35: "We can't understand humans without recognising that we are animals" - Diana Fleischman - Sentientist Conversations

Dr Diana Fleischman is an evolutionary psychologist & an author. Until recently she was a senior lecturer at the University of Portsmouth. Her field of research includes the study of disgust, human sexuality, hormones & behaviour. She is involved in the effective altruism & animal welfare movements & identifies as a feminist and a Sentientist. Diana's 2018 Darwin Day Lecture, hosted by Humanists UK, was part of the inspiration for our work developing & raising awareness of Sentientism. You can find Diana at https://twitter.com/sentientist
(yes!) & https://dianaverse.com/.

Why not join her on our "I'm a Sentientist" wall? https://sentientism.info/sentientist-pledge/diana-fleischman.

In these Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”  Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings."

The video of our conversation is available here on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe and click the bell for notifications.

We discuss:

- Evolutionary psychology

- Effective Altruism

- Diana's Darwin Day talk to Humanists UK

- Whether Humanists are more likely to be ethical vegans

- Whether "carnism" is socialised or a state of nature

- Diana's father's German Jewish & Polish family history during WWII & since

- "They fell in love because he fed her a lot of food"

- Diana's Catholic mother. Being baptised in Portugal

- Going to synagogue with Diana's grandfather & Catholic Sunday School

- After first communion "I don't like it & I don't believe it"

- Going atheist at 9/10 yrs after brother did at 7

- Being fascinated by evolution - "I carried The Evolution Book around like a teddy bear"

- Being teased as "Monkey Girl" for believing in evolution. The worst bullies seemed to be the most religious kids

- Being told in the early 1990's by a teacher "evolution is controversial - it's not a settled idea"

- We skipped the evolution chapter in the Biology textbook

- Becoming stridently anti-religious

- "I thought we couldn't really understand human beings without understanding that humans are animals"

- I met so many wonderful religious people in the vegan movement & became much less aggressively anti-religion

- Religious arguments for why we should be compassionate are wrong but that compassion can still have good outcomes

- Diana's Hen Do turns into a witches coven

- Weeping after being blessed by a minister & being moved by ritual

- "I am exactly the kind of person who could fall into religious fervour"

- Sam Harris: "Religions shouldn't have a monopoly on reverence"

- "Nature is a horrible place"

- & much more... (full show notes on YouTube & sentientism.info)

Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at https://sentientism.info/. Join Diana on our "wall" https://sentientism.info/wall/ using this form: https://sentientism.info/im-a-sentientist.

Everyone interested, Sentientist or not, is welcome to join our groups. Our main one is here on FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/groups/sentientism.

Thanks to Graham for his post-prod. Follow him: https://twitter.com/cgbessellieu