Anthony is THE lead practitioner of SE worldwide. He is also sincere and very modest. He is very good at what he does. I'm sure that he would like to say that this was something he got better at in the field talking to people, it's a process that takes time to learn what's right for you and what works for you. It's easy to look at Anthony and to feel intimidated by how good he is at SE. I think Anthony above all would like to see others following in his footsteps. You don't have to perfect the technique to give it a go. SE leaves theists with a less confrontational experience and a willingness to think about their belief. Give it a try. It really does work and you will have better conversations. Anthony thank you for the videos on your channel. You have been an inspiration to me an others.
Dunno, he seems a bit like "The Ray Comfort of Atheism" to me - asking people on the streets gotcha questions is pretty obnoxious, also loudly tooting his own horn =8/-DX
Interesting analogy, as it seems to reveal that you either haven't watched many of Anthony's videos or you are just being dishonest to try and dirty his reputation by comparing him to someone you know most atheists dislike or outright hate. Since Anthony almost NEVER (like maybe 3 or 4 times in probably 50+ SE interviews that I've seen of his) interjects his own beliefs into the conversations, but rather asks questions to try and get the person to explain their method of coming to beliefs, I find it odd that you'd claim he asks them "gotcha questions." And, since he almost never interjects his own beliefs, while Ray Comfort's entire approach is about trying to prove people wrong and then when he believes he's done just that, insert his own beliefs in hopes that his interlocutors will latch on to them after realizing they have a problem with their reasoning, I don't understand how you could compare the two. I'm just curious - since you've made such an extreme comparison between the two, could you possibly link a few of Anthony's videos with timestamps directing me to the specific instances that support your claim that Anthony seems like Ray Comfort? Since I've seen a ton of videos from both, yet couldn't disagree with you more, I'm interested to see what I've evidently been missing from Anthony's videos that's caused you to come to this conclusion.
YOUR PROBLEM IS THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE A WORLDVIEW OR EPISTEMOLOGY POSITION, YOU ARE JUST BUSY PROVING THAT NOTHING IS CERTAIN AND THAT IS SELF REFUTING BECAUSE YOU ARE CERTAIN THAT NOTHING IS CERTAIN, SO YOU ARE CERTAIN BUT CAN NOT PROVE IT AS AN ATHEIST
You briefly talked about your friend and what a family member claimed about him in the end, and it reminded me of my own grandmother at her end. Now she was 100% a Christian, no doubt about it. However at the end of her life she was in hospice care for about a year or so. She lingered. Long story short she said to my father one time "Johnny, getting into heaven is not as easy as people think it is". At first we all sort of laughed it off with comments like "oh if mom-mom is worried about getting into heaven, we should be to". But as i got older and looked back on it.. im horrified. My grandmother was a saint of a woman and never did anyone any harm, and instead of feeling comforted at the end of her life she was scared she was not good enough. My grandmother deserved better. Her religion instead of offering comfort only gave her fear at the end. That is a big reason i try to spread free thinking among other people. Perhaps if my grandmother was not trapped into her way of thinking her passing could have been easier for her. And a celebration of her accomplishments, not fear of the unknown.
What if I could show you evidence that convinced you that atheists are more likely to be upset and scared by the thought of death and on their deathbeds?
@@MoralGovernment what of it? Some might, some might not. But for my grandmother her religion did not seem to bring her comfort at the end, it appeared to be a fear she was not good enough to be happy after death because her religion taught her not everyone was. And I myself, as well as many atheists I know, have faced their own death and we're not upset at the prospect of death. I was super anxious as a child over death and hell when I was a Christian, now as an atheist the state of death does not bother me at all.
@@__Andrew What if I could convince you with sufficient evidence that you're an outlier and the average person is conformed and better off with their supernatural beliefs and that convincing them to give up those beliefs would cause them harm? Would you still want to spread free thinking to other people?
@@MoralGovernment yes, cause at the end of the day it's still not true what religion is teaching. And even if 100% of people found comfort in that lie it doesn't make it any more true. And what I'm interested in is knowing true things, even if they are uncomfortable to take in. I might be happy if my doctor told me I'm healthy. But if I had cancer I'd want to know. Believing a lie cause it makes you feel good is kinda of a very sad thing to do.
@@__Andrew If you know you have cancer there might be something you can do about it. There's a movie about a Chinese family not telling Grandma she's dying because they don't want to upset her. But why would you want other people to know the truth? If they say "I don't care if I have cancer, I don't want to know, I would rather live out my final days being happy." Why try to convince them that they have cancer?
You've helped me immensely! I deconverted from Christianity. When I told my wife after hiding in the closet for many months, I eased it on her. She didn't argue about any of it. She didn't ask questions. Her only apprehension was about our children, and I agreed to not speak about it in front of them. Its been over a year since then. We've had a handful of discussions, rarely resulting in me being able to gauge where she stands or what she believes. This morning, I asled her a question that I've heard Anthony ask many times. The question of how strong they believe from 1 to 100. She said she's about a 5! I NEVER expected it. I don't even know when or where to go regarding the last 5 since she's so difficult to get to open up about feelings and sensitive subjects. Her mother is a devout church patron on top of everything, especially since she started her fight against a particularly aggressive type of cancer. On the other hand, the rest of my family is convinced that I either went insane, actually became possessed by a demon or Satan, I just want to sin and rape so I'm lying about my beliefs to set up an excuse for whatever evil I'm wanting to do, or one of several other assertions about me. I've come to realize that anyone who draws me in to an argument puts massive walls up and they are even more convinced that I'm working directly for Satan.
Baby Ben Thanks for your comment. Would you be open to joining a secret Facebook group that I created where you can discuss your situation with other non-believers who have gone through similar things? If so, please send an email to emergingfaithhelp@gmail.com to begin the vetting process. To learn mlre about SE, one of the SE Facebook communities and/or Discord server might also be a good resource. Speaking (or texting/chatting) with a trained Helpline Agent from Recovering from Religion is another option that I hope you consider.
I should add that the scale is subjective, and a five is probably nearly indistinguishable than a one. Shifting to change talk (“what would your/our life be like if you didn’t have this belief?”) might be the next step with you wife. This comes up near the end of my recent chat with Mary Ann and Melissa, in case you haven’t seen that one yet.
Love the NDT example. I value your talks so much. Please keep up the amazing work. Never stop please. This is perhaps the most important thing we can do for humanity right now.
mikekeenanphd Thanks. Despite many hours of editing, I can still spot subtle things that slipped by. But I'll be able to incorporate that on future talks, if any.
Yesterday I helped a friend with SE. She has a tendency to get angry at work when her feedback is ignored or even ridiculed. I described a way she could ask questions that caused these people to think about what THEY were saying. She asked for help understanding what they were saying. Now, we’ll see how it goes, but she felt she had a tool to help her deflect her own anger - which was always working against her.
Anthony, I'm more and more impressed. I'm a member of a local skeptics/freethinkers group and I've been studying SE and practicing it for a couple of years. Now, I'm looking forward to having an open forum discussing SE. This video will be required viewing prior to our meeting. Thanks again for your heartfelt and measured approach to such an important topic.
I've recently introduced a video of yours to some people I know, and I was reminded of that when you said to promote SE. I don't live in a very religious area of the world, so I don't really see the need to go out, but I do want to help your cause. So I'm going to keep doing that. I'll keep sharing your videos with people who are interested. I'll talk to them about SE and encourage them to learn more about it. So thank you for mentioning that.
YES! Lesson plans. I use this approach in workshops with business representatives. It drills into what they do, to why they do it and how they came to do it. Many times what they are doing doesn't really capture the business requirement.
I started my last talk with a stranger by saying 'I wasn't raised with religion but have been questioning lately'. It's true as I called BS at age 7 or 8 but it really seems to allow the IL to drop their guard a bit. That started my most successful talk with a woman wearing a cross next to me on the plane.
I like your channel. Your lectures are well done and edited nicely. I'm very impressed with the clear video examples. Framing questions very nicely to provoke introspection much quicker than other methods might be able to. I think you mentioned you were partly inspired by Peter Boghossian's book. I've listened to a few of his talks in the past and liked them. I think in some senses you're advancing the field of psychology, or at the very least, publicly demonstrating very well what a good understanding of language and psychology can do. Can people please arrange talks between Anthony and Sam Harris (podcast). Also please do a lengthy Joe Rogan podcast as well. I'm annoyed that these videos are not spread around more. Most of them should have way more views. Also a request: On your channel, maybe in the "About" section, can you list some of the equipment (phone, data service requirements for streaming, camera(s), streaming services, etc) and your tips in regards to recording and editing (programs you use, how much they cost, information you used to edit more successfully). I find recorded results of willing participants fascinating and I would probably watch many more.
Thank you. Boghossian's book was the main inspiration behind my going out and speaking with people using Street Epistemology. There have been a few people who are in those fields who have reached out to say that they have noticed some overlap in their fields. The best way to help get me on a show like those imight be to simple reach out to them and ask, perhaps including an example to one of your favorite videos. I agree that these videos (and the method) should be seen by a far greater audience. It's baffling to me sometimes how few people know about this stuff still. I have already made one behind-the-scenes video (search for those words and my last name and you should be able to find it), but I have been toying with the idea of creating a second one that addresses many of the suggestions and more. Maybe I can get around to doing something like that this summer. Thanks for watching and your feedback, and I hope to upload many more discussions soon.
I have learned the feeling of my brain strongly disagreeing with something that someone just told me, things like my world view being wrong. It's a strong emotion of denial and whenever I feel it, I know that I need to really look into whatever someone told me while doing my best to be objective about it. Emotions can be an extremely useful tool for following reason if you learn to utilize them properly.
I basically came up with SE myself in 2008-2014 when I worked in Saudi Arabia as a teacher and would have conversations with my students on a variety of topics. And I found myself wanting to challenge their beliefs or at least make them think about them and doubt, on subjects such as religion, atheism, women, Jews, racial minorities in their country, et cetera.. but of course it was extremely dangerous to just come out and challenge their fixed beliefs on these subjects or argue with them because I could have gone to jail or at least been fired and deported. So I had to have the conversation with them in a way that made them feel like my idea was their idea.... using mostly the Socratic method I eventually became very good at asking questions in a totally non-confrontational way that would lead them around to thinking about things in a critical way without ever making it seem like I was criticizing their beliefs or even really questioning them. I never was jailed or fired. But I think I actually helped a lot of young men there start thinking a little bit for themselves.
That was fucking awesome. Ever since I first saw your videos I thought it was great, super effective. I have definitely changed the way I talk to people. But it always had one think in common with how I always did talk to people.. I would always be friendly and keep it civil and not assume things, as soon as insults get thrown around, people get defensie and stubborn and not open to new ideas.. so it becomes very pointless.. I have always made sure that doesn't happen. Not that SE *has* to be polite and stuff.. but it's certainly the most effective method out there and it would be awesome to see it in all areas, not just religion, which was also an interesting part of the talk. One thing I realised and changed, was to really try and delve to the actual foundation by asking questions.. otherwise it's pointless to waste time on it.. (I love the video examples). Great speech, I also liked the blocks lol. This is a very well edited video.. I'm glad your audio was better than the first lady without the mic lol. The questions at the end are great, always sucks in the Q&A segments when you can't hear anything they're saying and they block the camera. Also the question counter out of 20 is a nice touch. This is all very nice, dammit lol.
Thank you Anthony very much! شكرا جزيلا انتوني Merci beaucoup Anthony! Gazie mille Antonio! با تشکر از شما آنتونی بسیار! 非常感謝安東尼！ Gracias Anthony mucho! Danke Anthony sehr viel! Спасибо, Энтони, очень! बहुत बहुत धन्यवाद एंथोनी! Tibi gratias ago Anthony diversi generis multa nimis! Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ τον Αντώνιο! תודה רבה לך אנתוני! Dankon Anthony tre multe! ...
Good video Anthony I really like your approach it is help me with me and my wife. She is a born-again Christian, and I am A atheist are used to argue with her but now I try to use your approach. Thank you
Bill Sherk I hope you're successful, Bill. I used Anthony's methods and it worked great with my mother. She's now a deist. She still can't wrap her head around 'lights out death' but she's thankful to no longer fell obligated to attend nor tithe. And not giving money will only help me to support Recovering From Religion, Clergy Project, FFRF etc. so win/win!
I challenge anyone to see the documentaries 'Religion, Bible, can you handle the truth?' and 'The Origin of Christianity, the Piso Flavian Dynasty' SEEK TRUTH, not bury your head in a blind belief system.
Is there any quantification of SE success rate vs other scepticism methodes of talking about reasons and in the end changeing someones epistemology to reason/science based one? Taking into consideration that parts of what SE is, are used in those other scepticism methodes (and maybe mix is better than pure).
So I am an Atheist previously devout Catholic. And I used that "it's true for me" as my very last defense before I stopped believing. I had nothing left. Don't give up. They are so close at that point.
When I say help, I’m not necessarily suggesting any one specific thing. I could give email advice on how to record good audio/video or help in person. I could help you practice by being your “stunt believer”. Whatever.
I think your MRI machine experiment idea really has merit. Have you considered contacting Dr. Steven Novella (neurologist at Yale University) of Skeptic's Guide to the Universe about this? Or maybe DR. Daniel Dennett (professor of religious philosophy at Tufft's University)?
Ted Apelt Hello there. Thanks for the auggestions. No. But I have made contact with a member of the team referenced during this talk and they are aware of my ideas. Not sure what will wver come of it, however. I will reach out to Novella, however.
To Anthony and others who don’t believe in the “supernatural” , how do u explain near death experiences(NDEs) where a person who was clinically dead can describe true events that were taking place in the real physical world while they were unconscious and had no sight or even brain activity, especially when what they describe took place in different locations than where they body lay? There is good and increasing evidence for this phenomenon.
Pablo Alvestegui I think there might be a channel in the SE Discord server specifically for Spanish speakers, but I’m not entirely sure. There might even be a Facebook group, but I’m not sure how active it is.
33:00 - The problem with that example is those brain patterns could match them imagining gun violence when presented with facts on the subject, not necessarily because it's challenging a deeply held belief.
Thought Criminal I could be mistaken, but I think that was just one example of several they tested. I have a link to the actual study in the description of the video. Good thinking, however.
Update. I spoke with a lead researcher familiar with the study and they told me (and allowed me to post here with their permission): "We didn't only ask about gun violence. There were 9 politics statements and 9 nonpolitical statements for each person. So I don't think the results can be accounted for by thinking about that specific topic. "
Anthony, IF a Creator, as defined by the monotheism of Islam, does exist, what is the criteria of evidence you are using to accept or reject this proposition?
Raoul Borans No, that was an intentional editing choice. I talk a little bit about this in the video description field. I may release an Unlisted version where you can see more of my face and hands.
Sorry to nit pick but you don't leave much else to be critical of. I've been following your work for some time and I think you're doing a brilliant job of making a case for atheism that believers are much more willing to accept or at least contemplate.
Raoul Borans :-) Thanks, Raoul. I'll post the link to the Unlisted version (with wider crop area) in the video description (and/or add a 'card' [link] near the start of this video) if I ever add that option.
I have just uploaded another version where the crop of the speaker (me and the President of the Chicago Atheist Society) is wider. Please check it out and let me know if this works better for you: ruclips.net/video/49exL0TTG_k/видео.html
49:50 I would love to ask him questions about why he thinks that religion causes harm and why he thinks that his secular ideology does more good than harm, especially in the political realm. Why is it harmful for Christians to teach Christianity in the schools but he wants to teach SE in the schools? Why does he think that SE will lead people to better behavior?
@@magnabosco210 But the "he" I was referring to was you, I didn't figure you would read my comment. If you would answer my question that would be really awesome.
My dad is so oversensitive about the fact that his beliefs are complete bullshit that he is very ill-equipped to defend that it's impossible to *not* trigger his bear attack reflex when talking about them, even if you are merely asking polite questions or using SE he will still blow up.
In that case then it’s probably better to explore safer topics with him so he can learn how to be a more critical careful thinker and then eventually start using those on his own views.
how many times over the last 3 years say, do you think you've lead someone openingly out of religion ? i know you've gotten people lower on the scale by the end of your conversations maybe .. but has this ever lead to a actually leaving their religion ? as going from deeply pondering, or a little lower on the belief scale to, rejecting/leaving belief, seems to be a completely different and harder level to achieve ! ...
HE CAN NOT PROVE A PERSONS FAITH IS FALSE IF IT IS BASED ON FEELINGS. SE TRYS TO SHOW THAT NOTHING IS CERTAIN AND WHEN HE DOES HE CAN NOT PROVE CHRISTIANITY IS FALSE. SE IS STUPID!
Also Matt Dillahunty.. he gets it.. it's just that when he delves into it.. it falls apart for him.. but that only being the case when you ask someone like Matt Dillahunty to rate himself on a scale.. other people don't delve into it that much lol, and Matt knows that.
A Christian will not only believe because it's virtuous but also because they value loyalty. They don't want to betray their God and their group. As a Christian I felt a deep fear of God's wrath and a deep respect for his authority. I'm curious, have you ever had discussions where you've discovered this? Perhaps because these are moral terms and you want to get them to think of their God belief in factual terms, you stay away from exploring the reason for the belief in terms of obedience?
in the recommendations there is this gem: "7 Reasons Ben Shapiro Is So Dominant In Debates" i.ytimg.com/vi/JY5t6iUzajk/hqdefault.jpg i just thought this is an interesting contrast..
0cards0 I tend to let people pick the subject we discuss, and too date, nobody has picked that. There is another channel with a guy who also conducts street epistemology and I believe has had a conversation with a person who believe in UFOs. Let me know if you're interested in that I can dig up the link.
I've seen your most recent comments. These are all good thoughts. Have you seen my video with Justin? In that talk we explore the idea that he may need to think God is real in order to be seen (by himself and others, perhaps) that he a good person. ruclips.net/video/fxC0S4go3j8/видео.html
SCIENCE USES FAITH WHEN THEY MAKE A KNOWLEDGE CLAIM, SO ANTHONY NEEDS TO TALK TO SCIENTIST. WHY IS ANTHONY CRITICAL OF CHRISTIAN FOR USING FAITH, WHEN SCIENTIST USE FAITH, DOES NOT ANTONY BELIEVE IN SCIENCE?
![YoungBoy Never Broke Again - Missing Everything [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dTYeMZGzOzw/mqdefault.jpg)
Anthony is THE lead practitioner of SE worldwide. He is also sincere and very modest.
He is very good at what he does. I'm sure that he would like to say that this was something he got better at in the field talking to people, it's a process that takes time to learn what's right for you and what works for you.
It's easy to look at Anthony and to feel intimidated by how good he is at SE. I think Anthony above all would like to see others following in his footsteps. You don't have to perfect the technique to give it a go.
SE leaves theists with a less confrontational experience and a willingness to think about their belief.
Give it a try. It really does work and you will have better conversations.
Anthony thank you for the videos on your channel. You have been an inspiration to me an others.
Dunno, he seems a bit like "The Ray Comfort of Atheism" to me - asking people on the streets gotcha questions is pretty obnoxious, also loudly tooting his own horn =8/-DX
Interesting analogy, as it seems to reveal that you either haven't watched many of Anthony's videos or you are just being dishonest to try and dirty his reputation by comparing him to someone you know most atheists dislike or outright hate. Since Anthony almost NEVER (like maybe 3 or 4 times in probably 50+ SE interviews that I've seen of his) interjects his own beliefs into the conversations, but rather asks questions to try and get the person to explain their method of coming to beliefs, I find it odd that you'd claim he asks them "gotcha questions." And, since he almost never interjects his own beliefs, while Ray Comfort's entire approach is about trying to prove people wrong and then when he believes he's done just that, insert his own beliefs in hopes that his interlocutors will latch on to them after realizing they have a problem with their reasoning, I don't understand how you could compare the two.
I'm just curious - since you've made such an extreme comparison between the two, could you possibly link a few of Anthony's videos with timestamps directing me to the specific instances that support your claim that Anthony seems like Ray Comfort? Since I've seen a ton of videos from both, yet couldn't disagree with you more, I'm interested to see what I've evidently been missing from Anthony's videos that's caused you to come to this conclusion.
Except he doesn't lead them anywhere besides examining their own beliefs.
@SDX - Would you mind telling us which questions Anthony asks that you see as 'gotcha' questions?
YOUR PROBLEM IS THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE A WORLDVIEW OR EPISTEMOLOGY POSITION, YOU ARE JUST BUSY PROVING THAT NOTHING IS CERTAIN AND THAT IS SELF REFUTING BECAUSE YOU ARE CERTAIN THAT NOTHING IS CERTAIN, SO YOU ARE CERTAIN BUT CAN NOT PROVE IT AS AN ATHEIST
You briefly talked about your friend and what a family member claimed about him in the end, and it reminded me of my own grandmother at her end. Now she was 100% a Christian, no doubt about it. However at the end of her life she was in hospice care for about a year or so. She lingered. Long story short she said to my father one time "Johnny, getting into heaven is not as easy as people think it is". At first we all sort of laughed it off with comments like "oh if mom-mom is worried about getting into heaven, we should be to". But as i got older and looked back on it.. im horrified. My grandmother was a saint of a woman and never did anyone any harm, and instead of feeling comforted at the end of her life she was scared she was not good enough. My grandmother deserved better. Her religion instead of offering comfort only gave her fear at the end.
That is a big reason i try to spread free thinking among other people. Perhaps if my grandmother was not trapped into her way of thinking her passing could have been easier for her. And a celebration of her accomplishments, not fear of the unknown.
What if I could show you evidence that convinced you that atheists are more likely to be upset and scared by the thought of death and on their deathbeds?
@@MoralGovernment what of it? Some might, some might not. But for my grandmother her religion did not seem to bring her comfort at the end, it appeared to be a fear she was not good enough to be happy after death because her religion taught her not everyone was. And I myself, as well as many atheists I know, have faced their own death and we're not upset at the prospect of death. I was super anxious as a child over death and hell when I was a Christian, now as an atheist the state of death does not bother me at all.
@@__Andrew What if I could convince you with sufficient evidence that you're an outlier and the average person is conformed and better off with their supernatural beliefs and that convincing them to give up those beliefs would cause them harm? Would you still want to spread free thinking to other people?
@@MoralGovernment yes, cause at the end of the day it's still not true what religion is teaching. And even if 100% of people found comfort in that lie it doesn't make it any more true. And what I'm interested in is knowing true things, even if they are uncomfortable to take in. I might be happy if my doctor told me I'm healthy. But if I had cancer I'd want to know. Believing a lie cause it makes you feel good is kinda of a very sad thing to do.
@@__Andrew If you know you have cancer there might be something you can do about it. There's a movie about a Chinese family not telling Grandma she's dying because they don't want to upset her. But why would you want other people to know the truth? If they say "I don't care if I have cancer, I don't want to know, I would rather live out my final days being happy." Why try to convince them that they have cancer?
Great talk Anthony! I wish you had a call in show where you use SE with people with all types of beliefs. I'd watch that all day long.
You've helped me immensely!
I deconverted from Christianity. When I told my wife after hiding in the closet for many months, I eased it on her. She didn't argue about any of it. She didn't ask questions. Her only apprehension was about our children, and I agreed to not speak about it in front of them.
Its been over a year since then. We've had a handful of discussions, rarely resulting in me being able to gauge where she stands or what she believes. This morning, I asled her a question that I've heard Anthony ask many times. The question of how strong they believe from 1 to 100.
She said she's about a 5!
I NEVER expected it. I don't even know when or where to go regarding the last 5 since she's so difficult to get to open up about feelings and sensitive subjects. Her mother is a devout church patron on top of everything, especially since she started her fight against a particularly aggressive type of cancer.
On the other hand, the rest of my family is convinced that I either went insane, actually became possessed by a demon or Satan, I just want to sin and rape so I'm lying about my beliefs to set up an excuse for whatever evil I'm wanting to do, or one of several other assertions about me. I've come to realize that anyone who draws me in to an argument puts massive walls up and they are even more convinced that I'm working directly for Satan.
Baby Ben Thanks for your comment. Would you be open to joining a secret Facebook group that I created where you can discuss your situation with other non-believers who have gone through similar things? If so, please send an email to emergingfaithhelp@gmail.com to begin the vetting process. To learn mlre about SE, one of the SE Facebook communities and/or Discord server might also be a good resource. Speaking (or texting/chatting) with a trained Helpline Agent from Recovering from Religion is another option that I hope you consider.
I should add that the scale is subjective, and a five is probably nearly indistinguishable than a one. Shifting to change talk (“what would your/our life be like if you didn’t have this belief?”) might be the next step with you wife. This comes up near the end of my recent chat with Mary Ann and Melissa, in case you haven’t seen that one yet.
Love the NDT example. I value your talks so much. Please keep up the amazing work. Never stop please. This is perhaps the most important thing we can do for humanity right now.
I've been missing your SE videos. But i've enjoyed the lectures you've been uploading. You're a great speaker.
Excellent slides + editing btw! It is really a pleasure to watch. Thank you to the editor!
I was skeptical on the use of blocks in a demonstration but you nailed it. Very powerful.
Your script and your slides are just terrific here. Well done. It could be used as a tutorial on minimizing clutter.
mikekeenanphd Thanks. Despite many hours of editing, I can still spot subtle things that slipped by. But I'll be able to incorporate that on future talks, if any.
this was by far my most useful channel in helping religious people progress
Yesterday I helped a friend with SE. She has a tendency to get angry at work when her feedback is ignored or even ridiculed. I described a way she could ask questions that caused these people to think about what THEY were saying. She asked for help understanding what they were saying. Now, we’ll see how it goes, but she felt she had a tool to help her deflect her own anger - which was always working against her.
Anthony, I'm more and more impressed. I'm a member of a local skeptics/freethinkers group and I've been studying SE and practicing it for a couple of years. Now, I'm looking forward to having an open forum discussing SE. This video will be required viewing prior to our meeting. Thanks again for your heartfelt and measured approach to such an important topic.
Thank you for uploading this Anthony - I can't wait to listen
I've recently introduced a video of yours to some people I know, and I was reminded of that when you said to promote SE. I don't live in a very religious area of the world, so I don't really see the need to go out, but I do want to help your cause. So I'm going to keep doing that. I'll keep sharing your videos with people who are interested. I'll talk to them about SE and encourage them to learn more about it. So thank you for mentioning that.
Gamesaucer thank you very much.
A very good talk. Excellent production and presentation. Kind regards from South Africa.
Watching your videos have really helped me with my epistemology. Thanks!
Anthony posted? No way. I must be hallucinating.
YES! Lesson plans. I use this approach in workshops with business representatives. It drills into what they do, to why they do it and how they came to do it. Many times what they are doing doesn't really capture the business requirement.
I started my last talk with a stranger by saying 'I wasn't raised with religion but have been questioning lately'. It's true as I called BS at age 7 or 8 but it really seems to allow the IL to drop their guard a bit. That started my most successful talk with a woman wearing a cross next to me on the plane.
I like your channel. Your lectures are well done and edited nicely.
I'm very impressed with the clear video examples. Framing questions very nicely to provoke introspection much quicker than other methods might be able to. I think you mentioned you were partly inspired by Peter Boghossian's book. I've listened to a few of his talks in the past and liked them. I think in some senses you're advancing the field of psychology, or at the very least, publicly demonstrating very well what a good understanding of language and psychology can do.
Can people please arrange talks between Anthony and Sam Harris (podcast). Also please do a lengthy Joe Rogan podcast as well. I'm annoyed that these videos are not spread around more. Most of them should have way more views.
Also a request: On your channel, maybe in the "About" section, can you list some of the equipment (phone, data service requirements for streaming, camera(s), streaming services, etc) and your tips in regards to recording and editing (programs you use, how much they cost, information you used to edit more successfully). I find recorded results of willing participants fascinating and I would probably watch many more.
Thank you. Boghossian's book was the main inspiration behind my going out and speaking with people using Street Epistemology. There have been a few people who are in those fields who have reached out to say that they have noticed some overlap in their fields.
The best way to help get me on a show like those imight be to simple reach out to them and ask, perhaps including an example to one of your favorite videos. I agree that these videos (and the method) should be seen by a far greater audience. It's baffling to me sometimes how few people know about this stuff still.
I have already made one behind-the-scenes video (search for those words and my last name and you should be able to find it), but I have been toying with the idea of creating a second one that addresses many of the suggestions and more. Maybe I can get around to doing something like that this summer.
Thanks for watching and your feedback, and I hope to upload many more discussions soon.
Douglas Greenough What do you mean?
I have learned the feeling of my brain strongly disagreeing with something that someone just told me, things like my world view being wrong. It's a strong emotion of denial and whenever I feel it, I know that I need to really look into whatever someone told me while doing my best to be objective about it. Emotions can be an extremely useful tool for following reason if you learn to utilize them properly.
I was just reading A Manual For creating atheists chapter 5 my phone beeped and this video popped up LOL
( and they say there is no god) lol
Random Stuff that kind of situation happen to me all the time. It's like that movie "I Origins".
I too count the hits and not the misses.
I love the "can you give me your best example" question
Awesome talk, Anthony! I'm looking forward to many others to come!
Whoa! You're still alive!
I basically came up with SE myself in 2008-2014 when I worked in Saudi Arabia as a teacher and would have conversations with my students on a variety of topics. And I found myself wanting to challenge their beliefs or at least make them think about them and doubt, on subjects such as religion, atheism, women, Jews, racial minorities in their country, et cetera.. but of course it was extremely dangerous to just come out and challenge their fixed beliefs on these subjects or argue with them because I could have gone to jail or at least been fired and deported. So I had to have the conversation with them in a way that made them feel like my idea was their idea.... using mostly the Socratic method I eventually became very good at asking questions in a totally non-confrontational way that would lead them around to thinking about things in a critical way without ever making it seem like I was criticizing their beliefs or even really questioning them. I never was jailed or fired. But I think I actually helped a lot of young men there start thinking a little bit for themselves.
That was fucking awesome. Ever since I first saw your videos I thought it was great, super effective. I have definitely changed the way I talk to people. But it always had one think in common with how I always did talk to people.. I would always be friendly and keep it civil and not assume things, as soon as insults get thrown around, people get defensie and stubborn and not open to new ideas.. so it becomes very pointless.. I have always made sure that doesn't happen.
Not that SE *has* to be polite and stuff.. but it's certainly the most effective method out there and it would be awesome to see it in all areas, not just religion, which was also an interesting part of the talk. One thing I realised and changed, was to really try and delve to the actual foundation by asking questions.. otherwise it's pointless to waste time on it.. (I love the video examples).
Great speech, I also liked the blocks lol.
This is a very well edited video.. I'm glad your audio was better than the first lady without the mic lol. The questions at the end are great, always sucks in the Q&A segments when you can't hear anything they're saying and they block the camera. Also the question counter out of 20 is a nice touch. This is all very nice, dammit lol.
the editing for this video and all the topic names was helpful
StygianEmperor Thanks. I will probably edit future talks in this way.
Please do. Loves all the editing, even down to the numbered questions and how many there are.
Anthony Magnabosco vs Ben Shapiro. Would so love to see this street epistemology showdown. I would buy tickets to see that.
I'm not sure how you'd go about adapting SE for that kind of adversarial situation. It's a conversational tool, not a debating method.
It would be like Anthony vs Jacob. Ben’s strategy is to interrupt to control. Conversation is not his goal.
Thank you Anthony very much!
شكرا جزيلا انتوني
Merci beaucoup Anthony!
Gazie mille Antonio!
با تشکر از شما آنتونی بسیار!
非常感謝安東尼！
Gracias Anthony mucho!
Danke Anthony sehr viel!
Спасибо, Энтони, очень!
बहुत बहुत धन्यवाद एंथोनी!
Tibi gratias ago Anthony diversi generis multa nimis!
Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ τον Αντώνιο!
תודה רבה לך אנתוני!
Dankon Anthony tre multe!
...
HE'S BACK!!!
Good video Anthony I really like your approach it is help me with me and my wife. She is a born-again Christian, and I am A atheist are used to argue with her but now I try to use your approach. Thank you
Bill Sherk I hope you're successful, Bill. I used Anthony's methods and it worked great with my mother. She's now a deist. She still can't wrap her head around 'lights out death' but she's thankful to no longer fell obligated to attend nor tithe. And not giving money will only help me to support Recovering From Religion, Clergy Project, FFRF etc. so win/win!
Unequally yoked huh? She's definitely a "sherker" of Christian ideals.
"It's true for me" .... * whips out the tic tacs *
I challenge anyone to see the documentaries 'Religion, Bible, can you handle the truth?' and 'The Origin of Christianity, the Piso Flavian Dynasty' SEEK TRUTH, not bury your head in a blind belief system.
Beautifully done. Thank you.
Is there any quantification of SE success rate vs other scepticism methodes of talking about reasons and in the end changeing someones epistemology to reason/science based one? Taking into consideration that parts of what SE is, are used in those other scepticism methodes (and maybe mix is better than pure).
So I am an Atheist previously devout Catholic. And I used that "it's true for me" as my very last defense before I stopped believing. I had nothing left. Don't give up. They are so close at that point.
There are proofs for God and ultimately a greater goodness. I'm not sure if you are still out there, friend.
I dig what you do Anthony thank you.
Anthony is making appeals for participation. I’m moving to Salem OR and will have time on my hands. I’m a video producer. Anybody need SE help?
When I say help, I’m not necessarily suggesting any one specific thing. I could give email advice on how to record good audio/video or help in person. I could help you practice by being your “stunt believer”. Whatever.
I think your MRI machine experiment idea really has merit. Have you considered contacting Dr. Steven Novella (neurologist at Yale University) of Skeptic's Guide to the Universe about this?
Or maybe DR. Daniel Dennett (professor of religious philosophy at Tufft's University)?
Ted Apelt Hello there. Thanks for the auggestions. No. But I have made contact with a member of the team referenced during this talk and they are aware of my ideas. Not sure what will wver come of it, however. I will reach out to Novella, however.
You are doing great work, Anthony. I have a question: How different is SE from, say, the Socratic method?
Joan Arnau Pàmies The townspeople have not forced me to drink poison yet.
Ha! Good point. I have been using SE for some time now and I do find it generally more successful than counterapologetics.
Joan Arnau Pàmies I posted your question to the Private Street Epistemology Facebook Group in case you want to get some other perspectives.
Fantastic talk!
NOTICE ALL THAT S E
DOES IS ASK QUESTIONS AND MAKE NO KNOWLEDGE CLAIMS SO HE CAN NOT PROVE ANY OTHER WORLDVIEW IS FALSE.
I would love to hear your thoughts on what Jordan Peterson has to say about God(s) and theology.
To Anthony and others who don’t believe in the “supernatural” , how do u explain near death experiences(NDEs) where a person who was clinically dead can describe true events that were taking place in the real physical world while they were unconscious and had no sight or even brain activity, especially when what they describe took place in different locations than where they body lay? There is good and increasing evidence for this phenomenon.
Neil deGrasse Tyson should watch this
38:40 that cracked me up lololol
@27:29 She's a thinker but never thought that.
@Anthony Magnabosco, do you know if there are any RUclips channels or any person on whatever other platforms that are practicing SE in Spanish?
Pablo Alvestegui I think there might be a channel in the SE Discord server specifically for Spanish speakers, but I’m not entirely sure. There might even be a Facebook group, but I’m not sure how active it is.
@@magnabosco210, thanks. I'll have a look.
33:00 - The problem with that example is those brain patterns could match them imagining gun violence when presented with facts on the subject, not necessarily because it's challenging a deeply held belief.
Thought Criminal I could be mistaken, but I think that was just one example of several they tested. I have a link to the actual study in the description of the video. Good thinking, however.
Update. I spoke with a lead researcher familiar with the study and they told me (and allowed me to post here with their permission): "We didn't only ask about gun violence. There were 9 politics statements and 9 nonpolitical statements for each person. So I don't think the results can be accounted for by thinking about that specific topic. "
Anthony, you came to Chicago. god Dang I would have gone. How do I get on a "List" for things in town?
Go to the Chicago Atheist Society website and you should be able to sign up for their meetup and/or notifications of future events.
Anthony, IF a Creator, as defined by the monotheism of Islam, does exist, what is the criteria of evidence you are using to accept or reject this proposition?
Anthony is the boss. 😀
12:27
"...goofiest looking pie chart."? I'd say it was snazzy.
No matter what I express, Anthony understands my true intentions.
Did sam ever say something about SE?
Brando Miranda Sam who?
Anthony Magnabosco xD harris
I'd love to hear what NDT has to say about this. haha
One like this in urbana champaign?
The text should have been added with a transparent background instead of black so it wouldn't have kept cutting into you.
Raoul Borans No, that was an intentional editing choice. I talk a little bit about this in the video description field. I may release an Unlisted version where you can see more of my face and hands.
Sorry to nit pick but you don't leave much else to be critical of.
I've been following your work for some time and I think you're doing a brilliant job of making a case for atheism that believers are much more willing to accept or at least contemplate.
Raoul Borans :-) Thanks, Raoul. I'll post the link to the Unlisted version (with wider crop area) in the video description (and/or add a 'card' [link] near the start of this video) if I ever add that option.
I have just uploaded another version where the crop of the speaker (me and the President of the Chicago Atheist Society) is wider. Please check it out and let me know if this works better for you: ruclips.net/video/49exL0TTG_k/видео.html
That's much better.
I'm nitpicking again here - the constant 'fade to black', are those all edits? because they seem unnecessary.
49:50 I would love to ask him questions about why he thinks that religion causes harm and why he thinks that his secular ideology does more good than harm, especially in the political realm. Why is it harmful for Christians to teach Christianity in the schools but he wants to teach SE in the schools? Why does he think that SE will lead people to better behavior?
SA?
@@magnabosco210 SE, oops.
@@magnabosco210 But the "he" I was referring to was you, I didn't figure you would read my comment. If you would answer my question that would be really awesome.
Here because of Genetically Modified Skeptic!
Christine Piette Great! GMS puts out some great work.
Moi aussi
My dad is so oversensitive about the fact that his beliefs are complete bullshit that he is very ill-equipped to defend that it's impossible to *not* trigger his bear attack reflex when talking about them, even if you are merely asking polite questions or using SE he will still blow up.
In that case then it’s probably better to explore safer topics with him so he can learn how to be a more critical careful thinker and then eventually start using those on his own views.
Who needs a breath of fresh air known as logic, when you have scriptures, dogma and temples? 🤡
how many times over the last 3 years say, do you think you've lead someone openingly out of religion ?
i know you've gotten people lower on the scale by the end of your conversations maybe ..
but has this ever lead to a actually leaving their religion ?
as going from deeply pondering, or a little lower on the belief scale to, rejecting/leaving belief, seems to be a completely different and harder level to achieve ! ...
Watching Anthony's videos was fairly instrumental in evaluating my own beliefs. The result of that evaluation was a rejection of those beliefs.
HE CAN NOT PROVE A PERSONS FAITH IS FALSE IF IT IS BASED ON FEELINGS.
SE TRYS TO SHOW THAT NOTHING IS CERTAIN AND WHEN HE DOES HE CAN NOT PROVE CHRISTIANITY IS FALSE. SE IS STUPID!
Aron Ra got hung up on the belief scale, methinks.
Also Matt Dillahunty.. he gets it.. it's just that when he delves into it.. it falls apart for him.. but that only being the case when you ask someone like Matt Dillahunty to rate himself on a scale.. other people don't delve into it that much lol, and Matt knows that.
A Christian will not only believe because it's virtuous but also because they value loyalty. They don't want to betray their God and their group. As a Christian I felt a deep fear of God's wrath and a deep respect for his authority. I'm curious, have you ever had discussions where you've discovered this?
Perhaps because these are moral terms and you want to get them to think of their God belief in factual terms, you stay away from exploring the reason for the belief in terms of obedience?
HES ALIFE ♥
Talk begins 2:30
in the recommendations there is this gem: "7 Reasons Ben Shapiro Is So Dominant In Debates" i.ytimg.com/vi/JY5t6iUzajk/hqdefault.jpg
i just thought this is an interesting contrast..
i would love to see a video with a conspiracy theorist or a ufo believer from you, how come you have non?
0cards0 I tend to let people pick the subject we discuss, and too date, nobody has picked that. There is another channel with a guy who also conducts street epistemology and I believe has had a conversation with a person who believe in UFOs. Let me know if you're interested in that I can dig up the link.
Anthony Magnabosco
i would love to see one from you some day but ok give me the link if you can please
0cards0 The channel name is Deep Discussions
Francisco Zattoni
thanks
i must say the Chicago Athiest Society looks kinda evil :P
with the big red A
Maybe the crux of what you're doing is reframing a moral belief as a factual belief?
I've seen your most recent comments. These are all good thoughts. Have you seen my video with Justin? In that talk we explore the idea that he may need to think God is real in order to be seen (by himself and others, perhaps) that he a good person. ruclips.net/video/fxC0S4go3j8/видео.html
I going to report this video as "sexual content"
What do you mean?
What are you even talking about Marat?
That doesn't even make a tiny bit of sense!
SCIENCE USES FAITH WHEN THEY MAKE A KNOWLEDGE CLAIM, SO ANTHONY NEEDS TO TALK TO SCIENTIST. WHY IS ANTHONY CRITICAL OF CHRISTIAN FOR USING FAITH, WHEN SCIENTIST USE FAITH, DOES NOT ANTONY BELIEVE IN SCIENCE?
who me, science uses evidence to confirm their theories, when possible.
I imagine Anthony might say that religion is mostly faith, whereas science is mostly observation and reason. Something like that.