Sam Harris: Religion Convinces People to Pretend to Know Things They Cannot Know

[MrStardust85]

Sam for president! :D

[fekinel]

If there is a supernatural being that created the universe,

(which i doubt, as there is no reason to think there is)

I do not think this superior entity would be interested in what we ate on certain days of the week, or who we had sex with etc. etc.etc. (religious dogma)

if such a being does exist, it has nothing to do with man-made religions,

which are obviously a control tool to give the leaders power and money..

[mrlefty8]

All the Atheists who refuse to believe in anything are putting all their belief in this guy?!! SCARY!!! This guy's only objective is to make you doubt your beliefs. In God and in Christ. Not gonna work.

[Jayfoxpox]

@mrlefty8

Doubt is a beautiful thing. It makes you reconstruct your values from a more educated premise. You seem to be afraid of doubt which is very tenacious of you. Kind of like an ostrich sticking their head into the ground. Like one of Charles Sanders Peirce's four approaches to philosophy, the method of tenacity is an effective method to keep doubt away,but it's weakness is that you don't learn. Good day.

[mrlefty8]

@Jayfoxpox ....You live to DOUBT things around you YOU'RE afraid to embrace and understand. I don't need to reconstruct my Values because my faith is strong. If I were afraid of doubt, I'd be and Atheist because its easier to say God doesn't exist than it is to believe in something you can't see. "from a more educated premise" you say??? Is LOVE based on an educated premise??? Good day to you!!

[Jayfoxpox]

@mrlefty8

All I see in your post is a lot of pathos ,but no logos. You clearly are afraid of doubt and as you implied you never took a good look at your own values. To be an atheist is to be a skeptic and to be a skeptic is to doubt ,which means Atheism embraces doubt. It seems you're confused between doubt and reject. I can doubt ,but not reject. The benefit is that I keep an open mind. Good day sir and I sincerely hope you one day start doubting.

[mrlefty8]

@Jayfoxpox  Seriously!,..WHAT R U TALKING ABOUT???

[Jayfoxpox]

@mrlefty8

Educate yourself ,then you might know. At the very least brush up on some philosophy. Check out both sides of the argument from the atheist perspective and theist perspective. At the very best the arguments presented by Theist can only prove Deism.

[wayn0uk]

@mrlefty8 dictionary definition of delusion? some strange rationalisation, it's perfectly normal to love another human being, but don't use that evolutionary process to in some way explain your strange love of a god. God day to you!!

[LithiumLogica]

*watch video with Sam Harris*

*notice channel name*

*realize the channel name isn't a religious attempt at irony, but a heretical joke*

*laaaaaaaugh*

I see what you did there.

[mikeylikesit2675]

at 3:08 tell me that isnt Damn it feels good to be Gangsta! it sounds like they looped the first measure.

[allfitch84]

I think Hitchens brought up a good point about 'agnostics.' He said there isn't a middle ground, that you either believe in a god & supernatural or you don't. If you say "i'm agnostic," meaning you're not committing to either, or you don't know what you believe, then you're atheist. His reasoning was something about if you're saying "i don't know," it's essentially saying you don't believe in God(s), otherwise you'd say 'yes i believe.' So an agnostic is essentially an atheist by that position.

[SamCoreJ]

@allfitch84

I disagree. It means your saying you don't know. Forget about the sadistic Gods who send you to hell for not believing, you wouldn't mess about with being agnostic with those Gods. But agnostics are not ruling out some sort of God based on the fact they don't know. Its a legitimate view. What I think they fail to realise is that they wouldn't apply the same reason to something like a unicorn that roams the surface of the sun, even though they don't know.

[allfitch84]

@SamCoreJ Well, I say I don't know if God exists but am an atheist or better put an anti-theist. I don't rule out the possibility of God or a God, I just don't believe it. And the Unicorn thing sounds kinda like the 'teapot' thing that Dawkins refers to...

[SamCoreJ]

@allfitch84

Thats because it is similar. It also shares similarities with the 'invisible pink unicorn' he sometimes uses. I think he may have been reading my YouTube comments to be honest with you.

[oracleofaltoona]

When an atheist finds inconsistencies/ absurdities in religious thought or practice they get all happy. No 1 religion or human being is without internal inconsistencies and just pain foolishness and even cruelty.This includes many atheists. Atheists need 2 remember that a purely rational approach can lead to cruelty as well as can a religious approach. Also, the uncoupling ideas of morality and suffering is the result of doctrinaire and fundamentalist thinking.Not religion per se.

[oracleofaltoona]

What does believing in the divinity of Jesus Christ actually mean? He himself was crucified for declaring that he was divine -- as were some Sufi mystics. What did they mean by saying that were "God"? That is an important question many atheists and doctrinaire or rigidly orthodox religious people do not really address.

[lordgodheretic]

and*

[lordgodheretic]

@BrightLight57 sorry bud, but 1500 year old scripture is a tad irrelevant to an argument about reason and human well being. especially considering the supposed guiding force of the scripture you just quoted (the judeo-christian god, of course) murders thousands upon thousands of men, woman in children for the good of mankind. ;)

[sampajanna]

I do like what he's saying here, but it's a shame he's lumping all religion in the same basket. Theistic religions are superficially very similar, but what about non-theistic religions such as Buddhism? Here Sam Harris talks about suffering, which is actually the core focus of Buddhism. It's not a belief system but a tool for understanding the self-created causes for stress in one's life, in this very moment; understanding not through conjecture but through mindful experience.

[buktomsin]

@sampajanna Sam is buddhist.

[ajcim]

The "good book" is full of contradictions, vengance, genocide, slavery, child sacrifice, incest, pettiness, and evil. All of these words, by the way, describe the character and actions of the supposed author, God. This IS NOT a good book. It is immoral in every sense. The quest for truth can only begin when this book is viewed for what it is; first century, middle eastern literature. Sam understands the way to truth is by letting go of dogma and embracing curiosity, reason, and skepticism.

[BrightLight57]

Sam Sam Sam...The truth is solid, always was and always will be...

2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

[Horathgar42]

@BrightLight57 The bible cannot be used as proof. Its got too many mistakes and nothing in it is repeatable, or has been repeated outside of hearsay.

[buktomsin]

@BrightLight57 lol which name yahweh? jesus? jehovah?

[kd1s]

Regarding knowing things one cannot know here's how I see it. A lot of Christians think they KNOW the mind of their god. Drives me nuts that they can be so stupid.

[eurisko67]

@kd1s I agree with you 100%. And the scarier part is, what happens when you put those stupid people in positions of power. If this religion infection continues, our world is doomed.

[JEFF9K]

Why doesn't the cameraman make up his mind?

[Zentz29]

good stuff!

[highhorse313]

Very interesting especially the religious certainty aspect - how can anyone be certain?

[DavidRandallCurtis]

Sam at his best! 5*

[richdorks73]

He says it so well.

I would be overjoyed if there were no negative comments towards what Sam has said.

Unfortunately, if that were the case, it would probably mean those who should be watching are not.

[skibee50]

The odds are 50/50 for a nuke going off How long did it take you to calculate that ? lol

[Belloran24]

Sam Harris is so incredibly reasonable. It's a shame that some people can't see that, but instead want to demonize him and other atheists who are actually just trying to help society.

[Matur1n]

"Sam Harris is so incredibly reasonable"

Seriously? isn't he the guy that entertained the idea of a nuclear first strike against Islam? that is not what I call reasonable.

[tarfpir]

I know Harris has made arguments that more less support aggression against certain Islam elements, and even countries.  However, where did you get the nuclear first strike line?

[DickJohnson3434]

Harris said if Islamic regimes, dreaming of paradise acquire long range nuclear weapons, a nuclear first strike may be the only way to ensure our survival.

He's not advocating it. He wants open discussion to defeat religious ideology, not violence of any kind. To stress it's importance, he considered the consequences of allowing uncompromising, divisive, religious insanity to continue to go unchallenged.

One inescapable consequence is nuclear war, where first strike is always an option.

[EatsYouUp]

@Belloran24 exactly the reason he doesn't like the word "Atheist" is because that word demonizes people into a "non" group. If you watch some more of his videos you will see he doesn't like the word atheist because it demonizes rational, sensible, scientific people....

[no1hoopsman]

@EatsYouUp ... I think it's also a problem with the word God as well..paints a different picture in the mind of everybody in an instant...bit like calling someone a Nazi

[Horathgar42]

@Belloran24 Its just funny that the attempts to demonize him only lead people to listen to what he has to say, and its hard to take offense to almost anything he says, because he's exceedingly reasonable.

[Assaultpredator]

@Belloran24

Pssst, don't call Sam an atheist :)

He, like me, disparages the term.

Etymologically WE ARE ALL AGNOSTIC.

A = without

gnostic = knowledge

now, what you believe is a whole different story.

Just like with politics, claiming to be a democrat or republican instantly brings ideas into a person's head as to what you think of certain social issues. It's the same thing as agnostic with how i say everyone should say they're independent and TAKE IT ISSUE BY ISSUE.

dogmatic labelists

[Strangerinasland]

@Assaultpredator Without knowledge = without belief. The word agnostic was coined only because some people didn't like being called atheist not because it means anything different.

[Assaultpredator]

@Strangerinasland

You were either extremely horrible at math, or completely clueless with what my comment even meant.

Etymological evidence is what I gave. Common use of a term in no way defines a term. Sorry.

and, technically EVERYONE is agnostic. Sam Harris would be the first to admit this, and in fact presses this point in one of his lectures in which he calls for the abolishment of people calling themselves atheists. I have to agree with him based on the fact that there's athesits like u

[Strangerinasland]

@Assaultpredator Because there's atheists like me? How the heck do you think you know what I'm like?

[andygray]

@Assaultpredator Hi I hate to contradict you but I just watched several Sam Harris clips on You Tube. He begins a couple of them by saying "an atheist like me" or 'atheists like us'

[Assaultpredator]

@andygray

If you don't even know what I'm talking about in his lecture called "the 'dangers' of atheism" he lays out what he means.

Of course he says atheist or atheist like me. Because people like you wouldn't know what he meant if he made it a point to explain his position EVERY time.

Come on, google is your friend. Good day.

[SamCoreJ]

@andygray

Strictly speaking you cannot be 100% sure there is not God without pretending to know something you can't possibly know (thats what religious people do). So non-deluded people must admit we are a little bit agnostic. But not to add credibility to there being a God, we would in the same way be agnostic towards a belief in a giant unicorn that roams the surface of the sun. While we cannot 100% rule it out, common sense kicks in.

[allfitch84]

@SamCoreJ well according to research on common sense less that 7% of the population actually has it haha

[Assaultpredator]

@Strangerinasland Who don't know the first thing about coherent arguments or philosophical reasoning.

Please refrain from further "PROOFS," of you literally contradicting yourself.

the air of superiority is rather annoying. Just because you are an atheist doesn't mean you're in some smart club, no matter what you thought in highschool about the matter.

[Strangerinasland]

@Assaultpredator I didn't contradict myself.

Don't blame your inferiority complex on me.

[maptlbh]

@Belloran24 what's less a shame is that this only has 4.6K views

[seedo201]

@Belloran24 I thaught the same untill I heard his criticision on islam which shows that he didnt even read the book or tried to understood it. that is extremely unreasonable to criticize soemthing you didnt made a reasonable research on it. he always criticize islam with things not islamic.

[baronmorris]

Go Sam!

[4everkeim]

yay Sam Harris! by the way I am certainly not first.