Daniel Dennett: Do We Have Free Will? [Ep. 406]

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Welcome everyone to a fascinating deep dive with the late Daniel Dennett!

In our interview, we tackled fascinating problems like free will, human consciousness, ethics, and the philosophy of science. He also explained why he’s sounding the alarm on AI!

Shortly after our interview, Daniel sadly passed away at the age of 82. He was a renowned philosopher, thought-provoking writer, brilliant cognitive scientist, and vocal atheist. He was the co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University in Massachusetts, a member of the editorial board for The Rutherford Journal, and a co-founder of The Clergy Project.

Known as one of the "Four Horsemen" of New Atheism, he was at the forefront of discussions on consciousness, free will, and the impact of Darwinian evolution on religious belief. Dennett's works, including "Breaking the Spell" and "Consciousness Explained," have provoked both admiration and controversy, challenging readers to reconsider deeply held beliefs about the mind and its relationship to the physical world. Needless to say, I was thrilled to have Dan on the show!

The world has truly lost an extraordinary soul and a groundbreaking thinker.

RIP

Key Takeaways:

• 00:00:00 Intro
• 00:09:27 Judging a book by its cover
• 00:12:29 Dan's critique of Sam Harris's position on free will
• 00:21:43 The evolutionary advantage of music
• 00:29:01 Language, nonverbal communication, and artificial intelligence 
• 00:34:33 Are brains computers?
• 00:46:04 Sounding the alarm on AI
• 00:51:38 Bioengineering and bioethics 
• 00:57:21 Philosophy of physics 
• 01:02:47 The evolution of academia
• 01:09:08 Audience questions 
• 01:23:10 Outro

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