Sentientism

C Lou / Carrie (@clouhamilton1 & veganismsexandpolitics.com & drcarriehamilton.com) is an author, editor & translator. She wrote the book "Veganism, Sex & Politics: Tales of Danger & Pleasure" about her vegan journey & how veganism relates to wider social justice issues including feminist, queer & anti-racist politics as well as environmentalism. In 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 here on YouTube. We discuss: 0:00 Welcome 2:05 Carrie's Intro - academic history to writing & activism - Acknowledging Canada's indigenous & settlement history - Growing up near Toronto - Agnostic, democratic socialist parents, focused on social justice, activism environmentalism & praxis. No feminism, animal ethics or colonial awareness - "I didn't know any vegetarians when I was growing up" - Extending moral consideration beyond humans. Considering our responsibilities - Feminism & women's studies - The liberation of leaving academia - Writing "Veganism, Sex & Politics" - Academic activism, public reach & politics - "The idea that you would do animal studies while at the same time eating their bodies..." 16:25 What's Real? - Agnosticism - Psychedelics, spiritual/mystical experiences - Having respect for religious people but little patience for religious institutions. Not positive influences. Patriarchy & authoritarianism - Institutional abuse & cover-ups - Naturalistic & supernatural experiences of awe & wonder - How supernatural beliefs can warp ethics - How religious organisations use societal deference as a shield - The positive contributions of religious institutions - Feminism: asking questions & considering practicalities 30:09 What Matters? - Supernatural & naturalistic ethical frameworks - The importance of challenging our assumptions & influences (e.g. re: sentient animals & veganism) - Individualism, collectivism, authoritarianism, dogma - Forms of feminism - "It's important to think about... & revise... where our values come from" - Movements that are ostensibly secular often mindlessly integrate aspects of authoritarianism & dogma from religion - Criticisms of veganism as puritan & sacrificial. But it's a pleasure! - The challeges of talking about veganism as a "moral baseline" (Francione, Steiner). Too much dogma? - Applying a naturalistic humility & scepticism to ethics - Introspection via Buddhist meditation & writing - Having the space & resources to slow down & be mindful + more! Full notes on YouTube and Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall using this simple form. ​Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. Our biggest so far is here on Facebook. Thanks for the post-prod Graham.

This episode is a bonus cross-post from The Artists of Data Science podcast where I talk to Harpreet Sahota about Sentientism. We cover some of my personal perspectives too - so as ever, many other Sentientists will disagree. Harpreet has hosted an eclectic range of guests in his 171 episodes so far. If it looks interesting, why not subscribe to TADS as well as Sentientism!

Tobias (@TobiasLeenaert) is an author & a vegan advocacy consultant. He blogs at Veganstrategist.org & wrote "How to Create a Vegan World". He is the co-founder of ProVeg International. He is an Effective Altruist - thinking about the best ways to achieve a compassionate society. He also describes himself as a "Slow opinionist". In 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 here on YouTube. We discuss: 0:00 Welcome 1:28 Tobias' Intro - A life of vegan advocacy - Setting up EVA, then "meta-activism" helping other activists be more effective 2:37 What's Real? - Being confirmed as a Catholic & attending Catholic school because "that's just what you do" - Defending rational & scientific worldviews - "I'm not the most devout atheist you can find"... there's a possibility there's "something more" - Could religious visions one day be made real through technology? Reincarnation, heaven, creation/simulation? - "Maybe religious ideas are perversions of what is technologically possible" - Science fiction - Hallucinogenics & "religious" experiences - The hard problem of consciousness vs. "it's just what doing this sort of info processing feels like" - The echoes of religious ideas even for those who no longer believe. The Exorcist" movie 15:34 What Matters Morally? - Being raised as an ethical person. Volunteering at 12 yrs old - A teenage phase of being less morally engaged, then "it came back - especially with animals" - "That empathy was there always - without needing a system of rules" - Emotional & rational bases for compassionate ethics - "You can be a vegan sociopath"... decide rationally to act compassionately without feeling empathy 22:12 Extending moral consideration to non-humans - Loving companion cats and dogs at home as a child - Wondering what's the difference between them & cows we eat - "If I can't answer that question I have to stop eating animals" - Taking 10 years to go vegan even after that realisation - The power of taste preference... overcoming intertia - Making a bet to go without meat for a month. Then carrying on - Empathy, reasoning, then practice - "Making compassion easier" - Peter Singer's shallow pond thought experiment - Anthropocentrism, sentiocentrism, biocentrism, ecocentrism - Wild animal suffering & artificial sentients - "I don't see the point in going beyond sentientism - only sentient beings can suffer by definition" - The dangers of environmentalists granting moral consideration to species or populations that have no concerns & can't experience ... and much more. Full notes at Sentientism.info and on YouTube. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall https://sentientism.info/wall/ here: https://sentientism.info/im-a-sentientist. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. Main one: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sentientism. Thanks Graham https://twitter.com/cgbessellieu.

Mariann (@marisul) is Co-host with previous guest Jasmin Singer of the Our Hen House podcast and host of the Animal Law Podcast. She is a lawyer, lecturer, teacher and animal rights activist. In 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 here on the Sentientism YouTube. We discuss: 0:00 Welcome 1:40 Mariann's Intro. An Animal life - Working as a lawyer in New York - Adopting a dog on impulse then waking up to animal issue - "He'd stopped eating meat because of the way animals were treated - and t was just like 'boom!'" - Most people know there's a problem - they just avoid thinking about it - Joining (later chairing) the Animal Law Committee of the NY bar - Connecting animal advocacy organisations  - Meeting Jasmin Singer & starting Our Hen House 6:02 What's Real? - Growing up Catholic - "I had faith but it was never a burden for me" - Not really being religious any more... "but those voices never really go away" - As a teenager "It just started to seem unlikely" - Getting comfortable with "I don't know" - Ethics & evidence as reasons for abandoning supernatural worldviews - The tumult of Catholic college in 1968. From dressing for dinner & attending church to "men with beards living in the dorms" - "Boom - the entire world changed - everyone was questioning everything" - Leaning towards atheism but not being certain - "We're connected to each other in ways we don't understand" - Non-sentient living things - Woo! vs. naturalistic views of sentience & consciousness - Finding awe in a naturalistic worldview 18:01 What Matters? - "It's all about suffering"... and about pleasure too - Suffering matters... "It's so obvious" - "What kind of god -  would create this planet - where animals eat each other" - Morality as compliance vs. concern for suffering/flourishing - Reading Peter Singer. He wrote down what many were already feeling - "Why did I get there and everybody doesn't get there?" - "I don't think it's a philosophical problem... it's a psychological problem" - "How can you not sound self-righteous when you're right?" - "I don't understand why this is this big moral journey" - The "all we have to do is tell everybody" stage of activism - The family & social challenges of going vegan - The risks of motivated reasoning even within a naturalistic worldview 28:48 The Future - Balancing despair & hope with the help of Our Hen House - Things have shifted. "It's almost as if we have won the moral argument already." ... and much more. Full notes on YouTube or Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall using this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on Facebook. Thanks Graham for the post-production.

Aditya (https://www.soytheist.com/ & https://www.youtube.com/c/Soytheist) is an animal rights advocate from Assam in India. His @Soytheist YouTube channel focuses on taking a straightforward & rational approach to animal rights, identity politics & occasionally religion & atheism. In 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 here on YouTube https://youtu.be/A1a6z-uX6no We discuss: 0:00 Welcome 1:17 Aditya's Intro - rational animal rights - Having the "luxury" of being able to take a direct approach 3:10 What's Real? - India as a religious country - Growing up with religious parents who didn't push religion - Asking deep questions as a child & being handed Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" - Never believing in god "There is not sufficient evidence to support the claims." - Criticising religion requires more caution than discussing atheism - "A straightforward reading of a lot of religious scripture leads to conclusions & worldviews that are completely at odds with what a regular person would consider to be moral" - But "No matter what the scripture says you can bend it" so "the vast majority of religious people are perfectly moral people" - The mental gymnastics of adapting religious ethics (e.g. rejecting homophobia) 12:00 What Matters? - I can ground my morality as well as a Christian or a Muslim can. But not in a perfectly objective way - Every sentient values it's own suffering & flourishing - If our suffering & flourishing matters, so does that of others - Growing up in a "heavy meat-eating culture" in North-Eastern India - In Western countries the slaughter is hidden away. That's not the case in much of India  - Visiting a market at age 14 to buy goat meat. Seeing the terror in a baby goat's eyes as it was picked up & seeing another trying to hide. Thinking "that's exactly what I would do." "Don't kill him." - Discovering animal rights philosophy online - "This is the greatest moral emergency of our time & I have been contributing to this horrifying atrocity" - Going vegetarian then learning about dairy & going vegan - "What happened to you? - you've become like those 'mainland' Indians" - "There's a notion that veganism requires economic privilege - That's nonsense" - "The only people claiming that are those that think a Starbucks latte is a basic need" - The cheapest foods in the market were plant-based - "Pure veg" & caste purity - can hinder the fight for animal rights. It's about purity, not compassion ... and much more. Full show notes at sentientism.info and YouTube. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at https://sentientism.info/. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall https://sentientism.info/wall/ here: https://sentientism.info/im-a-sentientist. ​Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. Main one: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sentientism. Thanks Graham.

This episode is a bonus cross-post from the Pineal Podcast (https://www.pinealpodcast.com/) where I talked to Josh Smith (https://twitter.com/Pinealpodcast) about Sentientism. We cover some of my personal perspectives too - so as ever, other Sentientists will disagree. In his own words, Josh created the Pineal podcast to help awaken his spirit. He talks to people about their own journeys to explore the ways they think, how they acquired their views on life and seek to discover areas where commonality can be found. His conversations touch on nature and climate change; our agricultural system and veganism; individual activism and systems change; public education and population control; drug policy; prison reforms; the use of psychedelics; addiction, health and wellness; gratitude, mediation and yoga; music, travel and community; and morality and religion. If those topics sound interesting, why not subscribe to the Pineal Podcast! Sentientism: sentientism.info Sentientism Facebook 🍎https://apple.co/391khQO 👂https://pod.link/1540408008 📺https://www.youtube.com/c/Sentientism

Luke (lukeroelofs.com & Majestic Equality) is a philosopher of mind at the Centre for Mind, Brain & Consciousness at New York University. Although Luke works primarily on philosophy of mind & metaphysics, their areas of interest include ethics, social & political philosophy, early modern philosophy and philosophy of gender & sexuality. Their book, "Reason, Empathy, and the Minds of Others" is under contract with Oxford University Press. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." As well as the video above the audio is on our Podcast here on Apple and here on the other platforms. We discuss: 0:00 Welcome 1:32 Luke's Intro - Philosophy of Mind Linking epistemology (how can we know) and ethics Empathy Consciousness as "the state that we're in whenever we're aware of anything… and any possible variation… of states like that" 3:41 What's Real? Growing up fairly non-religious, but not anti-religious Talking to "modern" Christians who focused on "the spirit of Jesus' ethos" Seeking out more forthright religious perspectives Being a fairly convinced atheist since 14 yrs "There's very little evidential weight in the specific claims of religious revelation" The idea the universe was contrived by a benevolent being… doesn't seem supported by the very morally mixed character of existence "The great majority of existence is neither good nor bad - it's just dust in space" Mysterious ways & ineffability Theodicies as reminiscent of the excuses humans make for abuse The "Just World" bias leads us to make excuses for suffering Faith as belief without evidence or faith as trust in & loyalty to your group 14:00 What (and Who) Matters? Going vegan at 13-14 to spite an annoying person who pointed out the logical inconsistency of being vegetarian "Fine… just to spite you I'm going to be vegan" ... and much more. Full show notes on Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at sentientism.info. Join Luke on our "I'm a Sentientist" wall using this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us! Thanks Graham for the post-production.

Andy Norman (https://andynorman.org/ & https://twitter.com/DrAndyNo), PhD is the author of "Mental Immunity". His work has appeared in Scientific American, Psychology Today, Skeptic, Free Inquiry & The Humanist. He has appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, public radio, The BBC & The Young Turks. He champions the emerging science of mental immunity as the antidote to bad ideas, disinformation, propaganda, hate & division. Andy directs the Humanism Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University & is the founder of CIRCE, the Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative.  In 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 here on the Sentientism YouTube. We discuss: 0:00 Welcome - Has philosophy neglected the most important questions? 2:02 Andy's Intro - "Mental Immunity" - Philosophy & critical thinking - Boosting the mind's immune system. Helping minds filter out bad ideas - Cognitive Immunology - the science of mental immune health - Combatting epidemics of nonsense 3:30 What's Real? - Raised w/out religious affiliation. Quaker meetings - "Most Quakers are pretty chill with a naturalistic view of the world" - "Supernatural believing is unaccountable believing" - "Nature can hold us accountable" - If our beliefs aren't held accountable they drift away from reality & from the beliefs of each other - Non-reality belief is spreading & causing social dislocation - Do rights exist or are they just a useful construct? - Being shy/sad at school & being told "just smile" as "spiritual" advice. "People just started smiling back" - The ancient roots of naturalism in philosophy - Supernaturalism, the dark ages & Enlightenment - "The germ theory of disease probably would have been discovered centuries earlier were it not for religious orthodoxy" - Hobbes, Locke & Mill - "Human welfare improved dramatically in the wake of the Enlightenment" - Pre-enlightenment roots of naturalism & sentiocentrism. Al Ma'arri. - Arab cultures preserved naturalism during the dark ages - Naturalism before humans & in other animals? - Naturalism is adaptive to the degree that it enables survival/reproduction - How correlated are the accuracy & usefulness of a belief? - The power of social norms, tribalism & belonging re: bad beliefs - Performative preference falsification & prevalence of latent/suppressed atheism even w/in religious communities - Dennett: Many believe it's good to believe in god rather than actually believing in god - "Reality-based worldviews are destined to win out in the long run... because they better serve humanity... caring about other tribes as well" ... and much more. See Sentientism.info and YouTube for full show notes. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at https://sentientism.info/​​​​​​​​​​​​​. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall https://sentientism.info/wall/ here: https://sentientism.info/im-a-sentientist​. ​Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. Main one: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sentientism​. Thanks for the post-production, Graham.

Sabine is legal advisor to the World Federation for Animals (https://wfa.org/). In 2014, she cofounded the Global Animal Law (GAL https://www.globalanimallaw.org/) Association and led work on the creation and update of the first complete Animal Welfare Legislation Database. In 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 here on YouTube https://youtu.be/OovrrbG1Crk. We discuss: 0:00 Welcome 1:24 Sabine's Intro - Animal Law & International Governance for Animals - Founding GAL, building the AWL Database, developing a 100 strong global animal law community -  The UNCAHP (United Nations Convention on Animal Health & Protection) https://www.uncahp.org/ - #OneHealth & #OneWelfare - Working with the new World Federation for Animals to make animal protection a UN imperative 3:57 What's Real? - Learning about the beauty & value of the natural world from Sabine's grandmother - "I believe in what I can see but also in things I can't see that are obvious" - Looking into the eyes of a cat & sensing it's "soul" - Attending Catholic classes, but always preferring a more holistic, non-religious worldview - Finding Catholicism restrictive, seeing the downsides of religion, deciding not to attend communion - "We feel this notion of respect for all beings" - Respecting all life is common to most religions - Solidarity & compassion - The commonalities between religious/naturalistic worldviews. "Souls" vs. sentience. Energy & information processing. Universal connectedness. - "When I say 'soul' I mean that the being I see has a consciousness" 15:34 What Matters Morally? - A mother who was a nurse, motivated by human compassion - Developing a similar sensitivity for animal suffering from a young age - A close relationship with a German Shepherd dog - Being brought to a bull-fighting event in France at 4 years old. Seeing an animal being tortured to death - "feeling ashamed of my own species". "I wanted to intervene." Adults told me it wasn't real - then I saw the butchery behind the arena - "These animals needed some people to defend them" - "I felt it was my moral duty" - The challenges of going vegan in France - Facing health concerns from parents - At 18, asking a doctor how to go veg*an and being told "it's not possible to be healthy" - Moving to Canada. Finding it much easier there to go vegetarian then vegan. Avoiding zoos & animal tested products - Social context can make change hard or easy. ... And much more. Full show notes on Sentientism.info or YouTube. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at https://sentientism.info/. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall https://sentientism.info/wall/ here: https://sentientism.info/im-a-sentientist. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. Main one: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sentientism. Thanks Graham for the post-prod.

Aditya is the wild animal suffering outreach coordinator for Animal Ethics in India. He works in grass-roots animal activism with a variety of organisations. He is studying Animal Protection Law at the National Legal Studies Research Institute in India. In 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 here on YouTube. We discuss: 0:00 Welcome 1:22 Aditya's Intro - Animal Advocacy in India 2:10 What's Real? From Hinduism to naturalism - Growing up Hindu and vegetarian - Vedanta. Dualistic theism. Dharma - Exploring other forms of spirituality after getting into animal advocacy - Veganism clashed with the culture (e.g. dairy) - Buddhism - Jiddu Krishnamurti, embracing naturalism and rationalism. 5:00 What Matters Morally? - The Golden Rule: do unto others as you would want to be treated - Learning about sentience, suffering & harm - "I used to just consider humans... but when I adopted a dog (Gini!) my whole worldview shifted" - Ahimsa as a theme in many worldviews, but most vegetarians in India don't have a strong connection with farmed animal suffering - Sentience as central - the capacity to feel pain or pleasure - Singer's Animal Liberation - Sharing a stress reaction with Gini to fireworks - "When you realise that all you've been taught through your life is wrong" - Speciesism & arbitrary discrimination - Going vegan. Practically easy but some social challenges - Bio, ecocentrism, holism - Nature as sacred in some traditions - "We need to focus on sentient beings not abstract entities" - "Who is being harmed?" - Don't harm sentient beings to protect non-sentient things - A lack of relationship doesn't justify moral exclusion - Even simpler sentients might suffer just as much - It's not just avoiding harming, its an obligation to help - It doesn't matter whether the cause of harm is human or not  19:00 Wild animal suffering - We need to correct the belief that "if humans leave nature alone nature will be perfect". Nature is not idyllic - High offspring r-strategies drive massive suffering & death 26:15 The Future - dystopias & utopias - The risk of creating new dystopias (e.g. insect farming, colonising other planets with more farmed/wild sentient suffering, artificial sentients) - Ending speciesism & granting moral consideration to all sentients - Technology is a double-edged sword - We need moral as well as tech innovation - Fixing current problems & avoiding creating new ones 30:26 Which entities are sentient? - Sentience as a biologically evolved class of information processing - Updating our assessment of sentience using science - Is centralisation of structures required? ...and much more. Full show notes on YouTube and Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at https://sentientism.info/. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall using this form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. Main one here on FB. Thanks Graham for the post-prod.