I found the topics discussed in this interview to overlap many of the debates we have here about science the brain and mystical experiences. I haven't read any of Sam Harris's books yet but he has some thought provoking things to say and I find myself agreeing with much of it. One thing I like about him is that when he discusses issues about god and religion be doesn't ignore the mystical experience which many people, especially atheists, do. He takes a very similar view on the mystical experience as I do.

Anyway I hope someone enjoys. Its long but worth watching.

http://thesciencenetwork...a-place-for-the-profound

Thanks Burnt. I'm downloading the video and I downloaded the .pdf transcript.

big fan of Sam Harris, totally know what you mean with his mindset, he's logical yet has a "spiritual" side, he was inspired by the use of MDMA, I think he's probably one of the few atheists authors that actually understands the spiritual experience from a personal perspective and with that he can write about it much more realisitically... I haven't heard from him in a while though, I'm definitely gonna check out this link.

Thanks for posting this burnt. This guy is way more level-headed than dawkins or hitchens.

"doubt is not a tool, it is an obstacle."
This resonates with me.

I like his attitude towards "atheist" as a limiting title, I think the same could be said for "physicalist".

I think they are right on with their criticism of mainstream religion. But I do think they don't discuss certain topics. Not so much because they can't but because its out of their area of expertise.

Harris has practiced meditation for years and studied religion and the brain for a long time. The attitude that I particularly like is that he recognizes the value in mystical experience but he does not attach any supernatural baggage or explanations to it. This is where I have gotten with psychedelics and am glad to know some others see it the same way.



I do think atheist is a limiting title. I never used to refer to myself as an atheist until I started to notice that I actually am one. I never thought it necessary. I just stopped believing in god over a rather long period of time. I think the reason he brings it up though is to point out that no one out there calls them selfs an aracist. Meaning someone opposite to racist. I think he means that atheists should not demean themselves by allowing the rest of society to put us into a little group that they can pick on for our lack of belief. Also to avoid the hippocrasy that people claim atheists are full of. Atheism is not a belief system. Its merely a rejection of belief systems that are built on basically no evidence and that can be looked at as immoral and destructive.

I can't tell you how many times I've been discussing religion with people and when I mentioned I was an atheist the conversation was basically over. The religious person had a whole series of automatic responses against atheism, none of which were satisfactory or even true but regardless this is how people behave towards anyone with that title.

I guess it'd be more accurate to say that I personally agree with his methods and topics of reasoning, more so than the lectures and debates I've seen with the other two. So when I said "level-headed", what I really meant is "similar to how I think"

I'm with you on the corruption of mainstream religion.


I wouldn't call myself an atheist for many reasons, and I wouldn't call myself religious for many other reasons. I do, however, believe there are useful facts which are knowable but beyond the pure and complete explanations of science [example: fundamentals of arithmetic], does that faith make me a spiritual person?

I <3 science and I <<<333^<3++ math: I see them as the most useful avenues for the progression of our race. The mystical experience, instigated by psychedelics or otherwise, is unrivaled for glimpsing destinations. Although when delusion rears it's ugly head, sometimes it's good to listen to that little elf in the back of the head that says, "you just might be wrong."

My hope with the emerging understanding of the mystical experience is that we humans can find a way to harness it and fully utilize the power of placebo.


Further on the topic of labels being limiting: I have seen individuals choose to define themselves in some category and become indoctrinated with the views society has established for that title. This goes for more than atheists and theists; it's very upsetting to find people who are content with picking some aspects of various stereotypes that sound nice to them and establishing that as a personal identity. [example: "I'm a bit of a buddhist, but mostly a cowboy", "I'm a socially conscious goth", etc]

It almost feels like cultural labels are initially useful to describe a group of people, then they gain too much societal momentum, eventually crossing some threshold where they become expletives, and are finally devoid of any truly useful value.

/rant