One of the great regrets in my life is that I was unaware of Mr. Hitchens while he was still alive and I will never get the opportunity to see him tear religion apart in the flesh. Thankfully, his presence remains here in the digital world.
It seemed to me that CH was appreciated the most in both Australia and Canada by audience reactions. This video plus Ch Vs Tony Blair in Toronto shows the crowd really engaged with his thoughts
1:35:10 Much as I dislike "brights" as an alternative name for "atheists", I like where Prof Dawkins was trying to go with that idea. The very term "atheist" frames it as the "lack" of a god, reinforcing the idea that belief in a god is the normal and desirable state, and atheism is somehow aberrant. "Brights" was an attempt to flip it back on them with a name that implies atheists possess some quality that theists lack. But I think "normal" will do :)
This man's brilliance is astounding. Mr. Hitchens' propensity for goodwill towards Earth and all of the creatures which co inhabit it with us is truly admirable, what a loss to have him gone. Thank you for preserving and posting these videos.
I hereby declare Professor Christopher Hitchens my Hero!! Hitch throughout his books, debates, Hitch-Slaps has provided me with more consolation, Wit and knowledge than any Church ever did, I will forever and until the day I die treasure Hitchens teachings, as far as I'm concern his echo and resonant brilliance will never die, he was indeed the ultimate Polymath.
1:26:28 Hitchens was so close to explaining quantum theory! E=MC (squared) describes a particle instantly converting to energy then instantly converting back to matter. On a quantum or molecular level, equivalent energy and equivalent matter are the same thing. So they can instantly convert to one state and instantly revert back. There are 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 molecules in an adult human body. All would have to switch to the same state at the exact same time, to see yourself phase into energy and back again.
@@woodytheduke Kind of. The transporter would need to record the state and configuration of every molecule, atom and subatomic particle. It would then atomize you. Send your matter to a location. Then reconstruct you using your saved data. Hitchens was more or less describing a simultaneous quantum leap. While orbiting a nucleus, Electrons simply disappear, and instantly reappear at higher or lower orbits relative to the nucleus (known as a 'quantum leap'). He was saying, if every subatomic particle in your body were in sync, when a quantum leap occurs, you would phase through an object or teleport from one location to the next. Even though it is theoretically possible, the odds the Sextillions of particles within your body would all naturally synchronize together to make it happen, is simply numerically impossible.
balinese people are enslaved by their religion... it looks pretty to outsiders but for the Balinese it is all about social exclusion if they weren't religious.
Among Hitch's great attributes his use of irony and humor at the expense of others keeps me hungry every day know more of him and to hear him speak about any topic, although this topic is my favorite.
@ 32:42--33:31 Professor Hitchens explains he doesn't understand that in the Judeo-Christian tradition we are commanded to love, including to love God. Well, one simplistic egocentric reason could be that there is no more enjoyable feeling. And so to the extent that a person can aspire to and eventually achieve a level of emotional mastery to love on command the love one feels is a gift to the one who loves. And beyond that, isn't being able to love on command a worthy accomplishment indeed, from every point of view?
I'm pleased American "Hitch" fans have freed themselves from their churches, but don't be seduced by his Burton-like tones. He was a great speaker, not great thinker. For most of his life he was a fanatical Trotskyist, and then overcompensated by becoming a baiting neoconservative. He was a political idiot his entire life, and reversed everything he had "believed in" and fought for to back Bush's invasion of Iraq. He died apologizing for it, conjuring an obsession with "dictatorship."
You are off your rocker. Maybe you should watch the debate Hitchens did about the Iraq war and his reasons for a change of heart on the subject. Grab your knife and fork. You'll be eating crow for the next month.
Wow! Thanks for uploading video in its totality. Had seen many of the segments, so it was great to see uninterrupted. My greatest satisfaction in my twilight years is to hear and read Hitchens, Dawkins, Sagan, Shermer, Barker, Harris, Krause, Russell, etc. etc. Hitchens was an extraordinary intellectual and sad that he left us far to soon.
Can You Handle The Truth?: If you allow the church to decide your morality-the church, the same frauds who caused the Dark Ages, Holy Wars, Inquistions, witch hangings and burnings, the same racketeers who spawn pedophilia in their own house, those oh so loving and caring “children of god” who detest every other religion, every homosexual, every Agnostic or Atheist, every free-thinker and every person who will not knuckle under to their virulent fist-then you are as inane, hypocritical and delusional as they are.
What an amazing and incredible mind this man had. I envy his ability to quote chapter and verse of almost anything without aid of notes or teleprompters. He embodied the highest form of an educated person. Brilliant is the word which comes to mind when I think of Christopher Hitchens.
just what do you know about light to label a period as dark ages? Light has been forbidden from your leaders, much less their followers, as they are chained up in the abyss where the only occasional source of light is the glow from the molten rocks. they don't have light themselves, how can they illuminate you? what Illuminati? "they're sitting in the darkness of the sea floor that even if they manage, [which is a big if] to come to the surface they will find that the sun has been blocked by a big thick cloud". this was a quote from the Quran. This is like a herd of pigs naming themselves butterflies. yes, religion releases poison but if you're not a pesky mischievous bug, you should have nothing to worry about. a group of demons are having problems with ethical living, well tough luck.
Can you provide some evidence of your claim that Wolpe "battered him"? I've watched all of their debates, numerous times, and haven't seen anything remotely close to your claim.
His writings and debates have helped me put words to what I feel to be obviously true about humanity....and what is valuable in our culture. I keep his memory alive through fighting against those that would restrict our very hard won freedom of speech. All fundamentalists will try to tell you what you can and cannot say....using "that's offensive" as a club to beat down those that would challenge their beliefs. We must never allow them to drag us back into the dark ages!
Marguerite Farrell Yes I regret that I never had that opportunity either....it would have been best to have seen him in the bible belt. He seemed to thrive under the most adverse conditions :-)
+seaglider844 One of my favorite Christopher Hitchens debates is the one in which he, alone, defended his position against four Christians, including William Lane Craig. Hitchens prevailed heartily against them, in my opinion, even when outnumbered four to one.
Do you remember the name of that debate? I would watch it again. My favorite is when he debates one of the bishops from the catholic church, and when someone asks what we should do about all the molested kids, a church official says we should give them pastoral care. Hitch says, "No, they have already had that!!
Has anyone else ever noticed that secular/atheist speakers always have a more captive audience in Australia compared to when they speak in America or England?
Martin Ellacott Hitchens would probably argue that your sentiment is EXACTLY what gives our lives meaning. i.e. the transient nature of our existence and the unique relationships fostered therein, is what makes it all so fascinating!
I found it odd that Jones pressed Hitchens so hard on whether or not the religion of the Balinese can really be called a proper religion. It seemed like Hitchens more than adequately responded to his probing, yet he continued. Strange, when their world views on religion as a whole seem so aligned, at least from where I'm sitting.
Love how the FB page for these people blocked me because they have posted misinformation and I called them out on it. Also called them out on the fact that they cant even handle the truth yet make fun of religious people who block them. Fucking hypocrisy at its finest. Bunch of unintelligible idiots who think that because they don't believe in god, they are smarter then everyone and that they are being scientific. They are the people who give atheist a bad name.
well, science has shown no evidence for God's existence and the logic of Occam's Razor tells us that so far naturalism is streets ahead of supernaturalism as an explanation for life and the existence of the cosmos. So I really do think that atheists have something of a right to consider themselves a little superior.
godisbollocks Not at all. most atheist just assume that because they don't believe in god, they automatically are scientific. Most atheist are as stupid as the dumbest religious fanatic. And it is true, there is no evidence that god is real. There was no evidence that particles were real a few hundred years ago either, did not make them any less real. Just because we are incapable of proving something with science does not make it false. Plus the word God is such a broad term. It means to many different things to too many different people. It is very possible that there are other beings out there that would appear godlike to us if we ever encountered them. To say something is not real because there is no proof is wrong. Science only says something is not true if it is proven that it's not true. Which is why many physicists around the world will say that they don't know if god is real or not because they have had no proof one way or the other. This is why I refuse to be called an atheists. it's the most hypocritical religion in the world, where its own followers refuse to acknowledged that is indeed a religion. I don't believe in god. But I don't act like I know everything simply because my point of view aligns more with science then it does to mysticism.
Two points: 1) How is atheism a religion? What are we accepting on faith? I might remind you that atheism doesn't mean having faith that he doesn't exist, it simply means no good reason for believing he exists has ever been put forward. Big difference. 2) "But I don't act like I know everything simply because my point of view aligns more with science then it does to mysticism"; are you implying that the public face of atheism is one of having all the answers? Or atheists you know act that way? Atheism is the opposite of certainty. Atheists, like scientists, value the concept of doubt. Attempting to disprove hypotheses before accepting them. Not starting with a conclusion and selectively searching out the data that appears to support it. That is bad science. Indeed, religion is essentially a failed science in many ways.
godisbollocks to address your first point. That is a major misconception that people have. Religion does not require faith, or god. Those are simply major traits in many religions. Just like how the president of the USA does not need to be Christan, even though a major portion of them have been, All that is required for something to be called a religion, is that a group of people all believe the same thing. It does not need anything more. It does not even need rituals which Atheists do have. Atheist rituals is the discussion of and debate of religion and god. Many people have there own opinions as to what a religion requires to be called a religion over a cult. But they are the same thing, and the only single trait that every cult and religion have in common, is that they belong to a group of like minded individuals who believe the same thing. Religion. noun 1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. 2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion. 3. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions. 4. the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion. 5. the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith. 6. something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience: to make a religion of fighting prejudice. As for my second point, its a generlized comment. I know that not every single Atheist is stupid, which btw I never said. But most of them are. I know this from personal experience, either from real life interaction, or online chat rooms, forums and web pages that have atheist discussing religion. And no atheisim is not at all like sceince. It uses science to credit itself. But an atheist is simply a person who does not believe in god. That's it. You may have your own opinion as too what type of atheist you are, but to be an atheist you simply need to believe that there is no god. Proof or no proof. There is nothing scientific about it, which is another major misconception. Many scientific minds are atheist. But being atheist does not make you scientific at all.
I like the way you immediately refute your own claim. You say that religion is nothing more than a group of people who all the believe the same thing (so all biologists are religious then, right, because they believe in the theory of natural selection?) - then you quote a dictionary definition that says that religion pertains to the "cause, nature, and purpose of the universe." Which it obviously does. These specifics were conspicuously absent from your definition, only a few lines above the real definition. The other definitions below the 1st one are version of the same definition or colloquial at best, i.e.: "he plays Call of Duty 4 religiously." Please tell me you're a troll, because if not, this is fucking intellectual amateur hour.
This guy is nuts. The banksters were given US$14 Trillion dollars and he worries about this idoicy? I listened to his drivel and can see that this is irrelevant. It is the economy stupid, the system of allocation of resources is all that matters. The financialization of life is the truth. If you don't have enough to eat and are a slave then all his drivel is just rubbish. So we have corporate socialism with a plutocracy and the recreation of feudalism. Yes I did listen to him but I was disappointed. I am frequently disappointed. R.I.P Christopher.
Your own Tony jones? You must be related to him right? Funny that the land of the fair go, seems to think that ABC which censors on its website is the way to go. Wants to keep the salary secret? They think they are under paid compared to the private tv networks in australia? The funny part is that they subsidize the private tv and pretend they paid for the licensing. I guess your own Tony Jones who gets paid AU$344k of tax payers money can have time to wonder about the universe. ABC Australia is a rip off. Enough of the theft. If it is true that these folk are under paid. Sack them and get new folk and see who hires them at a higher rate. Community tv should replace it rather then the evil. Cosmology ? It is about ignorant people who lie and lie. Cheered up because the human species might not exist after a time? This guy lives in an illusion and idiocy listens to it because they are stupid. The science gets made up too. It ain't all evidence based. It is subjective as they move deeper and deeper into theory. All the computer processing of data can lead to the wrong conclusions.
CH was a man with true understanding. Before I ever heard of Hitch I spent time with similar thoughts. If these are true we'll never know. The realization that the world is a speck in the visible universe that is continually changing will have to suffice.
+TheShells Who new the death of a stranger could feel so much like the loss of a friend. So strange. The fact that so many miss this man is a testament to his mind, his humanity, and his commitment to truth and justice. +Retro Workshop Admirable and insightful approach.
I did not know of Hitchens when he was alive. And I miss him more then everyone I did know and lost. And at times I feel a sense guilt for not getting the opportunity to watch him live...like a tremendous waste of time.
You got trolled, are you unfamiliar with Lilith? god made Adam and Lilith at the same time, when Lilith refused Adam the "rights of a man" god created Eve to replace her. Why would you conceive the idea that it is okay to treat another human being with such disgrace? I assume you are Christian, isn't your religion suppose to be one of love and respect for another? Do you believe that incest is moral? Thank you for expressing your belief. I would also like to offer the perspective that Christopher Hitchens is not burning in hell. The only way a hell can exist in a rational world is if the person harboring the view creates it. With that being said, you are the only one capable of creating your own hell. Think not about the promise of an afterlife, think more about the presence of hostility you manifest towards others with your statements of righteousness.
If he is in Hell it would probably be where a load of religious people preach at him for all eternity singing the praises of God. Ergo, if God was daft enough to want to punish him he would send him to Heaven.
A true intellectual giant of the 20th/21st centuries and a man who to all aspiring non-idiots, represents courage and reason. I love how utterly burnt he leaves those who are still infantile and delusional enough to be religious, and how utterly pathetic they prove themselves to be in their wounded and reactionary attempts to drag everyone down into the puss-pit of obscenely self-centered stupidity, wherein they wallow.
