Ask Me Anything #8

When you talk about creativity, what kind of art, music, and fiction do you like? Do you think creativity has as important of a role to play as reason in helping to maintain a civil and flourishing society?

What one piece of advice would you give your 20-year-old self, your 30-year-old self, and your 40-year-old self?

Have you ever considered that you may be wrong about the value–though of course not the veracity–of religion?

In your opinion, why do so many Americans have trouble accepting science while enjoying the fruits of science in their daily lives? Can we blame religious fundamentalism as the only contributing factor? Do we have an uncommonly poor science education in the U.S.? Is science somehow disturbing some fundamental human value system or emotional state unique to Americans?

In meditation, is it possible that the experience of selflessness is just the obscuring of the self by other cognitive processes and not proof that the self is an illusion? In other words, how can we be sure that the self is illusory and not just a construct that can be occluded?

Are you concerned that some of your listeners are becoming dogmatic and inadvertently taking the wrong lessons from your talks and podcasts? For example, the somewhat large number of listeners who support Trump and who are surprised that you didn't support him that would seem to indicate that some nominal supporters have a shallow understanding of your views.

If you could and would you and should you choose not to die, is finding a "cure" for aging a laudable quest granting the fact that people die has been a great evolutionary benefit and that ubiquitous "immortality" would cause numerous practical problems? Would it be moral to deny people a choice when relevant technology is inevitably developed?

What's a day in the life of Sam Harris like? How much of your time do you devote to writing, planning podcasts, tweeting, meditating, etc?

You've said that human life is inherently worth living. Why? How would you respond to a philosophical pessimist who says that even the best lives are not worth living because happiness cannot compensate for all the suffering? And there's a related question here from a different person: Why have children? I'm finding it hard to justify the decision to have biological children in the present-day given they're relatively likely to experience suffering. I believe it morally wrong to create life if the quality of that life is likely to be low. What is your take?

Do you take notes when reading books or articles? How do you organize them? What's your process in other words? How do you optimize your reading experience in such a way that you will retain as much as possible from a book or article.

Can you talk about your parenting philosophy in your experience raising your children and insights on how to raise an intelligent, mindful, thoughtful, and caring children. What values do you think most important to instill in your children?

Who have been your favorite podcast guests?