Daniel Dennett: Breaking the Spell - Religion as a Natural Phenomenon

[KapStuf]

I fear religion will only be obsolete when the emotional and intellectual weakness it thrive on is obsolete.

So unless someone can redesign the human brain, all the familiar forms of unreason are here to stay.

[DaylightDigital]

That's one O.G. cuckoo! This is my house lol. All jokes aside Dennett is one of the best on this subject, great upload

[nsofast]

No one laughed when he told his fluke joke! That one usually kills. Is it just a reserved audience or does this humor just not translate well in Europe?

[nerdyharry]

there anyone else who feels vaguely icky listening to daniel dennett?

[zytigon]

@nerdyharry Listening to orthodox ministers will make you ill. I love hearing the sense & reason from Daniel Dennett, who is one of the cleverest people on earth.For great analysis of the facts about the Bible & other old Writ & comparative religion try also John W. Loftus, Robert M. Price, Dan Barker, Valerie Tarico, Ken Humphreys, Keith Parsons, Ken Pulliam, David Mills, Gary Greenberg, Bart Ehrman, Joseph Wheless, C. Dennis Mckinsey, Richard Carrier, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins

[nerdyharry]

@zytigon that's great, but cleverness alone has never been a reason to like someone. it's the character of dennett's originality that gives me yucky feelings. yuckier even in a way than steven pinker. he's the kind of person who shares an understanding of the universe in a way that utterly preempts any appreciation in the poetry in the theories he spins. i emulate thinking from him and i feel i am viewing life as some meaty, spastic mechanism. he reminds me of a Rx-happy psychiatrist.

[sexyloser]

@nerdyharry What do you want? Magic? Want him to say we are all special beautiful little snowflakes?

Wake up. This is reality. We either strap down and learn our true predicament or we, as a species, will continue to be blindsided by the terrible things in life.

[nerdyharry]

@sexyloser i didn't say i want him to lie, i'm not advocating the de-dennettization of the noosphere. i mean, i like some of his ideas. my point is i get a sense of warpedness about his thinking that i don't get from dawkins or hitchins or even pinker. it's like he lacks a sense of wonder. an appreciation of the romantic. a sympathy for people who can't motivate themselves to cultivate character without occasionally retreating into a mystic state of mind. there's your natural phenomenon.

[sexyloser]

@nerdyharry That's not his job. He's not a motivational speaker. He's a philosopher and his only concern is to try to uncover the truth (without causing any harm.)

[nerdyharry]

@sexyloser i never said he ought to be the one doing the motivating either. and philosophers more like parse the truth for simplicity, ostensibly for us folk, whilst resolving seeming simplicity into a crisper picture of truth. actually uncovering the truth involves more rigor than mind-experiments.

[nerdyharry]

people with autistic spectrum syndromes especially tend to quietly form personal superstitions to help cope with the unexpectedness of negative events.

[ManchesterLab]

Great lecture! MLab

[allfitch84]

My definition of a word would be 'noises or sounds put together in a pattern for a specific purpose' this purpose would more than likely be communication among human beings (mostly).

[beaudashing]

After 46 minutes, man , this dude is still yappin : ] 'Daniel, we love yeah' It's 1:30 a.m. and i gotta go work in the morning at the warehouse. The guy's at the warehouse won't understand this one bit, but i did see one guy saying he started practicing zazen buddhist path. I told him i did it for a few years and it was the best thing i ever done in my life. From zazen, i did lessen unnecessary suffering during my lifetime so far, and i believe that's great. Of course i've helpd plenty

[spinlessbastard1]

I THINK THAT WHAT ,this gentleman says is common sense ,nothing more or less ,maybe i am missing something ,do people pay money to listen to this

[1umbnonearth]

Big mega church corporations disagree with you. Perpetrating the ideology is secondary to the profit motive.

[PlanetBongoSan]

dry-ass intro ends at 2.20

[tjieff]

brilliant

[tjieff]

brillaint

[waytohell2]

does the cooco bird prove innate knowledge? anyone have an idea?

[tehnomask]

@waytohell2 knowledge implies being aware of the information, that is not necessary.

[waytohell2]

@tehnomask my question was Not what the definition of knowledge. i was specifically asking about how would a just born bird know to throw the eggs so he/she can get the food for himself/herself? and to whether that proves innate knowledge or not. :) but thanks for the reply anyway!

[tehnomask]

@waytohell2 well that's the point, it doesn't "know" it is acting purely without thought. it does not know the advantage it is receiving, it simply does what natural selection selected for.

[allfitch84]

@waytohell2 to put it another way... how do we 'know' how to breathe? To blink? To cry for attention (as a baby)... it's all survival... the dna, over time has evolved us as well as other creatures to do what they do to survive. not just as in individual but also as a species, for we cannot live without another like us... this may not be true for all living things, but is is true for sentient beings, like humans, animals or reptiles. Either way you think about it, it's an awesome spectacle!

[bigdaddyquey]

comparing ideas to viruses... I guess he got the virus too and so does darwin.

[mikedee21]

Dannel Dennett, one of the smartest, simpletons you have ever seen. A great human specimen. Thank god I was introduced to this great man. HAHAHAHAHA

[ananiasacts]

I wonder if google could create a map of the human "memeome" by merely analyzing all of the text on the web based on the frequencies of the phrases and idioms that define them. Perhaps it's a proprietary index they can't share. It seems like it would be an interesting thing to browse.

[NuBemet]

20:00

also in Judaism, the religion of my tribe, one usually says:

אני עבד של השם

I'm a slave of god

[mAdmAn948]

is midway in the video(25-30 min) where they got the idea for inception?

[KaslarProductions]

@mAdmAn948 They got the Idea for inception by lucid dreaming....

The more you read on lucid dreaming the more you will understand it...

The 'totem' is called a 'reality check' and is used to check if you are dreaming or not... Not and original idea from the movie but has been around for ages

[mAdmAn948]

is midway in the video(25-30 min) where they got the idea for inception?

[EsenHanIm]

16:05-54:  HOLY COW!!! Flying Sphagetti Monster, you are GLORIOUS!

[lexaling]

@EsenHanIm Oh yes,he's the one and only true god. Instead of sending manna during the night, he drops spaghetti and meatballs with marinara sauce and garlic bread. BYOB. Bon appetit!

[ashleylovesdaddy]

Good Evening. You're all very welcome!

I love the Brits.

[krissthesexyatheist]

Love his books, never seen him on video. Now I know what he looks like.

[aorihuela007]

"god is dead", religion served its purpose in the past when assuaging the anxieties of the natural phenomena, but as science gives us a more simple interpretation, religion is ceasing to serve a purpose, and now just perpetuate irrationality, and leave no room for prudence in extreme situations

[misszombiekate]

i can say that this was very interesting and it really does make a lot of sense. i want to see the whole thing!

[happiness393]

Very interesting and informative talk.

[B4IRUTUARU16]

if you want to study the effects of religion i suggest studying virology

[B4IRUTUARU16]

thank you for uploading

[shockfox7]

Cuts out at the end, is that the entire lecture?

[1888junkteam]

excellent work!

[Peanutbutterbucket]

Dan interesting as always. The introducer was funny because he said Uh 24 times in 120 seconds hah.

[bloodpuddingswe]

great lecture. his book sounds interesting. Does anyone know any other scientists/philosophers who write about the origin of religions?

[fecalbell]

but i poop from there!

[ctvwr]

@fecalbell

Not right now you don't.

[brickbungalow]

Secular thought driven by scientific advance offers numerous and growing challenges that religion has not and cannot answer. It's not a fight so much as a slowly eroding cliff.

[seekinnertruth]

Religion will become obsolete, as people come to realize that we can lead lives not filled with fear of God, in order to be good people, neither do we need to give our money to those claiming to work for "God", in order to lead lives of servitude and faith.

Peace and Love to All (~?~)

[WillyDillyWillyDilly]

Wishful thinking body. Those people have lot of POWER and they aint friends of the Santa Claus!

[BelieveNoGod]

@seekinnertruth The most tragic are all those nice old ladies giving away their savings on a religious charlatan.

Because EVERYONE that have a nice tan, drives a fancy car, and boat, and live in a mansion. In fact are a hustler.

They spend most of the money on them selves. The excuse are that they need to look presentable for the 'lord', and the public. Believe it ? Well watching Kent Hovind, one can wonder. He must be the most ugly dressed man of them all.

[seekinnertruth]

@BelieveNoGod I know, and I used to try to logicalize the saying "let those who would be deceived, be deceived" but I just couldn't rap my head around how its okay to let them be taken, while I watch... though I cant control others, I can speak freely and patiently and mostly lovingly about what I know.. and if they receive it... they do... if not... they wont... but I know I tried ya know...

[DIGITALSCREAMS]

@seekinnertruth

"Religion will become obsolete, as people come to realize that we can lead lives not filled with fear of God, in order to be good people, neither do we need to give our money to those claiming to work for "God", in order to lead lives of servitude and faith"

I really wish it were true...but it's not. The worlds population is exploding - who's having all the kid's? Rational, secular families? Or superstitious, faith based familes in the 3rd world? The maths is disturbing..

[seekinnertruth]

@DIGITALSCREAMS I know, but me being a non follower of men, yet truster of my father, I know it all has to happen... maybe me or someone others cant understand at the present moment, but someday we will.

Its like a spinning top, it spins fast, stands almost still, then starts to swivel, and eventually falls... and now we know, the top works... LOL

[ScotsmanRS]

Heroes such as... whom?

[Aluior]

dudududududu BATMAN

[ihatekhomeini]

Strange how your comment has become spam. I think it shows how a physicalist view of the world creates the same tendencies as those who have a religion. Just by mentioning that some things in Bennets view, or about religion should be concidered, your comment has been given thumbs down. I have a physicalist view as well, but I don't see the need in removing any other view. Everything is to a certain extent plausible...

[gungner78]

Very good and interesting lecture. It doesn´t seem to be complete though, I would love to see the whole thing.