Reply
Sun 25 Jan, 2015 05:08 am
Does "the subdivision of the duperies on which they live" mean "the falling apart of the lies/cheats on which they live"?
Context:
The priests of the different religious sects . . . dread the
advance of science as witches do the approach of
daylight, and scowl on the fatal harbinger announcing
the subdivision of the duperies on which they live.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Interesting. The word "subdivision" does not appear in the original text of Thomas Jefferson's "Letter to José Francesco Corrê a Da Serra - Monticello, April 11, 1820". He used "subversion", which makes better sense - that is that the advance of science would subvert (undermine) the duperies (deceptions) practised by the priests of religious sects.
I say "interesting" because the misquote, having appeared in Dawkins' book "The God Delusion", has, because of lazy copying, spread to many places on the Web and in printed material, thus unintentionally providing an example of a "meme", itself a concept invented by Dawkins.
It has been suggested that Dawkins perpetrated the howler by relying too heavily on spell checking software.
@contrex,
contrex wrote:
Interesting. The word "subdivision" does not appear in the original text of Thomas Jefferson's "Letter to José Francesco Corrê a Da Serra - Monticello, April 11, 1820". He used "subversion", which makes better sense - that is that the advance of science would subvert (undermine) the duperies (deceptions) practised by the priests of religious sects.
I say "interesting" because the misquote, having appeared in Dawkins' book "The God Delusion", has, because of lazy copying, spread to many places on the Web and in printed material, thus unintentionally providing an example of a "meme", itself a concept invented by Dawkins.
It has been suggested that Dawkins perpetrated the howler by relying too heavily on spell checking software.
Poor Dawkins, caught red handed by Contrex.
Does "perpetrated the howler " mean "made the ridiculous mistake"?
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:Poor Dawkins, caught red handed by Contrex.
Other people have drawn attention to this including this blogger:
http://timstuhldreher.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/memetics-in-action-dawkins-thomas.html
oristarA wrote: Does "perpetrated the howler" mean "made the ridiculous mistake"?
Yes.
@contrex,
There is "it" in the link:
Is "it" here a parallel object of "the fatal harbinger"?
Selected Answer
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace