Sam Harris on Francis Collins at the NIH
source: http://www.examiner.com/x-10853-Portland-Humanist-Examiner~y2009m7d27-Sam-Harris-on-Francis-...
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Sam Harris is raising questions about the ability of Francis Collins to lead the National Institutes of Health. In an Op-Ed piece for the New York Times, Harris, noted intellectual, celebrity author and founder of the Reason Project, argues that Collins rejects a scientific understanding of human nature.
Collins, a physical chemist, a medical geneticist and the former head of the Human Genome Project, is, without question, a brilliant scientist. Harris does not question his accomplishments or his credentials. Indeed, the argument against Collins is not about credentials, but about philosophy. Harris simply questions the wisdom of entrusting "the future of biomedical research in the United States to a man who sincerely believes that a scientific understanding of human nature is impossible".
Why is an understanding of human nature impossible for Collins? The answer, in a word: "God".
(more at link)
Collins, a physical chemist, a medical geneticist and the former head of the Human Genome Project, is, without question, a brilliant scientist. Harris does not question his accomplishments or his credentials. Indeed, the argument against Collins is not about credentials, but about philosophy. Harris simply questions the wisdom of entrusting "the future of biomedical research in the United States to a man who sincerely believes that a scientific understanding of human nature is impossible".
Why is an understanding of human nature impossible for Collins? The answer, in a word: "God".
(more at link)
