He is a man of wisdom and very accurately describes the human condition both psychologically and philosophically and resonates truth about the nature of existence.
Read "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle he says the same things about our mind and Ego taking us over and making us unhappy. Release the worry about past present and future and just exist moment to moment which is all there really is anyway and you will find inner peace. What ever will be will be and accept it as if it suppose to be that way. Don't fight what is happening in your life, embrace it. You change the way you feel about things which you cannot control.
@TheOtherView I am not in total disagreement but, you think that it is completely wrong to say that pain is opposite of pleasure, whether physical or emotional?
We are swimming in an ocean of pure hapiness inteligence and bliss. We just can´t see it, perceive it and be it because are attention is on world of circunstances rather than in this qualities that are within us. Just like a fish that don´t know what is water (because it´s all around him, he doesn´t know what is).
@dxvxvx The prophet muhammed also endorsed raping 8 year old girls and even burning them or stoning them to death because they didn't want to wear the black dress. He also had many wives and valued them about as much as livestock. If a woman told you "the man", to stop being such a hairy fat pig Muhammed said it was ok to hit her. Just to let her know her place...if you didn't know it muslims, your brothers are currently sawing the heads off 8 year old girls...
@Hermoor If you are going to attack Islam, can I suggest that you not embarrass the rest of us Antitheists with lies.
Mohammed married a six(ish) year old. There is some evidence that he couldn't get it up at that stage in his life, and no evidence that they consumnated the relationship.
There is plenty of factual material in your arsenal without resorting to this kind of statement.
@dxvxvx Your religion is evil and every person that believes in it are idiots, that should be put in zooz where 8 year old kids can throw gums at you. You are nothing but hairy fat animals with mental problems.
listen your own government nailed you on 9/11 ae911truthDOTorg stop blaming it on us.
it wasnt just Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who married a 9 year old girl. It was common among all the great empires for political alliances. It wasnt about the girl, it was about power and alliances. The father of the 'girl' became Islam's next ruler. Studying basic history, anthropology & for you, try zoology too and you'll be able to see the monkey that you claim to descend from.
@dxvxvx What have you got to say about your muslim brothers stoning innocent women to death for showing skin? Or the fact that you saw the heads of 8 year old girls?? What about the statistics, the ones who rapes the most in the modern world are muslims. Why do you hit and rape women? Is this acceptable behaviour? I promise you you little delusional bastard. If you would touch one child 1000 yards from me I would fucking castrate you. People like you should not be able to walk the streets you
@Hermoor I think that the bit about showing skin is Sharia law.
The most you will find in the Quran is that women and men should dress modestly.
Sharia law is pretty sick if you ask me, an there's no question that it justifies itself based on Islamic doctrine, but you can't go attacking the inventor of Viagra based on the fact that rapists use it.
@Hermoor That's your idea of what a 'true muslim' is. The UK is full of muslims, who are happy to obey UK law, and would still consider themselves true muslims. 99% of them live in harmless blissful backward ignorance. Their religion will die out in its own time.
Most of Sharia law is taken from the Quran, but the problem bits aren't from the Qu'ran. Core religious ideas are fine. It is the way stupid and evil people are allowed to unquestioningly abuse them that is the problem.
@tonycatman In the quoran it sais kill the heretics or the ones that doesn't believe in allah. Also if you leave the muslim faith you deserve death. It's in the book in black and white, the ones who doesn't listen to the bad bits are hypocrites. The true muslims are the ones that want to kill all non muslims. Also I agree with you, all religion will die out in a few generations...
The leaving the faith death is called apostasy. I'm not sure how often the punishment is carried out, but it is a real punishment (unlike hell). It is said that many people stay in the religion for fear apostasy, so some proportion of the billion or so Muslims are just scared to leave.
I believe that provable truths will always outlast man-made lies, regardless of punishment. I give Christianity about 70 years, and Islam about 100.
@dxvxvx Or maybe the world would be a better place without muslims sawing the heads off 8 year olds. I have seen it on video...you want to see how your brother saws the head off an 8 year old because Allah tells him to do it? Also I'm not from USA and don't like the US goverment a lot better than the muslims. I'm not on any side, but you know sawing the heads off 8 year olds is pretty sick...
@Hermoor your governments are killing their own people ae911truthDOTorg, a few muslims might be doing bad things but we dont claim to be angels every society has bad apples
the difference between us and you is the west has elected governments which do this which shows that your entire system is a failure. Whereas a group of muslims who do wrong are condemned by the majority. Yet westerners dont condemn their governments cos they know its systematic and they cant do anything anyway. jak bank?
@dxvxvx What exactly is the swedish goverment doing? I'm not from america even, I'm from sweden. What is my goverment doing? What is norway's goverment doing? You are talking about USA, I'm not comparing the muslim countries with USA. I'm comparing the muslim countries to civilized countries like sweden who hasn't been in a war for 200 years. A country in which 90% of the population are atheists...no one is sawing the heads of 8 year olds up here...
@Hermoor the fact that ordinary people want JAK bank and the fact that your government wont end the interest based system shows Sweden is not a democracy, do 95% swedes want a big bank like JAK bank or not, of course they do so its not a democracy then is it you fool.
you to your local Swedish prison and you will rapists and mass murders and pedophiles, go to you local alcohol and drug rehab clinics to see whats happening to your peple
@dxvxvx Yeah and you want to know who most the rapists and bank robbers etc are? They are immigrants from muslim countries, they are muslims. I have seen statistics of more than 75% of the prisoners in swedish prisons are immigrants. Who has just lived in sweden maybe a couple of years. USA goes and bombs your muslim countries...muslims comes to sweden. We put them in jail where the hairy child burning animals belong. Islam makes people commit acts of evil...people who believe in it are idiots.
@dxvxvx I mean do you really think there is a man in the sky? Do you really believe there are flying horses? You are nothing but an uneducated fool who believes in santa at grown age. The pathetic thing is, that you go online and argue with people who don't believe in flying horses or virgins in heaven...do something with your life instead of wasting it on an illusion. Fantasy is great! But don't fool yourself into believing it's reality. AND DON'T saw the heads of 8 year old children!
you dont know who we are. We built empires based on interest-free models. the west built its empire on the back of black slaves
the only reason you have immigration to your countries is because the west puts dictators in muslims - have you heard of the arab revolution taking place because of what your sick race is doing?
@dxvxvx What race? Are you blaming me and my ancestors for your corrupted muslim dictator? You seem to think the WEST...aka all the countries with educated children and technology to go to the moon etc. Are all undemocratic and that we put dictators to rule over muslim countries etc. I don't know how it work where you are from, but if I wanted to I could go and become a primeminister in my country. Anyone can do it...sweden is a democracy. USA...I'm not so sure. But sweden definately is...
@dxvxvx Also the reason 95% of the people can't have what they want is because societies around the world aren't structured that way. It would be great if everyone are equal but they aren't. But at least countries like sweden are trying to improve...Sweden is the country with the lowest different between women and men. Even men are staying home with their children...in muslim countries you behead women who show skin. If a muslim woman has sex before marriage she is burned alive.
@dxvxvx The west is much better than the middle east. And it's not the west who makes you so poor and stupid. It's your little book written by child molesters 1500 years ago. Muhammed had sex with a 9 year old ffs. He was a pedophile! You think it's ok to have sex with 9 year olds? You know that your book sais all people who don't believe in Allah shall die. All the infidels. Why aren't you killing blonde swedes? I'm going to tell you why, because you aren't a muslim...you don't follow your book
@dxvxvx the only reason you say you are a muslim is because you got parents who are muslims. Or friends around you that are muslim. I know you don't belive in virgins in heaven, I mean what human being believes in virgins in heaven...or flying horses. If you believe in flying horses...I'm not going to continue this little talk. It would be a waste of time, I mean what if I tell you I belive in hades the god of the underworld? What if I told you Hades has spoken to me and told me hairy muslims
@dxvxvx needs to be beheaded. What if i told you hades had written me a book where he sais women aren't allowed to show their faces. If they do saw of their heads...would you really take such a person seriously?
@Hermoor i hardly read anything you had to say, what a waste of time. Through logical deduction its clear that 9/11 was an inside job vis-a-vis ae911truthDOTorg and therefore everything you hear abut Islaam is lies
your understanding of democracy is flawed. 95% of Sweden and all countries want an interest free economy but the rich and elite in Muslims countries, sweden and yours will not allow it. The excuse for Muslims is that they are run by dictators. But you are voluntary slaves. Looooser
@dxvxvx I have already adressed that...I won't repeat myself. Either you answer to my questions or you can go blow yourself up for you allah. Idiot...
@dxvxvx also 95% of what I know about Islam isn't flawed. I have been in muslim countries like egypt, tunisia Turkey etc...also I have seen countless of horrific videos of muslims beheading women and children...burning them to death etc. My hatred for the muslims is justified...believe me if you would have watched a single one of those videos you would be leaving islam...oh sorry forgot. if you do leave Islam your family will stone you to death. My bad...don't leave islam if you want to live.
@Hermoor what you saw is propaganda, you saw videos - did any muslim governments realease a statement supporting those videos - no, therefore the problem is not systematic
did USA do 9/11? yes ae911truthDOTorg - is the problem systematic? yes.
Your governments commit terrorist attacks Vs a small miniority on unelected muslims commit terrorist attacks. Address your flawed system go and snort cocaine knowing your governments can kill you for leisure anytime or accept islam and save yourself
@Hermoor she's claiming she was beaten in iran, where's the evidence, a broken leg?
ae911truthDOTorg is built upon empirical scientific evidence
For the final time, 95% of Sweden and all countries want an interest free economy so why don't western 'democracies' stop enslaving their people, what good is voting if what you want is not an option?
@Hermoor i noticed that you did not address my point that sweden is not a demoracy and nor is the west because 95% of people want to live in an interest free based society but can not
sorry mate your sick in the head, the reality is that you are a pawn, your sick, you live in cocoo land. you live under a nazi new world order and you cant do anything about it, you're a prisoner
please tell me why 95% of the people cant have what they want psycho?
@dxvxvx changing topic are we? From muslims to 9/11...I'm not even from USA. Not my goverment...what do you have to say to the 8 year old girl who didn't believe in Allah...then her parents saw her head off? What do you say to her? According to Allah that girl should be beheaded along with all infidels who don't believe in Allah. You want me to be beheaded you sick fuck?
I think he is a man of progression, much like the man between witch craft and complete enlightenment, and the truth is none of know and if you say you do YOUR FULL OF SHIT you know it and I know it!
So, what Harris is saying is "Since I gave up hope, I feel so much better"? Is that the best he can do? The reason we can't be totally happy in this life is because we're made to be happy in the next. The Biblical account of Paradise, where the first animals with a rational soul were given preternatural gifts of KNOWING God & PLEASING GOD thru OBEDIENCE, & then losing those gifts thru DISOBEDIENCE satsfies Harris' existential conundrum as well as explains it. He just doesn't SEE it: NOTSEEISM!!
@finishstrongdoc In a way, you're right. Harris doesn't see it. Just as you don't "see" the truth of Islam, or Hinduism, or Zoroastrianism, etc. One of you is seeing things that aren't there and I have a good hunch which one it is.
@finishstrongdoc If I have to spell that comment out for you, I'm thinking you might be a lost cause. Harris is approaching things rationally based on the actual evidence we have. Your religious mythologies do nothing to answer the questions he's asking; they're stories, invented by people with no evidence aside from the fantasies playing out in their own minds, to satisfy their longing for another life. This isn't about giving up hope. It's about giving up delusion.
@derrida114 Mythology didn't "invent" the rational soul, which all persons have had since the Garden of Eden, and which all forms of religion & belief rely upon. Contemplation of spiritual truth is not exclusive to religion, but the Holy Scriptures of Israelites provides prophesy of a Messiah: which Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled. A keen grasp of the obvious is needed here.
@finishstrongdoc So it's "obvious" that a 2000-year-old Jewish zombie is the answer to all of Harris' questions? I don't think you're getting the point here. We have no good evidence of the supernatural. We do have good evidence that our consciousness is a product of our brains. Harris merely wants to probe it to discover whether or not we can use our attention to better effect. Nothing more.
@derrida114 Surely you don't believe that our consciousness is best engaged by ONLY contemplating "things below"? How, then do we disengage from the existential conundrum we find ourselves in? If materialism doesn't provide happiness, then we MUST conclude there is something more, or something lost, that will complete our happiness, beyond the "flesh". The head isn't above the groin by accident. And we do stand upright, above irrational animals. The signs are there,maybe a little too obvious.
@finishstrongdoc "If materialism doesn't provide happiness, then we MUST conclude there is something more..." Why? Why assume the universe wants us to be happy? Or cares about us? By the way, bonobos can walk upright just like us, and they're arguably a more peaceful species. Your grand assumptions about what you deserve as a human being are the only obvious thing here. You're an animal. Deal with it. The universe owes you nothing. Try looking for facts, not what you *want* to be true.
@derrida114 But you Do want bonobos to be happy, don't you? I do too, but they will chew your face off, and we won't count it against his nature, will we? We are animals with a rational soul, and free intellect, and free will. Other than that, we're not really good candidates for survival amongst bonobolanders. And we DO want happiness but just don't seem fit for the project without non-physical help.Drugs are a substitute for spirituality. Lots of other false gods of the flesh out there,too.
@finishstrongdoc I didn't say we don't want to be happy. We obviously do. So do bonobos. But to say there must be some supernatural force out there conspiring to help us is a total non sequitur. And for the record, a bonobo will not chew your face off. They haven't even been observed killing a member of their own species (so far a much better record than us). By the way, it helps to learn a few facts instead of just typing whatever pops into your head. Be well, dude (or dudette). Cheers.
@derrida114 The poor bonobo must kill SOMETHING to survive, even if it's a plant;its called the Law of Necessity. WE need MORE; that's my point Harris' point, too. But he concludes hopelessness, while I don't. The Law of Necessity works beyond the physical; have you never heard Beethoven and wondered "where'd THAT come from"?
@finishstrongdoc I did not say there *can't* be a supernatural force, just that we have no good evidence that there is. Sam Harris is not concluding that we must be hopeless; he's trying to grapple with the evidence as it stands - which is that we're on our own, existentially speaking. If you want to assume an invisible wizard is helping you, fine. That's your call, dude.
@derrida114 Care to try a little "science project"? Starve a bonobo in a cage for a week, then you go into the cage with the favorite bonobo snack in your hand , and play "keepaway" with the gentle creature. Who will you 'blame" if bonobo rips your hand off? Remember, you said there are no supernatural forces out ther that are conspiring to help us, so you can't blame God if the experiment leaves you a few fingers short.
@finishstrongdoc What the hell are you talking about? My bonobo example had nothing to do with "the law of necessity." I was merely trying to show that your assumptions about humanity's inherent greatness (and spiritual significance) were misplaced.
@derrida114 The bonobo's nature is to take the food that's "his" because he is hungry, nothing more, no"property rights issues" involved at all. We humans don't take food that's not given to us by consent of the giver; we could be arrested for theft if we did otherwise. Which "nature" is "greater", bonobo or human? You may also choose "God", but for now, let's just assume there are only two choices available. It's your call.
I have the uneasy feeling that in parts of their latest talks both Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins are moving a little too close to New Age mystical cloudinesses as they try to "expand " their discourse on the fetters of Religious Belief. If they should do so, I hope they apply science and rationality to evaluate their conclusions or findings in such areas.
I was born in a Buddhist society and there is no omnipotent God mentioned in any of it's scriptures, it is more atheistic than any other system of beliefs, and Buddha rejected all such ideas of his days. Sam Harris seems to understand Buddhist philosophies very well. PS. I'm an atheist.
He too facilely discounts memory:remembering BETTER TIMES,..counting it fortunate that things COULD have been so much worse.Not perfection?true------but not Panglossian,either.
Anybody who swears to anything wholly human in supposed origin will never attain a grasp of that which transcends their 'rational' or 'reasonable' realm. This fellow may catch a glimpse of something pleasing, but it's really just a blind devotee of committed skepticism on an excursion into a realm without any necessary tools or means of coping with his journey, of making it consequential, of making it progressive. No matter how long he dwells therein, nothing shall be brought back out.
AspiringScoundrel, no disrespect intended, but it takes a pretty breathtaking degree of arrogance to presume to know what someone else is feeling/experiencing better than they. Just because you experience transcendence via belief in supernatural propositions, doesn't mean that that is the only way.
Hey look: it's the guy with all the answers. And at the modest age of 22. Why aren't you using your amazing knowledge to save the world instead of just posting pseduo-intellectual bullshit on youtube?
@iSOBigD... That was a response to "Aspiring Scoundrel" and his previous posts, which were ignorantly critical of the Harris talk, not a response to the Harris talk itself. Even if it was a response to the Harris talk, I don't see how my post could be confused for an argument of any sort. I'd prefer to think of it as an insult.
Brilliant vid. One of the most effective things we can do to oppose irrationality is to break religion's claim to monopoly over spirituality. Simply calling all spiritual experience 'hallucinations', as Dawkins does, is not going to work with people who have actually experienced it and know it to be perhaps the most profound form of experience human beings can have. Not to disparage Dawkins, I admire him greatly, but such people would be far more likely to simply dismiss Dawkins' view as barren.
@sam51092 Well until these experiences have been proven to have spiritual aspects - whatever 'spiritual' means - they really are nothing more than hallucinations. They can be negative, or, they can be the most profound human experience ever, completely transforming someone's life. Either way, the only thing that has been proven about them is the brain activity that occurs with them. People tack on the 'spiritual' label to somehow reflect the epic proportions of the experience itself.
'proven to have spiritual aspects - whatever 'spiritual' means'.
This demand is meaningless without defining 'spirituality'. Sam Harris only uses the word to mean the attempt to overcome suffering in the human condition, by means of training the mind (meditation). So if it overcomes suffering, then it has proven to have 'spiritual aspects' in this sense.
'Spirituality' to me is like the word 'God'. Because it doesn't reference anything in the known reality, it has an elastic meaning. As a result, people define it how they want, then decide whether it exists in the real world. But if you look the word up, it refers to 'an intangible, metaphysical essence part of a person' - something that is just as mythical as any theistic belief. In Sam's case 'healing meditation' is the better, more accurate term, but lacks the punch that 'spirituality' has.
You're right about the elastic meaning. Nevertheless there might be something to be said for atheists claiming the word for themselves, shedding the 'metaphysical' from the definition, just to show that an atheist's life isn't barren, as many theists think. Doing so might well be a real eye-opener for theists who just assume that the supernatural and the transcendent are inseparable. Or maybe 'transcendence' is a better term. It's up to the individual.
Harris has always said that Human beings are spiritual beings,what he stresses is that we can be Rational and still be spiritual,without having to beleive in mythology and fairy tales
What I think is.
The approach and way to achieve this without any Dogmatic system of belief is to look inward, to know your own mind and this is something only a truly rational person can deeply achieve.
Harris only uses Buddhism as an example of self mental exploration and there are many many sects of Buddhism.
@EveryHumanBeing But "Be Spiritual" means we have a spirit or it means self mental exploration...my point is if he thinks we have a spirit and after death our spirit will continue?
@EveryHumanBeing Yes but in meditation, you always want to reduce the amount of thought. Say you have an issue in your life, that you keep grinding in your brain. A rational person would try to rationalize it away. But a contemplative, someone who is familiar with eastern traditions and their meditation techniques would not do so. He would handle it in a very different way, he would handle it in a way which involves trying to reduce the negative thoughts
Harris is doing nothing of the sort. I threw up some images to go along with the talk Harris gave, nothing more. If you'll notice, the chakra image pops up just as Harris mentions the possibility that eastern thought is a "mere catalog of psychopathology and religious delusion and deliberate fraud."
In his speeches, Harris has been quite clear that Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, etc. contain elements every bit as irrational and unlikely as western religion.
@derrida114 I'm actually glad you pointed that out, because I once heard Hitchens say that "turns out his some kind of buddhist..." or something along those lines, about Sam Harris.
@gujjucheap I think they were used as a representation of what has come from the beliefs in such ideals. The people who meditated back in the day used chakras to help explain themselves. Today we obviously seek other understandings. The point is, the spiritual experience that led to explaining chakras is the same spiritual experience Sam is referring to, just under the hood of science.
how do i get started with vipassana?
s0348953 1 month ago
@baxtar1463
much easier said than done. much much easier to read and nod for sure. there is a reason he emphasizes the work involved.
EsenHanIm 3 months ago
He is a man of wisdom and very accurately describes the human condition both psychologically and philosophically and resonates truth about the nature of existence.
tyroy57 5 months ago 3
Makes me think I need to go back and re-read my Nietzsche
TheTekkerz 7 months ago
Read "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle he says the same things about our mind and Ego taking us over and making us unhappy. Release the worry about past present and future and just exist moment to moment which is all there really is anyway and you will find inner peace. What ever will be will be and accept it as if it suppose to be that way. Don't fight what is happening in your life, embrace it. You change the way you feel about things which you cannot control.
baxtar1963 7 months ago
Harris is awe inspiring.
Braxtonmccoy 7 months ago 4
@Braxtonmccoy
But I think he confuses "pleasure" and "pain." The opposite of pleasure is NOT pain. He needs to be more clear about these terms.
TheOtherView 6 months ago
@TheOtherView I am not in total disagreement but, you think that it is completely wrong to say that pain is opposite of pleasure, whether physical or emotional?
Braxtonmccoy 6 months ago
@Braxtonmccoy What I am saying is that it seems very common to say that pain is the opposite of pleasure.
I am willing to bet that if you did a google search for 'What is the opposite of pain' one of the first links would say pleasure.
Braxtonmccoy 6 months ago
Well put. Where has this clip come from?
andthereisntone 8 months ago
@andthereisntone AAI 2007
TreyGre7 2 weeks ago
@TreyGre7 Thanks.
andthereisntone 2 weeks ago
We are swimming in an ocean of pure hapiness inteligence and bliss. We just can´t see it, perceive it and be it because are attention is on world of circunstances rather than in this qualities that are within us. Just like a fish that don´t know what is water (because it´s all around him, he doesn´t know what is).
EdgarBeja 8 months ago
One of my favorite videos. Sam Harris is the best.
logfio 9 months ago
happiness the american way - is a warm gun
prebenso 10 months ago
I still refuse to convert away from Islaam. Simply because its 1400 years advanced than the west
1. Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him gave women rights to own a property in their own right, the west achieved it in the 18th cent.
2. Prophet Muhammad PBUH banned alcohol, the USA failed in the 1920's
3. Prophet Muhammad PBUH implemented an interest-free economic model, the west has failed, and people are stll be exploited by the rich and elite
ae911truthDOTorg - not for the weak
dxvxvx 1 year ago
@dxvxvx The prophet muhammed also endorsed raping 8 year old girls and even burning them or stoning them to death because they didn't want to wear the black dress. He also had many wives and valued them about as much as livestock. If a woman told you "the man", to stop being such a hairy fat pig Muhammed said it was ok to hit her. Just to let her know her place...if you didn't know it muslims, your brothers are currently sawing the heads off 8 year old girls...
Hermoor 11 months ago
@Hermoor If you are going to attack Islam, can I suggest that you not embarrass the rest of us Antitheists with lies.
Mohammed married a six(ish) year old. There is some evidence that he couldn't get it up at that stage in his life, and no evidence that they consumnated the relationship.
There is plenty of factual material in your arsenal without resorting to this kind of statement.
tonycatman 8 months ago
@dxvxvx Your religion is evil and every person that believes in it are idiots, that should be put in zooz where 8 year old kids can throw gums at you. You are nothing but hairy fat animals with mental problems.
Hermoor 11 months ago
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dxvxvx 11 months ago
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dxvxvx 11 months ago
@Hermoor
listen your own government nailed you on 9/11 ae911truthDOTorg stop blaming it on us.
it wasnt just Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who married a 9 year old girl. It was common among all the great empires for political alliances. It wasnt about the girl, it was about power and alliances. The father of the 'girl' became Islam's next ruler. Studying basic history, anthropology & for you, try zoology too and you'll be able to see the monkey that you claim to descend from.
dxvxvx 11 months ago
@dxvxvx What have you got to say about your muslim brothers stoning innocent women to death for showing skin? Or the fact that you saw the heads of 8 year old girls?? What about the statistics, the ones who rapes the most in the modern world are muslims. Why do you hit and rape women? Is this acceptable behaviour? I promise you you little delusional bastard. If you would touch one child 1000 yards from me I would fucking castrate you. People like you should not be able to walk the streets you
Hermoor 11 months ago
@Hermoor I think that the bit about showing skin is Sharia law.
The most you will find in the Quran is that women and men should dress modestly.
Sharia law is pretty sick if you ask me, an there's no question that it justifies itself based on Islamic doctrine, but you can't go attacking the inventor of Viagra based on the fact that rapists use it.
tonycatman 8 months ago
@tonycatman The true muslims are the ones that embraces sharia law, much of what the sharia law consists of has been taken directly from the quoran.
Hermoor 8 months ago
@Hermoor That's your idea of what a 'true muslim' is. The UK is full of muslims, who are happy to obey UK law, and would still consider themselves true muslims. 99% of them live in harmless blissful backward ignorance. Their religion will die out in its own time.
Most of Sharia law is taken from the Quran, but the problem bits aren't from the Qu'ran. Core religious ideas are fine. It is the way stupid and evil people are allowed to unquestioningly abuse them that is the problem.
tonycatman 8 months ago
@tonycatman In the quoran it sais kill the heretics or the ones that doesn't believe in allah. Also if you leave the muslim faith you deserve death. It's in the book in black and white, the ones who doesn't listen to the bad bits are hypocrites. The true muslims are the ones that want to kill all non muslims. Also I agree with you, all religion will die out in a few generations...
Hermoor 8 months ago
@Hermoor
The leaving the faith death is called apostasy. I'm not sure how often the punishment is carried out, but it is a real punishment (unlike hell). It is said that many people stay in the religion for fear apostasy, so some proportion of the billion or so Muslims are just scared to leave.
I believe that provable truths will always outlast man-made lies, regardless of punishment. I give Christianity about 70 years, and Islam about 100.
tonycatman 8 months ago
@dxvxvx sick fuck!
Hermoor 11 months ago
@Hermoor so what do you think about JAK bank?
dxvxvx 11 months ago
@dxvxvx I don't like banks, I like them about as much as child raping muslims and head sawing muslims...
Hermoor 11 months ago
@Hermoor i don't like western governments attacking their own people and then blaming it on Muslims. ae911truthDOTorg
maybe if people like you were in the twin towers the world would be a better place
dxvxvx 11 months ago
@dxvxvx Or maybe the world would be a better place without muslims sawing the heads off 8 year olds. I have seen it on video...you want to see how your brother saws the head off an 8 year old because Allah tells him to do it? Also I'm not from USA and don't like the US goverment a lot better than the muslims. I'm not on any side, but you know sawing the heads off 8 year olds is pretty sick...
Hermoor 11 months ago
@Hermoor your governments are killing their own people ae911truthDOTorg, a few muslims might be doing bad things but we dont claim to be angels every society has bad apples
the difference between us and you is the west has elected governments which do this which shows that your entire system is a failure. Whereas a group of muslims who do wrong are condemned by the majority. Yet westerners dont condemn their governments cos they know its systematic and they cant do anything anyway. jak bank?
dxvxvx 11 months ago
@dxvxvx What exactly is the swedish goverment doing? I'm not from america even, I'm from sweden. What is my goverment doing? What is norway's goverment doing? You are talking about USA, I'm not comparing the muslim countries with USA. I'm comparing the muslim countries to civilized countries like sweden who hasn't been in a war for 200 years. A country in which 90% of the population are atheists...no one is sawing the heads of 8 year olds up here...
Hermoor 11 months ago
@Hermoor the fact that ordinary people want JAK bank and the fact that your government wont end the interest based system shows Sweden is not a democracy, do 95% swedes want a big bank like JAK bank or not, of course they do so its not a democracy then is it you fool.
you to your local Swedish prison and you will rapists and mass murders and pedophiles, go to you local alcohol and drug rehab clinics to see whats happening to your peple
dxvxvx 11 months ago
@dxvxvx Yeah and you want to know who most the rapists and bank robbers etc are? They are immigrants from muslim countries, they are muslims. I have seen statistics of more than 75% of the prisoners in swedish prisons are immigrants. Who has just lived in sweden maybe a couple of years. USA goes and bombs your muslim countries...muslims comes to sweden. We put them in jail where the hairy child burning animals belong. Islam makes people commit acts of evil...people who believe in it are idiots.
Hermoor 11 months ago
@dxvxvx I mean do you really think there is a man in the sky? Do you really believe there are flying horses? You are nothing but an uneducated fool who believes in santa at grown age. The pathetic thing is, that you go online and argue with people who don't believe in flying horses or virgins in heaven...do something with your life instead of wasting it on an illusion. Fantasy is great! But don't fool yourself into believing it's reality. AND DON'T saw the heads of 8 year old children!
Hermoor 11 months ago
@Hermoor youtube: 1001 inventions
you dont know who we are. We built empires based on interest-free models. the west built its empire on the back of black slaves
the only reason you have immigration to your countries is because the west puts dictators in muslims - have you heard of the arab revolution taking place because of what your sick race is doing?
dxvxvx 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@dxvxvx What race? Are you blaming me and my ancestors for your corrupted muslim dictator? You seem to think the WEST...aka all the countries with educated children and technology to go to the moon etc. Are all undemocratic and that we put dictators to rule over muslim countries etc. I don't know how it work where you are from, but if I wanted to I could go and become a primeminister in my country. Anyone can do it...sweden is a democracy. USA...I'm not so sure. But sweden definately is...
Hermoor 11 months ago
@dxvxvx Also the reason 95% of the people can't have what they want is because societies around the world aren't structured that way. It would be great if everyone are equal but they aren't. But at least countries like sweden are trying to improve...Sweden is the country with the lowest different between women and men. Even men are staying home with their children...in muslim countries you behead women who show skin. If a muslim woman has sex before marriage she is burned alive.
Hermoor 11 months ago
@dxvxvx The west is much better than the middle east. And it's not the west who makes you so poor and stupid. It's your little book written by child molesters 1500 years ago. Muhammed had sex with a 9 year old ffs. He was a pedophile! You think it's ok to have sex with 9 year olds? You know that your book sais all people who don't believe in Allah shall die. All the infidels. Why aren't you killing blonde swedes? I'm going to tell you why, because you aren't a muslim...you don't follow your book
Hermoor 11 months ago
@dxvxvx the only reason you say you are a muslim is because you got parents who are muslims. Or friends around you that are muslim. I know you don't belive in virgins in heaven, I mean what human being believes in virgins in heaven...or flying horses. If you believe in flying horses...I'm not going to continue this little talk. It would be a waste of time, I mean what if I tell you I belive in hades the god of the underworld? What if I told you Hades has spoken to me and told me hairy muslims
Hermoor 11 months ago
@dxvxvx needs to be beheaded. What if i told you hades had written me a book where he sais women aren't allowed to show their faces. If they do saw of their heads...would you really take such a person seriously?
Hermoor 11 months ago
@Hermoor i hardly read anything you had to say, what a waste of time. Through logical deduction its clear that 9/11 was an inside job vis-a-vis ae911truthDOTorg and therefore everything you hear abut Islaam is lies
your understanding of democracy is flawed. 95% of Sweden and all countries want an interest free economy but the rich and elite in Muslims countries, sweden and yours will not allow it. The excuse for Muslims is that they are run by dictators. But you are voluntary slaves. Looooser
dxvxvx 11 months ago
@dxvxvx I have already adressed that...I won't repeat myself. Either you answer to my questions or you can go blow yourself up for you allah. Idiot...
Hermoor 11 months ago
@dxvxvx also 95% of what I know about Islam isn't flawed. I have been in muslim countries like egypt, tunisia Turkey etc...also I have seen countless of horrific videos of muslims beheading women and children...burning them to death etc. My hatred for the muslims is justified...believe me if you would have watched a single one of those videos you would be leaving islam...oh sorry forgot. if you do leave Islam your family will stone you to death. My bad...don't leave islam if you want to live.
Hermoor 11 months ago
@Hermoor what you saw is propaganda, you saw videos - did any muslim governments realease a statement supporting those videos - no, therefore the problem is not systematic
did USA do 9/11? yes ae911truthDOTorg - is the problem systematic? yes.
Your governments commit terrorist attacks Vs a small miniority on unelected muslims commit terrorist attacks. Address your flawed system go and snort cocaine knowing your governments can kill you for leisure anytime or accept islam and save yourself
dxvxvx 11 months ago
@dxvxvx Propaganda? Here watch this and tell me if that is propaganda or not. watch?v=W9YVgF4GWYk
Hermoor 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@Hermoor she's claiming she was beaten in iran, where's the evidence, a broken leg?
ae911truthDOTorg is built upon empirical scientific evidence
For the final time, 95% of Sweden and all countries want an interest free economy so why don't western 'democracies' stop enslaving their people, what good is voting if what you want is not an option?
dxvxvx 11 months ago
@Hermoor i noticed that you did not address my point that sweden is not a demoracy and nor is the west because 95% of people want to live in an interest free based society but can not
sorry mate your sick in the head, the reality is that you are a pawn, your sick, you live in cocoo land. you live under a nazi new world order and you cant do anything about it, you're a prisoner
please tell me why 95% of the people cant have what they want psycho?
dxvxvx 11 months ago
@dxvxvx changing topic are we? From muslims to 9/11...I'm not even from USA. Not my goverment...what do you have to say to the 8 year old girl who didn't believe in Allah...then her parents saw her head off? What do you say to her? According to Allah that girl should be beheaded along with all infidels who don't believe in Allah. You want me to be beheaded you sick fuck?
Hermoor 11 months ago
@Hermoor Muslims countries are a thousand miles from you, your own governments which nails you on 9/11 are much closer ae911truthDOTorg
how does it feel knowing your own kind are screwing you over, you must be getting a sick feeling in the stomach
dxvxvx 11 months ago
@dxvxvx They are some very good reasons for not converting away. It is rare to find someone who rationally justifies their religion.
It is more common for people to embarrass themselves by justifying Islam as a science.
You get a thumbs up, and there should be more people who justify Islam in this way.
tonycatman 8 months ago
thanks for making this.
MichaelCarrUSA 1 year ago
can u link me the image from 2:56?
saugustus1 1 year ago
I think he is a man of progression, much like the man between witch craft and complete enlightenment, and the truth is none of know and if you say you do YOUR FULL OF SHIT you know it and I know it!
alexworksfromhome99 1 year ago
Sam Harris is such a concise and well-spoken man. I would totally do him.
isisdron 1 year ago
@isisdron LMAO thats hilarious, he reminds me of taub from house :P
madman3891 1 year ago
@madman3891 or maybe a cross between Taub and Ben Stiller! (neither of which I would do, by the way.)
isisdron 1 year ago
this has been known in the eastern cultures and traditions for 1000s of years. Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, etc
SikhiArt 1 year ago
I LOVE THIS MAN!
metallica14rulez 1 year ago
This speech is very Schopenhauerian.
I wonder if Sam has read any of Arthur Schopenhauer's works.
TheBestInterest 1 year ago
@TheBestInterest Well, Schopenhauer read some of the same Buddhist texts that Sam Harris has read.
samreznek 1 year ago
So, what Harris is saying is "Since I gave up hope, I feel so much better"? Is that the best he can do? The reason we can't be totally happy in this life is because we're made to be happy in the next. The Biblical account of Paradise, where the first animals with a rational soul were given preternatural gifts of KNOWING God & PLEASING GOD thru OBEDIENCE, & then losing those gifts thru DISOBEDIENCE satsfies Harris' existential conundrum as well as explains it. He just doesn't SEE it: NOTSEEISM!!
finishstrongdoc 1 year ago
@finishstrongdoc In a way, you're right. Harris doesn't see it. Just as you don't "see" the truth of Islam, or Hinduism, or Zoroastrianism, etc. One of you is seeing things that aren't there and I have a good hunch which one it is.
derrida114 1 year ago
@derrida114 Which one?
finishstrongdoc 1 year ago
@finishstrongdoc If I have to spell that comment out for you, I'm thinking you might be a lost cause. Harris is approaching things rationally based on the actual evidence we have. Your religious mythologies do nothing to answer the questions he's asking; they're stories, invented by people with no evidence aside from the fantasies playing out in their own minds, to satisfy their longing for another life. This isn't about giving up hope. It's about giving up delusion.
derrida114 1 year ago
@derrida114 Mythology didn't "invent" the rational soul, which all persons have had since the Garden of Eden, and which all forms of religion & belief rely upon. Contemplation of spiritual truth is not exclusive to religion, but the Holy Scriptures of Israelites provides prophesy of a Messiah: which Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled. A keen grasp of the obvious is needed here.
finishstrongdoc 1 year ago
@finishstrongdoc So it's "obvious" that a 2000-year-old Jewish zombie is the answer to all of Harris' questions? I don't think you're getting the point here. We have no good evidence of the supernatural. We do have good evidence that our consciousness is a product of our brains. Harris merely wants to probe it to discover whether or not we can use our attention to better effect. Nothing more.
derrida114 1 year ago
@derrida114 Surely you don't believe that our consciousness is best engaged by ONLY contemplating "things below"? How, then do we disengage from the existential conundrum we find ourselves in? If materialism doesn't provide happiness, then we MUST conclude there is something more, or something lost, that will complete our happiness, beyond the "flesh". The head isn't above the groin by accident. And we do stand upright, above irrational animals. The signs are there,maybe a little too obvious.
finishstrongdoc 1 year ago
@finishstrongdoc "If materialism doesn't provide happiness, then we MUST conclude there is something more..." Why? Why assume the universe wants us to be happy? Or cares about us? By the way, bonobos can walk upright just like us, and they're arguably a more peaceful species. Your grand assumptions about what you deserve as a human being are the only obvious thing here. You're an animal. Deal with it. The universe owes you nothing. Try looking for facts, not what you *want* to be true.
derrida114 1 year ago
@derrida114 But you Do want bonobos to be happy, don't you? I do too, but they will chew your face off, and we won't count it against his nature, will we? We are animals with a rational soul, and free intellect, and free will. Other than that, we're not really good candidates for survival amongst bonobolanders. And we DO want happiness but just don't seem fit for the project without non-physical help.Drugs are a substitute for spirituality. Lots of other false gods of the flesh out there,too.
finishstrongdoc 1 year ago
@finishstrongdoc I didn't say we don't want to be happy. We obviously do. So do bonobos. But to say there must be some supernatural force out there conspiring to help us is a total non sequitur. And for the record, a bonobo will not chew your face off. They haven't even been observed killing a member of their own species (so far a much better record than us). By the way, it helps to learn a few facts instead of just typing whatever pops into your head. Be well, dude (or dudette). Cheers.
derrida114 1 year ago
@derrida114 The poor bonobo must kill SOMETHING to survive, even if it's a plant;its called the Law of Necessity. WE need MORE; that's my point Harris' point, too. But he concludes hopelessness, while I don't. The Law of Necessity works beyond the physical; have you never heard Beethoven and wondered "where'd THAT come from"?
finishstrongdoc 1 year ago
@finishstrongdoc I did not say there *can't* be a supernatural force, just that we have no good evidence that there is. Sam Harris is not concluding that we must be hopeless; he's trying to grapple with the evidence as it stands - which is that we're on our own, existentially speaking. If you want to assume an invisible wizard is helping you, fine. That's your call, dude.
derrida114 1 year ago 16
@derrida114 Care to try a little "science project"? Starve a bonobo in a cage for a week, then you go into the cage with the favorite bonobo snack in your hand , and play "keepaway" with the gentle creature. Who will you 'blame" if bonobo rips your hand off? Remember, you said there are no supernatural forces out ther that are conspiring to help us, so you can't blame God if the experiment leaves you a few fingers short.
finishstrongdoc 1 year ago
@finishstrongdoc What the hell are you talking about? My bonobo example had nothing to do with "the law of necessity." I was merely trying to show that your assumptions about humanity's inherent greatness (and spiritual significance) were misplaced.
derrida114 1 year ago 10
@derrida114 The bonobo's nature is to take the food that's "his" because he is hungry, nothing more, no"property rights issues" involved at all. We humans don't take food that's not given to us by consent of the giver; we could be arrested for theft if we did otherwise. Which "nature" is "greater", bonobo or human? You may also choose "God", but for now, let's just assume there are only two choices available. It's your call.
finishstrongdoc 1 year ago
What type of meditation did sam harris practice?
DrInfidel 1 year ago
@DrInfidel
Probably vippassana, because it is the central practice of Buddhism.
unimind24 1 year ago
I have the uneasy feeling that in parts of their latest talks both Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins are moving a little too close to New Age mystical cloudinesses as they try to "expand " their discourse on the fetters of Religious Belief. If they should do so, I hope they apply science and rationality to evaluate their conclusions or findings in such areas.
lohkoon 1 year ago
I was born in a Buddhist society and there is no omnipotent God mentioned in any of it's scriptures, it is more atheistic than any other system of beliefs, and Buddha rejected all such ideas of his days. Sam Harris seems to understand Buddhist philosophies very well. PS. I'm an atheist.
Achilles9924 1 year ago
He too facilely discounts memory:remembering BETTER TIMES,..counting it fortunate that things COULD have been so much worse.Not perfection?true------but not Panglossian,either.
djnross 1 year ago
Anybody who swears to anything wholly human in supposed origin will never attain a grasp of that which transcends their 'rational' or 'reasonable' realm. This fellow may catch a glimpse of something pleasing, but it's really just a blind devotee of committed skepticism on an excursion into a realm without any necessary tools or means of coping with his journey, of making it consequential, of making it progressive. No matter how long he dwells therein, nothing shall be brought back out.
AspiringScoundrel 2 years ago
AspiringScoundrel, no disrespect intended, but it takes a pretty breathtaking degree of arrogance to presume to know what someone else is feeling/experiencing better than they. Just because you experience transcendence via belief in supernatural propositions, doesn't mean that that is the only way.
sam51092 2 years ago 2
Hey look: it's the guy with all the answers. And at the modest age of 22. Why aren't you using your amazing knowledge to save the world instead of just posting pseduo-intellectual bullshit on youtube?
PtrckSh 2 years ago
@PtrckSh Why aren't the millions of priests saving the world instead of preaching unintelligent, illogical bs in real-life and on Youtube?
You see, when I can use your exact rationality against you, you know you're making a very weak argument.
iSOBigD 1 year ago
@iSOBigD... That was a response to "Aspiring Scoundrel" and his previous posts, which were ignorantly critical of the Harris talk, not a response to the Harris talk itself. Even if it was a response to the Harris talk, I don't see how my post could be confused for an argument of any sort. I'd prefer to think of it as an insult.
PtrckSh 1 year ago
Brilliant vid. One of the most effective things we can do to oppose irrationality is to break religion's claim to monopoly over spirituality. Simply calling all spiritual experience 'hallucinations', as Dawkins does, is not going to work with people who have actually experienced it and know it to be perhaps the most profound form of experience human beings can have. Not to disparage Dawkins, I admire him greatly, but such people would be far more likely to simply dismiss Dawkins' view as barren.
sam51092 2 years ago
@sam51092 Well until these experiences have been proven to have spiritual aspects - whatever 'spiritual' means - they really are nothing more than hallucinations. They can be negative, or, they can be the most profound human experience ever, completely transforming someone's life. Either way, the only thing that has been proven about them is the brain activity that occurs with them. People tack on the 'spiritual' label to somehow reflect the epic proportions of the experience itself.
controllerbrain 2 years ago
'proven to have spiritual aspects - whatever 'spiritual' means'.
This demand is meaningless without defining 'spirituality'. Sam Harris only uses the word to mean the attempt to overcome suffering in the human condition, by means of training the mind (meditation). So if it overcomes suffering, then it has proven to have 'spiritual aspects' in this sense.
sam51092 2 years ago
'Spirituality' to me is like the word 'God'. Because it doesn't reference anything in the known reality, it has an elastic meaning. As a result, people define it how they want, then decide whether it exists in the real world. But if you look the word up, it refers to 'an intangible, metaphysical essence part of a person' - something that is just as mythical as any theistic belief. In Sam's case 'healing meditation' is the better, more accurate term, but lacks the punch that 'spirituality' has.
controllerbrain 2 years ago
You're right about the elastic meaning. Nevertheless there might be something to be said for atheists claiming the word for themselves, shedding the 'metaphysical' from the definition, just to show that an atheist's life isn't barren, as many theists think. Doing so might well be a real eye-opener for theists who just assume that the supernatural and the transcendent are inseparable. Or maybe 'transcendence' is a better term. It's up to the individual.
sam51092 2 years ago
Harris has always said that Human beings are spiritual beings,what he stresses is that we can be Rational and still be spiritual,without having to beleive in mythology and fairy tales
What I think is.
The approach and way to achieve this without any Dogmatic system of belief is to look inward, to know your own mind and this is something only a truly rational person can deeply achieve.
Harris only uses Buddhism as an example of self mental exploration and there are many many sects of Buddhism.
EveryHumanBeing 2 years ago 40
@EveryHumanBeing what does know your mind mean ?
AIMANALI 1 year ago
@AIMANALI To be aware of its investigative parametrics.To understand that which distinguishes "what is" from what "we wish were".
djnross 1 year ago
@djnross thx
AIMANALI 1 year ago
@AIMANALI Certainly.
djnross 1 year ago
@EveryHumanBeing But "Be Spiritual" means we have a spirit or it means self mental exploration...my point is if he thinks we have a spirit and after death our spirit will continue?
VOD713 1 year ago
@EveryHumanBeing Yes but in meditation, you always want to reduce the amount of thought. Say you have an issue in your life, that you keep grinding in your brain. A rational person would try to rationalize it away. But a contemplative, someone who is familiar with eastern traditions and their meditation techniques would not do so. He would handle it in a very different way, he would handle it in a way which involves trying to reduce the negative thoughts
SikhiArt 1 year ago
are these sam harries pictures and if so whay is he using chakras i thought they were 'irrational'
gujjucheap 2 years ago
Harris is doing nothing of the sort. I threw up some images to go along with the talk Harris gave, nothing more. If you'll notice, the chakra image pops up just as Harris mentions the possibility that eastern thought is a "mere catalog of psychopathology and religious delusion and deliberate fraud."
In his speeches, Harris has been quite clear that Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, etc. contain elements every bit as irrational and unlikely as western religion.
derrida114 2 years ago
@derrida114 I'm actually glad you pointed that out, because I once heard Hitchens say that "turns out his some kind of buddhist..." or something along those lines, about Sam Harris.
Thank you for posting this.
Scofield0085 1 year ago
@derrida114 thx for the clip...were is the rest please ?
AIMANALI 1 year ago
@AIMANALI Just search "Sam Harris AAI 07."
derrida114 1 year ago
@gujjucheap I think they were used as a representation of what has come from the beliefs in such ideals. The people who meditated back in the day used chakras to help explain themselves. Today we obviously seek other understandings. The point is, the spiritual experience that led to explaining chakras is the same spiritual experience Sam is referring to, just under the hood of science.
BFGUITAR 1 year ago
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mattyohe 2 years ago
awesome video
andyman8300 2 years ago 9
EXCELLENT.
Well don Sam Harris.
mohfoz77 2 years ago 6