"If you're beliefs are non-falsifiable... If there's no scenario that can convince you that your most cherished opinions are in error, then that's proof that you didn't get them by being in contact with reality." -Harris ^
@@zachr0 Reality itself is objective. Regardless of individual perception, gravity pulls objects inward, the color red corresponds to a wavelength around 430 terahertz, and the speed of light remains constant at 299,792,458 meters per second.
Can you show me the reality in which I can encounter the verification or falsification of the following statements: "You should not rip someone's eyes out of their skull".
that's exactly what i was saying the other day! whether you're talking about political ideologies, religious beliefs right; down to depression and anxiety disorders; it all starts in one's own mind. we can only control our own thoughts and one has to actively want to exercise control over your thoughts. i love these kinds of talks; deep; meaningful and providing some tools to deal with inside thoughts and outside pressures. i love sam harris, thank you, so very much!!!
Except we don't teach anyone how to think the right way. The only way we have rn is "teach them to think left". The only teachings on how to think we need is one that is declared by the one with the purified mind. His teachings didn't focus on wisdom and self control for nothing. Karma is real and we see it in real time. Not the western ego centric version of Karma.
I’m a philosophy major who chose to go back to supporting kids in school because I think an education in the ideas that Harris describes among others are one of the most important goals of the 21st century. We HAVE to break the cycle, somehow…
The real problem of being certain of own opinion is that we transform our opinions and concepts into our identity and when we are confronted by others it becomes a threat to what we consider our identity
Sam Harris the Zionist apologist speaking as a genocide is happening. He's suffering from Zionist Derangement Syndrome. No respect for his musings whatsoever.
But that's not completely right. It's not bad ideas, but the acceptance of a false reality that feels like it has relevance to them. Trump was speaking directly to the electorate's emotional state and fed the fear. The lies became truth, and many were willing to lay down their lives for those lies. This ain't over.
@@allwheeldrivewanting to be great(again?), not really telling what that means, believing someone else poisoned your blood while letting a foreign power that arrests people for standing with blank sheets convince you you have no freedom of speech. Letting people convince you you have some special knowledge of pizza scandals and really ridiculous stuff - that means some narcissism complacency and arrogance on their behalf, they do have a very dark side and they should know it.
You should watch the video again. Where do their beliefs come from? You don’t ‘choose’ what a fact is, either. The fact doesn’t need you in order to be true.
@@words007Because he is suddenly sounding unhinged. Making fun of people for doing research instead of blindly trusting media! That’s not a brilliant person.
I was an Evangelical Christian for forty years. I was in ministry and church leadership, and was an avid Apologist of the Christian faith. That path of seeking for solid arguments, along with the overwhelming lack of evidence for the claims of Christianity has led me to an Atheistic worldview. Thank you Sam.
You're a fool. I don't need the Bible to prove God exists, just simple logic science 101. I dare you to ask a PhD Logic Science instructor to write out this absolute objective truth which is a non truth. non p is or caused p. This is a formula, plug data into the formula. 1>, non p, non conscious non intelligent non being caused the Illogical impossible contradiction 2>, p, conscious intelligent being in the universe You will agree this is non p is or caused p, this is impossible. Only, p is p, absolute objective truth, self evident. Only conscious intelligent being can cause conscious intelligent being. Do you have parents? Well they are conscious intelligent beings. Nothing caused something is stupid on steroids. Only life can cause life, not non life caused life, that would be non p caused p, illogical impossible contradiction. Don't be a brain dead fool bro. 🎉🎉
Evangelical Christianity is probably the lowest bar you could have for Christianity. It has not produced great thinkers and scientists like Augustine, Aquinas, of Edward Fesser.
I'm happy you got out of that trap. Religion being a joke dosnt mean there isn't a god. Also just because there is no god dosnt mean there is no afterlife IMO
@@guybartlett9587very true. If rationality leads you away from a certain religion, why not use reason to evaluate other existential claims? Christianity does not equal theism, or realism, or spirituality… there are several questions and debunking one of them doesn’t debunk the rest. Remember that.
*We engage endlessly in digital discourse, debating rebutting in an algorithmic theater. Yet despite our ceaseless exchange of words, we rarely forge real solutions. We've become more invested in performance of dialogue then in the difficult work of creating change.* _Why do societies world wide seem trapped in this cycle of debate without progress ?_ _Perhaps we need to ask ourselves:_ *Are we truly seeking solutions, or have we become too comfortable in the familiar dance of endless discussions ?*
This is because those in the digitial discourse are largely screaming into the void, and very few are actually listening and open to consideration of ideas that differ from their own. It's a game of defending one's position versus a true exchange with the personal goal of growing one's perspective. Very few people hold the inner experience of wanting to know more from others, wanting to further inform their own opinion, wanting to challenge their own ideas. This is seen as weakness, not strength.
I think the problem is that we're less and less engaging in dialogue or conversation, and more and more engaging in arguments/debates. If you're in a dialogue or conversation, you're not necessarily trying to "win" or convince someone, you're simply engaged in a peaceful exchange of ideas with another person or persons. If you're in an argument or debate, the whole point of the exercise is that you have an "opponent" and to have the best argument and "win", and you're less likely to yield at any point, even if you internally might feel your "opponent" has a valid point at some point in the debate, you'll do mental gymnastics to prove them wrong, to not risk losing face or losing the whole debate. I've found that I'm much more likely to have a good time in a conversation than a debate. I'll simply share what I know, what I think I know (and be clear that I might not be 100% certain in those cases) and what I feel about that knowledge, and I'll gladly listen to someone else's perspective, and we don't need to try and convince one another of one thing or the other, that comes afterwards when we are alone and think back to the conversation.
@@adamnilsson566 While I agree that both dialogue and debate have their place, I feel we're missing a more fundamental issue. The real challenge isn't about how were communicating its about turning words into action. You make excellent points about understanding different perspectives. As an American, I recognize that my westernized viewpoint is just one among many. Every region has its own cultural context, history and philosophical frameworks that shapes how people see the world. But understanding these differences, while important, is only the first step. What I am really concerned about is the gap between discussion and concrete action, let me pose some questions. _- Have you ever tried to create or change a law in your community ?_ _- Whats stops people from engaging in local governance ?_ _- Why do we feel satisfied with just commenting on social media instead of taking tangible steps for change ?_ The comfort of online discourse has created an illusion of participation. We post comments, share views, and engage and engage in debates, but often does this translate into real world change. The algorithms that shape our digital experience further complicate this by: _- Creating echo chambers that reinforce existing algorithmic views that influence and or change towards sed ideology._ _- Making it harder to verify the authenticity and context of who we're engaging with._ _- Reducing complex issues to simplified, engagement driven content._ True human progress requires more than just understanding or winning arguments, it demands the humility to recognize problems and the commitment to address them through concrete action. Online platform such as RUclips can facilitate awareness, they shouldn't be the end point of our engagement with social issues. *_"When dialogue becomes a substitute for doing, we've lost sight of true progress"_*
I say this constantly when engaging in debates, specifically online. Are you here to learn and grow, or just focused on being right, and feeding your ego?
The mythologist Joseph Campbell noted well over 50 years ago, that perhaps the only proper mythic symbol of our time, should be the first image of the earth from the moon taken during the Apollo program. As Campbell noted: "There is a common humanity built into our nervous system, out of which our imaginations work". That's just hard science as much as common sense. Genuine community only happens if there is a larger picture to work for, often when crisis is widely perceived. That said, also heed Carl Jung's warning about individuals who are too judicious with their "understanding" of those who are intolerant. Too many people just want to burn the house down. Be open, but be aware.
One reason I hate people who talk about free speech when spreading hate speech. "we cant have tolerance without being intolerant of the intolerant". In my belief i think you can say or think whatever you believe, but I'll be damned if I let you spread a hateful narrative without negative reactions.
If Joseph Campbell hadn't talked about Star Wars, I might never have paid attention to him. His Bill Moyers interviews were an influence on me during a formative period of my life.
@@Chickenwingsinthedings you are referring to cause and effect =law… hate is akin to murder… yet murder is illegal. People do it like the idea of thought police, but our intention is the major source of all action, good or evil. Shunning, is an innate reaction to something we deem illegal at some level… like raising a child who hits their sibling, especially out of malice or bad intention, etc… they get put in a corner and told to be quiet and are ignored… that’s ultimately what cancel culture is all about… and obviously it’s a normal and needed mechanism. But when the one getting cancelled is the truth teller, then chaos and breakdown must follow… it’s ultimately about authority… who has it? The truth is what real authority is fundamentally based on… but we are in a post truth world. Truth has been thrown to the ground, and yet even people like Harris are not really conveying the whole truth-but are none the less seeking the authority as if they were… like they should have a larger audience, which may be true to a point, but at another point he’s be shutting down certain fundamentals of the truth to fit his perspective, which means he shouldn’t be listened to at the same time… night has fallen… best thing is to keep one’s head down?
You know that point near the end of a relationship where no matter how rational you think you're being, no matter how careful you are, things keep breaking down again and again to the same tired conflict? This is where I fear humanity is today on a species wide level.
That's the way it is with "reality vs the others" these days. Unbending, "reality" just has to throw up its hands while the "others" walk away, looking for echo chambers and simple, black and white answers to all uncomfortable questions.
@stodgepodge Absolutely we are. Yeats' The Second Coming is happening right now. "What rough beast, it's hour come round at last, Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?"
3 things that helped me and literally changed my life 1. I stopped telling myself I'll do it tomorrow 2. I read books on nixorus 3. I had faith and religion.
You missed the point. Its about moving from battle to real discussion real respect real empathy and allowing for differences of opinion. Not battle. There is no absolute truth and lie; there is each mind’s personal perception/belief of those concepts.
its more of a battle of critical thinking. lies are not lies to people that were convinced to believe in them as truths. there is active effort to distort peoples ability to distinguish what is true and become cynical and give up. great channel to follow for that is @ProfessorDaveExplains
I told a friend a long time ago that a time will come when people will be told that 2+2 actually doesnt = 4. And many will believe it. We are almost there.
Like men who can one day just decide to be women? Or how we argue that abortion is now totally fine? Things that used to be obvious like 2+2=4 are up for debate, and Sam is actually a reason why a lot of this chaos has happened with his religion called science. He's a religious fanatic posing as an intellectual.
"Everything in reality can be explained. If your beliefs are rational, they can be explained. If your beliefs are not falsifiable, they can't be explained and that's proof you didn't get them from being in contact with reality" Paraphrased 3:20 - 4:42
Yes I liked my own comments. I'm giving myself a bump because I think this idea Sam shared is the must important one in this whole video, and if you take away nothing else take this.
That statement (If your beliefs can’t be falsifiable…) is confusing to me. Shouldn’t that be “verifiable”? If your beliefs can’t be verifiable, (then they don’t reflect reality - can’t recall the exact last part).
@@JoyceJohnson99 falsifiable is the correct word. Imagine someone believes something you disagree with. You gather tons of proof that would show this person is in the wrong, because all that evidence effectively makes their claims false. However, they refuse to reconsider. Puzzled, you may inquire "what amount/kind of evidence would you need to accept that your belief is wrong?" If their answer is "no amount nor kind evidence would persuade me that I'm wrong" then they're openly saying their claim is not falsifiable. Sam argues that in this case, their claim is not based on reality.
Yes, and before that it was talk radio (Rush Limbaugh), and then FOX News. The indoctrination of Boomers listening to those sources is decades, a whole adult lifetime long. Then social media finished the job.
@MrCamiloGabri stop using social media 👍🤔 Get educated. Stop trusting everybody on RUclips, but go to universities. I simply see no good in the world coming from social media...
@@domcruise274 Really in 10 years? Meditation has been a life practice of mine for over 50 years, way before Sam was on the scene. How little you know. It is WISDOM when you no longer look for strategies or ways to escape.
Of course, Harris advertises conversation over violence because he and his kind know that wherever there is reasonable dialog, they'll win the argument.
@@mprado4177we would be wise to move away from this good/bad thinking. I think most of us know someone in our families or personal lives who we consider a good person by most measures, but they've been swept up in misinformation and lies. I have family members who I know are good people (treat their kids well, make an honest living, don't commit crimes, etc.) but they also have these bizarre, quiet beliefs about conspiracies peddled by alt-right influencers. I don't know all the answers about how to counter those beliefs, but I know that calling them bad people doesn't help persuade them of anything.
@@StrangerThanNonfiction I know that is true. But right now I have no sympathy left. This is a blatant take over by insanity, and they need to be accountable for the fall of the USA. Because unless there is a miracle, this is the end of an attempt to have a society ruled by law. They have voted for the lawless, the exploiter, the tyrants. So sorry. I also know people. And I have been avoiding them. That's the only way I can show mercy for them.
“One of the great challenges in this world is knowing enough about a subject to think you're right, but not enough about the subject to know you're wrong.” -Neil deGrasse Tyson
3:51. “Good people being captured by bad ideas.” If most of someone’s personality, worldview, values and the way they think about, speak to and treat people with opposing ideas has been consumed by their “bad” ideology? At what point are they no longer a “good” person?
I remember during the covid pandemic there was a tv host here in Germany admitting that he is not an expert in all this microbiology and epidemiology stuff but at the same time is absolutely sure that he is right. For me this was the most characteristic statement of our time. I think the main challenge is that we have less personal contact with other people but much more indirect contact by social media. The latter is just based on stories about others and we can‘t rely on our natural judgement which requires personal contact.
@@anthonyperez5757 No need to be expert. What I mean is: Rely on plausibility. Ask questions to find out if things fit together. Accept that there is nothing you can absolutely be sure of. Embrace the idea of changing your opinion as something positive. True, we all have bias but we can enhance it or we can try to minimize it. And acting is not always better than doing nothing. It can make things worse.
Money is influence. Money decides which messages are the loudest and have the broadest influence. Follow the money and you will find the motivation behind the "truth". Wealth concentration is the goal of capitalism.
Kamala spent a billion $ in 6 months and lost quite soundly to trump who spent less than half that over an entire campaign. The elites couldn't buy her into power and democracy indeed prevailed over corrupt money
False. The basics of control is power and power lies not in an individual but in a group. Money is value, not influence. You can buy influence with value. To be able to exert power, your targets have to believe in your authority. Money can buy you that influence, but it can also make the dynamic more diluted. When you buy influence, you’re giving away value to another authority, the authority could be your targets, or your accomplices. These people will take out of your power one way or another. If you try buying votes, you’ll become more dependent on those money buying the voters, therefore you become closer to the slave, becoming slaves to their wealth themselves. But sure, if you have a lot of money, the gap is wider between you and them, so you can maintain the relationship more easily… until they demand for more. Also, the influence of a large group of people combined is actually more powerful than the modern day billionaires. We just don’t use that power. We’re too busy buying their games and watching their movies.
@@bjh1284 Yawn... Are you 19 to think that any other system's (communism, feudalism, you name it) primary goal ISN'T wealth concentration? Ridiculously enough, capitalism seems to be the most fair of them all so far. Not perfect, not ideal, but far better than any other real system that you can name. I challenge you.
I've had mixed results with meditation and I'm not so sure it's beneficial to everyone. That said, I'm always keen on listening to Sam Harris. I don't agree with him100%of the time, but he is a very sharp guy with a good heart and he is extraordinarily learned and articulate. He's always worth listening to and he makes a helluva lot of sense.
Today’s political landscape is what you call the boiling point of discontent. People with their boots on the ground are feeling it first. However, the bourgeoisie class are clearly more insulated and believe it’s an intellectual problem.
My take on this is that many in the Western world don't distinguish between social liberalism (freedom of speech, movement, beliefs, ...) and economic liberalism (which has been pushed too far with neoliberalism). This also seemed to be the case in this video. Many intellectuals argue that one can't go without the other. Yet, most people want the former, not necessarily the latter (which is a cause of alienation, through inequality).
“Science” … the latest in a long line of cheesy religions where people act like it’s “the truth” while forcing it on others. Covid was the perfect example where the priests of science made stupid decrees… wear a face diaper… stay 6 feet apart… only walk down the grocery store isle in the designated direction… Vaccinate… test regularly… believe the science… quarantine even if you’re healthy People still can’t recognize emerging religious systems as they get relabeled.
Glad there are people like Sam in the world because at 64 years old and our recent election, I'm so angry, I'm done caring about anything or anyone but me and my family. I won't lift a finger for anyone, unless it benefits me.
I’m retired. Your story of a conservative savings profile is a common one. Any course of action involves risks. You might be avoiding market risk, but you are taking on other risks like inflation and reinvestment risk.
My wife is willing to work for another 5 years if needed. Are we in good shape? Will we be okay if I begin withdrawing from Social Security when I’m 62 and my wife is 67? Should we hire a financial planner to help us navigate this?
Certainly get a pro to look at your predicament (if you even have one, lol) A second opinion from a comprehensive financial adviser can help you look at more than just your current estimate of cash flow and needs but also longevity risk, outliving your money, tax considerations, legacy planning, healthcare costs, inflation and a myriad of other things you may not be considering when reviewing your current situation
Thanks for this. I just had a headache and decided to 'stare right at' the headache. I hurt initially but then I realized the spot of consciousness that I was avoiding was actually the 'center' of my 'inner vision'. I have visual snow syndrome (seeing static) and palinopsia (seeing reality blur when items in it move). This constant uncertainty can sometime take a shape. These shapes are actually what it feels like to dream or 'see in your mind'. One can train this 'light' to be brighter. Sometimes we can burn it out. When we look at light for too long, it can make us reduce or 'inner light' since we don't need to engage as much to get stimulation. Mediation ends up being the process of searching for a feeling and making peace with it. For example, if we search for boredom, they we will eventually find a way to reward ourselves with less stimulation. The goal is to find peace even with low stimulation. We need our mind to punctuate reality both physically and temporally.
5:28 ~ "One basis for hope is there's almost no problem human ingenuity can't solve in the end." I'd like to see how human ingenuity will come up with a solution for the problem of resource depletion. Of how indefinite growth can continue in a finite world.
I wish what Harris is saying here was the world we live in, or could be possible. But I don't believe it anymore. Pandora's box has been opened. Principles, integrity, and honor are dead. It was a nice dream.
Sam was so wrong about so many thing s himself. From the pandemic to Russia gate. He still has on the likes of Ann applebaum who has basically been wrong about everything.
"we live in perpetual choice between conversation and violence... persuasion or coercion... conversation prevents violence...all of our failures of compassion are failures of mutual understanding" such a salient and relevant video for our times
Thank you Sam you've been pissing me off for the last decade or so but that was certainly apt and beautiful with impeccable timing. I propose the PBS NewsHour club. Let us all dedicate 1 hour once a week of our digital time to watching one episode of the PBS NewsHour. I think if we all did that for a couple months we'd be able to speak to one another once again
Oh you mean the lefty liberal biased news?! Don’t take me wrong. I am a sustainer of the PBS but I don’t see them as unbiased folks who want to get deeply into the roots when it comes to the politics. They are often a reminder of MSNBC for the most political matters except for occasional exceptions ( e.g., certainly Frontline episodes)
@tarafreedom2584 No that's not what I mean. I mean boring news. This happened. Please show me something that they falsely reported. They mostly just say this thing happened and this thing happened and good night we'll see you tomorrow. You and I can come to our own conclusions about who's right in a conflict but we need to have footage from people on the ground being like yes I saw that bomb explode that was messed up. We need to know who are the major players are and what they do and then you and I can argue about who's in the right. What we can't have is Alex Jones type people who just make crap up. MSNBC yeah is liberal crap but the Newshour isn't. Hell David Brooks just took it to the liberal elitists tonight on the Newshour. Maybe you should watch tonight's episode?
Fear has certainly fueled the U.S. to create and maintain a military megalopolis larger than multiple countries combined. It is just a weird thing that we continue to push all our money into controlling and killing.
Fear of the other has now been being preached day after day in the US. It's no wonder you have fear if you are repeatedly told you are living in an invasion, that rapists, murderers and people released from mental asylums are flooding the cities.
you believe that 'believe is the biggest problem'. Its not a fact unless you have researched it properly, have gathered data and ranked all problems in some measure of 'size' and then declared belief as being the biggest one. If you have not done that exercise, then you are believer yourself.
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' ~Isaac Asimov
You might want to seek professional help. It’s just some fucking music and your reaction is YOUR REACTION. My reaction to the music is … nothing at all, it’s just some noise in the background.
Googled it, saw a reddit thread that says it's a scam (can't include link, do your own research). Seems this post and the 200+ likes are part of a new marketing strategy utilizing bots. Buyer beware!
Sam Harris grew up in Hollywood. His Dad was a Hollywood actor and his mom a Hollywood writer (she created The Golden Girls). Went to University in California. His views are highly influenced by this all-American upbringing. His connections and born privilege have no-doubt added to his success. There are smarter, less biased, "intellectuals" out there.
It's interesting to use "Democracy" and "Capitalism" as the good side when capitalism is the complete opposite of democracy. You don't vote on how profit is split, or how the workplace hierarchy is structured, the only voting in capitalism is with your dollar, and since capitalism tends towards monopolies and monopsonies, choosing where to spend your money is becoming moot.
Agreed with your point that they work in opposite ways but I see them as 2 sides of the same coin. Generating wealth is the only way to ensure continued freedom. Being broke removes the range of choices you might otherwise prefer.
@@parttimehumanHa. I’m wholly convinced they’re both just controlled opposition. Globalist-selected pseudo-intellectiuals and spiritual guides for the “unwashed” masses.
@@parttimehumanHa. I’m wholly convinced they’re both just controlled opposition. Globalist-selected pseudo-intellectuals and spiritual guides for the “unwashed masses.”
@@parttimehumanHa. I’m wholly convinced they’re both just controlled opposition. Globalist-selected pseudo-intellectuals and spiritual guides for the naive
@@parttimehuman RUclips won’t even let me reply to your comment. Their masters are angry Ha. I’m wholly convinced they’re both just contro***d opposition. Glob*list-selected pseudo-intel***tuals and spiritual guides for the “unw**hed masses.”
A few things I'm certain about: 1. Everyone has an opinion. 2. Death 3. Clean water is vital 4. The weather will turn on me if I plan to play hooky and enjoy anything outdoors.
Sam takes impossibly complex problems and distills them down into simple truths that everyone should understand. Unfortunately, we're all too angry and convinced that we're right to listen to him.
@@789juggernaut Sam is pro lying for better outcomes. He has said so himself. After all, he cannot be moral, because evil and good do not exist and he is a utilitarian/hedonist.
Inequality is plain simple, far from impossibly complex problems. We just keep failing on the first steps, which is acknowledging that there is a problem, and what are causes and consequences of it.
2:40 that’s such an American way of thinking… “we either have voice or violence”. There’s actually a lot more option of you get rid of trying to partition everything into one of two buckets. I hope this talk gets better from here.
Even just this idea that there is one truth… and those that don’t see it are wrong… is just crazy. There are multiple aspects to everything. Multiple ways of doing things. Multiple goals, some in full alignment, some completely unaligned, some unrelated, and every mix of those things.
Can you give examples of the other buckets? I think he makes a solid stance- you can either create a society based on voicing opinions through dialogue or forcing opinions through physical force. I can't think of anything else.
@@br3nto I'm genuinely asking you to explain this. I've never heard of these terms. (EDIT: I looked it up. This is just a model of group development stages for healthy progress. It is synonymous with the basic tenants of voice.)
He will soon reach obsolescence just like the rest of the tribalist Evolutionary Psychologists. Behaviourism will soon be in the philosophical wastebasket of bad ideas. CUE theory will save Psychology.
I used to really respect him for his seemingly clear and articulate thought process but he seems to have some giant blind spots he refuses to acknowledge and watching him lie in defense of Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians is just disgusting
@@veganmatry are you not aware that Sam Harris is a determinist? He wrote a book on "free will" or more like the lack thereof. He believes that everything is predetermined as a sort of cause and effect, including our biology and actions. Yet in this video he is talking as if we have the ability to make choices or change the future, which completely goes against his belief that everything is already determined, and we have no ability to make different choices. So, this video makes no sense coming from Sam.
@@goodfaithministry This is really interesting! I have heard Sam and others talk before about how they reconcile the lack of free will with the "choices" we make every day. I think it's usually explained like this - in a literal sense, we cannot make true choices. The sum of our past experiences, brain chemistry, and environment around us leaves no room for an "I" to make an actual choice, it's just neurons firing out of our control, etc. But it is impossible to live our lives like that. The majority of the time we act as though we have free will, and most humans believe we are making choices. It would never be practical to just sit around and do nothing at all with the reasoning that we can't control anything, nobody wants to live like that. So Sam tries to put good ideas into the world, because he values it, even if in a literal sense he knows that nobody can truly make choices. I've struggled with this a lot. I agree with Sam on the lack of free will. Or at least an astounding lack of control based on factors outside of our control. So naturally I always think, then why don't I just sit around on the couch and rot away my life? The answer is because I don't want to, and I want to do things that make me happier and more fulfilled, and I think most humans feel the same way. Therefore that is why Sam is urging people to have more open conversations and question what they believe. Have a great day and let me know what you think!
Capitalism is a failure if the gains, which fundamentally require the work of others to generate, are not equitably distributed. Stagnant wages coupled with inflation and record profits does not compute. Even worse when this paradigm exists in a system where excess, stock buybacks for example, are out of control. Almost $1T in stock buybacks in 2024. That is money NOT being paid to workers. Instead it is artificially inflating virtually the entire securities "markets" across all sectors. That's $1T that is NOT travelling through the economy at large. Not being spent on groceries, gas, tech, and a million other products. Instead, more and more each year, as a percentage of GDP is being funneled upwards and being hoarded. Then there's the monopolies, monopsonies, and various oligopolies currently in existence using money (which is somehow equated as speech through pretzel logic) to manipulate governments to make the inequality even worse.
Great video. It has a unique style in terms of cinematography and editing. You should list the crew in the credits so they can use this to promote themselves (assuming they’re freelancers).
Per Wiki: "Two centuries ago, a somewhat obscure Scotsman named Tytler made this profound observation: 'A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy.'"
This is more-than-coincidentally the estimated amount of time it would take for a competitive and hence intelligently evolved tribal mentality to devolve into an idiocracy.
Too many people are certain that down deep everything is simple and everyone else is just trying to confuse them. Based on that, they assume they have nothing to learn. So, they don't.
He's the only other person I've herd say that everything comes down to the mind, I also came to the same conclusion with my psychology and neurobiology research - amongst various topics and experiences
I was agnostic most of my adult life, then in my late 30s I started attending a Christian church (I was mostly motivated by wishful thinking at the time). Nothing really happened in my life for about 6 years of regular church attendance and prayer. Then, in my early 40s I started reading the Bible for the 1st time, and it completely changed my life for the better. I can only speak for myself and my own life experience. I'm a believer and I'm grateful. Looking back, I would never have believed in God in my 20s and 30s without the personal experience. I can empathize with many agnostics/atheists (including many of my closest friends & family).
Most people do not have open minds today, to question what they hold true, to listen to different perspectives (ones they do not agree with by default), and changing one's mind is considered weakness. It is not culturally acceptable to evolve one's beliefs, and take in new information, BROAD information, and disagree respectfully. There is no cultural acceptance of finding common ground. This is considered weakness today. This only leads to escalating conflict, not collaboration.
Thank you for this clear and insightful talk. The challenge is, as stated, when people identify with their thoughts as non-negotiable. The question is, what is a thinking person who cares about the trajectory of human civilization to do??
This idea of a 'crisis of meaning' really hits home. It’s fascinating-and a bit unsettling-how much of our struggles seem tied to the stories we tell ourselves and the beliefs we hold onto. It makes me wonder: how do we actually create space for honest conversations in a world so divided? It feels like a tough challenge, but maybe it starts with small steps in our own daily interactions.
I am religious. I never discarded my common sense and logical reasoning. The older I get and the more I learn about history and politics the scarier I get. I look at people's reasoning and how far many people are willing to go to achieve things. It's just scary.
We all share the problem/threat of climate change. But when some deny it, it is not only dangerous to all of us, it is a huge loss of a shared reality.
"If you're beliefs are non-falsifiable... If there's no scenario that can convince you that your most cherished opinions are in error, then that's proof that you didn't get them by being in contact with reality." -Harris ^
This is true in a sense but also every persons subjective conscious experience is true for each person and is also not falsifiable.
@@zachr0 Reality itself is objective. Regardless of individual perception, gravity pulls objects inward, the color red corresponds to a wavelength around 430 terahertz, and the speed of light remains constant at 299,792,458 meters per second.
wow!
Can you show me the reality in which I can encounter the verification or falsification of the following statements: "You should not rip someone's eyes out of their skull".
@@zachr0In terms of their feelings, opinions or beliefs this is true. Facts are another matter.
This is such a powerful reminder that our minds are the battleground. If we don’t learn to train our thoughts, they’ll train us.
that's exactly what i was saying the other day! whether you're talking about political ideologies, religious beliefs right; down to depression and anxiety disorders; it all starts in one's own mind. we can only control our own thoughts and one has to actively want to exercise control over your thoughts. i love these kinds of talks; deep; meaningful and providing some tools to deal with inside thoughts and outside pressures. i love sam harris, thank you, so very much!!!
We live in the matrix. It's time we all wake up
Best sentence I have read in months.
You need an apropriate Epistemic model. And it isn't Sam's. Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. Read it.
The biggest battle was resisting an authoritarian takeover, but a bunch of nations failed that already.
Teaching people how to think will forever be superior to telling people what to think.
So true! Critical thinking skills...
Fact. 👍
Except we don't teach anyone how to think the right way. The only way we have rn is "teach them to think left".
The only teachings on how to think we need is one that is declared by the one with the purified mind. His teachings didn't focus on wisdom and self control for nothing. Karma is real and we see it in real time. Not the western ego centric version of Karma.
Excatly. Kids should be taught how to think, not what to think.
@@halfnelson6115 "all I know, is I know nothing." - Socrates. He understood.
I’m a philosophy major who chose to go back to supporting kids in school because I think an education in the ideas that Harris describes among others are one of the most important goals of the 21st century. We HAVE to break the cycle, somehow…
good luck to you
Thank you
Totally agree. That's awesome. Hope it's going well.
"The real problem of humanity is we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and god-like technologies.” -E.O. Wilson.
This is probably the best quote I have heard in a while.
What's wrong with the world is that intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.
Needs to be said with confidence.
Bingo
Lol yes! Someone who says this statement with confidence is surely not intelligent.
Dunning kruger effect
That’s a very confident observation!
The real problem of being certain of own opinion is that we transform our opinions and concepts into our identity and when we are confronted by others it becomes a threat to what we consider our identity
@@bijanjan100 this
Thank you. It’s like combating egos.
You are pretty much describing identity politics.
Sam Harris the Zionist apologist speaking as a genocide is happening. He's suffering from Zionist Derangement Syndrome. No respect for his musings whatsoever.
Exactly right. Ego, not money, is "the root of all evil."
The great problem of our time is the lack of personal integrity from top to bottom.
yup!
And Trump and Musk have just brought us to a new Low. A lot of stupid people in the U.S.
“Good people, normal people under the influence of bad ideas.” Need to remember that when I get angry or frustrated.
Also remember that it might be you, not them, who is under the influence of a bad idea.
But that's not completely right. It's not bad ideas, but the acceptance of a false reality that feels like it has relevance to them. Trump was speaking directly to the electorate's emotional state and fed the fear. The lies became truth, and many were willing to lay down their lives for those lies. This ain't over.
@@allwheeldrivewanting to be great(again?), not really telling what that means, believing someone else poisoned your blood while letting a foreign power that arrests people for standing with blank sheets convince you you have no freedom of speech. Letting people convince you you have some special knowledge of pizza scandals and really ridiculous stuff - that means some narcissism complacency and arrogance on their behalf, they do have a very dark side and they should know it.
Unfortunately, the problem isn't that people don't care about facts, it's that people choose the facts that suit their beliefs.
@@peteMickeal33 well I nominated Big Bird but they decided to go with the vice president. Go figure
@@BlueGnome42 let's be honest, you would have voted for whatever puppet they told you to vote for. Be that Big Bird or Kamala, as it turned out.
you just described religion
You should watch the video again.
Where do their beliefs come from?
You don’t ‘choose’ what a fact is, either. The fact doesn’t need you in order to be true.
Cough* Ya, Sam cough*
I am always astonished how effortlessly articulate Sam is
But he is either suppressed in YT algo or simply not in limelight in recent times.
He’s Jew. They smart
He's horrendous
@@words007Because he is suddenly sounding unhinged. Making fun of people for doing research instead of blindly trusting media! That’s not a brilliant person.
Dominion (2018)
I was an Evangelical Christian for forty years. I was in ministry and church leadership, and was an avid Apologist of the Christian faith. That path of seeking for solid arguments, along with the overwhelming lack of evidence for the claims of Christianity has led me to an Atheistic worldview. Thank you Sam.
Thank you for sharing! It’s testimony like yours that are make it possible for more of us to live in a closer approximation of truth! 🙏✌️😎👍
You're a fool. I don't need the Bible to prove God exists, just simple logic science 101. I dare you to ask a PhD Logic Science instructor to write out this absolute objective truth which is a non truth. non p is or caused p. This is a formula, plug data into the formula.
1>, non p, non conscious non intelligent non being caused the Illogical impossible contradiction
2>, p, conscious intelligent being in the universe
You will agree this is non p is or caused p, this is impossible. Only, p is p, absolute objective truth, self evident. Only conscious intelligent being can cause conscious intelligent being. Do you have parents? Well they are conscious intelligent beings. Nothing caused something is stupid on steroids. Only life can cause life, not non life caused life, that would be non p caused p, illogical impossible contradiction. Don't be a brain dead fool bro. 🎉🎉
Evangelical Christianity is probably the lowest bar you could have for Christianity. It has not produced great thinkers and scientists like Augustine, Aquinas, of Edward Fesser.
I'm happy you got out of that trap.
Religion being a joke dosnt mean there isn't a god.
Also just because there is no god dosnt mean there is no afterlife IMO
@@guybartlett9587very true. If rationality leads you away from a certain religion, why not use reason to evaluate other existential claims? Christianity does not equal theism, or realism, or spirituality… there are several questions and debunking one of them doesn’t debunk the rest. Remember that.
*We engage endlessly in digital discourse, debating rebutting in an algorithmic theater. Yet despite our ceaseless exchange of words, we rarely forge real solutions. We've become more invested in performance of dialogue then in the difficult work of creating change.*
_Why do societies world wide seem trapped in this cycle of debate without progress ?_
_Perhaps we need to ask ourselves:_ *Are we truly seeking solutions, or have we become too comfortable in the familiar dance of endless discussions ?*
This is because those in the digitial discourse are largely screaming into the void, and very few are actually listening and open to consideration of ideas that differ from their own. It's a game of defending one's position versus a true exchange with the personal goal of growing one's perspective. Very few people hold the inner experience of wanting to know more from others, wanting to further inform their own opinion, wanting to challenge their own ideas. This is seen as weakness, not strength.
Imo: The problem is that the algorithms (and perverse incentives) are shutting down the right discussions and broadcasting the wrong ones.
I think the problem is that we're less and less engaging in dialogue or conversation, and more and more engaging in arguments/debates. If you're in a dialogue or conversation, you're not necessarily trying to "win" or convince someone, you're simply engaged in a peaceful exchange of ideas with another person or persons. If you're in an argument or debate, the whole point of the exercise is that you have an "opponent" and to have the best argument and "win", and you're less likely to yield at any point, even if you internally might feel your "opponent" has a valid point at some point in the debate, you'll do mental gymnastics to prove them wrong, to not risk losing face or losing the whole debate.
I've found that I'm much more likely to have a good time in a conversation than a debate. I'll simply share what I know, what I think I know (and be clear that I might not be 100% certain in those cases) and what I feel about that knowledge, and I'll gladly listen to someone else's perspective, and we don't need to try and convince one another of one thing or the other, that comes afterwards when we are alone and think back to the conversation.
@@adamnilsson566 While I agree that both dialogue and debate have their place, I feel we're missing a more fundamental issue. The real challenge isn't about how were communicating its about turning words into action.
You make excellent points about understanding different perspectives. As an American, I recognize that my westernized viewpoint is just one among many. Every region has its own cultural context, history and philosophical frameworks that shapes how people see the world. But understanding these differences, while important, is only the first step.
What I am really concerned about is the gap between discussion and concrete action, let me pose some questions.
_- Have you ever tried to create or change a law in your community ?_
_- Whats stops people from engaging in local governance ?_
_- Why do we feel satisfied with just commenting on social media instead of taking tangible steps for change ?_
The comfort of online discourse has created an illusion of participation. We post comments, share views, and engage and engage in debates, but often does this translate into real world change. The algorithms that shape our digital experience further complicate this by:
_- Creating echo chambers that reinforce existing algorithmic views that influence and or change towards sed ideology._
_- Making it harder to verify the authenticity and context of who we're engaging with._
_- Reducing complex issues to simplified, engagement driven content._
True human progress requires more than just understanding or winning arguments, it demands the humility to recognize problems and the commitment to address them through concrete action. Online platform such as RUclips can facilitate awareness, they shouldn't be the end point of our engagement with social issues.
*_"When dialogue becomes a substitute for doing, we've lost sight of true progress"_*
I say this constantly when engaging in debates, specifically online. Are you here to learn and grow, or just focused on being right, and feeding your ego?
The mythologist Joseph Campbell noted well over 50 years ago, that perhaps the only proper mythic symbol of our time, should be the first image of the earth from the moon taken during the Apollo program. As Campbell noted: "There is a common humanity built into our nervous system, out of which our imaginations work". That's just hard science as much as common sense. Genuine community only happens if there is a larger picture to work for, often when crisis is widely perceived. That said, also heed Carl Jung's warning about individuals who are too judicious with their "understanding" of those who are intolerant.
Too many people just want to burn the house down. Be open, but be aware.
Well said Peter. Thank you.
One reason I hate people who talk about free speech when spreading hate speech. "we cant have tolerance without being intolerant of the intolerant". In my belief i think you can say or think whatever you believe, but I'll be damned if I let you spread a hateful narrative without negative reactions.
I'd rather be fishing.
If Joseph Campbell hadn't talked about Star Wars, I might never have paid attention to him. His Bill Moyers interviews were an influence on me during a formative period of my life.
@@Chickenwingsinthedings you are referring to cause and effect =law… hate is akin to murder… yet murder is illegal. People do it like the idea of thought police, but our intention is the major source of all action, good or evil. Shunning, is an innate reaction to something we deem illegal at some level… like raising a child who hits their sibling, especially out of malice or bad intention, etc… they get put in a corner and told to be quiet and are ignored… that’s ultimately what cancel culture is all about… and obviously it’s a normal and needed mechanism. But when the one getting cancelled is the truth teller, then chaos and breakdown must follow… it’s ultimately about authority… who has it? The truth is what real authority is fundamentally based on… but we are in a post truth world. Truth has been thrown to the ground, and yet even people like Harris are not really conveying the whole truth-but are none the less seeking the authority as if they were… like they should have a larger audience, which may be true to a point, but at another point he’s be shutting down certain fundamentals of the truth to fit his perspective, which means he shouldn’t be listened to at the same time… night has fallen… best thing is to keep one’s head down?
You know that point near the end of a relationship where no matter how rational you think you're being, no matter how careful you are, things keep breaking down again and again to the same tired conflict? This is where I fear humanity is today on a species wide level.
Yep, exactly
That's the way it is with "reality vs the others" these days. Unbending, "reality" just has to throw up its hands while the "others" walk away, looking for echo chambers and simple, black and white answers to all uncomfortable questions.
@@stodgepodge truth in that. The reason is because we feel we don’t need each other anymore. Mistakenly.
@stodgepodge Absolutely we are. Yeats' The Second Coming is happening right now. "What rough beast, it's hour come round at last, Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?"
Great analogy!
3 things that helped me and literally changed my life
1. I stopped telling myself I'll do it tomorrow
2. I read books on nixorus
3. I had faith and religion.
their books changed my life, big recommended!
@Imthegoats y bro
nice ad lmao
It’s reassuring to know that people don’t need faith or religion to change their life
I just go for a bike ride, cook for myself & my wife and tell myself I'm just one over 7 billion
It's a battle between truth and lies. The awareness needed to differentiate between the two has been eroded.
I agree, and that erosion has been exponentially accelerated by intellectual laziness.
Sam is doing everything he can to avoid being challenged on his views, and there are A LOT of serious, highly credentialed challengers.
You missed the point.
Its about moving from battle to real discussion real respect real empathy and allowing for differences of opinion. Not battle. There is no absolute truth and lie; there is each mind’s personal perception/belief of those concepts.
@@DManOnFire You seem to be saying that all opinions are equally valid. Maybe to one's self but there are objective truths in the community.
its more of a battle of critical thinking. lies are not lies to people that were convinced to believe in them as truths. there is active effort to distort peoples ability to distinguish what is true and become cynical and give up. great channel to follow for that is @ProfessorDaveExplains
Extremely thought provoking video! Thanks so much!
I told a friend a long time ago that a time will come when people will be told that 2+2 actually doesnt = 4. And many will believe it. We are almost there.
Like men who can one day just decide to be women? Or how we argue that abortion is now totally fine? Things that used to be obvious like 2+2=4 are up for debate, and Sam is actually a reason why a lot of this chaos has happened with his religion called science. He's a religious fanatic posing as an intellectual.
judgmentcallpodcast covers this. Sam Harris: Problem of our time.
"Everything in reality can be explained. If your beliefs are rational, they can be explained. If your beliefs are not falsifiable, they can't be explained and that's proof you didn't get them from being in contact with reality"
Paraphrased
3:20 - 4:42
Yes I liked my own comments. I'm giving myself a bump because I think this idea Sam shared is the must important one in this whole video, and if you take away nothing else take this.
@@patrickstjean7646 Thanks for posting, I felt the same about it and was going to write it down.
That statement (If your beliefs can’t be falsifiable…) is confusing to me. Shouldn’t that be “verifiable”? If your beliefs can’t be verifiable, (then they don’t reflect reality - can’t recall the exact last part).
Lol. The scientific method doesn't "falsify" hypotheses. It verifies or doesn't, that's it.
Science isn't used to disprove anything. Stupid leftists.
@@JoyceJohnson99 falsifiable is the correct word. Imagine someone believes something you disagree with. You gather tons of proof that would show this person is in the wrong, because all that evidence effectively makes their claims false. However, they refuse to reconsider. Puzzled, you may inquire "what amount/kind of evidence would you need to accept that your belief is wrong?" If their answer is "no amount nor kind evidence would persuade me that I'm wrong" then they're openly saying their claim is not falsifiable. Sam argues that in this case, their claim is not based on reality.
You said it better than I could. There is no order in this digital network. We need the communication, but can't rid ourselves of the "noise."
I think the CEO's of the social media has a lot to do with bad things in the world today.
Yes, and before that it was talk radio (Rush Limbaugh), and then FOX News. The indoctrination of Boomers listening to those sources is decades, a whole adult lifetime long. Then social media finished the job.
And politicians. And big tech and big pharma.
@@Photikbut mostly social media. Like by a lot.
A lot of blame being directed - 0 constructive proposals of how to change things.
@MrCamiloGabri stop using social media 👍🤔
Get educated. Stop trusting everybody on RUclips, but go to universities.
I simply see no good in the world coming from social media...
Yours is the voice of sanity, I always look to you Sam. And since the election results my meditation practice is what is keeping me sane. Thank you!
That type of meditation is only temporary escape. You’ll know what I mean in 10 years
@@domcruise274 Really in 10 years? Meditation has been a life practice of mine for over 50 years, way before Sam was on the scene. How little you know. It is WISDOM when you no longer look for strategies or ways to escape.
"Good people under the influence of bad ideas", brilliant!
Of course, Harris advertises conversation over violence because he and his kind know that wherever there is reasonable dialog, they'll win the argument.
Does oil mix with water? No. Well, good and bad don't mix either. People listen to what they want to hear.
Numbers 35
New International Version
Towns for the Levites
35 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the Lord said to Moses, 2
@@mprado4177we would be wise to move away from this good/bad thinking. I think most of us know someone in our families or personal lives who we consider a good person by most measures, but they've been swept up in misinformation and lies. I have family members who I know are good people (treat their kids well, make an honest living, don't commit crimes, etc.) but they also have these bizarre, quiet beliefs about conspiracies peddled by alt-right influencers. I don't know all the answers about how to counter those beliefs, but I know that calling them bad people doesn't help persuade them of anything.
@@StrangerThanNonfiction I know that is true. But right now I have no sympathy left. This is a blatant take over by insanity, and they need to be accountable for the fall of the USA. Because unless there is a miracle, this is the end of an attempt to have a society ruled by law. They have voted for the lawless, the exploiter, the tyrants. So sorry. I also know people. And I have been avoiding them. That's the only way I can show mercy for them.
“One of the great challenges in this world is knowing enough about a subject to think you're right, but not enough about the subject to know you're wrong.” -Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil should take his own advice
The most ironic quote ever
That guy is a sham, don't know why you quote that idiot.
oh wow.. could that be Neil talking about him being a "physicist"?
That guy's almost as insane as Sam.
3:51. “Good people being captured by bad ideas.” If most of someone’s personality, worldview, values and the way they think about, speak to and treat people with opposing ideas has been consumed by their “bad” ideology? At what point are they no longer a “good” person?
If your Sam Harris and an atheist than everything is an ideology. Including the ideology of there being such things as "good" and "evil".
I remember during the covid pandemic there was a tv host here in Germany admitting that he is not an expert in all this microbiology and epidemiology stuff but at the same time is absolutely sure that he is right. For me this was the most characteristic statement of our time. I think the main challenge is that we have less personal contact with other people but much more indirect contact by social media. The latter is just based on stories about others and we can‘t rely on our natural judgement which requires personal contact.
but if we only ACT on or ACCEPT things we are experts on, we'll all die while investigating. Not to mention we all have a bias
@@anthonyperez5757 No need to be expert. What I mean is: Rely on plausibility. Ask questions to find out if things fit together. Accept that there is nothing you can absolutely be sure of. Embrace the idea of changing your opinion as something positive. True, we all have bias but we can enhance it or we can try to minimize it. And acting is not always better than doing nothing. It can make things worse.
Money is influence. Money decides which messages are the loudest and have the broadest influence. Follow the money and you will find the motivation behind the "truth". Wealth concentration is the goal of capitalism.
Study Bitcoin ❤
Kamala spent a billion $ in 6 months and lost quite soundly to trump who spent less than half that over an entire campaign. The elites couldn't buy her into power and democracy indeed prevailed over corrupt money
False. The basics of control is power and power lies not in an individual but in a group. Money is value, not influence. You can buy influence with value. To be able to exert power, your targets have to believe in your authority. Money can buy you that influence, but it can also make the dynamic more diluted. When you buy influence, you’re giving away value to another authority, the authority could be your targets, or your accomplices. These people will take out of your power one way or another. If you try buying votes, you’ll become more dependent on those money buying the voters, therefore you become closer to the slave, becoming slaves to their wealth themselves. But sure, if you have a lot of money, the gap is wider between you and them, so you can maintain the relationship more easily… until they demand for more.
Also, the influence of a large group of people combined is actually more powerful than the modern day billionaires. We just don’t use that power. We’re too busy buying their games and watching their movies.
@@bjh1284 Yawn... Are you 19 to think that any other system's (communism, feudalism, you name it) primary goal ISN'T wealth concentration? Ridiculously enough, capitalism seems to be the most fair of them all so far. Not perfect, not ideal, but far better than any other real system that you can name. I challenge you.
I think wealth concentration isn't the goal but rather the result of capitalism and who knows how to solve that when money is the decision-maker
So basically, the EGO has gotten out of control.
I've had mixed results with meditation and I'm not so sure it's beneficial to everyone. That said, I'm always keen on listening to Sam Harris.
I don't agree with him100%of the time, but he is a very sharp guy with a good heart and he is extraordinarily learned and articulate. He's always worth listening to and he makes a helluva lot of sense.
@MarioLopez-hb6li Nope. Not even myself.
As a Beginner what do I have to do? How can I invest? On which platform? If you know any please share
Please how can I make a profitable investment as crypto has become dominant?
Waking up every 14th of each month to $210,000 it's a blessing to I and my family
Big gratitude to Josefa
Yeah, 253k from Josefa looking up to acquire a new house, blessings
Who's this Josefa Guerrero?
Can I start with as low as $1000?
Today’s political landscape is what you call the boiling point of discontent.
People with their boots on the ground are feeling it first. However, the bourgeoisie class are clearly more insulated and believe it’s an intellectual problem.
My take on this is that many in the Western world don't distinguish between social liberalism (freedom of speech, movement, beliefs, ...) and economic liberalism (which has been pushed too far with neoliberalism). This also seemed to be the case in this video. Many intellectuals argue that one can't go without the other. Yet, most people want the former, not necessarily the latter (which is a cause of alienation, through inequality).
Having intellectual conversations, based off of scientific facts. If only humanity could,
If only Sam would.
“Science” … the latest in a long line of cheesy religions where people act like it’s “the truth” while forcing it on others.
Covid was the perfect example where the priests of science made stupid decrees… wear a face diaper… stay 6 feet apart… only walk down the grocery store isle in the designated direction… Vaccinate… test regularly… believe the science… quarantine even if you’re healthy
People still can’t recognize emerging religious systems as they get relabeled.
Vomit
Glad there are people like Sam in the world because at 64 years old and our recent election, I'm so angry, I'm done caring about anything or anyone but me and my family. I won't lift a finger for anyone, unless it benefits me.
We are in our 50s with nearly $3M saved, no debt and $50K annual spending. But we avoid the stock market completely.
I’m retired. Your story of a conservative savings profile is a common one. Any course of action involves risks. You might be avoiding market risk, but you are taking on other risks like inflation and reinvestment risk.
My wife is willing to work for another 5 years if needed. Are we in good shape? Will we be okay if I begin withdrawing from Social Security when I’m 62 and my wife is 67? Should we hire a financial planner to help us navigate this?
No one likes market risk, but without longer retirement, taking on risk is often a necessary evil to compensate for inflation.
Certainly get a pro to look at your predicament (if you even have one, lol) A second opinion from a comprehensive financial adviser can help you look at more than just your current estimate of cash flow and needs but also longevity risk, outliving your money, tax considerations, legacy planning, healthcare costs, inflation and a myriad of other things you may not be considering when reviewing your current situation
How does one get a comprehensive fa who isn’t looking to just make a buck from consultancy and whatnot
Thanks for this. I just had a headache and decided to 'stare right at' the headache. I hurt initially but then I realized the spot of consciousness that I was avoiding was actually the 'center' of my 'inner vision'. I have visual snow syndrome (seeing static) and palinopsia (seeing reality blur when items in it move). This constant uncertainty can sometime take a shape. These shapes are actually what it feels like to dream or 'see in your mind'. One can train this 'light' to be brighter. Sometimes we can burn it out. When we look at light for too long, it can make us reduce or 'inner light' since we don't need to engage as much to get stimulation.
Mediation ends up being the process of searching for a feeling and making peace with it. For example, if we search for boredom, they we will eventually find a way to reward ourselves with less stimulation. The goal is to find peace even with low stimulation.
We need our mind to punctuate reality both physically and temporally.
Think, it ain’t illegal yet!
1948 meets Idiocracy, coming to you soon!
In large areas of the globe, yes, it is.
5:28 ~ "One basis for hope is there's almost no problem human ingenuity can't solve in the end."
I'd like to see how human ingenuity will come up with a solution for the problem of resource depletion. Of how indefinite growth can continue in a finite world.
The world population will shrink, as it is already on track to do
The dramatic music was unnecessary and takes away from the message.
Yup. Pretentious af.
That's big think for ya. Bring on amazingly articulate and smart people, and frame them as generic gurus
so as hundreds of random distracting second-long videos. tiktok era...
I wish what Harris is saying here was the world we live in, or could be possible. But I don't believe it anymore. Pandora's box has been opened. Principles, integrity, and honor are dead. It was a nice dream.
If you choose to live with that opinion, you are part of the problem unfortunately. You are falling into the trap that Harris talks about here
Do not give up.
Sam was so wrong about so many thing s himself. From the pandemic to Russia gate. He still has on the likes of Ann applebaum who has basically been wrong about everything.
agreed, sadly. I was smart enough to save unlike most of America. It's about to get much, much worse.
"we live in perpetual choice between conversation and violence... persuasion or coercion... conversation prevents violence...all of our failures of compassion are failures of mutual understanding"
such a salient and relevant video for our times
Thank you Sam you've been pissing me off for the last decade or so but that was certainly apt and beautiful with impeccable timing. I propose the PBS NewsHour club. Let us all dedicate 1 hour once a week of our digital time to watching one episode of the PBS NewsHour. I think if we all did that for a couple months we'd be able to speak to one another once again
Sadly I can no longer watch PBS. My PBS app crashes every time I try to access it for a couple of days now. I miss it.
@@jaimebergner cancel the app and download it again, restart your phone and it should work again...
Oh you mean the lefty liberal biased news?! Don’t take me wrong. I am a sustainer of the PBS but I don’t see them as unbiased folks who want to get deeply into the roots when it comes to the politics. They are often a reminder of MSNBC for the most political matters except for occasional exceptions ( e.g., certainly Frontline episodes)
@tarafreedom2584 No that's not what I mean. I mean boring news. This happened.
Please show me something that they falsely reported. They mostly just say this thing happened and this thing happened and good night we'll see you tomorrow. You and I can come to our own conclusions about who's right in a conflict but we need to have footage from people on the ground being like yes I saw that bomb explode that was messed up. We need to know who are the major players are and what they do and then you and I can argue about who's in the right. What we can't have is Alex Jones type people who just make crap up. MSNBC yeah is liberal crap but the Newshour isn't. Hell David Brooks just took it to the liberal elitists tonight on the Newshour. Maybe you should watch tonight's episode?
Sam is a World Champion Pseudo intellectual.
Sammy The Pseudo Harris.
Great sentiments. I would just add that money is also persuasive, unfortunately
money is neutral. people make things persuasive
Looking at the comments I don‘t think I‘m interacting with strangers, but scam and engagement bots :D
I'm a bot and I feel like all I see in the comments is filthy humans with emotions and opinions smh
Yeah, decided to scroll comments after leaving mine and there is a lot of bots presence here
They are every frickin where. When I try to point out the specifics so that people aren't duped, YT filters my comment. Nice work, YT 🙄.
@@harku123 Sorry, Agent Smith.
@@BassByTheBay same damn thing
It is too often I find my long-read comments getting evaporated by YT algorithms
🎯💎🏆 Great insightful & fruitful video 🏆💎🎯
लोकः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु
( May all beings lead prosperous life across Globe 🌍 )
It would have been funny to hear his specific examples of false things that americans believe.
Here's one: the bible is an inerrant authority that requires interpretation. Hilarious !!!
He already spoke a lot about Jan 6th and the "stolen election"
40 % don´t believe in Evolution.
Tinkle-tinkle music, really? That Storyblocks horror will only make our videos generic.
As if we can't pay attention without quick stock cuts and irritating music.
Fear.
Fear is killing us.
What if I'm not on the winning side?!?
Never the thought of being individually courageous, vulnerable and curious.
Fear has certainly fueled the U.S. to create and maintain a military megalopolis larger than multiple countries combined. It is just a weird thing that we continue to push all our money into controlling and killing.
Fear of the other has now been being preached day after day in the US.
It's no wonder you have fear if you are repeatedly told you are living in an invasion, that rapists, murderers and people released from mental asylums are flooding the cities.
Remember folks. Cririzise ideas, not the person.
An argument stands on its own merit. Regardless of its source.
Everything else is a distraction.
Sam is a World Champion Pseudo intellectual.
Sammy The Pseudo Harris.
Sam Harris is a gift of eloquence, wisdom, and ethical guidance to our world.
Except he's a bit overly emotional on some topics and tends to put too much faith in mainstream media talking points.
Not accurate. You're not paying attention to how unhinged he is.
@@dr.emilschaffhausen4683it's so hypocritical for him to be lecturing anyone about reality 😂
Sam is a World Champion Pseudo intellectual.
Sammy The Pseudo Harris.
Belief is the biggest problem. Believe nothing. Question everything.
you believe that 'believe is the biggest problem'. Its not a fact unless you have researched it properly, have gathered data and ranked all problems in some measure of 'size' and then declared belief as being the biggest one. If you have not done that exercise, then you are believer yourself.
Nothing is true, everything is permitted.
Yes exactly and it is a fact? Learn history.
Ego is the biggest problem. It's tied to our beliefs. When our beliefs are challenged it is a challenge to our sense of self.
This is truly a big think. Thank you very much. These are transformative ideas.
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'
~Isaac Asimov
Sam’s voice does not need that awful so-called music competing with it. Get rid of the music!
and that shitty tiktok visuals as well:)
Social media makes me fill like I’m in the middle of 8 billion conversations. No wonder I feel like I’m going insane.
I quit social media long ago. It's just fills your brain with noise.
I wonder where'd we'd be as a civilization if we all respected each other and worked together instead of killing each other
Beautifully spoken. Great video!
The music feels emotionally manipulative. Which distracts from a valuable message.
Marketing techniques.
It distracts as do the treacly images. It would be so refreshing to see teachers like Sam do videos without those distractions.
You might want to seek professional help. It’s just some fucking music and your reaction is YOUR REACTION. My reaction to the music is … nothing at all, it’s just some noise in the background.
so do tiktok visuals.
Unveiling Your Hidden Potential by Bruce Thornwood (thank me later)
Googled it, saw a reddit thread that says it's a scam (can't include link, do your own research). Seems this post and the 200+ likes are part of a new marketing strategy utilizing bots. Buyer beware!
Sam Harris grew up in Hollywood. His Dad was a Hollywood actor and his mom a Hollywood writer (she created The Golden Girls). Went to University in California. His views are highly influenced by this all-American upbringing. His connections and born privilege have no-doubt added to his success. There are smarter, less biased, "intellectuals" out there.
Ad hominem. What he's saying either makes sense or it doesn't.
Thank you. Watching from Alaska. 🤔
It's interesting to use "Democracy" and "Capitalism" as the good side when capitalism is the complete opposite of democracy. You don't vote on how profit is split, or how the workplace hierarchy is structured, the only voting in capitalism is with your dollar, and since capitalism tends towards monopolies and monopsonies, choosing where to spend your money is becoming moot.
Agreed with your point that they work in opposite ways but I see them as 2 sides of the same coin. Generating wealth is the only way to ensure continued freedom. Being broke removes the range of choices you might otherwise prefer.
Can always count on Sam to use a whole lot of words to say absolutely nothing but platitudes.
For real, he's like the Dalai lama for bros.
@@parttimehumanHa. I’m wholly convinced they’re both just controlled opposition. Globalist-selected pseudo-intellectiuals and spiritual guides for the “unwashed” masses.
@@parttimehumanHa. I’m wholly convinced they’re both just controlled opposition. Globalist-selected pseudo-intellectuals and spiritual guides for the “unwashed masses.”
@@parttimehumanHa. I’m wholly convinced they’re both just controlled opposition. Globalist-selected pseudo-intellectuals and spiritual guides for the naive
@@parttimehuman RUclips won’t even let me reply to your comment. Their masters are angry
Ha. I’m wholly convinced they’re both just contro***d opposition. Glob*list-selected pseudo-intel***tuals and spiritual guides for the “unw**hed masses.”
A few things I'm certain about:
1. Everyone has an opinion.
2. Death
3. Clean water is vital
4. The weather will turn on me if I plan to play hooky and enjoy anything outdoors.
To me the main problem is that people want affirmation, not information. That’s a big problem to overcome.
Sam takes impossibly complex problems and distills them down into simple truths that everyone should understand. Unfortunately, we're all too angry and convinced that we're right to listen to him.
If you think Sam is telling the whole truth, you have A LOT to learn.
@@SaviorMoney-777 Yes please teach us all the truth.
@@789juggernaut Okay - in a nutshell, the owners don't need so many slaves anymore. Do the math.
@@789juggernaut Sam is pro lying for better outcomes. He has said so himself. After all, he cannot be moral, because evil and good do not exist and he is a utilitarian/hedonist.
Inequality is plain simple, far from impossibly complex problems.
We just keep failing on the first steps, which is acknowledging that there is a problem, and what are causes and consequences of it.
2:40 that’s such an American way of thinking… “we either have voice or violence”. There’s actually a lot more option of you get rid of trying to partition everything into one of two buckets. I hope this talk gets better from here.
Even just this idea that there is one truth… and those that don’t see it are wrong… is just crazy. There are multiple aspects to everything. Multiple ways of doing things. Multiple goals, some in full alignment, some completely unaligned, some unrelated, and every mix of those things.
Can you give examples of the other buckets? I think he makes a solid stance- you can either create a society based on voicing opinions through dialogue or forcing opinions through physical force. I can't think of anything else.
Then you and Sam Harris agree.
@@jace-j5d Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing (FSNP) strategies for starters.
@@br3nto I'm genuinely asking you to explain this. I've never heard of these terms. (EDIT: I looked it up. This is just a model of group development stages for healthy progress. It is synonymous with the basic tenants of voice.)
Yes, Sam is a great problem of our time.
He will soon reach obsolescence just like the rest of the tribalist Evolutionary Psychologists. Behaviourism will soon be in the philosophical wastebasket of bad ideas. CUE theory will save Psychology.
Can you please mention the soundtrack in the description?
I used to really respect him for his seemingly clear and articulate thought process but he seems to have some giant blind spots he refuses to acknowledge and watching him lie in defense of Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians is just disgusting
This makes no sense coming from someone who believes in determinism and no free will
huh?
@@veganmatry are you not aware that Sam Harris is a determinist? He wrote a book on "free will" or more like the lack thereof. He believes that everything is predetermined as a sort of cause and effect, including our biology and actions. Yet in this video he is talking as if we have the ability to make choices or change the future, which completely goes against his belief that everything is already determined, and we have no ability to make different choices. So, this video makes no sense coming from Sam.
@@goodfaithministry I am aware, thank you very much.
@@goodfaithministry This is really interesting! I have heard Sam and others talk before about how they reconcile the lack of free will with the "choices" we make every day.
I think it's usually explained like this - in a literal sense, we cannot make true choices. The sum of our past experiences, brain chemistry, and environment around us leaves no room for an "I" to make an actual choice, it's just neurons firing out of our control, etc. But it is impossible to live our lives like that. The majority of the time we act as though we have free will, and most humans believe we are making choices. It would never be practical to just sit around and do nothing at all with the reasoning that we can't control anything, nobody wants to live like that. So Sam tries to put good ideas into the world, because he values it, even if in a literal sense he knows that nobody can truly make choices.
I've struggled with this a lot. I agree with Sam on the lack of free will. Or at least an astounding lack of control based on factors outside of our control. So naturally I always think, then why don't I just sit around on the couch and rot away my life? The answer is because I don't want to, and I want to do things that make me happier and more fulfilled, and I think most humans feel the same way. Therefore that is why Sam is urging people to have more open conversations and question what they believe.
Have a great day and let me know what you think!
Sam is a World Champion Pseudo intellectual.
Sammy The Pseudo Harris.
Please tell me what is the point of the backgound music other than being a distraction?
It's snobs that are the problem. People who think they are better than others. To tell them how they're supposed to live.
thank you youtube algorithm, perfect & right timing for my existential crisis/depression
- from Indonesia -
💯🙌
Capitalism is a failure if the gains, which fundamentally require the work of others to generate, are not equitably distributed.
Stagnant wages coupled with inflation and record profits does not compute. Even worse when this paradigm exists in a system where excess, stock buybacks for example, are out of control.
Almost $1T in stock buybacks in 2024. That is money NOT being paid to workers. Instead it is artificially inflating virtually the entire securities "markets" across all sectors.
That's $1T that is NOT travelling through the economy at large. Not being spent on groceries, gas, tech, and a million other products.
Instead, more and more each year, as a percentage of GDP is being funneled upwards and being hoarded.
Then there's the monopolies, monopsonies, and various oligopolies currently in existence using money (which is somehow equated as speech through pretzel logic) to manipulate governments to make the inequality even worse.
"I think we need a truly open-ended conversation with 8 billion strangers." - "but I will only accept anything that I consider rational" - Sam Harris
He's just as unhinged as anyone having tantrums about Trump.
Sam is going mad. He's a genius in his own mind.
Thank you. My thoughts exactly. Now how do we do it for us and others
Yes, Sam Harris IS the great problem of our time. It's a shame he worships critical thinking instead of practicing it.
Great video. It has a unique style in terms of cinematography and editing. You should list the crew in the credits so they can use this to promote themselves (assuming they’re freelancers).
Sam is a World Champion Pseudo intellectual.
Sammy The Pseudo Harris.
Per Wiki: "Two centuries ago, a somewhat obscure Scotsman named Tytler made this profound observation: 'A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy.'"
This is more-than-coincidentally the estimated amount of time it would take for a competitive and hence intelligently evolved tribal mentality to devolve into an idiocracy.
Your voice is soothing. When I hear it, Christopher Hitchens I hear as well.
Thank you thank you Sam, family and Waking Up team. ❤
I needed to hear this. I still have the waking up app but have not maintained regular practice for over a year. Gonna sit for my daily now
Too many people are certain that down deep everything is simple and everyone else is just trying to confuse them.
Based on that, they assume they have nothing to learn.
So, they don't.
So how do we fix it ?
He's the only other person I've herd say that everything comes down to the mind, I also came to the same conclusion with my psychology and neurobiology research - amongst various topics and experiences
I was agnostic most of my adult life, then in my late 30s I started attending a Christian church (I was mostly motivated by wishful thinking at the time). Nothing really happened in my life for about 6 years of regular church attendance and prayer. Then, in my early 40s I started reading the Bible for the 1st time, and it completely changed my life for the better. I can only speak for myself and my own life experience. I'm a believer and I'm grateful. Looking back, I would never have believed in God in my 20s and 30s without the personal experience. I can empathize with many agnostics/atheists (including many of my closest friends & family).
This is one of the most important videos and messages I have seen and listened to in a long time.
We need a form of true COMPASSIONATE CAPITALISM now, more than ever!
The great problem of our time is lack of peace. People at peace don’t start wars. Anger , resentment, vengeance are all a lack of peace.
Most people do not have open minds today, to question what they hold true, to listen to different perspectives (ones they do not agree with by default), and changing one's mind is considered weakness. It is not culturally acceptable to evolve one's beliefs, and take in new information, BROAD information, and disagree respectfully. There is no cultural acceptance of finding common ground. This is considered weakness today. This only leads to escalating conflict, not collaboration.
Thank you for this clear and insightful talk. The challenge is, as stated, when people identify with their thoughts as non-negotiable. The question is, what is a thinking person who cares about the trajectory of human civilization to do??
Thank you❤
This idea of a 'crisis of meaning' really hits home. It’s fascinating-and a bit unsettling-how much of our struggles seem tied to the stories we tell ourselves and the beliefs we hold onto. It makes me wonder: how do we actually create space for honest conversations in a world so divided? It feels like a tough challenge, but maybe it starts with small steps in our own daily interactions.
There is something about this dude that always rubs me the wrong way. Like everything he says is swathed in "No Dummy, this is why you are wrong."
I would argue that lack of communication is the root of all problems regardless of context. Prove me wrong.
I am religious. I never discarded my common sense and logical reasoning. The older I get and the more I learn about history and politics the scarier I get. I look at people's reasoning and how far many people are willing to go to achieve things. It's just scary.
We all share the problem/threat of climate change. But when some deny it, it is not only dangerous to all of us, it is a huge loss of a shared reality.