Street Epistemology: Christian | Christianity (The Wise Thing to Do)
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- Location: San Antonio, Texas
Recorded: 10 April 2019
Released: 18 April 2019
Summary: Christian is roughly 70 percent confident his God is real, so we explore that a bit together.
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Skip ahead to a desired point in the talk (clickable timestamps can be found in the top pinned comment of this video [I'll complete these shortly, sorry about that]):
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Explanation:
Truth Test:
Claim (What):
Aporia:
Justification (Why):
Questions for Me:
Belief Scale:
Method (How):
Mirroring: 17:42
Closing:
Bonus: 20:40
Outro: 21:00
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Note: Add 35 seconds to these timestamps if listening to the podcast version of this talk.
Audio Only: / s-zbq7s
Audio correction provided by Philipp Grzemba.
Outro Music 'Don’t Look’ provided by Silent Partner, courtesy RUclips Audio Library.
** Add foreign language captions w/RUclips's community contributions tools **
Mistakes: Please let me know if you spot any.
Recorded w/Go-Pro. Edited w/PowerDirector.
The views addressed here are mine and mine alone, and are not necessarily shared by members of my family and friends.
#StreetEpistemology #Magnabosco #Christian #Jesus #Christianity #Proof #Apologetics #Atheism #RatioChristi #AnthonyMagnabosco
Skip ahead to a desired point in the talk:
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Explanation: 00:30
Rapport: 01:32
Discord Boost: 01:44
Truth Test: 2:20, 05:22
Claim (What): 05:05, 06:51, 11:56
Body Language: 05:38
Aporia: 09:29, 18:48
Skate or Die: 09:38
Why (Justifications): 06:17, 07:44, 08:43, 09:54, 11:38, 13:04
Commending: 10:09, 11:33
Altercasting: 11:18
Repeating: 12:12, 13:16, 17:58
Questions for Me: 14:53
Belief Scale: 07:02, 15:18, 18:23
Pausing: 09:05, 09:45, 10:50, 11:33, 17:00
Sharing: 11:12, 16:19
Re-Visiting Consent: 13:43
Modeling Wonder: 17:01
Method (How): 19:16
Mirroring: 07:19, 17:36
Clarifying: 17:25
Closing: 14:05, 20:00
Bonus: 20:42
Outro: 21:00
-
Note: Add 35 seconds to these timestamps if listening to the podcast version of this talk.
Anthony Magnabosco That was a good conversation.
Unprofitable Servant How near are we talking?
@Unprofitable Servant Kick rocks, clown shoes.
What is "weak"? And why would you say being atheist is silly?
In your opinion, the likelihood of faith switching, how likely is it spurred on by something like curiosity, or something like community (switch), or a lack of need for community?
I like Christian. Wheels are turning. Has confidence to engage you, yet humble enough to admit some uncertainty. Far beyond where I was at that age. Good job, Anthony. Christian, if you're reading this, get out there and go travel some, especially when you finish your studies. You seem genuinely curious, and you have a brain. Take your ideas and engage the world. And have fun!
I hope Christian reads this comment!
I wish I could pin this comment alongside my other one. Excellent sentiments.
@@magnabosco210 thank you
Absolutely, he was so honest it was excellent to see.
Guy was speed running his deconstruction
Christian is open minded & honest I think !!! Wish you the best Christian
One of the most open people I've seen you talk to in a long time. He didn't get defensive or grasp for new answers. He admitted honest answers even when they seemed to contradict his original position
but, this is just the way believers should act, too many *use* god for their own gain, knowingly or not, for instance i often have chats with the caribbean lady at the cafe who is a believer, and although i know when it's time to put away my doubts, she tolerates my views as much as i tolerate hers, it's what good (!) christians do, we should actually agree on everything as humans. we're a lot less adamant about the bible in the UK, and we tend to recognise that so many denominations implies someone has to be wrong, but in essence christianity should be a good thing, religion should be a good thing, all gods teach "love thy neighbour" but, as with all human endeavours, greed, and in the case of catholicism, child molesting spoil it a bit :)
@@HarryNicNicholas I agree with almost all of what you say, however I disagree that ALL gods teach "love thy neighbor" as we already know some teach, "kill the infidel".
Reminds me of how I became atheist. Went into college as a christian raised by christian family, but I had some doubts. I majored in computer science as well, and when I took boolean algebra and logic classes as well as some geology courses I felt comfortable calling myself an atheist by my junior year. It was a process of questioning what I believe and why, just like you mentioned in the talk.
I love that you introduced the confidence scale in reference to the candies! It produces such a concrete starting point.
Yeah I wasn’t really sure if it was sloppy thinking on my part or something to consider revisiting in the future.
@@magnabosco210 I feel like the scale needs to be more clear though. is zero 100% certain that no God exists, or is zero 100% uncertain of any God's existence? is it a 50/50, positive/negative scale, or a 0-100 positive scale? I think some of the explanation of confidence gets lost in that confusion.
scott banta I think you’re right: it needs more clarification.
I found Christians inability to choose for himself interesting. On more than one occasion he said "which one do you want me to choose?" Even when asked to choose a brightly colored puzzle piece expressing his own preference was not his first reaction. I worry I might behave similarly.
Eric Mishima I am glad you noticed that. I did as well during the interview as well as during the editing process. I almost even named the video with a clever title that referenced this. Thanks for watching.
Yeah, that was the most striking thing to me.
When you are taught that you are flawed by nature and your only hope of salvation is denying the reality of reality, denying what you know and clinging to what you know to be absurd you necessarily become timid and scared. Christian was more honest than many. Some become hateful.
I guess god musta made this one without freewill.
Christian is a thoughtful lad.
LOL, When he asked "Where do you stand on this topic?" Anthony took the question literally.
Yeah I thought that too when I listen to the playback, but if you pay attention closely, I was responding to Christian’s previous question. It’s very quick and easy to miss, but check it out if you have the time :-)
🤣🤣
Ooh I like the body language pointers. Nice addition .
I loved his thinking. I think right at the end he was beginning to wonder if his beliefs were well founded.
To me, I feel that he is doubtful but somehow afraid of the "unknown ".
He is afraid of what he knows.
To me... He was showing no doubts in his belief.... He was answering the questions truthfully, but wasn't willing to apply his answers to his own position.
You can tell that Christian is a great dude with a wonderful heart and although he believes in a god he kept his conversation honest and didn't start changing his answers to defend his stance.. I hope to see him in another interview in the near future
Ending the talk on Christian’s “ah-ha” moment was important. We’re generally better at remembering the end of conversations, called the recency effect in psychology. This effect also happens with the thing said just before a long pause in a conversation. I think knowing the optimal point to pause or stop a talk is a key skill in street epistemology.
Wow Anthony, what an ending! I was getting a little uncomfortable at the continued questioning at the end but it payed off, didn't it?
And you cut the convo EXACTLY when you needed to - just as he conceded something. That's the last thing you both discussed and the first thing he'll remember when he thinks back on the convo.
Well done again.
I can tell you've really been working on your pauses!
Like hand on hip?
The end gave me chills. Seeing someone's mind open up and explore possibilities is just so inspiring. I'm glad you continued the chat just that little bit longer; I think you ended it on the perfect note.
This guy is ripe for some good introspection. Saying his “look at the trees” reasoning out loud must have been powerful. I think he’s going to honestly consider how well that reasoning works with any other topic. It’s gonna be tough but he did it in front of Anthony so he can do it for his own self! He’s going to realize that no topic gets special arguments that only work for them. He can do it!
I like the guy, he seemed really honest with himself and very self-aware.
One of the most open-minded christians I have ever heard speak about their beliefs. Hats off to Christian.
Oooh, this was a good one. Christian is the best type of interlocutor, intelligent but not afraid to give honest answers.
Christian was such an honest dude, I think you made an impact with him and am 70% sure he will go home and think about this. :-) see what I did there?
No
I like how Christian was thinking clearly and processing it all.
This was actually good. Good job
Anthony and Christian's approach to this topic is respectful, calm, and to the point. This method should be used in every conversation where people have a difference of opinion. Great job guys.
100% stealing your jar-of-candy thought experiment. That was beautiful.
At around the 8:30 mark you reflect on Christians comment about “feeling strongly” that there is a God by bringing up the candy and paralleling “If I feel strongly that there’s a even number of candies is that reason to believe it’s true?”
I was wondering if an additional question could be asked such as “Regarding the candies if there was a reward to there being an even amount of candies as opposed to no reward if there is an odd amount would that change the percentage of there being even from 50% to a higher number?
Possibly this could flesh out that they may be increasing their beliefs % based on a perceived reward.
If there were ever lasting life if you believe that there are an even number of candies, it might be difficult to give up that belief.
Nice!
Great interview! Christian seems like a nice guy and has given his beliefs some thought and even some changes overtime but seems settled into the “I feel it’s true” camp for now. I really hope he returns for another chat with you. And look at you mr celebrity now! 👍
Sorry for laughing ... @8:47 "look around" argument whilst standing in an entirely man made environment. Me asks .. "If you were standing in the middle of a desert with nothing but sand for miles around, no water and nothing to protect you, would you say the same thing?"
Man, I have seen every video and it still makes me smile and happy seeing Anthony have conversations like these!
Q: "Is the number of candies even or odd?"
A: "Well it's been both ... as long as you give me a piece of candy."
My stupid response, in the effort to get some candy, lol.
It depends on what you'd have to do for that piece of candy
That was so damn awesome. I'm going to learn how to do this. I already started practicing with friends and family, and, though my skills are novice and quite shaky, it has led to some very interesting talks.
Anthony, you are getting better and better.
I like the way you started with the thought experiment.
He seems to be more open minded and honest.
He seemed a really honest and open person. I like how he was able to just say he "felt" the 70% confidence without feeling the necessity of knowing why he felt that way, and he was also open to explore them. That's just how he felt and he was honest about it. Good dude.
Christian, your life sounds very similar to mine. I was raised deeply religious with a pastor for a father. Shortly into my time at university for Computer Science, I lost my faith. It was an incredibly painful and challenging thing to go through. But if you do end up taking that journey, know that it's worth it, and life is much better on the other side.
I appreciate your method of approach that you warn people of the subjects your may broach and the experiment that you use to see the potential.
8:01
I can't recall any of Mr. M's interlocutors claiming they believed God was real but who admitted they didn't know if the real God was their God.
Nice observation.
@@rockdealer1
Much appreciated. Every so often, my neurons fire in proper sequence.
@@jeffersonianideal I observed that too, that's the first person to admit that out of the many proposed gods that do exist, they might be believing the wrong god.
@@richardmccabe2392
The significance of Christian's candid disclosure cannot be overemphasized. His self-imposed dilemma may eventually pave a pathway to skepticism.
"Naw, that's me." Props for the honesty! Good stuff, man.
One of the best interviews I have watched from this channel !!!
Great talk! I love this guy! Very honest and would be a good person to have a conversation with.
I love this kid. I predict he is the next @ObjectivelyDan.
Anthony. You’ve done a wonderful service. I look forward to the work that you’ve done. I look forward to meeting you again as an interlocutor.!!
Great video Anthony. I love what you're doing and standing for. You have my full support and appreciation! You're not only changing people for the better with what you're doing but teaching others how to also.
Wow! Christian was the most honest person you’ve ever interviewed. He was so goddamn honest I briefly thought he was trolling you. Anthony. Correct me if I’m wrong. But you looked like you had him pegged for an agnostic at the very least. Turns out he was more thoughtful than most religious folks you meet. Anthony. You’re masterful!
I've watch about 25 of your videos and I think this is the best I've seen. When you compare his faith in a God to his faith about being right about the candy... very strong. You do good work. Thanks for doing it.
This is my first episode and I've just subscribed. I love Christian's honesty and thoughtfulness. He didn't try to run away when faced with , for some, uncomfortable ideas or arguments against his position. 70% is not 100% which I would have expected from a believer. Interesting. What a bloody nice bloke !
Yes. I'm sure he would not stone anyone to death or torture them forever. If he realises what he is signed up for that should turn him at least to a less evil religion.
This is a sight different approach I like it still respectful but a little more forward.
I love your method. The amount of doubt you inspire in these people, to make them actually rethink their positions in such a gentle and non-agressive way is one of the best Atheist approaches ever! Keep doing what your doing just like your doing it!
Good talk, liked his honesty. I would love to see a follow up talk with him. I'm really curious where he is at and what impact this may have had on him
Anthony, all of your best conversations occur with open & honest people. This is a great conversation & I think Christian will benefit from this talk long after it happened. Keep up the good work.
Lol! Anthony must be proud of his whistling skills (and rightly so)!
Great job in this video 👍👍. Very nice example of your wonderful technique. Smart pauses, trying not to explicitly suggest anything, I love it. These techniques you teach us literally help me in life with many types of conversation, have made me a better listener and have helped me making real connection with all kinds of people, beyond the whole religion thing, I've been a convinced no doubting atheist since I was about 12-13 years old. You are really inspiring people's minds and helping the world becoming a better more secular place. Thank you.
Thanks Laurens. I’m glad the video examples have helped improved your own interactions. We’re trying to make these tools more accessible to people around the world with our nonprofit, Street Epistemology International. Thanks for watching.
The thought experiment followed by the confidence scale question on it seemed to impact on his later response to his god belief scale, 70% instead of the usual 100%. He may have gone with 70% regardless but I think it would be worth repeating that in future.
I really like this one. Christina seemed to be genuinely honest with his answers and to himself.
19:44 Magic moment.
That was a great talk and he seemed really open to consideration.
He considered the implications of his response and restated it not only to you but to himself.
Hopefully he comes back for the second piece of the puzzle!
Wow Anthony, I never grow tiered of your ability to lead these conversations. Coming up with these great questions at the right time, giving your interlocutor a few seconds to think and avoiding giving personal opinions is way more difficult than you make it seem.
Love watching your videos man, keep up the good work!
“If I felt strongly that the number of candies in this container was even, would I be warranted?”
“No.”
This is the kind of parallel that can dislodge beliefs or systems of belief that are constructed on poor evidence or conviction alone. So long as he takes these observations with him, I think Christian will become and much more skeptical and logical thinker than he already is!
I was put onto your channel from the Cosmicsceptic podcast.
Go Guy! It's these types of discussions that more people should have.
Whether it's with others about big world topics or just with yourself about why the uni, office job, mortgage, family, road is your choice or if you're just following the status quo.
Anthony you are excellent at asking open questions and promoting thought in those you speak with. Great video thanks.
I like Christian. He seems to actually think, and he obviously wants to talk more. Really enjoyed this one.
I realy enjoyed these long pauses... I felt like both if you were in a twilight zone. It is almost out of a movie. Hopefuly he will return we some thoughts following this encounter.
I wish more believers were as thoughtful as Christian. Honest, doxastically open, had OTF down and everything. Good stuff.
Joey Eng seriously I hope the guy checks out this video. He is incredibly intellectually honest it's refreshing!
yeah, he is so honest, and was not apologetic or anything. I wish all christians are like that.
Haven’t viewed your videos in a few years. I like the addition of the puzzle and candy.
Thanks. Trying to constantly improve and develop
I loved this conversation, especially for each person's honesty. I'm wondering how you determine when to stop the conversation, when in many of your conversations it seems like there would be so much more to find out! I'm truly fascinated by your commitment to these conversations & the intelligent respect you approach each one with. :-) Keep it going!
Christian, my guy, great way to engage! You seem like a very good person, don't let a Zombie Jesus keep you from experiencing this world to it's fullest! Anthony, just got introduced to your content, I love it... and thank you!
I loved the question "what do you think they're missing" around 9:28
A3Kr0n Will definitely be using that again.
Great talk! Love the honesty. Thank you Christian.
This next comment is about the tic tac test in general, not specific to this talk. I'm always amazed no-one says "It could be neither odd nor even if there are some broken ones in there. It could be 32-and-a-half." Because that's what I'd say for sure. :)
I'm at the 10:30 mark. I am impressed by his honesty
I appreciate that Anthony has somewhere to start if the interviewee wants to chat but doesn't have an initial stance on something in particular. It could have been a very short, awkward conversation otherwise.
18:30 Love this question man! This should be one’s that you ask consistently.
Anthony I really respect what you doing truly amazing
Christian was so sweet. He really was thinking and not just being defensive. Very cool.
Anthony, you are one of the least leading interviewers I have ever seen. Please get into journalism.
Christian was very honest in his answers. that was awesome!
"Would it be a wise thing to believe in something based on feelings without proof?" "NO" Anthony, I think you've done your job there!! Respect to you!
I admire his humility. Cheers to the journey!
I really love what you do Anthony. You get people to think!
I love how you "frame" the questions (the order of them) like putting up roadblocks that require (re)thinking-triggers (not necessarily the pebbles, those are for the end).
I've always felt it amazing that so much of our beliefs are based upon influence at an early age. It's not just the 'programming' that happens, but the inability, later in life, to develop alternatives to that programming. I can think of few, if any, things that illustrate this better than belief in a god.
Very honest interlocutor, I mean he sees his flawed reasoning and is himself agreeing that he is not justified in terms of his confidence about his faith. I think this is how deeply religions can sometimes indoctrinate you. You see the absurdity of it all and yet have "no choice" but to stick to it.
@Anthony Magnabosco, I wish I could do this here in India...just that I don't think I would find this receptive interlocutors. No attack on my fellow country folks (they are astoundingly smart), it's just that thinking about these deep questions is a little low on their priority list. I did however use SE once or twice while Ramadan was going on last year but it was whilst I was passing by a dawah (Arabic for call/invite to Islam) stall and in the middle of a normal conversation. It is indeed a powerful tool. Keep it up!
Great talk and agree that christian comes across as being really honest which is something to be celebrated. I thought it was great that he came up to you very confidently asking to be interviewed and as the interview progressed he became addicted to the process i think. He looked like he was a little bit in love with you at the end, ( in a nice way not a weird way ) because he had completely given himself to being as honest as possible. I'm really enjoying this new campus season. Have you got any other possible location thoughts for the future?
Doublebass Wonderful feedback. Thank you. While it would be a lot of extra work, I am seriously thinking about signing up for another class so I can be out here for a second semester this year.
Anthony Magnabosco did you get the feeling that he didn't want to stop?
Doublebass Yes. Christian was standing pretty still and not giving many indications that he wanted to leave, which is why I started things up again a bit with the “I find myself wondering how things would be different if you started a three year journey of exploration...” after that fairly long pause.
@@magnabosco210 I really hope you get to talk with him again.
That was a great talk! I realize you were wrapping up, but as he was talking about how he feels 70% confident, I was really itching to ask whether there is any other aspect of his life where there's this disparity between confidence and the level of evidence.
If Christian is reading this, something to think about as a computer science major is the idea of emergence. In programming (and everywhere), emergent properties are those that arise from simple systems that work together to produce complex, unpredictable or intelligent-seeming results.
This applies to simple programming ideas such as a basic video game AI which might combine (when my health is below 40%, move away from the player) with (when I am within 10 meters of a health pack, move towards the health pack) to create seemingly complex behavior such as being caught between the player and health like a deer in the headlights or looking like it is running away from the player to look for health.
This also applies to genetic algorithms which use the same mechanisms as evolution to solve computation problems. For example, you can use a GA to find workable (though not optimal) solutions to the Travelling Salesman Problem which otherwise would require far too much processing power to solve in a timely manner (such as the age of the universe.)
This applies to the topic at hand because when you look around at the world what you see are a lot of smaller simple systems that work together to create complexity. Now, clearly this fact doesn't support either position on a god or gods. After all, the above examples of emergence are all things created by intelligent agents (humans). Just because a designer didn't create the tree, doesn't mean they didn't create the simple systems that created the tree. Though what many people that don't believe in a god or gods have realized is that when reduced down enough the systems needed to create the big wide world of complexity we see around us can be remarkably simple under the hood and it is a lot easier to imagine those simple systems arising naturally than it is to imagine all the big wide world of complexity arising naturally without those simple systems.
I really enjoiyed this one, I hope he gets all three pieces.
Great discussion by both parties! Christian has a lot to think about. I wonder if his confidence of other gods that he might not believe in could increase? Could he be shown evidence of Thor, for instance. I know my confidence could go way up. There are lots of religious facts that would be VERY PERSUASIVE to me if they ever can be shown to be anything more than just claims. Eternal life, for instance. Anyway - great work Anthony and Christian!!
Amazing!!!!! I could actually see his cognitive dissonance in his movements!!!!!!!
Brilliant Anthony, really great moments... i cant wait for his next convo!!!!!
Christian is such a nice kid, defferentially not even wanting to pick the topic or the color of the puzzle piece, and he just doesn't seem interested at this point in developing a high er confidence with justifying his religious claims. Towards the end I was imagining a parent or a pastor watching this. I can totally see a devout mentor or relative yelling, "Run Christian, run. Save yourself from this heathen's poisonous questions!" I'm glad that we live in a world where it is increasingly the norm for people to have an expectation of justification, even if they're turning a blind eye to that expectation with regards to unjustifiable beliefs they hold.
Probably the most honest person I have ever seen you interview. He is a very intelligent young man. I suspect he will be an Agnostic Atheist before 3 years. Maybe even by the end of his 3rd interview if he is willing to go that far. Questioning the Christian God is very difficult because Christianity teaches not to and what happens to those who do.
I frankly think the indoctrination of Children to a God that loves you so much he will torture you forever if you don't, is tantamount to child abuse. Teaching your child not to think is also very harmful.
Major credit to Anthony for not mentioning Spider-Man as a counterargument. I'm still needing to watch these videos to find my weaknesses before starting SE.
So looking forward to that second talk.
It's a very good exercise to challenge deep rooted beliefs and make others aware of their viewpoints.
8:30-8:40 just made me lol mad props to that kid for sticking around and having an honest conversation.
i would love to see him talk to Christian again, however have a few more harder hitting questions.
Belief in Christ is seeded, born, and upheld by The Spirit Of Truth. What would better explore this topic is a good discussion of the merits of the Spirit Of Truth, who He is, and how He functions. Without addressing this point, I don't see how our belief can be demonstrated to have factual merit. Upon a complete assessment of these matters, reality becomes lighted and we become far more aware and empowered.
Christ be to you.
The pauses are delicious. 😀
such a great guy. open and honest.
Excellent work!
If I had been Christian, I might ask some more questions about the candy box. How old is it? If old, it may have a partial piece in it making it non binary. Is it still newly sealed? If so, the probable outcome might lean towards an even bias since it was machine packed. These are the type of of questions one asks when dealing with realities such as troubleshooting code, Scientists and engineers spend a lot of their time researching non-obvious settings for answers to how things work.
Maybe this was where you heading with the interview.
Packaging machines are more likely to fill a package with an even number of items rather than an odd one (assuming we don't know how many items/what weight the machine is programmed to pack in)?
@@scepgineer Granted. But if new, no longer 50/50 outcome depending on consistency. Does not detract from concluding comment.
@@SoundzRite I don't get how you could come to the number being biased towards even.
Ah you said "might lean" toward even bias. So it also might lean the other way is what you meant right?
Christian is great! Very thoughtful and humble guy. Keep thinking, bud!
If he could lay out the reasons he is 70% sure in Christianity and 100% sure in God to someone who does not believe in God or wasn't raised in Christianity, what confidence level does he think they would be at?
I think that might have been a good question for him because he was being so honest.
That's a nice one. Makes people reflect on how convincing their reasons are.
Especially as Christian seemed to be well aware of the difficulties connected, it might have worked very well, agreed.
Have you seen Christian again? This interview was about 8 months ago and I'm wondering if he was willing to face the introspection again.
Do people often get back to get all three puzzle pieces? So far I have seen two videos, and they were both first piece conversations.