Sam Harris: Science can answer moral questions

http://www.ted.com Questions of good and evil, right and wrong are commonly thought unanswerable by science. But Sam Harris argues that science can -- and should -- be an authority on moral issues, shaping human values and setting out what constitutes a good life.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

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  Science & Technology

[dannyboy3033]

Religion is man made, that's why there's so many of them and why it hugs the borders of old empires. If you were to fall ill and had the choice of two hospitals, one religious where people gather around your bed and pray for you and maybe sprinkle holly water on you or one that uses the products of science, alert to the most current thinking and technology which would you choose? Science constantly questions itself unlike religion and is the reason humanity has progressed to where it is.

[Anil C R]

Sam Harris is an amazing speaker.

[Socrates Ofny]

Harris came out against gun control after the sandy hook massacre. He is a disgusting bigot. He wants to drop nuclear bombs on Muslims. Most recent mass murders were Atheist. Atheism is an infection like rabies. Both Harris and Dawkins , the reformed atheist who converted to agnosticism, are mainly entertainers who mainly refuse to debate people they know will make them look bad. They are money grubbers taking a bunch of not very bright atheists for a ride.

[Arrin Stoner]

I do not agree with Sam Harris on all of his thoughts but this is pure genius!

[Pythagoras211]

Science will not provide us with moral facts. It won't because people don`t want to know the truth about their moral lives. The same thing can be seen in mainstream psychology, where people are being told that they're biological machines that don`t have free will, and that mental disorders are mostly the result of genetic factors outside of their personal control. Nobody wants to take responsibility for depression for example, so people are willfully ignorant of its root causes.

[kragseven]

Humans and monkeys didn't come from the same ancestor. We are closest related to chimps and orangutangs but do not share a parent. Humans are a single line of great apes . There is no missing link

[mastertheillusion]

Religion holds a false argument. And science is not about what we want or prefer, its about exploring data and drawing conclusions and having others do the same, and other versions arrive as knowledge keeps progressing forward the truth forever marchs on, via exploration. Religion tells you 'we know' when we do not.

[chardsixteen]

actually no, humans and monkeys came from the same ancestor which is neither ^_^

[Hajjat]

What's new about his ideas? Seriously, I don't find anything particularly new/novel over what most educated people know about the relation between science and morality..

[dannyboy3033]

I don't know what religion you are, but some religions worldwide are stultifying, repressing and harming people daily. I don't see what you find so scary about my metaphor. Science learns from its mistakes or at least tries to and is constantly searching for answers. Religion by and large refers to an interpretation of a book or a divine being for answers. You refer to 'My' god, which is presumably the god you want. The secular scientific world is saving people every second.

[dannyboy3033]

I'm not familiar with American medical institutions as I'm from Scotland and am therefore familiar with the NHS. The NHS treats people based on their medical needs not on what they can pay.

Science is not a religion it is a method or an ethos to find empirical truths and is open to question within itself and to criticism generally. It's about evidence. You can't for example be excommunicated or have a fatwa put on you for questioning E-MC2, the opposite can't be said of religion.

[Richard Zhang]

the hmong's interaction and common issues with dealing with american medical institutions all but make your metaphor even scarier.

Yes science seems like a religion. But my religion is saving people today.

My god needs no one to fight for his way because his way is the way. Sounds like buddhist shit but when you begin to do some of the things the medical profession has and will accomplished....

The important thing to take from all of this is that culture controls,creates and molds the brain.