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On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael is joined by Robert Jensen, author of This I Don't Believe: A Fulfilling Life Without Meaning, for a wide-ranging conversation about radical humility, intellectual curiosity, and what it means to live a fulfilling life without believing in a transcendent or cosmic purpose. A former journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, Jensen reflects on how his own experiences, relationships, and intellectual evolution shaped his philosophical outlook, from his youthful embrace of Ayn Rand's Objectivism to his present-day skepticism toward dogmatism, certainty, and intellectual tribalism.

Jensen discusses the distinction between meaning and fulfillment, his skepticism toward free will, and why he rejects the smug certainties of the New Atheist movement without insisting that others abandon their religious or spiritual beliefs. He also opens up about his traumatic childhood, dissociative amnesia, and the difficult process of understanding how our personal histories shape the beliefs we hold. Along the way, Jensen reflects on the profound influence of his friend and mentor Jim Coplin, the importance of ordinary work and human relationships, and the value of what Coplin called “open-ended disciplined inquiry.”

The conversation also ventures into ecological radicalism, the limits of technological solutions to environmental catastrophe, and why Jensen believes the ecological crisis demands a fundamental reconsideration of high-energy, high-consumption lifestyles. From the plasticity of human nature and the dangers of zealotry to the satisfaction found in everyday routines, this is a conversation about learning to live with uncertainty, recognizing the limits of our own knowledge, and finding fulfillment without pretending to have all the answers.

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