|
Moonshoe
Blue Mantis


Registered: 05/28/04
Posts: 27,202
Loc: Iceland
|
Sam Harris
#22541098 - 11/18/15 09:44 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|

Is anyone familiar with Sam Harris?
He is a "public intellectual" and author who makes many TV appearances, writes books (Letter to a Christian Nation, The End of Faith), has a podcast (waking up with Sam Harris) and has been involved in numerous controversies and is the subject of constant attacks by people who accuse him of bigotry, racism etc (most notably Ben Affleck)
You can see lots of clips on youtube of him talking about various things, or listen to his podcast free (its quite good).
Here is a good introductory shorter clip of him being interviewed about Islam that expresses his views on islam clearly, I think you will find it very relevant based on all the discussion here lately
Or if you want to go deep into his more complex ideas on philosophy etc:
Some of the main things he talks about are religion (he is highly critical of it but is a buddhist himself, not in a religious sense but a practitioner of contemplative meditation and wisdom).
he is highly vocal in criticizing and opposing Islam and has often been accused of "islamaphobia" which is a term he critiques.
He has also been supportive of Israel (see his podcast "why I don't criticize Israel") and he is pro guns/ pro gun freedoms (see podcast "the riddle of the Gun).
He is critical of all religions including christianity (letters to a christian nation) but people focus on his critique of islam and he does say that Islam poses a uniquely huge problem.
He has made some statements about a nuclear first strike against islam but there are widely taken out of context and reflected a sort of game theory logical assessment rather then his actual policy in the current situation.
He is pro drugs and is a user of psychedelics and MDMA and has made a podcast about how drugs enhanced and developed his spirituality (drugs and consciousness podcast).
He is also a meditator and attends meditation retreats in the Buddhist tradition and is schooled in wisdom traditions, meditation, and non dogmatic spirituality, even as he is a vocal critic of both islam and the politically correct liberal apologism that defends Radical Islamism by calling critics of it "Islamaphobic and Racist".
Sam Harris is someone I find interesting because he is highly intelligent, articular, erudite and complex. He is also a Neuroscientist , academic, intellectual and researcher etc, highly educated.
But he is also highly controversial and always embroiled in arguments with his numerous detractors.
My wife and I discuss him often because we both find parts of what he says that we agree with and parts we don't.
He is a complex guy and I would love to hear your thoughts about him.
As someone with Muslim family, my wife tends to see him as unfairly demonizing the large majority of peaceful, moderate and progressive Muslims, but we both see numerous fair points he makes, and we are both also a bit confused and critical of his stance on Israel.
I have even asked myself if he is some kind of paid shill for Israel, at least partly, but I have no real evidence of that.
He made some statements about how people like "betty white and Jerry Sienfeld" should not be screened at the airport, but brown people should be, which kind of made it sound like he meant white people and jews should not be screened at airports but Muslims should be, but this was also sort of taken out of context, but still a poor choice of words on his part.
He also said He should be screened at airports. Anyways he explains and defends his views on profiling in his podcast "what I really think about profiling"
He also had an interesting fight with famous author Noam Chomsky, who was highly critical of Sam Harris.
Anyways tons of interesting stuff to dig into with this guy, check out his many videos and TV appearances Here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/AllSamHarrisContent
Check out his website here:
http://www.samharris.org/
Discuss vigorously.
--------------------
Everything I post is fiction.
|
morrowasted
Worldwide Stepper



Registered: 10/30/09
Posts: 31,378
Loc: House of Mirrors
Last seen: 11 days, 2 hours
|
|
I love Sam Harris. My favorite podcast of his is called "Drugs and the Meaning of Life" of his can be found by clicking the quote in my signature.
|
topdog82
Death Spirit



Registered: 07/16/10
Posts: 7,992
Loc: California
Last seen: 5 months, 21 days
|
|
I have read the shit out of the guy's books, and listened to almost all his podcasts. His book "waking up" is basically my exact thesis that I have on religion/spirituality
He draws a connection between advaita vedanta, and dzogchen. He points to the connection between all religions, and points to the fact that Jesus's teachings (though not christianity) have a lot of wisdom in them
If our kids read his books in school, people would learn alot about themselves and the world around them. Also, he criticizes islam as a collection of bad ideas, not muslims themselves
So basically he is my author crush. I see eye to him with him on almost everything. I am a bit more on the "mystic" end tho. Things that he would describe as "woo-woo" stuff like predicting the future and prophecies made by certain tibetan masters, I 100% believe. I have talked to dzogchen masters in the area who have practically read my mind from across the room, and events in my life that are borderline miracles
|
Moonshoe
Blue Mantis


Registered: 05/28/04
Posts: 27,202
Loc: Iceland
|
|
Thats awesome. I think he, you and I probably see eye to eye on our spiritual views, but I am more like you, also very into mysticism, even magick and that sort of thing.
--------------------
Everything I post is fiction.
|
akira_akuma
Φύσις κρύπτεσθαι ὕψιστος φιλεῖ


Registered: 08/28/09
Posts: 82,455
Loc: Onypeirophóros
Last seen: 4 years, 1 month
|
|
more erudite than Dawkins.
they still have points i disagree with.
mainly, they are things i've seen in interviews, where there was just a plain sense of misunderstanding and confusion.
like for example...he shouldn't say that all Muslims are more likely to do terrible things in the name of their religion...when the plain fact is, and what he's RIGHT to be maybe in question of, it is the fact that Islam's tenants are inherently more ... intolerant...and not just of other religions. even though, of course all religions are intolerant, if at least, they are of other religions...they're all built on it. tribe/horde mentality.
but nonetheless, it's not that Muslims are more likely to commit to terrorism, it's that the form of attack, the form of indoctrination, it is way different, and way more intolerant. but that doesn't mean that Muslims are more likely, no, not more likely to become "extremist". there are Christian extremists...Buddhist (funny, Harris is one, at heart, no?) extremists...conservative extremists, & liberal; there are extremists everywhere.
point is; Muslims just have a greater, overall, intolerance for woman, dress, recreation (all but no more than a practicing Jew, in terms of this "intolerance"), and also of infidelity - more exactly their terms for infidelity in extremist groups; but they are not scholars, that's for sure, these extremists.
Muslim intolerance IS equivocally as 'unfair' as conservative intolerance, white skin intolerance, black skin intolerance, and any other skin intolerance, any other religious, xenophobic, or demographic intolerance, within our cultural values of course, which include anything that doesn't infringe on anyone else.
now of course there are reasons not to A: want to take in refugees (economic: but can your country handle it? is it's burden to great? there is alot of strife in the world right now) B: allow illegal citizens in (logical: it's just not safe, and in general, people flying under the radar can become a blight on the employment and economical standards of a country; though so can expunging a whole huge portion of workers, because of this, and deporting them all; which all costs money and production).
but this is all no reason to DISCRIMINATE.
lets forget the word racism, for Sam Harris...lets call it discrimination.
|
TheGreenArrow
Goodbye, Mr. Chops.



Registered: 06/22/12
Posts: 15,270
Last seen: 1 year, 10 months
|
|
This ia great podcast and I'm gonna hear this guy out. Thanks morrowasted.
-------------------- A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, conn a ship, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve an equation, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.- Robert A. Heinlein Saint RedBow of the Shroomey Loomey-Patron Saint of Sandbaggin Sumbitchs
|
topdog82
Death Spirit



Registered: 07/16/10
Posts: 7,992
Loc: California
Last seen: 5 months, 21 days
|
|
Certain ideas are intrinsically logical and others are intrinsically dangerous. Believing that the Quran is literally the direct word of God spoken by the Angel Gabriel in a cave in Arabia is a dangerous belief
If I believed meth was healthy that wud b a bad idea no? Bad ideas need to be ridiculed and criticized. That isn't racist. It's pointing out facts. Ppl who believe in a set of inherently bad/descrtuctive ideas are more likely to do bad things. If he said "Arabs r genetically inferior" that wud b racist: saying Islam is a group of bad and dangerous ideas it intellectual criticism
I am not well versed in Quran at all. But the bible for example has a lot of stupid and outdated ideas. While certain aspects of the bible are smart and rather insightful/helpful. The key here is not to take any scripture as the direct word of God. I doubt some universal force wrote any of these scripts. So being part of any religion is silly. Finding wisdom in some religions is a fair and logical thing to do And he isn't Buddhist at all. He openly and ardently criticizes Dalai Lama, and rebirth as an isea
|
Moonshoe
Blue Mantis


Registered: 05/28/04
Posts: 27,202
Loc: Iceland
|
|
Well not all Buddhists recognize the Dalai lama, there are many forms of Buddhism ranging from the superstitious to the religious to the strictly methodical and philosophical.
He goes to Buddhist meditation retreats and if you listen to his waking up podcast episodes he talks a lot about Buddhist Dharma and Ideas.
--------------------
Everything I post is fiction.
|
clock_of_omens
razzle them dazzle them


Registered: 04/10/14
Posts: 4,097
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
|
|
Sam Harris is a boss. A couple things though. He isn't Buddhist, he just practices meditation. That is the entire point of his book Waking Up. Also, he doesn't say Betty White and Jerry Seinfeld shouldn't be profiled but brown people should. He just says that we shouldn't profile people who are obviously not terrorists such as celebrities and old ladies. That is the reason he says people like him should be profiled.
|
Moonshoe
Blue Mantis


Registered: 05/28/04
Posts: 27,202
Loc: Iceland
|
|
But he IS a famous celebrity, so he is directly contradicting himself by saying celebrities should not be profiled but he should be. He is very famous.
And yeah, just depends how you define Buddhist. I call myself a Buddhist and my views are the same as his, but he may choose not to call himself a Buddhist, but he essentially practices Dharma.
--------------------
Everything I post is fiction.
|
TheGreenArrow
Goodbye, Mr. Chops.



Registered: 06/22/12
Posts: 15,270
Last seen: 1 year, 10 months
|
|
Seems like he's coming from a place of compassion.
-------------------- A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, conn a ship, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve an equation, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.- Robert A. Heinlein Saint RedBow of the Shroomey Loomey-Patron Saint of Sandbaggin Sumbitchs
|
clock_of_omens
razzle them dazzle them


Registered: 04/10/14
Posts: 4,097
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
|
|
Quote:
Moonshoe said: But he IS a famous celebrity, so he is directly contradicting himself by saying celebrities should not be profiled but he should be. He is very famous.
And yeah, just depends how you define Buddhist. I call myself a Buddhist and my views are the same as his, but he may choose not to call himself a Buddhist, but he essentially practices Dharma.
That's why he says people like him. Also, I'm sure he doesn't consider himself on the level of celebrity of Jerry Seinfeld or Betty White.
The only thing he practices is meditation. He says that some Buddhist forms of meditation are the best as they don't require any supernatural assumptions or use of mantras or anything of that nature. He says there is nothing unique about any religion that leads to the kind of mental states afforded by meditation.
|
Moonshoe
Blue Mantis


Registered: 05/28/04
Posts: 27,202
Loc: Iceland
|
|
Personally I am a big fan of sam. I listened to all of his podcasts, wish there were more, some I listened to more then once.
Hes also been a guest on many other podcasts such as the Joe Rogan podcast.
--------------------
Everything I post is fiction.
|
Ezuma
Gontish Wizard



Registered: 12/02/13
Posts: 8,423
Loc: Roke
Last seen: 11 months, 8 days
|
|
He's decent, I have a friend who loves him and a friend who utterly hates him for apparently not being a good philosopher essentially. I don't know enough about him to side with either friend but I agree with most of his views on Islam anyway
|
|