TED 2006 - Daniel Dennett: Part Two of Deconstructing Faith

Danniel Dennett is, as I've previously mentioned, arguably one of a handful of great living philosophers. His focus is on the nexus around conciousness, cognition, language, and evolution. He is the author of Darwin's Dangerous Idea, a superb analysis of evolution and its intelllectual discontents. His latest work, Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomena, is an extraordinary effort to understand the role of faith in human cognition. In an amazing juxtaposition, Dennett ended up speaking directly after Rick Warren, one of the new breed of super-evangelists who, unlike many of his ilk, is actually using his enormous influence to attempt to do genuine good in the world. Dennett's talk was scheduled to be given a couple of days before Warren's, so it was not meant as a direct response to him. But as it happens, Dennett had a lot to say about where he and Warren disagree. Enjoy.