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| Sam Harris | ||||
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Sam Harris wants to begin talking about morality and human values in the context of our growing scientific understanding of the world.Viewers in Canada can watch it on The Comedy Network
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Good find. As was said in the last video's comments, I'm vary warry of Harris' premises and think he's probably wrong, but I'll still give his book a read.
ReplyDeletewell put
ReplyDeleteWhy are all the leading pop-culture atheists so hard to like?
ReplyDeleteA big Fan of Sam's, tho haven't been part of "pop-culture" for half a century.
ReplyDeleteI do detest the "pop-culture" theists, tho. The Popoffs, Hinns, Robertsons, Falwells, Comforts, Dollars, Haggarts, Swagarts etc..
<span>A big Fan of Sam's, tho haven't been part of "pop-culture" for half a century.
ReplyDeleteI do detest the "pop-culture" theists, tho. The Popoffs, Hinns, Robertsons, Falwells, Comforts, Copelands, Dollars, Haggarts, Swagarts etc..</span>
<span>A big Fan of Sam's, tho haven't been part of "pop-culture" for half a century.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with theists, but admit a severe dislike of the "pop-culture" theists, tho. The Popoffs, Hinns, Robertsons, Falwells, Comforts, Copelands,Dollars, Haggarts, Swagarts etc..</span>
<span><span>A big Fan of Sam's, tho haven't been part of "pop-culture" for half a century.
ReplyDeleteI only disagree with theists, but admit a severe dislike of the "pop-culture" theists, tho. The Popoffs, Hinns, Robertsons, Falwells, Comforts, Copelands,Dollars, Haggarts, Swagarts etc..</span></span>
<span><span><span>A big Fan of Sam's, tho haven't been part of "pop-culture" for half a century.
ReplyDeleteI merely disagree with theists, but admit to a severe dislike of the "pop-culture" theists, tho. The Popoffs, Hinns, Robertsons, Falwells, Comforts, Copelands,Dollars, Haggarts, Swagarts etc..</span></span></span>
<span><span><span><span>A big Fan of Sam's, tho haven't been part of "pop-culture" for half a century.
ReplyDeleteI merely disagree with theists, but do admit to a severe dislike of the "pop-culture" theists, tho. The Popoffs, Hinns, Robertsons, Falwells, Comforts, Copelands,Dollars, Haggarts, Swagarts etc..</span></span></span></span>
Bigstupidsmile, I absolutely love the leading pop-culture atheists (four horsemen in particular). Not sure what in Sam Harris you find hard to like.
ReplyDeleteI think the guys at google gave him a much harder time, and I don't think he was very convincing there either.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as though Harris has discovered Ethical Calculus, one of the technologies in the game Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri:
ReplyDelete<blockquote><pre><span>Ethical Calculus</span>
<span>
<pre>Throughout the history of mankind, philosophers have
grappled with the question: ‘How shall we then live?’
{Ethical Calculus} lays down mathematical principles
uncovered by [Social Psych (B1)] to address this question,
essentially providing calculations and functions that
determine appropriate human behavior.</pre></span></pre></blockquote>
<span>
ReplyDelete<pre>It looks as though Harris has discovered Ethical Calculus, one of the technologies in the game Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri:</pre>
<pre> Ethical Calculus
Throughout the history of mankind, philosophers have
grappled with the question: ‘How shall we then live?’
{Ethical Calculus} lays down mathematical principles
uncovered by [Social Psych (B1)] to address this question,
essentially providing calculations and functions that
determine appropriate human behavior.</pre>
</span>
“In the best case religion gives people bad reasons to be good
ReplyDeletewhere good reasons are actually available.” Sam Harris
I love that game!
ReplyDeleteThe book contains praise from Ian McEwan, Steven Pinker, Richard Dawkins, and Lawrence Krauss. I'd like to see Dan Dennett's comments.
ReplyDeleteI've read the Introduction and found it quite interesting. His remarks about the situation in the culture wars are right on target as is his discussion of the general rejection of "moral truth." At this point, he's given no definition of morality or value; hopefully, he'll get to these somewhere. No matter what, I give him credit for working very hard on a serious issue and throwing a baseline document into the New Atheism.
The book contains praise from Ian McEwan, Steven Pinker, Richard Dawkins, and Lawrence Krauss. I'd like to see Dan Dennett's comments.
ReplyDeleteI've read the Introduction and found it quite interesting. His remarks about the situation in the culture wars are right on target as is his discussion of the general rejection of "moral truth." At this point, he's given no definition of morality or value; hopefully, he'll get to these somewhere. No matter what, I give him credit for working very hard on a serious issue and throwing a baseline document into the New Atheism.
I'm very interested in his arguments as well. It appeals greatly to my biases, so I'm not totally on board with it yet.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of definition of morality or value are you looking for? Harris seems to put forward a definition of morality that is objective but fuzzy and inexact. Something about the fuzziness and imprecision feels inadequate, but I wonder whether this is just a consequence of being accustomed to religious/absolutist conceptions of morality, or of an aversion anything resembling the shifty babble of postmodern relativism.
Thanks for the Google video. I look forward to a tough audience. (I agree with Sam on this thesis, but I want it to be taken seriously and questioned rigorously.)
ReplyDeleteAt the Edge conference on the Science of Morality (2010) he also got a good questioning from researchers into morality. That video series also gives quite a nice overview of some of the scientific research being done on morality at the moment. Very exciting stuff.
http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/morality10/morality10_index.html
Thanks for the Google video; I look forward to a tough audience. (I agree with Sam on his thesis, but I'd like for it to be taken seriously and questioned rigorously.)
ReplyDeleteAt the Edge conference on the Science of Morality (2010) there was also an intense Q&A after Sam's presentation. It's also a great place to get an overview of some of the scientific research being done on morality at the moment. Very exciting stuff.
http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/morality10/morality10_index.html
I'm hoping that he gets to how one measures happiness. That's the real kicker, as if each individual has to measure their own happiness... well, I'll save it until I've read the book when it gets delivered.
ReplyDeleteAnother great source on the question of atheistic morality is Richard Carrier. He fleshes out his ideas in these videos:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNMUz1iediU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dce8mE0q4zA
(There's also his books, of course.)
If you want to jump straight to the "Is from an Ought" question, go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GkE1TxMRzU#t=2m32s
Too bad he didn't think to point out Iran or any of the other wealthy oil countries as non "failed states" that treat women as cattle.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me, or was Jon kind of a dick about the slavery in scripture thing?
ReplyDelete