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What do you call someone who continues to believe a falsehood in the face of all evidence, reason and logic? "Stupid" seems pretty spot on to me.

• halostatue 15y ago
  Willfully ignorant. I understand both points here: JGC is correct that stupid is the wrong word for what Dawkins is talking about. Dawkins believes that there are a class of people who have shown themselves to be incorrigibly ignorant. Someone who is stupid would be incapable of learning the facts involved. They should not be treated with disdain; it's not their fault. Someone who is ignorant, doesn't know the facts involved. They should also not be treated with disdain; they don't know any better. Someone who, despite repeated exposure to factual, repeatable knowledge chooses to remain ignorant… that's who Dawkins is disdainful of, and I don't blame him. And while I happen to agree with his view on the willful ignorance of Creationists, it is important to note that those selfsame folks would consider him willfully ignorant of the glorious truth of their god. Ideally, Dawkins would leave out the name-calling altogether, but it's an awfully convenient shorthand to say that someone who is willfully and incorrigibly ignorant is, in fact, stupid. It just happens to be unnecessarily inflammatory and too much of a shortcut.