, The Huffington Post UK, Posted: 22/08/2014 02:06 BST
- Richard Dawkins, delete your account: The prominent atheist implodes on Twitter (again), Salon
- 15 Of Richard Dawkins' Most Controversial Tweets, Huffington Post
- ↑ Richard Dawkins Twitter
- ↑ Richard Dawkins defends Ahmed Mohamed comments and dismisses Islamophobia as a 'non-word'
- ↑ Atheism is maturing, and it will leave Richard Dawkins behind
- ↑ Richard Dawkins Gives Update on His Health in Audio Message
- ↑ Christopher Hitchens: Despite Cancer, I'd Drink & Smoke Again
- ↑ The New Atheists