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Steven Pinker on Language, Reason, and the Future of Violence (Live at Mason)

Conversations with Tyler

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The Hard Problem of Consciousness

We have the sense of self, ever difficult it may be to describe or study scientifically. So where does that come from? Why is it there? And what evolutionary purpose does a sense of self serve in human beings? Some philosophers claim thatit isn't a coherent intellectual question at all. A for some people, this is a kind of escape hatch from materialism and a way to bring back some notion of the soul. The problem there is that you'd expect the mind to have some kind of non material powers which it does not have. There's no reason to think that every aspect of reality will be intuitive.

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