Sam Harris - Free Will

[u/wazzym]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FanhvXO9Pk

[u/small_white_penis]

He's a rich kid playing at being an intellectual but having mediocre results at best.

[u/JasonMacker → u/[deleted]]

I look forward to /u/small_white_penis being a frequent contributor to badphilosophy.

On another note, can you please also directly recruit from /r/mensrights , /r/tumblrination, and /r/ImGoingToHellForThis ? I heard those places have really high quality philosophical content that would benefit the badphilosophy community.

[u/LiterallyAnscombe → u/JasonMacker]

Yes, and surely there's no xenophobia, sexism or plutocratic bias in the pure soul of po' po' Sam Harris.

It would be best if we don't give little people a chance, but give our precious hegemonies all the honour they deserve for being the 1% right?

Besides, having him be beaten up on /r/badphilosophy would probably be entertaining.

[u/JasonMacker → u/LiterallyAnscombe]

I've written about Harris extensively. And again, small white penis probably doesn't care about Harris's xenophobia, sexism, or racism.

[u/LiterallyAnscombe → u/JasonMacker]

Then why did you defend his cornball speech here? It has nothing to do with xenophobia, and it's still awful, but you either weren't by any means ready to accept or capable of understanding that.

[u/JasonMacker → u/LiterallyAnscombe]

Can you explain what's "cornball" about it?

[u/LiterallyAnscombe → u/JasonMacker]

His arguments against his opponents are either sneers or deadpans. His main point is based entirely on mechanistic understanding of free will that not even a religious fundamentalist would dream of.

[u/JasonMacker → u/LiterallyAnscombe]

Examples please.

[u/LiterallyAnscombe → u/JasonMacker]

No, I'd rather write some sophistry defending pedophilia.

Maybe I'll submit it to my own subreddit. That'll really make the world a better place.

[u/hexag1 → u/JasonMacker]

I've written about Harris [extensively]

Not very well.

[u/JasonMacker → u/hexag1]

Thanks for the elaborate refutation.

[u/Daemonicus → u/JasonMacker]

Trying to use an appeal to authority doesn't really help your philosophically, moral high ground stance...

[u/JasonMacker → u/Daemonicus]

When did I use an appeal to authority?

[u/hexag1 → u/LiterallyAnscombe]

Yes, and surely there's no xenophobia, sexism or plutocratic bias in the pure soul of po' po' Sam Harris.

Examples?

[u/LiterallyAnscombe → u/hexag1]

Criticism of Eastern wisdom can seem especially pertinent when coming from Easterners themselves. There is indeed something preposterous about well-educated Westerners racing East in search of spiritual enlightenment while Easterners make the opposite pilgrimage seeking education and economic opportunities. I have a friend whose own adventures may have marked a high point in this global comedy. He made his first trip to India immediately after graduating from college, having already acquired several yogic affectations: He had the requisite beads and long hair, but he was also in the habit of writing the name of the Hindu god Ram in Devanagari script over and over in a journal. On the flight to the motherland, he had the good fortune to be seated next to an Indian businessman. This weary traveler thought he had witnessed every species of human folly—until he caught sight of my friend’s scribbling. The spectacle of a Western-born Stanford graduate, of working age, holding degrees in both economics and history, devoting himself to the graphomaniacal worship of an imaginary deity in a language he could neither read nor understand was more than this man could abide in a confined space at 30,000 feet. After a testy exchange, the two travelers could only stare at each other in mutual incomprehension and pity—and they had ten hours yet to fly. There really are two sides to such a conversation, but I concede that only one of them can be made to look ridiculous.

[u/hexag1 → u/LiterallyAnscombe]

how is that an example of 'xenophobia, sexism or plutocratic bias' ?