Campus Protests, Antisemitism, and Western Values

Clarifying the Moral Landscape

Facts & Values

5 Myths about Israel and the War in Gaza

What Is "Islamophobia"?

The Bright Line Between Good and Evil

The Sin of Moral Equivalence

In this episode of the podcast, Sam discusses the recent social protests and civil unrest, in light of what we know about racism and police violence in America.

Can We Pull Back From The Brink?

Dear Making Sense and Waking Up subscribers— Those of you who have been listening to my podcast or following me on Twitter know that I’m quite worried about the emerging coronavirus pandemic. Barring some extraordinarily good luck, I believe that we have some very rough months ahead of us.

A Personal Note

As many of you know, the Day of Reflection conference, scheduled for November 17 in NYC, has been cancelled, and some hundreds of ticket holders are now left seeking refunds. I was forced to pull out of this event nearly two months ago and have said very little about it since.

A few thoughts on the implosion of Pangburn Philosophy

Sam Harris & Jordan Peterson in Vancouver (Night One)

Sam Harris & Jordan Peterson in Vancouver (Night Two)

Here are some things that you will hear when you sit down to dinner with the vanguard of the Intellectual Dark Web: There are fundamental biological differences between men and women. Free speech is under siege. Identity politics is a toxic ideology that is tearing American society apart.

By Bari Weiss

Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web

Suppose we had robots perfectly identical to men, women and children and we were permitted by law to interact with them in any way we pleased. How would you treat them? That is the premise of “Westworld,” the popular HBO series that opened its second season Sunday night.

By Paul Bloom and Sam Harris

It's Westworld. What's Wrong With Cruelty to Robots?

In April of 2017, I published a podcast with Charles Murray, coauthor of the controversial (and endlessly misrepresented) book The Bell Curve. These are the most provocative claims in the book: Human “general intelligence” is a scientifically valid concept. IQ tests do a pretty good job of measuring it.

Ezra Klein: Editor-at-Large

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Sam Harris and Bill Maher spoke about President Trump’s travel ban, Islamic extremism, and other topics on REAL TIME (2/3/17).

REAL TIME with Bill Maher

Winning the War of Ideas

Beneficial AI 2017A conference at Asilomar organized by the Future of Life InstitutePanel discussion moderated by Max Tegmark, including Elon Musk, Stuart Russell, Bart Selman, Ray Kurzweil, David Chalmers, Nick Bostrom, Demis Hassabis, Sam Harris, and Jaan Tallinn.

A panel discussion featuring Sam Harris.

Superintelligence: Science or Fiction?

President Trump has had a busy first week in office, displaying the anarchic grandiosity, callousness, and ineptitude of which he seems uniquely capable. He is every inch what we knew him to be: a malignant Chauncey Gardiner. And now our institutions have begun to shudder at his whim. The fact that atheists like me can’t find the time to worry about the religious crackpots he has brought with him into power is a measure of how bad the man is. Christian fundamentalism has become the least of our concerns.

A Few Thoughts on the “Muslim Ban”

I recently interviewed the psychologist Jordan B. Peterson on the Waking Up podcast. As I said at the beginning of our conversation, I’d received more listener requests for him than for Neil deGrasse Tyson, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Edward Snowden—or, indeed, any other person on earth.

Speaking of "Truth" with Jordan B. Peterson

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Intellectual Honesty Wherever we look, we find otherwise sane men and women making extraordinary efforts to avoid changing their minds. Of course, many people are reluctant to be seen changing their minds, even though they might be willing to change them in private, seemingly on their own terms—perhaps while reading a book.

What scientific term or concept ought to be more widely known?

Edge Question 2017

Neural correlates of maintaining one’s political beliefs in the face of counterevidence Jonas T. Kaplan, Sarah I. Gimbel &amp; Sam Harris Nature: Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 39589 (2016) doi:10.1038/srep39589 Abstract People often discount evidence that contradicts their firmly held beliefs. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms that govern this behavior.

When the Brain Won’t Change Its Mind

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Over at Frontpage Magazine and Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer has published an essay titled <a href="http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265146/sam-harris-and-collapse-counter-jihad-left-robert-spencer">“Sam Harris and the Collapse of the Counter-Jihad Left: A Failure of Nerve.”</a> Here is my brief response.

Reply to Robert Spencer

It has been five years, my friend. Five short years since you taught us how to die with wisdom and wit. And five long ones, wherein the world taught us how deeply we would miss you. Syria. Safe spaces. President Trump. What would you have made of these horrors?.

Missing Hitch

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In this episode of the Waking Up podcast, Sam Harris talks to biologist David Krakauer about information, complex systems, and the future of humanity.

Complexity & Stupidity

It is a cliché, of course, to claim that a presidential election is the most important in living memory. But we arrived at that point in the 2016 campaign many months ago, when both sides declared their opponent unqualified for office. Unfortunately, this time the cliché is true, and one side is actually right.

Trump in Exile

TED Talk: Can we build AI without losing control over it?

In this episode of the Waking Up podcast, Sam Harris talks to economist Glenn C. Loury about racism, police violence, the Black Lives Matter movement, and related topics.

Racism and Violence in America

An article by Kate Murphy in the New York Times discusses a recent controversy in the field of fMRI over statistics. Although Murphy correctly observes that flawed methods of data analysis are a problem in neuroimaging, she falsely implies that our 2009 study of the neural correlates of belief employed the methods in question.

The New Phrenology?

In this episode of the Waking Up podcast, Sam Harris talks to physicist David Deutsch about the reach and power of human knowledge, the future of artificial intelligence, and the survival of civilization.

Surviving the Cosmos

The following is part of a speech that I think Hillary Clinton should deliver between now and November. Its purpose is to prevent a swing toward Trump by voters who find Clinton’s political correctness on the topic of Islam and jihadism a cause for concern, especially in the aftermath of any future terrorist attacks in the U.S. or Europe.

What Hillary Clinton Should Say about Islam and the “War on Terror”

Sam Harris talks to Dave Rubin about politics, Islam, free will, psychedelics, meditation, AI and other topics.

The Rubin Report #2

Known as “Mad Max” for his unorthodox ideas and passion for adventure, Max Tegmark’s scientific interests range from precision cosmology to the ultimate nature of reality, all explored in his new popular book Our Mathematical Universe.

The Multiverse & You (& You & You & You…)

The following is a transcript from my Waking Up podcast (<a href="https://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/shouldering-the-burden-of-history">“Shouldering the Burden of History: A Crosscast with Dan Carlin”</a>). The text has been lightly edited for clarity readability.

Shouldering the Burden of History: A Conversation with Dan Carlin

I consider Salon to be among the worst offenders of the new pseudo-journalism, and I have long maintained a personal boycott of the website. I ask my publishers to ignore any requests from its editors for interviews or for review copies of my books. And on the rare occasions that Salon publishes good work.

Sam Harris: The Salon Interview

Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz discuss their book, Islam and the Future of Tolerance, with Tony Jones on LATELINE.

A War of Ideas

I hesitate to promote this interview, because it shows me at the end of my patience (and I stay there for 2 hours). However, I did manage to express almost everything I think about the “regressive Left” in general and about my least-honest critics in particular.

Welcome to the End of My Patience

Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz discuss their new book, Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue, with MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell.

Talking about Islamism with Lawrence O’Donnell

If you have ten minutes to spare, I recommend watching this video, because it encapsulates better than most how difficult it is to even discuss the threat of political Islam.

How to Pass as a 'Moderate Muslim' in the Media

Never Stop Lying

Mark Riebling has been an architect of post-9/11 “intelligence-driven policing,” co-founding and serving as research director for the Center for Policing Terrorism. He received his degree in philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley and is the author of Wedge: The Secret War Between the FBI and CIA. ...

A Q&A With Mark Riebling

Rethinking "Hitler’s Pope"

This panel discussion was held at Harvard’s Kennedy Forum on September 14, 2015. Sam Harris Neuroscientist; Co-founder and Chief Executive, Project Reason; Author, The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, among others Maajid Nawaz Author, Radical; Founding Chairman, Quilliam Juliette Kayyem (moderator) Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School.

Islam & the Future of Tolerance

By Maajid Nawaz and Sam Harris It’s time to confront Islamism head on—without cries of Islamophobia. Holding Islam up to scrutiny, rationally and ethically, must not be confused with anti-Muslim bigotry. Ours was an inauspicious first meeting. Nawaz a former Muslim extremist turned liberal reformer, had just participated in a public debate about the nature.

We Need to Talk About Islam’s Jihadism Problem

Sam Harris talks to Dave Rubin about free speech, religion, foreign policy, and other topics.

Clearing the Air with Dave Rubin

My wife, Annaka Harris, has created several guided meditations designed for children (ages 6-10). Enjoy! —SH            

Guided Meditations for Children

Sam Harris and Noam Chomsky attempt to have a conversation about the ethics of war, terrorism, state surveillance, and related topics—and fail.

As Demonstrated by Sam Harris and Noam Chomsky

The Limits of Discourse

Jonathan Gottschall is a Distinguished Fellow in the English Department at Washington &amp; Jefferson College. His research at the intersection of science and art has frequently been covered in outlets such as The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, Scientific American, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Nature, Science,...

A Conversation between Sam Harris and Jonathan Gottschall

Fighting

Johann Hari is a British journalist who has written for many of the world’s leading newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Le Monde, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, The Nation, Slate, El Mundo, and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was an op-ed columnist for The Independent for nine years.

Sam Harris and Johann Hari discuss the “war on drugs”

A War Well Lost

This video is well worth studying. It features Asim Qureshi, research director for CAGE, an Islamist front group that has managed to pass itself off as a UK human rights organization.

Theocracy with a Human Face

Dr. Nina L. Shapiro is the director of pediatric otolaryngology and a professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. A graduate of Harvard Medical School and Cornell University, Shapiro has been honored with several prestigious awards, including the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology Awards for Clinical and Basic Science Research, the UCLA...

A Conversation with Nina L. Shapiro

The Truth About Vaccines

Graeme Wood writes for The Atlantic, where he covers a wide range of subjects, including education, science, books, and politics, and he has reported frequently from the Middle East since the early 2000s. In the March issue of the magazine, he published a lengthy investigation of the ideology of the so-called Islamic State.

Sam Harris and Graeme Wood discuss the Islamic State

The True Believers

Episode Info Sam Harris gets back in the VBW ring for another round on moral responsibility, ethical theories, and the grounds for our obligations to other people. Are we at a genuine stalemate when it comes to blame and desert? Is Tamler a closet consequentialist? Is Sam a closet pluralist?.

Sam Harris, David Pizarro, and Tamler Sommers keep talking

Very Bad Wizards Interview #2

Mick Ebeling is a film/television/commercial producer, philanthropist, technology trailblazer, author, entrepreneur, and public speaker. He was one of Advertising Age’s “Top 50 Most Creative People of 2014” and winner of the 2014 Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year Award. Ebeling is CEO of Not Impossible Labs, an organization that develops creative solutions to real-world problems.

An Interview with Mick Ebeling

The Art and Science of the Possible

Michael Shermer is the Publisher of Skeptic magazine, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, the host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. His latest book is The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom. Michael was kind enough to...

An Interview with Michael Shermer

On Being Right about Right and Wrong

It seems increasingly likely that we will one day build machines that possess superhuman intelligence. We need only continue to produce better computers—which we will, unless we destroy ourselves or meet our end some other way. We already know that it is possible for mere matter to acquire “general intelligence”.

A Response to the 2015 Edge Question

Can We Avoid a Digital Apocalypse?

0:00-47:00—Intro and costs and benefits of religion 47:00-1:17:00—Drugs, the self, free will 1:17:30-end—Blame, guilt, vengeance, moral responsibility David Pizarro is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. 

Sam Harris, David Pizarro, and Tamler Sommers talk (and then talk some more)

The Very Bad Wizards Interview #1

Phil Zuckerman is a professor of sociology and secular studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. He is the author of Living the Secular Life, Faith No More, and Society Without God. He has also edited several volumes, including Atheism and Secularity, Sex and Religion, and The Social Theory of W.E.B. Du Bois.

An Interview with Phil Zuckerman

The Frontiers of Secularism

A Conversation Between Sam Harris and Dan Harris at the Rubin Museum

Meditation and the Nature of the Self

  I recently sat down with Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks to discuss my most controversial views about Islam, the war on terror, and related topics. It was, of necessity, a defensive performance on my part—more like a deposition than an ordinary conversation.

The Young Turks Interview

1. C.J. Werleman, a writer for Salon and Alternet, has made a habit of publicly misrepresenting my views. 2. When I first noticed this behavior, I contacted him, initiating a brief and unpleasant email exchange. 3. After that exchange, Werleman went on to misrepresent my views with even greater fervor. 4.

A Response to a Charge of Plagiarism

Just the Facts

Let me briefly illustrate how this works. Although I could cite hundreds of examples from the past two weeks alone, here is what I woke up to this morning: Some person who goes by the name of @dan_verg_ on Twitter took the most easily misunderstood sentence in The End of Faith out of (its absolutely...

On the Mechanics of Defamation

From time to time one discovers a person so good at his job that it is almost impossible to imagine him doing anything else. I recently had this experience listening to Dan Carlin’s podcast Hardcore History. Carlin’s way of speaking is so in tune with his subject, and his enthusiasm so contagious.

A Very Strong Recommendation

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History

My recent collision with Ben Affleck on Bill Maher’s show, Real Time, has provoked an extraordinary amount of controversy. It seems a postmortem is in order. For those who haven’t seen the show, most of what I write here won’t make sense unless you watch my segment: So what happened there?.

Can Liberalism Be Saved From Itself?

Dan Harris is a co-anchor of Nightline and the weekend edition of Good Morning America on ABC News. He has reported from all over the world, covering wars in Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, and Iraq, and producing investigative reports in Haiti, Cambodia, and the Congo. He has also spent many years covering religion in America, despite the...

A Conversation with Dan Harris

Taming the Mind

I was recently interviewed onstage at George Washington University by Michelle Boorstein, a religion reporter for the Washington Post. The next day, Boorstein published an article summarizing our conversation, in which she excerpted a few quotations that made me appear somewhat sexist. I believe that these quotations are accurate, but they are also incomplete and misleading. Boorstein seemed to anticipate that they would spark a little controversy, and they have.

“I’m Not the Sexist Pig You’re Looking For”

As an atheist, I cannot help wondering when the scrim of pretense and delusion will be finally burned away—either by the clear light of reason or by a surfeit of horror meted out to innocents by the parties of God.

Sleepwalking Toward Armageddon

In recent weeks, Israeli bombs have rained down on Gaza, and images of the resulting death and destruction have inflamed world opinion. Never mind that the government in Gaza is run by Hamas, an avowedly genocidal organization that uses its own civilians as human shields. Nor does it matter that some of this carnage seems...

Commentary on Paul Bloom's "Against Empathy"

“Dead babies are not an argument”

The following is an edited transcript of a 90-minute telephone conversation that took place on August 6, 2014. I hope readers find it useful.—SH *  *  * Harris: First, Andrew, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to speak with me. As you know, this began with a blog post I wrote to...

A Conversation Between Sam Harris and Andrew Sullivan

Making Sense of Gaza

I’d like to begin, once again, by congratulating Ryan Born for winning our essay contest. The points he raised certainly merit a response. Also, I should alert readers to a change in the expected format of this debate: Originally, I had planned to have an extended conversation with the winning author, with Russell Blackford serving...

A Response to Ryan Born

The Moral Landscape Challenge: The Winning Essay

The Winning Essay

The Moral Landscape Challenge

I can now say, at the advanced age of 47, that I no longer take my health for granted. In truth, I’ve always been a bit of a hypochondriac—but, as any hypochondriac aware of the relevant science can tell you, I am perfectly justified in this. If I wash my hands more often than your...

Adventures in the Land of Illness

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Mogadishu in 1969. The daughter of a political opponent of the Somali dictatorship, she lived in exile, moving from Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia and then to Kenya. Like 98 percent of Somali girls, Ayaan was subjected to female genital mutilation. She embraced Islam while she was growing up, but...

A Conversation with Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Lifting the Veil of “Islamophobia”

I am often asked what will replace organized religion. The answer, I believe, is nothing and everything. Nothing need replace its ludicrous and divisive doctrines—such as the idea that Jesus will return to earth and hurl unbelievers into a lake of fire, or that death in defense of Islam is the highest good. These are...

The Path Between Pseudo-Spirituality and Pseudo-Science

Peter Watson is an intellectual historian, journalist, and the author of thirteen books, including The German Genius, The Medici Conspiracy, and The Great Divide. He has written for The Sunday Times, The New York Times, the Observer, and the Spectator. He lives in London. He was kind enough to answer a few question about his...

An Interview with Peter Watson

The Significance of Our Insignificance

My recent collision with Daniel Dennett on the topic of free will has caused me to reflect on how best to publicly resolve differences of opinion. In fact, this has been a recurring theme of late. In August, I launched the Moral Landscape Challenge, an essay contest in which I invited readers to attack my...

The Pleasure of Changing My Mind

Dear Dan— I’d like to thank you for taking the time to review Free Will at such length. Publicly engaging me on this topic is certainly preferable to grumbling in private. Your writing is admirably clear, as always, which worries me in this case, because we appear to disagree about a great many things, including...

A Response to Daniel Dennett

The Marionette’s Lament

My next book, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, will be published by Simon &amp; Schuster in September. This is the third cover that David Drummond has created for me (along with those for Lying and Free Will). Great job,  David!

Coming in September

Daniel Dennett and I agree about many things, but we do not agree about free will. Dan has been threatening to set me straight on this topic for several years now, and I have always encouraged him to do so, preferably in public and in writing. He has finally produced a review of my book...

A Review by Daniel C. Dennett

Reflections on FREE WILL

From Edge.org: Science advances by discovering new things and developing new ideas. Few truly new ideas are developed without abandoning old ones first. As theoretical physicist Max Planck (1858-1947) noted, “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and...

My Response to the 2014 Edge Question 

Our Narrow Definition of “Science”

In 2010, John Brockman and the Edge Foundation held a conference entitled “The New Science of Morality.” I attended along with Roy Baumeister, Paul Bloom, Joshua D. Greene, Jonathan Haidt, Marc Hauser, Joshua Knobe, Elizabeth Phelps, and David Pizarro. Some of our conversations have now been published in a book (along with many interesting essays)...

Thinking about Good and Evil

Peter Boghossian is a full-time faculty member in the philosophy department at Portland State University. He is also a national speaker for the Center for Inquiry, the Secular Student Alliance, and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. Peter was kind enough to answer a few questions about his new book, A Manual for...

An Interview with Peter Boghossian

Street Epistemology

Last Christmas, my friends Mark and Jessica spent the morning opening presents with their daughter, Rachel, who had just turned four. After a few hours of excitement, feelings of holiday lethargy and boredom descended on the family—until Mark suddenly had a brilliant idea for how they could have a lot more fun. Jessica was reading...

The High Cost of Tiny Lies

Paul Bloom is the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Psychology at Yale University. His research explores how children and adults understand the physical and social world, with special focus on morality, religion, fiction, and art. He has won numerous awards for his research and teaching. He is a past president of the Society for...

An Interview with Paul Bloom

The Roots of Good and Evil

Watch the above video. (Then watch it again.) And then read the (unedited and uncorrected) description of this footage written by the organizers of this Muslim “peace conference”: When Muslim organizations invite Shaykhs who speak openly about the values of Islam, the Islamophobic western media starts murdering the character of that organization and the invited...