Richard Dawkins isn’t looking for an argument. “I don’t go out of my way to argue,” says the evolutionary biologist and bestselling author. “I love truth, and I suppose I like to stick up for truth whenever it’s necessary – and sometimes that does involve arguing.
” Nevertheless, the world-renowned scientist’s steadfast commitment to facts has divided opinion for decades. Dawkins’ work has bridged two centuries and two of humanity’s most enduringly conflicting topics – science and god. He wrote his evolution manifesto The Selfish Gene , in 1976, and atheist polemic The God Delusion in 2006.
And with a general election days away, Dawkins, 83, is not short of opinions. As we sit down to a Zoom call, we head straight into the state of British politics, and the topic he fears it neglects too much: climate change. “We need to be thinking about long-term welfare of the planet.
Unfortunately democratic politics is not well geared to that. Politicians want to be re-elected and therefore they tend to want to appeal in the short-term rather than the long-term.” He thinks there are “too many lawyers and not enough scientists in parliament”.
“Science is best equipped to know what the best policy for long-term welfare is. “Unfortunately to implement it, you have to be political – you have to actually convince people to go along with you. There’s a conflict between short-term self-interest and long-term community interest.
It’s very hard to reconcil.