Sam Harris on populism, polarization, and his beef with the left and the right

Erik sits down with Sam Harris, an author, neuroscientist, podcaster, and philosopher. Sam is known for having crucial conversations about morality, religion, rationality, and the pursuit of truth.
This discussion covers Sam’s concerns about populism, polarization, and inequality. We also discuss why Sam is hated by the left and the right.
🎧 THIS PODCAST: link.chtbl.com/Upstream
LINKS:
Sam's work: www.samharris.org/
Sam's podcast Making Sense: www.samharris.org/podcasts
RECOMMENDED SHOWS:
Moment of Zen: @MomentofZenPodcast
The Cognitive Revolution: @CognitiveRevolutionPodcast
TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Episode preview
(02:00) Sam’s life’s work
(04:00) Sam’s concerns around the marketplace of ideas
(11:25) Sam is a mistake theorist
(15:45) Sponsors: Secureframe | Mercury | MarketerHire
(20:00) Why Sam is hated by both the left and the right
(22:30) Fundamental conflict between the left and the right
(31:00) Navigating group disparities
(41:00) Individual rights vs group rights
(47:00) Is wokeness the new religion?
(51:00) Sam’s critique of populism
(58:00) Sam’s defenses of experts/institutions
(1:11:00) The right doesn’t sufficiently appreciate luck
(1:16:45) Polarization is better than a one-party state
(1:21:00) Global governance
TWITTER:
Erik’s Twitter: @eriktorenberg
Upstream : @upstream__pod
Making Sense Podcast: @MakingSenseHQ
Please support our sponsors: Secureframe | Mercury | MarketerHire
- Secureframe: secureframe.com/
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Thank you Graham Bessellieu for production.

Пікірлер: 731

  • @UpstreamwithErikTorenberg
    @UpstreamwithErikTorenberg10 ай бұрын

    TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Episode preview (02:00) Sam’s life’s work (04:00) Sam’s concerns around the marketplace of ideas (11:25) Sam is a mistake theorist (15:45) Sponsors: Secureframe | Mercury | MarketerHire (20:00) Why Sam is hated by both the left and the right (22:30) Fundamental conflict between the left and the right (31:00) Navigating group disparities (41:00) Individual rights vs group rights (47:00) Is wokeness the new religion? (51:00) Sam’s critique of populism (58:00) Sam’s defenses of experts/institutions (1:11:00) The right doesn’t sufficiently appreciate luck (1:16:45) Polarization is better than a one-party state (1:21:00) Global governance

  • @jjw9641
    @jjw964110 ай бұрын

    If I was an American voter, I'd have a beef with the Left and the Right. 350 million people and you give me Biden Vs. Trump to choose from? Come on, be serious.

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    10 ай бұрын

    Where do you stay?

  • @johncarroll772

    @johncarroll772

    10 ай бұрын

    Venezuela

  • @stevenvankoutrik992

    @stevenvankoutrik992

    9 ай бұрын

    Lol

  • @JohnnyRawks

    @JohnnyRawks

    9 ай бұрын

    Trump, yes I agree. Biden? Biden is a relatively decent choice, in my opinion.

  • @bobjohnson1633

    @bobjohnson1633

    9 ай бұрын

    Joe Biden is the worst president in 100 years that none of his voters actually support. Trump had 75 million actual voters that thought he was plain and simple the best option and supported his policies.

  • @jeffhayz7802
    @jeffhayz780210 ай бұрын

    I love how he talks about the role of luck in success. It drives me mad when people claim there was no luck involved with being born in a rich country to a rich family with a high IQ and EQ, being attractive to the opposite sex and finding a mate you find attractive, not having mental health or addiction issues, finding school enjoyable, making friends easily and not being victimized by heinous crime.

  • @MrFrussel

    @MrFrussel

    10 ай бұрын

    Most of these people actually believe those things, because they can't imagine someone with less opportunities. It's kind of hard to 'know' what it's like to have the odds stacked against you, when all you've known is privilege. Not justifying it, just trying to give a nuanced view on your justified grievances. You only have to look at the show Succession to understand how skewed your view on reality becomes when you are born in extreme wealth.

  • @dmkellett

    @dmkellett

    10 ай бұрын

    Less than 2 percent of people have perspective on their own existence

  • @wez3107

    @wez3107

    10 ай бұрын

    @@MrFrussel Not only that, but imagine how incredibly boring it would be to be told that your successes are in large part due to factors out of your control, if that’s the case.

  • @carlyleredstone9620

    @carlyleredstone9620

    10 ай бұрын

    At least there is an adult in the room speaking on the effect that circumstances have on a person's reality.

  • @davidlamb7524

    @davidlamb7524

    10 ай бұрын

    @@wez3107 Is "boring" the word ?

  • @Eternalspring22
    @Eternalspring2211 ай бұрын

    I ❤ Sam’s ease of expressing his ideas!! Clarity and wit is a thing of beauty.

  • @ryangardiner2967

    @ryangardiner2967

    11 ай бұрын

    Yes standing strong against all the trolls too, I think they'll give up soon. Keep going Sam.

  • @Eternalspring22

    @Eternalspring22

    11 ай бұрын

    @@ryangardiner2967 given the trolls are trained and funded by Marc Andreessen I don’t see them stoping until we nationalize twitter.

  • @blooper6543

    @blooper6543

    11 ай бұрын

    @@Eternalspring22 What's the claim here? Andreessen is training people to type on their keyboards and paying them to antagonize specifically Sam Harris? What would that gain him?

  • @deenzmartin6695

    @deenzmartin6695

    11 ай бұрын

    @@Eternalspring22 hahahahahahahhaahhahhahahahhaa

  • @chickenfishhybrid44

    @chickenfishhybrid44

    9 ай бұрын

    ​@Eternalspring22 holy shit, are you being serious? Remember, Sam has no idea who you are and parasocial relationships are unhealthy. Touch grass.

  • @dawnb2143
    @dawnb214310 ай бұрын

    I was initially drawn to this because I enjoy Sam Harris. The content was fantastic but what really stood out for me was Erik’s interviewing style. He asks meaningful/insightful questions AND recognizes the potential for misunderstanding or mischaracterizing his guest’s position. That is genuine humility. Moreover, he doesn’t interrupt his guest. I don’t know about everyone else’s experience, but I rarely see that level of discipline and grace in interviews. Thank you both for your contribution.

  • @marianadavila323

    @marianadavila323

    8 ай бұрын

    Agreed!

  • @trp956s
    @trp956s7 ай бұрын

    So glad you are encouraging people to quit Twitter / social media. You are fighting the good fight.

  • @LotusHart01
    @LotusHart0110 ай бұрын

    “Close your eyes, and see if you can arrive immediately…Notice that the feeling of having a self is yet another appearance in consciousness.”

  • @m.sattari1140
    @m.sattari114010 ай бұрын

    This man is just my intellectual hero... Go Sam... 👍

  • @jamescarr4662

    @jamescarr4662

    9 ай бұрын

    He seems to forget that the deck is stacked more heavily against the left than the right. No contest.

  • @chickenfishhybrid44

    @chickenfishhybrid44

    9 ай бұрын

    ​@jamescarr4662 on economics maybe. Socially, at least in a soft power sense no way. Conservatives have reacerted themselves more recently with Supreme Court nominations and decisions. In almost every realm "the left", again at least Socially, dominates. Higher education, K-12, Hollywood, HR departments of major companies etc.

  • @caseymckenzie4760

    @caseymckenzie4760

    9 ай бұрын

    Sam is so convinced he is the smartest person in the room he is great at saying others need to recognize their bad behavior but incapable of recognizing his own bad behavior.

  • @caseymckenzie4760

    @caseymckenzie4760

    9 ай бұрын

    Sam is incapable of recognizing his own mistakes and needs to apologize for being a bad actor himself.

  • @caseymckenzie4760

    @caseymckenzie4760

    9 ай бұрын

    Renee De Resta is a totalitarian CIA agent but Sam has convinced himself that only dumb people believe in conspiracies and has allowed himself to become her tool.

  • @hughjass8430
    @hughjass84309 ай бұрын

    Sam is the real deal. Unlike so many other "public intellectuals" he never devolved into grifting his fans. When he put his work behind a paywall, he gave people an option to have it for free if they really couldnt afford to contribute anything. I used that option the first year of subscribing and when the renewal came around I was able to pay full price.

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    9 ай бұрын

    He didn't need to put it behind a pay wall right enough and then say he agreed with Trump on globalisation

  • @MatthewMortensen1

    @MatthewMortensen1

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@jmc5335They weren't wrong on globalism. Like we just saw, If you only have a few different exports and rely entirely in other countries for products we can easily create here and then the world shuts down, we're screwed. The evidence literally just happened a couple years ago.

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    8 ай бұрын

    @@MatthewMortensen1 I'd say that the issues from the globalisation that both Trump and Harris engage in could be seen way before two years ago.

  • @MatthewMortensen1

    @MatthewMortensen1

    8 ай бұрын

    @@jmc5335 Doesn't make it any less right and they were proven right after the fact.

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    8 ай бұрын

    @@MatthewMortensen1 I think you don't realise they both engage in the fact

  • @dfmc001
    @dfmc0018 ай бұрын

    "Balancing between maniacs" great line!,I love Sam

  • @tetsuogaming5838
    @tetsuogaming583810 ай бұрын

    Always good to hear Sam Harris. Certainly one of the most brilliant mind of our time.

  • @Johnconno

    @Johnconno

    10 ай бұрын

    That's a low bar. He makes obvious statements in a way that makes them sound as though they're unique. He's a good talker, who's had a good life, all his life.

  • @Danskadreng

    @Danskadreng

    10 ай бұрын

    @@Johnconno "makes them sound as though they're unique" I didn't perceive it that way at all. Many people think like him, and he knows it.

  • @Dreaming-11

    @Dreaming-11

    10 ай бұрын

    @@Johnconno Tell me one more clear thinker than him

  • @BMTroubleU

    @BMTroubleU

    9 ай бұрын

    ​@@Johnconnoif his statements are obvious, why does he get attacked by both sides of the political aisle?

  • @Metamace

    @Metamace

    8 ай бұрын

    @@JohnconnoYou pessimistic egg head. Hindsight bias is what you’re experincing. He observes society and relays from his thoughts and perspectives what he sees and thinks. That’s what makes them unique, not SEEM unique. You sound depressed “had good all his life” what does that even mean. Are you projecting on your own poor life?

  • @alexismontalban515
    @alexismontalban5159 ай бұрын

    Great guest Mr. Torenberg. Thanks for the show.

  • @stephenbyrneireland
    @stephenbyrneireland10 ай бұрын

    Excellent conversation

  • @jgonsalk
    @jgonsalk7 ай бұрын

    I probably won't have time to watch all of this right now, but I did want to share my appreciation for Sam's first point. I'm Australian but my parents are from Sri Lanka. I'm brown-skinned as you can see from this thumbnail. My cultural background is 10% of my identity. My skin colour is 1%. I want people do be interested in my actions and opinions, not my race, whether it's the things that I am more statistically likely to do due to group membership or their mental associations of my race (as in, true or imagined stereotypes). I'm a fucking person. We're all fucking people. I'd love to see us bring back the ideal of being colour blind, even if it doesn't always work perfectly. Because the alternative takes us backwards.

  • @plaidchuck

    @plaidchuck

    7 ай бұрын

    Colorblindness was an abject failure tho

  • @CR1981-
    @CR1981-11 ай бұрын

    Erik, kudos on getting this off the ground! This is an excellent conversation.

  • @johnwindisman2803
    @johnwindisman280310 ай бұрын

    Great interview. Sam is very reasonable and is one of those adults that I would want in the room.

  • @Jamminn555
    @Jamminn5557 ай бұрын

    Really appreciate this interview with Sam, and especially how much Erik asks one thoughtful question at a time and then largely stays out of the way. An interviewer's attentive space gives the guest the room to walk into amazing and insightful answers in real time. Which totally happens here. Sam is brilliant at parsing out the right questions, and the blind spots we all suffer from and wrongly argue about. Thanks so much to Sam and to Erik. @editmycharacterization

  • @Salty4Reel
    @Salty4Reel7 ай бұрын

    If you are pissing off both sides of the aisle you’re probably doing something right

  • @robdev89
    @robdev8911 ай бұрын

    Nice Podcast! I enjoyed it a lot!

  • @lesleytaylor3825
    @lesleytaylor38258 ай бұрын

    “There’s an elevation of the ‘they’” Absolutely! Well said!

  • @InkaHacker
    @InkaHacker11 ай бұрын

    Min 28:00 - Sam starts talking about the end state we need to reach to forget about "race" as an ethical alucination. [Merit, Results, 実績 (jisseki) ]

  • @jm5386
    @jm53867 ай бұрын

    Really enjoyed this discussion. A voice of reason and rationality . Thank you. Meaningful things for (and that) people can digest and get behind.

  • @aarondixon7
    @aarondixon710 ай бұрын

    Damn..He is dropping bombs!! 🙌🏾 thanks for this content.

  • @mrespanfanx
    @mrespanfanx2 күн бұрын

    The analogy between skin color and hair (or eye) color is genius

  • @julienlavoie6908
    @julienlavoie69089 ай бұрын

    Not sure why you do it, but please don't cut your guests' footage to make the discussion go faster. Anyway, I just discovered your podcast and it's really great! Keep going!

  • @blueshattrick
    @blueshattrick10 ай бұрын

    Love "the right doesn't sufficiently appreciate luck"

  • @bobjohnson1633

    @bobjohnson1633

    9 ай бұрын

    If at first you don't succeed, the left blames luck and the right keeps going.

  • @Phoenix51291

    @Phoenix51291

    8 ай бұрын

    No one sufficiently appreciates luck. Luck determines everything in life. The fact that we hate mass shooters and terrorists demonstrates we don't appreciate luck. The heros and the villains are all products of luck.

  • @paulbk7810
    @paulbk78109 ай бұрын

    This vid = required listening. Important and timely topics/issues. I probably agree with Sam 99.8%. And have nothing to add to this valuable vid.

  • @beverlysowa9905
    @beverlysowa99056 ай бұрын

    I agree we should care no more about race/ethnicity than we do about hair/eye color. How do we get there? Blind job/school applications might work but only until references and school transcripts are blind as well.

  • @realdeal139
    @realdeal13910 ай бұрын

    Sam is the best!

  • @GreedySpeculator
    @GreedySpeculator10 ай бұрын

    "Sam, what do you think of Salon magazine?" @56:19 😂😂jk

  • @TheNewAgedDiogenesAfterRehab
    @TheNewAgedDiogenesAfterRehab7 ай бұрын

    “ The Echo Chamber” In the depths of an echoing chamber I dwell, Where the sound of my own voice is all I can tell, A symphony of beliefs, no room for dissent, Where resonance drowns out any outside torment. Within these walls of assurance and certainty, I find solace in echoes that align with me, Words bouncing back, echoing in a loop, Reinforcing beliefs, like a constant truth. In this secluded realm, where harmony resounds, I become oblivious, closed off to other sounds, Unaware of the echoes I choose to embrace, The blindness that veils me from seeing new space. Every voice I hear echoes my own thought, Yet humanity’s chorus is left unheard, distraught, For empathy withers when all seems aligned, In a chamber so perfect, where sameness enshrined. In this echo chamber, diversity is erased, And the essence of life is bitterly displaced, For what is existence without differing views, When we fail to acknowledge others’ unique hues? Here, empathy crumbles, as echoes shout meek, Erroneously convincing, magnifying technique, To hear only oneself is a precarious plight, Dismissing the colors that blend in the light. For life is a symphony of disparate songs, A tapestry woven by voices, where we all belong, Let us step out of these chambers and break the mold, To embrace the harmony of perspectives untold. Open your heart to the echoes you’ve never heard, It’s through understanding that true empathy is stirred, For in the richness of thoughts, we find our true worth, In the chorus of voices, beyond the echoes of our own birth. So let us escape the confines of this chamber’s snare, And revel in the melodies that intertwine in the air, For the beauty of life lies in its vibrant array, Beyond the echo chamber, where empathy holds sway. By The New Aged Diogenes ( After Rehab )

  • @jenskruse1475
    @jenskruse14758 ай бұрын

    Very interresting talk. Money is exstremely corrupting, so I think it will hard to meet on the simple solution, that pretty much is honesty.

  • @justinwolfe7381
    @justinwolfe738110 ай бұрын

    Need more people with Sam's level-headed thinking in our public offices. It's always a pleasure to hear Sam's thoughts.

  • @phyphrus1934

    @phyphrus1934

    10 ай бұрын

    Like Sam says, it's an issue of incentives. People in public office don't have the right incentives to be level headed

  • @BMTroubleU

    @BMTroubleU

    9 ай бұрын

    ​@@phyphrus1934that's right. Also, the most level headed, healthy and clear thinking people don't want to go into politics. Politics attracts a certain kind of personality. You need to be at least somewhat narcissistic and able to play Machiavellian games with people in order to succeed.

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    9 ай бұрын

    @@BMTroubleU Bernie Sanders has been successful despite not suffering from the narcissism of Sam Harris

  • @thatstheway2429

    @thatstheway2429

    9 ай бұрын

    It's a great paradox. Well-adjusted, compassionate, high EQ people typically don't want to run for office. Hell the same thing applies in the business world. I remember early in my career reading an EQ analysis about how at every level in a company (from entry level to CEO), the average EQ decreases as you move up. So typically the worst people from an emotional intelligence perspective, typically have the most power. Paradoxically, at every level, high EQ people perform better. The people who would normally do the best job in positions of power, aren't willing to do the things to get into power. We're a hilariously flawed species.

  • @rtizzi
    @rtizzi11 ай бұрын

    I used to listen to him a lot, less so last few years, more so again recently. He's been very consistent and still true to his style since last decade, if anything moved more center. Saying otherwise is very confusing to me and shows the ideological capture of folks that were seemingly apolitical pre-covid.

  • @progunliberal

    @progunliberal

    9 ай бұрын

    He hasn't moved to the center, the left and right have moved further from the center. He still has the same political views he did 20 years ago.

  • @michaelalbanese1877
    @michaelalbanese187710 ай бұрын

    Great talk.

  • @carolspencer6915
    @carolspencer691510 ай бұрын

    Am I the only human that has never looked at twitter? Not ever. 💜

  • @BMTroubleU

    @BMTroubleU

    9 ай бұрын

    Make that two ✋️

  • @Guizambaldi

    @Guizambaldi

    8 ай бұрын

    I tried it sometimes. Couldn't last morevthan a month. Stupid platform.

  • @MsRseagreen

    @MsRseagreen

    8 ай бұрын

    Me three

  • @TheWarehouseDude

    @TheWarehouseDude

    7 ай бұрын

    You didn't miss anything.

  • @alexpaun7384
    @alexpaun73849 ай бұрын

    Except the language, this was a joy. Thank you for bringing him!

  • @lesleytaylor3825

    @lesleytaylor3825

    8 ай бұрын

    Sams use of swearing is brilliant! A touch of the piquant!

  • @aaronpoage597
    @aaronpoage59710 ай бұрын

    In virtue's realm, let courtesy reside, A gentle grace that flows from heart's pure tide. Kind words and acts, like blossoms in the morn, Embrace the world, where love and peace are born. Integrity, a beacon shining bright, A steadfast guide through darkness and through light. With honesty, the soul stands tall and true, Unswayed by falsehoods, steadfast and imbued. In self-control, a sacred art is found, A mastery of self, where peace is crowned. Temper desires with wisdom's gentle hand, And find tranquility, like stillness of sand, Perseverance, a flame that burns within, Fanning the spirit, where dreams and hopes begin. Through trials and tribulations, ever strong, With steadfast courage, we shall journey along.

  • @sanctious
    @sanctious9 ай бұрын

    Sam Harris is the insanely thoughtful person and communicator that Jordan Peterson tries and fails so hard to be

  • @paulblart2179

    @paulblart2179

    9 ай бұрын

    Jordan Peterson is honestly pretty thoughtful and insightful when it comes to psychology, but any time he steps out of that and into the realm of politics, social issues, climate change, etc., he ends up sounding like an idiot.

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    9 ай бұрын

    @@paulblart2179 This idiocy he shares with Harris.

  • @bobjohnson1633

    @bobjohnson1633

    9 ай бұрын

    He's not thoughtful at all. He denies the science of physics regarding free will. He denies that voters should actually get what they vote for. Sam Harris is a special kind of evil

  • @thyme2gogh

    @thyme2gogh

    9 ай бұрын

    ​@@paulblart2179100%. I feel the exact same way about JBP. I love his books and lectures on the self help/psychological realm but he loses me whenever he gets into the left/right political drama

  • @WigganNuG

    @WigganNuG

    8 ай бұрын

    Jordan needs to learn to meditate. He's always worked up, really carries himself like guy with chip on his shoulder these days. I love the man, I do, but he needs a humility check.

  • @hugereductions
    @hugereductions9 ай бұрын

    Sam Harris at his absolute best! He might not like me saying it, but God bless him.

  • @brentkrohn3786
    @brentkrohn37868 ай бұрын

    Harris Rocks! 🤘🤘🤘

  • @nestoronfire847
    @nestoronfire8474 ай бұрын

    Very often we attribute our success to our personal efforts but blame our failures to outside forces. And when it comes to judging others, we attribute their success mostly to luck and their failures to personal shortcomings.

  • @austinnicholl8891
    @austinnicholl889111 ай бұрын

    Harris has called out the lunacy of MAGA and religion. It's a life well-lived on that basis alone.

  • @TheOlzee

    @TheOlzee

    10 ай бұрын

    Those are the very two things we need.

  • @aaronpoage597

    @aaronpoage597

    10 ай бұрын

    You can't call out something and compromise your own integrity. He fell from lofty ideals, he failed to implement what he intellectual knew was right. An experience most of us go through. I hope he is well and paid attention to his lessons

  • @wasdwasdedsf

    @wasdwasdedsf

    10 ай бұрын

    that darn lunacy of the best presiden in moder nhistory with record economy growth for everyone and the first one in a century to not start a new war, but even decrease the them by several. thank god we haver such sane geniuses like sam who cheerso n this human vegetable who cant speak, humiliating america, destroying our relations and ruining our country at a pace never before seen

  • @wasdwasdedsf

    @wasdwasdedsf

    10 ай бұрын

    @@TheOlzee that darn lunacy of the best presiden in moder nhistory with record economy growth for everyone and the first one in a century to not start a new war, but even decrease the them by severral. thank god we haver such sane geniuses like sam who cheerso n this human vegetable who cant speak, humiliating america, destroying our relations and ruining our country at a pace never before seen

  • @junimeme5626

    @junimeme5626

    9 ай бұрын

    The MAGA cult is 90% of his "critics". You'll notice a lot of patterns with their comments, one very prevalent one being almost never providing or engaging with the full context of what he says, or shouting street protest level slogans without any elaboration like "Sam is a charlatan!!". I've so clearly seen this pattern with a lot of right wing activists even here in Europe, because they're trained to be "the opposite" no matter what it takes or how they look.

  • @reinforcedpenisstem
    @reinforcedpenisstem9 ай бұрын

    Clarity clarity clarity

  • @aaronrobertson8392
    @aaronrobertson83929 ай бұрын

    A lot of worries for no free will. And ultimately I agree that no one is in control. Just try and be the best you you can be

  • @dandybufo9664
    @dandybufo966411 ай бұрын

    Great interview ! Eric you added significantly to the conversation and earned a subscriber. Interested in following your contributions to the rational conversation space

  • @gerardgauthier4876
    @gerardgauthier487610 ай бұрын

    I see color, I see race, I see differences because we are all different. There is a difference between equal under the law and everyone being equal. One is fair and the other is just plain stupid.

  • @BMTroubleU

    @BMTroubleU

    9 ай бұрын

    That's right. We don't have to pretend like we don't have differences. It's just detrimental to make our differences front and centre of any discussion. Either our argument stands on its merits or it doesn't. Identity doesn't and shouldn't give us extra points in the discussion.

  • @aerobique

    @aerobique

    9 ай бұрын

    sidenote: dear US americans, there are no human "races" - and still using that word/concept in 2023 (which seems "normal" in the US ...) is difficult to find the right words right now so let me put it like this; using the word "rasse" here in germany (and this is not an overstatement) is probably the most nazi-esque thing you could do/say. words/concept matter "just sayin" anyways' 🌏🌎🌍✊

  • @BruceWing

    @BruceWing

    6 ай бұрын

    @@aerobique- I hear you. The term “race” is technically improperly used to describe the biological differences in various human populations (i.e. People from different areas of the world are physically different by phenotype (e.g. skin color, hair color/texture, height, etc.). What term do you suggest we use?

  • @chickenfishhybrid44

    @chickenfishhybrid44

    6 ай бұрын

    ​@@aerobiquemind your own business. Big reason the US has the racial categories it has is because of Civil Rights law.

  • @aerobique

    @aerobique

    6 ай бұрын

    @@chickenfishhybrid44 lol no, it's racism.

  • @rayuk3939
    @rayuk39397 ай бұрын

    So articulate by Sam. Thanks

  • @dfmc001
    @dfmc0018 ай бұрын

    I have spent the last 30 years in sales and I've had the fortune of traveling around the US in various economic areas, almost all the states and I have found that people are not as horrible as they seem in the bubble of the extremes of social media. We find ourselves in a world where the minority radicals on both sides of the political spectrum are taking all the oxygen out of the room and hogging the debates. Get out and meet other Americans. Stop viewing them through screens. Go offline and come out here in the analog real world. Overwhelmingly most people are just fine. The divisions help sell clicks and views and books and podcasts. MSNBC, FOX News and all the others are selling a narrative, not representing us. Beware the click-bate.

  • @TheNewAgedDiogenesAfterRehab
    @TheNewAgedDiogenesAfterRehab7 ай бұрын

    Since I can't hear Christopher Hitchens come out with new thought-provoking content I am so glad you are still around.

  • @gih3297
    @gih32978 ай бұрын

    I love Sams instincts. So bright...

  • @akakico
    @akakico9 ай бұрын

    What's with the little jump cuts while each person is talking?

  • @ImRefraction
    @ImRefraction11 ай бұрын

    thanks!

  • @defface777
    @defface77710 ай бұрын

    The line about monkeys was spot on, and hilarious LOL!!!

  • @kiosunightstep6640
    @kiosunightstep66408 ай бұрын

    One of the few intellectual honest humans in the public discourse realm. I understand why few want to do what he does, he takes it from both sides. Watching Twitter hacks pile on him over the last few days, including clowns like Bret Weinstein, that can't hold a candle to Sam, has been disheartening. Most of the voices that get heard are either grifters or ideological hacks.

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    8 ай бұрын

    What does it mean to be intellectually honest?

  • @troyzieman7177
    @troyzieman717710 ай бұрын

    In Sam Harris I see a person calling out legitimate concerns on both sides , too a society , well represented on this comments board..locked into their individual indeology

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    10 ай бұрын

    Does that calling out of affirmative action and The Civil Rights Act strike you as legitimate?

  • @troyzieman7177

    @troyzieman7177

    10 ай бұрын

    @jmc Sir I send you responses and detailed answers . You claim I sent nothing . I don't play these games . I post , to engage in legitimate disagreement not to play games with idiots . Move on

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    10 ай бұрын

    @@troyzieman7177 You claim to answer questions completely when you haven't. We've just added another to that list

  • @wasdwasdedsf

    @wasdwasdedsf

    10 ай бұрын

    @@jmc5335 oh you mean calling out tens of billions worth of university spots being taken from whit, and especially asian people who earned them, and gifted to undeserved blac people? yes, that strikes me as legitimate as i dont like theft, and society runs worse when theft is employed

  • @wasdwasdedsf

    @wasdwasdedsf

    10 ай бұрын

    @@jmc5335 not to mention racism, society tends to run worse when that happerns as well

  • @interestingvideos2963
    @interestingvideos29637 ай бұрын

    As Steven Tyler said "Dream on"

  • @Scarletpimpanel73
    @Scarletpimpanel7310 ай бұрын

    Sensible centrists - world needs to hear more of them.

  • @bobjohnson1633

    @bobjohnson1633

    9 ай бұрын

    He's a far left authoritarian collectivists. His ideas cause dictatorships to rise.

  • @Kenneth-ts7bp

    @Kenneth-ts7bp

    7 ай бұрын

    You need to hear the truth.

  • @itsPanTatesnotPancakes-gp1jf
    @itsPanTatesnotPancakes-gp1jf10 ай бұрын

    I don't need hear anymore. How could anyone claiming they are a HUMAN BEING NOT WANT THEIR NEIGHBOR TO GROW???

  • @valipunctro
    @valipunctro10 ай бұрын

    This might trigger a few ppl but I think we should treat healthcare as we treat the military,the state should have the monopoly on doing the healthcare but collaborate with private business to develop and manufacture the treatments and equipment.

  • @bobjohnson1633

    @bobjohnson1633

    9 ай бұрын

    You're wrong. In all cases of this, healthcare systems rely on the hard work of others. The US funds and invents 90% of all drugs and technology. The social healthcare systems must wait for us to do so before they can benefit.

  • @jessedameron7985
    @jessedameron798511 ай бұрын

    Sam packed some potent punches of logic.

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    10 ай бұрын

    Such as?

  • @charliewalker9443

    @charliewalker9443

    10 ай бұрын

    @@jmc5335 That we need trustworthy institutions.

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    10 ай бұрын

    @@charliewalker9443 Can't think of many people who argue that we need untrustworthy institutions. Can you?

  • @charliewalker9443

    @charliewalker9443

    10 ай бұрын

    @@jmc5335 People who think Governments should have zero involvement in the public sphere or encroaching onto your freedoms do often believe these institutions should not matter. Regardless, it is a good logical point that you agree with. This your question is answered.

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    10 ай бұрын

    @charliewalker9443 That's not an answer to my question. Libertarians almost always base their arguments on the fact that institutions are untrustworthy. So it appears that they are packing some potent punches of logic in saying so

  • @DinoSvanhvit
    @DinoSvanhvit8 ай бұрын

    Yup.

  • @buckfozos5554
    @buckfozos555410 ай бұрын

    Love how Sam often inserts 'pragmatic' with 'ethical'. People's ethics are all over the map, we'll never agree and a huge gulf stands between the religious and non-religious (for one example) but what does work and what does not is often crystal clear. Wanting everyone to WIN is exactly right, another's gain is my gain. We know all this but teach different values to up-and-coming Americans, and most of them take the bait.

  • @bobjohnson1633

    @bobjohnson1633

    9 ай бұрын

    Actually, non-theistic ethics are universal. Property rights are universally agreed upon in a selfish matter. All humans agree that they own themselves, their labor, and the product of the labor. Logically, that means that violating those property rights is universally immoral. It follows the golden rule of "do unto others." Rape, murder, theft, slavery, assault, trespassing. All property rights violations that all people oppose happening to them.

  • @user-qq3bl6py3g
    @user-qq3bl6py3g7 ай бұрын

    No beef that was a general usage

  • @hayskig1226
    @hayskig12269 ай бұрын

    Affirmative action doesn’t mean you’re excepted with grades below standards Sam, you have to meet the school’s academic requirements before your considered.

  • @BruceWing

    @BruceWing

    6 ай бұрын

    And yet, the evidence presented in the Harvard lawsuit clearly illustrates that Harvard’s affirmative action program did exactly what you say doesn’t occur.

  • @bryandraughn9830
    @bryandraughn983010 ай бұрын

    While I can appreciate these endless conversations about the effects of social media , the fact remains. Prioritizing education is the only way to turn this corner. Grade school children need to understand how to evaluate information accurately. There are reliable methods, and we are not born knowing them. There are all kinds of new terminology just to describe the variety of symptoms but I'm not hearing anyone suggesting that we treat the problem itself. Every time Sam says "we" he's referring to a bunch of adults who are set in their ways. If we concentrate on providing intellectual tools for the next generation, we might have a fighting chance. Keep churning over a bunch of analogies and observations and opinions all you want. It won't go anywhere.

  • @AdeebaZamaan
    @AdeebaZamaan8 ай бұрын

    Did you blur your background on purpose so we can't see what you're reading? My identity is someone who pastes her eye to the screen to read the titles in your bookshelf.

  • @jestermoon
    @jestermoon7 ай бұрын

    Take A Moment 9:51 Sam, I feel your pain 10:14 Your work is vital to our survival. Ignore the white noise, ironically 12:35 12:35 From my perspective here in Calgary, I think we are seeing the fall of the American dream Sad but take a look 12:35 😢 Good luck 👍 💓 We are all this together ❤️ 12:35 Not sure how great some ape's 12:35 Peace and love etc 12:35 😢

  • @lupemerrit
    @lupemerrit6 ай бұрын

    I was on Twitter one week and that cured me. It’s full of crazies.

  • @TheNaturalLawInstitute
    @TheNaturalLawInstitute10 ай бұрын

    Skin color will only not matter when skin color no longer matters. Skin color will no longer matter when race and ethnic differences no longer matter. We will only get to when race and ethnic differences no longer matter when kin preference no longer matters or exists. We will only get to a place where kin preference no longer matters when we are no longer marginally different in group properties affinities and utility. We will only get to the the place where group properties affinities and utility are no longer marginally different when we groups are marginally indiffierent in evolutionary neoteny, resulting domesticatin syndrome, in resulting rate and depth of maturity, and as such mirror one another's personality and IQ distributions. That will only occur if we are all indistinguishably an admixture of white and east asian, with south eurasian (MENA+Central Asia+India) and african gene pools have been diluted out of gene expression. Otherwise racially netural behavior except in cooperation between the upper classes is irrational and disadvantageous and devolutionary both politically and genetically. Interpersonal racisim is irrational (stupid really). But so is political anti-racism. Because we are always and everywhere dependent upon the ingroup because that is the greatest discount on cooperation. We can be anti-racist in markets. We can be anti-racist in personal interactions. We cannot be anti-racist in politics. And we never will be. Ever. And it's a supernatural religous fraud to claim so. There is no difference between this law of the universe and any other. If you don't believe so you don't grasp the first principle of the universe, and it's expression at the physical, biological, social, and individual levels as the defeat of entropy by evolutionary computation of the greatest capture and transfer of entropy into order, and that order among humans is dependent upon neotenic evolution, which produces agency over impulse, and that the four generations (races, species) of man, are incremental leaps in neotenic evolution. Period. End of story. No more lies. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam were and are as great an innovation in suggestion, deceit, fraud, and warfare as the indo european invention of horse, bronze, wheel and democracic rule of law, as the greek invention of reason empiricism politics, and phalanx. No More Semitic Lies. We must end the greatest risk to mankind in the jewish, christian, and islamic false promise that if we reduce outselves to semitic tribalism and superstition that we can resolve conflict rather than devolve civilizations in to dark ages of ignorance, dysgenia, and decline. Love one another. But do not lie to one another. DIversity is exceptional in creating markets between polities. But polities are as important as hoyuseholds, and the left is trying to destroy both just as the abrahamic religions tried to destroy politics, reason, and empiricism, and the western tradition of truth-before-face. Cheers Curt Doolittle The Natural Law Institute The Science of Cooperation/

  • @mrwalter7205
    @mrwalter72053 ай бұрын

    I'm so curious how with 7k subs you have an interview with Sam Harris. I'm really curious your relationship with this man

  • @samuelelsby1800
    @samuelelsby18008 ай бұрын

    Erik better at .75 speed.

  • @user-yg5cd1pi6z
    @user-yg5cd1pi6z7 ай бұрын

    Getting to a place where a circumstance exists that is real abundance, and this abundance is reasonably spread around, as Sam states it, has only ever been manifested under conditions of democratic socialism. I've yet to hear Sam make this specific statement. Arguments about the "left" and the "right", even ignoring the ludicrous extremes of both sides, fail to understand this key portion of what only (sane) left leaning though is fundamentally correct about.

  • @user-zo6dj1kk3v
    @user-zo6dj1kk3v8 ай бұрын

    Both gents score low on the "completing a sentence without saying 'ya know' " scale. The host doesn't even enunciate it. For him, "you know" has morphed into a sound kinda like yee-o. Language is fascinating.

  • @MADDcartman
    @MADDcartman10 ай бұрын

    A lot of people have been taking shots at Sam’s TDR and other perceived missteps but I still see him as one of the most reliable voices for sense making.

  • @bobjohnson1633

    @bobjohnson1633

    9 ай бұрын

    He's capable of using logic to come to good conclusions UNLESS he has a personal opinion on it, then he's 100% wrong.

  • @caronadams4486
    @caronadams44869 ай бұрын

    The problem isn't about race...it's about poverty and inequality of opportunity. We address those issues and we begin improving everyone's lives.

  • @BMTroubleU

    @BMTroubleU

    9 ай бұрын

    There is less poverty and inequality than ever before in history. So peoples lives today should be far more improved in comparison. Right?

  • @bobjohnson1633

    @bobjohnson1633

    9 ай бұрын

    No, it's a matter of communism. Collectivist government uses groups, a la bourgeoisie and proletariat, but with place holders like "black/white" or "LGBT/hetero." Statistically, poverty does not cause people to commit crimes. Criminals damaging communities causes poverty. These are communist revolutions playing out as the political class deigns proper.

  • @pilgrimspromise1132
    @pilgrimspromise11328 ай бұрын

    I'm kind of impressed Sam spent almost two hours on a kinda small channel?

  • @V.D.22
    @V.D.228 ай бұрын

    Sam quit Twitter but never tried Facebook. It might be a better option for his message.

  • @MikkelHojbak

    @MikkelHojbak

    7 ай бұрын

    The same bots that control the votes on Twitter does so on Facebook. The same derisive comments are pushed to the top.

  • @MikeTownsend
    @MikeTownsend9 ай бұрын

    Your sounds editing needs work but great questions!

  • @petespeight3350
    @petespeight335010 ай бұрын

    Down with polarisation! I think problems start when either the left or the right get it into their heads that they hold the moral high ground or that their politics is some how more ethically sound than the other's. Are you left leaning? I always assumed you were

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    10 ай бұрын

    Have you got an example for this hypothesis?

  • @petespeight3350

    @petespeight3350

    10 ай бұрын

    @@jmc5335 hypothesis!? I remember that word from school! Hated science

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    10 ай бұрын

    @@petespeight3350 Didn't think you'd give any

  • @petespeight3350

    @petespeight3350

    10 ай бұрын

    @@jmc5335 ouch that hurt!

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    10 ай бұрын

    @@petespeight3350 That's centrism for you

  • @lovetownsend
    @lovetownsend10 ай бұрын

    30 seconds in and he's already blowing my mind "We should think of skin color no different than eye color or hair color" really shows how silly caring about such differences is

  • @davidlamb7524

    @davidlamb7524

    10 ай бұрын

    Paraphrasing very closely Haile Selassie's speech to the UN. Not far from MLK's most famous speech either.

  • @jmc5335

    @jmc5335

    10 ай бұрын

    Yet he later demonstrates that he can't live up to this standard

  • @tomdixon8950

    @tomdixon8950

    10 ай бұрын

    “We” don’t think about eye and hair colour in the way he would like. People care, certain people rant about blue eyed devils for example - they care.

  • @BFH94556

    @BFH94556

    9 ай бұрын

    @@tomdixon8950 I don't know if you are joking here, but blue-eyed people are not the victims of any meaningful discrimination or hostility in our society - and to suggest so is silly.

  • @BMTroubleU

    @BMTroubleU

    9 ай бұрын

    ​@@jmc5335when?

  • @3274BigBlueBotics
    @3274BigBlueBotics3 ай бұрын

    lmao Sam is such a good talker, I listen to him for that, honestly might be the best articulator I've seen since Hitchens He's really funny in his inability to hide his frustration at the masses waking up to the truths of the world (mixed in with a few ridiculous conspiracy theories) Praise kek!

  • @user-zx4ds8mt9b
    @user-zx4ds8mt9b2 ай бұрын

    I love how Sammy generally keeps that right eyebrow cocked, loaded. Or as though his right hemisphere is meditating while his left is left alone to podcast without disturbance from his right. And you'd never know, But for the eyebrow.

  • @svanota
    @svanota8 ай бұрын

    sometimes he can use one sentence and summarize what he means love him but what a way to complicate w words

  • @karenkaren3189
    @karenkaren31898 ай бұрын

    I am a center of the road who mostly has voted Democratic. Trump, DeSantis and Ramaswamy are not options for me for various reasons. Neither is Biden, because of his age ( though I would vote for him over the three men that I mentioned) I am seriously considering a more moderate Republican like Christie or Haley.

  • @MikkelHojbak

    @MikkelHojbak

    7 ай бұрын

    I'm Danish and don't get to vote, but if I could I would have gone with Pete Buttigieg if he hadn't left the primaries. He is someone I would entrust the job of trying to try to close the division between the two parties, and to me that seems to be the most important role for any American politician today. People have got to be able to talk to each other about the pros and cons of each possible solution, in order to find the best one.

  • @It__From__Bit
    @It__From__Bit7 ай бұрын

    The far left and the far right have lost their minds.

  • @johns.7297
    @johns.72979 ай бұрын

    The world is full of narratives without evidence.

  • @ravenillusion2596
    @ravenillusion25963 ай бұрын

    The double constitution Rights premise is a facade. And also emphasize the war on clear logical coherent and rational communication use of words and word play

  • @AB-eq9mm
    @AB-eq9mm8 ай бұрын

    Race will never go away because it has a biological basis

  • @TheHeidille
    @TheHeidille8 ай бұрын

    Standarder are laws everything else is bring oldfashioned and stubborn

  • @joaopedrocaetano4507
    @joaopedrocaetano450711 ай бұрын

    Erik, you constantly use the term "conflict", and I'd use the word "tension" instead. "Tension" has a bunch of ways to be resolved, "conflict" insinuates that this tension can only be resolved in an aggressive retaliatory manner. Also, radicalism is definitely a problem, but here, it's not the radicalism of wokeness that's the root problem, and it's not the right's smug and overbearing response that's the problem either; an even deeper issue here is what Sam points out around the automatic contrarianism that a TON of people have. It's just this unquestioned little north star that nobody bothers to analyze and question. It's just there, after decades of post-dinner kitchen banter in a billion families, where people are indignant and disappointed with the world, humiliated, even. That being the case, what does it mean to just seek "alternative X" as opposed to "the mainstream" or "institution X"? People just do this automatically, for very understandable reasons, but there's a lot of apparently sacred ground here that we're not questioning, and we're reaping the consequences. "Seeking an alternative", "going for radical change" these are not the best guiding lights to seeking truth or finding common ground all the time. they're just not. If all you do is seek alternative takes, if everything has to be "alternative", that heuristic can very easily misfire or misdirect, there's going to be points where you, and/or whole populations are going to swirl in place in the psychological equivalent of an ant-death spiral, where nothing is gained, only mental and spiritual exhaustion is cultivated. When you're dividing things into "the government" and "the people", or "the people" and "the mainstream media", or "the people and "the pharmaceutical industry", or "the people" and "The Walt Disney Company", or "the black/gay/neuro-atypical experience" and "all the other more normalized types of experience" you've also already lost the plot. There have to be ways to look at our problems that stand above even that kind of framing, and that are deeply humanistic in their nature. It's what Sam says at 54:19 "Even when I'm noticing there are failures and I'm not feeling something less than respect, what I'm feeling is concern for institutions." I feel like a lot of people have an eagerness to see institutions suffer and pay a price, for I guess understandable psychological reasons, but distorted reasons in many cases nonetheless.

  • @christophorfaust2457
    @christophorfaust24577 ай бұрын

    What does it mean to live the best possible life? 3:30 Well that ain’t happening! Maybe a better question, is sustainable-life possible… in a world of 8B, 10B, how about 0.5B???

  • @robertjsmith
    @robertjsmith10 ай бұрын

    "We need grown ups"

  • @benfroehlich9128
    @benfroehlich91287 ай бұрын

    I can guarantee that Laker fans are collectively more intelligent than Pistons fans. I’ve decided that the world needs that data. Once I have the information, we should definitely use it for policy guidance. It would be irresponsible to ignore it.

  • @laertesindeed
    @laertesindeed8 ай бұрын

    At the 20:00 mark or so.... Sam is describing a comically ironic situation that he doesn't see from the correct direction. There is a parody song writer that has a joke song where he goes to a restaurant and smells marijuana, he goes to a library and smells marijuana, he goes to the grocery store and smells marijuana, he goes to a park and smells marijuana, and then finally at the end of the song he says maybe he should smoke less marijuana; the punchline being that he was the cause of all the things he was noticing, and he noticed it because he put it wherever he went. Sam is like that with how he was describing twitter and him starting to view people as psychopaths. Except Sam doesn't realize there were not more psychopaths approaching him, it was "Sam" that was the problem, it was "Sam" having a faulty psychology and it was Sam that would bring his logical fallacy to every interaction he had on twitter.

  • @laviedandre
    @laviedandre9 ай бұрын

    "The myth of the self-made man is such colossal bullshit...it's a total fiction, no one made themselves." - Sam Harris, 1:12:05

  • @bobjohnson1633

    @bobjohnson1633

    9 ай бұрын

    So, sam Harris is an idiot. Well, we already knew that

  • @kappla
    @kappla8 ай бұрын

    “DEI Admin” 👩‍💼-> 😂😂

  • @MrLcowles
    @MrLcowles8 күн бұрын

    sounds like he finally read John Rawls.

  • @mayurshembekar6538
    @mayurshembekar65387 ай бұрын

    Sam is so articulate. Thank you for this podcast ❤️

  • @diggie9598
    @diggie95987 ай бұрын

    Sam having beef with the Left and the Right? Now i'm left with thinking he may be right.

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