Sam Harris - Death and the Present Moment

A Celebration of Reason - 2012 Global Atheist Convention
13-15th April - Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre
Presented by the Atheist Foundation of Australia

http://atheistconvention.org.au
http://atheistfoundation.org.au

Sam Harris is a Co-Founder and CEO of Project Reason, a non-profit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society. He received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA.
http://www.samharris.org/

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[Merlln5by5]

Are 'new atheists' the ones that go beyond just thinking Christianity and the like are ridiculous, but actually say so? Because there is nothing 'new' about not believing there is a god personality.

Its funny, atheists are continually posing the question to themselves and each other "what if were wrong?" Whereas I do not think that thought is even allowed to enter the Christian's mind. Its a fascinatingly stubborn delusion to observe.

[jbutcher1983]

Christopher Hitchens leaves this earth and Sam Harris is there to pickup the controls and keep that train rolling. The podium says it all. It is a celebration of reason.

[Urasims]

Poorly done? I hope you're joking. How about this! You try and refute a single claim that he has made. You can't? You're a joke.

[Urasims]

He really doesn't fall into the bigot category.

Bigot:

noun

a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.

He has opinions about religion, but so does everyone. He isn't vehemently against religion. You actually fall into the category of bigotry. You seem to hate atheists more than he hates religion.

[Louis Savoy]

So, thanks for finding my arguments relatively adult. You still didn't tell me who you find insightful, worthy of respect, praiseworthy and so forth, but it's not a surprise. In any case, you are done here as you say, so quoting a relatively adult movie I watched, "Run little rabbit, run."

[Louis Savoy]

You're haughty and fail to nuance. Broad sweeping statements with a rich vocabulary are still a form of intellectual poverty. Harris' main insights include the value of "spiritual" experience, the danger of the term atheist vs rationalist, and the thoughts as an illusion (Buddhist originally, but so what?). His emphasis on dialogue, reason and questioning point to a sounder mode of behaviour. I guess that's not elitist enough for you.

[Socrates Ofny]

I'm done here. The only reason I started following these comments again is because for some mysterious reason YouTube started forwarding me peoples comments again after I turned that option off. That's the second time that happened. Very annoying. In closing I have to complement you on providing relatively adult arguments that are tough to disprove other than to say I and many others see things differently. Have fun.

[Socrates Ofny]

I objected to calling them "serious scientists". New atheists didn't reinvent atheism. Harris doesn't have any "insights", his ideas are basically poorly done rehashes of ideas that for the most part were abandoned decades ago. Nothing he has suggested point to practical solutions. Nothing. Ted Talks is full of lectures providing genuine practical solutions to real problems, not a bunch of sophomoric nonsense intended to titillate so that he can make more money.

[Socrates Ofny]

Listen, I'm hardly the only person calling Harris a bigot. He clearly meets the textbook definition of bigot - against religion in general and Islam specifically. There's a type of cognitive error called "cognitive dissonance" that prevents somebody being able to easily accept, among other things, negative facts/opinions about somebody or thing they admire. It's clear to me you have that with Harris. I don't smear all atheist because of one brand of scombag atheists - "new atheists".

[Urasims]

Atheist has absolutely nothing to do with humanism. Atheist just means a lack of beliefs in the supernatural or gods. How does that equate to humanism? Please, please educate yourself.