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Richard Dawkins and medical science

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Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins

Due to his chronic high blood pressure, Richard Dawkins has been repeatedly warned by his doctors to avoid controversies.[1] [2][3]

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.[4] PubMed has numerous studies relating to anger and high blood pressure.[5][6]

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).[7]

Dawkins has accumulated over 30,000 Twitter tweets.[8] 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.'"[9] However, after his stroke, in May 2016, Dawkins gave up posting on Twitter for awhile and the tweets that appeared in his name were done by his staff.[10] See: Richard Dawkins and Twitter

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..."[11]

Hemant Mehta

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.[12] ”

In December of 2016, Dawkins appears to have started to Tweet again despite his doctors warnings to avoid controversy (For example, he tweeted that Britain had become a "nasty little backwater" after the Brexit vote and his Tweet drew fierce criticism).[13][14][15]

Dawkins recognizes the value of medical science and said, "If you base medicine on science, you cure people."[16] Yet, he willfully and persistently goes against the medical advice of his doctors despite their extensive medical training.

For additional information, please see: Richard Dawkins' health

Irony of new atheists engaging in unsound health practices

See also: New Atheism leaders and unhealthy lifestyles

The British new atheists Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. The late Christopher Hitchens was known for his heavy drinking.[17] See also: Atheism and alcoholism

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."[18]

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).

Richard Dawkins quote on science and medicine

Despite having high blood pressure and repeatedly ignoring his doctors' advice to avoid controversies, Dawkins said about science and medicine:

“ [Science] works! Planes fly. Cars drive. Computers compute. If you base medicine on science, you cure people. If you base the design of planes on science, they fly. If you base the design of rockets on science, they reach the moon. It works..."[19] ”

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ An update on Richard’s condition in his own words, Richarddawkins.net
  2. ↑ Richard Dawkins Said He Was Stressed by Controversy Over Tweet Before Stroke, Christian Post, February, 2016
  3. ↑ Richard Dawkins says stroke caused by stress over controversy, Religion New Service
  4. ↑ Anger, Stress and High Blood Pressure, Glenn Gandelman, MD, MPH
  5. ↑ PubMed - Anger and hypertension
  6. ↑ PubMed: Anger and high blood pressure
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Richard Dawkins Twitter
  9. ↑ Richard Dawkins defends Ahmed Mohamed comments and dismisses Islamophobia as a 'non-word'
  10. ↑ Dawkins: I’ve Given Up Twitter.
  11. ↑ Atheism is maturing, and it will leave Richard Dawkins behind
  12. ↑ Richard Dawkins Gives Update on His Health in Audio Message
  13. ↑ Richard Dawkins: England becoming a 'nasty little backwater' after Brexit vote, The Telegraph, March 2017
  14. ↑ SHOCK RANT: Richard Dawkins mocks Christians for 'pretending' there's WAR on Christianity, Express, December of 2016
  15. ↑ What British Scientist Dawkins Thinks Of Islam, Swaraya, June 7, 2017
  16. ↑ Richard Dawkins - Quote
  17. ↑ Christopher Hitchens: Despite Cancer, I'd Drink & Smoke Again
  18. ↑ The New Atheists
  19. ↑ Richard Dawkins quote