Dawkins' warning over fairy stories
Updated on 24 October 2008
Richard Dawkins says he will spend his retirement writing a book for children.
The former Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University wants to find out if fantasy stories affect their readers' abilities to think rationally.
He said: "I haven't read Harry Potter, I have read Pullman who is the other leading children's author that one might mention and I love his books. I don't know what to think about magic and fairytales.
"I would like to know whether there is any evidence that bringing children up to believe in spells and wizards has a pernicious effect.
"So many of the stories I read allowed the possibility of frogs turning into princes and I'm not sure whether that has a sort of insidious affect on rationality. Perhaps it's something for research.
"I plan to look at mythical accounts of various things and also the scientific account of the same thing. And the mythical account that I look at will be several different myths.
"Of which the Judeo-Christian one will just be one of many. And the scientific one will be substantiated, but appeal to children to think for themselves; to look at the evidence. Always look at the evidence."
