PZ Myers (@pzmyers) is a well-known atheist blogger, science popularizer and an associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris.His primary blog, Pharyngula went on to be acquired by National Geographic and he currently blogs at FreeThoughtBlogs.com where he criticizes creationism, supports feminism and writes about topics and trends important to the future of all of us. In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including:
- The problem with religion and creationism clouding public discord
- Why evolution is so important to understand and how conservatives have created fake doubt
- How embryos evolve and why understanding the stages is actually quite important
- Why PZ’s more than a little worried about CRISPR and genetic engineering
- The truth about Gattica and designer babies
- Why Buddhism’s not much better than other religions in PZ’s book
- How religion came to be and why we’re still a long way off from eradicating it
- Why fake news mirrors religious beliefs and is caused by many of the same human flaws
- What scientists should learn from preachers and priests
- How to think about education and reforming communitiies
- Why the world is so divided and what we can do about it
- The science of gene testing and why we know a lot less than we think we do
