Isn’t it striking how many highly intelligent freethinkers are ineffective speakers and writers? 

Not all of them, mind you.  Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins are notable exceptions in my mind. They both get right to the point using ordinary words.  They both look at their audience while speaking. Harris is one of the more affable speakers out there, while Dawkins excels at communicating with an earnest intensity.  Their approaches to delivering their ideas explain their popularity.  They stand out from the crowd with their ability to convey their ideas.  Many other freethinkers (all of them intelligent, sincere and committed to following evidence where it leads) could greatly improve on the way they deliver their ideas.  By failing to work on their delivery, they are losing opportunities to communicate their valuable ideas.

I base this conclusion on my viewing of the presentations at the La Jolla conference, “Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival.”  You can watch videos of the sessions here. I briefly discussed the conference here.

While watching some of the presenters, however, I imagined being a fundamentalist; In short, I imagined feeling threatened by the ideas of the La Jolla freethinkers.  If I were a fundmentalist, I might think I disagreed with the ideas of the scientists and philosophers while I was actually much more repulsed by the manner in which those ideas were presented.

For instance, some of the freethinking scientists and philosophers appear arrogant.  They might not actually be arrogant, though they appeared…