Dawkins is not opposing personal life enhancing mental strategies but the wilfully ignorant, and their attempts to force sane people to comply with there ridiculous beliefs such as creationism/intelligent design and a mindbogalingly stupid under estimation of the age of the earth.

It must be very frustrating and particularly so in his field to have to re-fight the battle that was thought to have been won long ago by the use of geological evidence, study and reason.

Also and especially in the U.S.A - to have the vast majority of educated people agree but still not having the courage to be seen to openly challenge the power of the 'wilfully ignorant' view. Is it done in the belief that if enough people accept as fact a blatant lie - that eventually become a kind of truth?

But can there really be such a thing as being 'wilfully ignorant'? Perhaps there is a more accurate term to describe those who would knowingly choose to teach children fairy stories as fact.............