Christopher Hitchens Talk at Las Vegas JREF TAM
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- Опубліковано 21 вер 2024
- Christopher Hitchens, the respected, though often controversial, journalist and skeptic, speaks at The Amazing Meeting at the Stardust Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, where he gives his talk based on the question "does credulity or gullibility matter in religion?" Does religion, and faith based belief in general, then exist, as a casino does, because of the fact that there are, always have been and always will be, gullible enough people out there? And if so, should we just live and let live, let people have their "fun" or should skeptics warn people against being suckered in?
This is a question often asked toward skeptics, be it in skepticism of the paranormal or so-called miracles, often under the assumption that gullibility is somehow satisfying over certainty and that we should not invoke skepticism when people are apparently in awe even if it is known to be under trickery or delusion. Why skeptics warn and caution people towards superstition and ring alarm bells when they hear fraudulent claims is well worth discussion, as Christopher Hitchens does here.
This meeting, organised by The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) sees other members of intelligentsia such as Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins and well known conjurer and sceptic James "The Amazing" Randi himself.
Christopher Hitchens was undoubtedly a skeptic and free thinker par excellence.
His books were written not only to draw criticism but to get society to take more seriously the claims made by people, be it unjust appraisal, cruelty or simply counter to the foundations of civilization.
Nobody, no matter how popular or unpopular, was out of Hitchens' radar. Some of his opinions may have been unpopular however, like James Randi he was willing to give up, some personal comfort of conformity to expose the hard truth.
Christopher Hitchens died on 15 December 2011, from complications arising from his battle with oesophageal cancer.
He is remembered with highest respect by his family, his personal friends and by the millions across the globe who, mostly through the internet, have come to realise how rare a good critic like Christopher Hitchens really is and how much his criticism of accepted dogma can have an influence in time and space far beyond his own lifetime and experiences.
His message lives on.
![Christopher Hitchens - [2007] - 'No Laughing Matter' with Martin Amis](/img/n.gif)
I can't stop listening to the Hitch. Just can't get enough of him.
I feel the same way about him rip ots a great loss
nothing gives me more faith in society then to know other people revere the Hitch
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent. It takes a great touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.
Such man was/is the greatest of them all, the incomparable Christopher Hitchens, an inspiration to free-thinkers everywhere.
Love this man…his legacy ensures his immortality.
That talk was fucking genius. I could listen to Hitchens all day.
definitely
He looks so hungover, wish I was with him the previous night!
Las Vegas with The Hitch! Wow
Hitchens really knew how to make a polite but funny entrance to begin his talks.
My word we need mr. Hitchens now more than ever
Hitch, not only was the most prolific intellectual and well spoken polemic and educated erudite of our day and age, but he was a person who could envision the frailties of the human condition far over and beyond that of anyone else. This alone, in conjunction with the outpouring of his never ending charismatic personality and the husky tonality of the voice of persuasive conviction that he once displayed, placed him in the forefront for the free thinker to find, admire and to learn from. RIP!
I know I am super-late here, just to let you know, I’m in agreement 💯 x a zillion with your well written and explained sentiment.
Well said! I miss him too.
So few views. Such a shame. Please share this and not let the HITCH be so easily forgotten. Religion has always become deadly and is still dividing otherwise decent people.
Agree. I was surprised by the low number of views. Hitchens was brilliant.
The fucking lighting omg. It went on and on. How did he keep his cool.
It's the Hitch. This shouldn't even be a question. 😂
I usually don't find atheists like Hitchens courageous because their targets are almost always Christians. But hitchens had the balls to call Islam out, so he earned tremendous respect from me.
He values falsifiable evidence, not faith…
@@paullever9219 falsifiable ? Hahahaha
I think anybody who has the depth of character to find out what the falsifiable evidence for a situation or position is, is courageous. What I would consider cowardly is a person who believes others have the fact or truth and rest on that…
@@Fernandasmind yes, falsifiable. The main problem with religion is that there is no pathway to falsifiability. You just believe whatever and everyone thinks they are correct. Very weak
"I represent the devil, pro bono..." Oh, the balls of The Hitch. Brains and balls, what a welcomed voice.
I nominate Hitch as the last prophet of humanism
@@angelladavis2250 I’m with you 1000% our prophet and savior from the clutches and shackles of religion and delusions.
Another brilliant talk by a giant of a man gone too soon.
Amen.
"chewing on the wrapper" - pure genius.
I mourn the loss of him for myself and all mankind...As you all say, immensely brave, courageous and outrageous, massively informed and hugely intelligent... What a loss..
... the idea of lighting fluctuations was to rattle him.. a futile effort tried many times by those who could not stand him...
the way he establishes himself as a brother of the audience at the start is brilliant. a very humble man
+Jules Hitchen haha. I don think you know that much about CH. I love his writings and his debates, but he is far from humble.
I watched loads of his stuff about a year ago, I see what you mean now lol, he's very talented but he knew it
yeah, when he said that what he lives for his to gloat over the misfortunes of others and being proven right while others are proved wrong, is not that humble.lol
what is a joke?
@@jakobrhinehart1906 Don’t let that quote throw you off, he will say this to shook up audiences, forever the entertainer aside from his beautiful intellect and oratory, he knew how to sell a book.
I love the word Stardust in this respect. It is awesome enough to learn and talk and think about for more time than the life span of every human being that ever was, and ever will be, combined.
The talk is at the Stardust Casino, my favorite place. Long gone.
Christopher say it again please, say it again!
Excellent talk.
"Destroy this dangerous thing before it destroys us."
Hitch was a man of his convictions; fearless and straightforward.
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well,
That for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread man or beast.
How should we like it were stars to burn
With passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.
Admirer as I think I am of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot now I see them, say
I missed one terribly one day.
Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.
Wish You Were Here.❤
No wonder Stardust Casino was demolished in 2006. They couldn't even get the lighting right.
how much i miss this human being!
he does/did that so often, the "thanks for that suspiciously terse (or brief) introduction". and the "comrades and friends" bit.
there is only one god and his name is Christopher Hitchens
Well said! He left a mark few can emulate.
Christopher Hitchens was a very brave person.
What a marvelous sense o humor!
Peter was envious of Christopher... not the other way around. Sibling rivalry...
The lighting guy there was either Blaise Pascal or God, maybe both. Why look at belief in God as a bet which you could win or lose? Life is not a win or lose to me, it's a brute fact that I exist as a part of Nature. The fact that I'm here and everyone else is here certainly doesn't require my proof. I'm a pantheist like Spinoza and Einstein that believes that Nature and All that exists can be called God. Not a personal God or a supernatural God but Nature and we are one with it and it requires no belief or proof to me. We are born whether we liked it or not and we die at some point in time whether we like it or not. The difference between most animals and us is that they don't possess our self awareness and therefore have no advanced language or sense of mortality.
Good for you. Pantheism is a great belief system.
Haven't seen this one yet, great upload!
R.I.P. Hitchens. Damn shame such a brilliant mind like you was taken from us so soon and for man kind to be still left with people like the Pope... there is no God...
The Great One - Christopher Hitchens. He is greater than allah, buddha, jesus, yahweh, and even the flying spaghetti monster, combined.
hitchens you are simply amazing.....
Fix the FUCKING LIGHTS
he really has a bad relationship with microphones
Good upload. Thanks.
Yes, although he was a great mind and free thinker, he showed a humorous/childlike side of himself every time he fumbled with and tried to work a microphone in many a public forum debate. If that's your picture "straightsubs" you're a hot lil' chili pepa'.....
Which Hitchens are we talking about here? that statement seems to refer to both of them.
what's the bet that the lighting clown is a catholic........ ?
Turn the volume up!
Bahaha he creates his own light, poor fools. Let them try!
Pascal's Wager, very interesting.
He definitely had his bits. "That's what you get for founding a church on the family values of Henry VIII."
When I think of Hitch i can never refer to him in the past. Each time i watch him i am absolutely blown away. He is the real man of all season. Rise in power Hitch.
Provide better sound quality!!!
So sadly missed. Why did his inferior brother rebel? because he was shadowed and outdone? Of course!!!
Anyone got the Q and A from this?
Happy birthday to you Mr Hitchens
One of his best?
Voltaire: "Ecrelinf".
You're rather fond of this comment, aren't you?...
agreed! but i find it funny and endearing that he didnt know 'how to work youtube'.
whats up with the lights
You may having something there... I think that you may well be right...
Can someone please explain to me why the audience is laughing in the beginning, when he compares cathedrals and mosques to casinos?
They were both built with massive amounts of💰revenue, hence the irony that one can cater to god fearing people, and the other to vice and sinning.
But both have essentially the same purpose.
Hitchens really shouldn't attack one of the greatest mathmaticians and physicists in history, Pascal, just because a half-joke argument he wrote in the margins of a book has been taken up by theologians. The guy has a SI unit named after him for fuck sake.
But he promotes immorality and bigotry. Gotta separate the scientist from the person.
Nobody is perfect and it's perfectly acceptable to attack whomever. I admire much of what Hegel said, but he was capable of nationalistic, even toxic doggerel.
peter isn't bright or sharp enough to be logically envious.
Yes he was jealous of his brothers' fame and his acceptance by the general public.
I still don't like hearing him say Comrad. It just doesn't fit in my American ears.
lighting performed by monkey on LSD
And not one defending reply.