Making Sense with Sam Harris - Subscriber Content

Cognitive neuroscientist Jonas Kaplan joins Sam Harris in discussing belief change. They explore topics such as the illusory truth effect, failures of replication, the connection between reason and emotion, conspiracy theories, and the power of incentives. They also touch on religion, mindfulness, and cognitive flexibility.

In this episode, Sam shares a clip from the second season of Absolutely Mental, his audio series with Ricky Gervais. All 10 episodes have been released today (Friday September 24th, 2021) and are available for purchase at AbsolutelyMental.com.  

In this Ask Me Anything session, Sam answers the following questions:Why won’t you discuss COVID vaccines and Ivermectin with Bret Weinstein on the podcast?What do you think about the recent prosecution of a 100-year-old Nazi in Germany?How can we understand voluntary behavior without free will?Does aid to the developing world do more harm than good?Have your views about the risk of artificial general intelligence changed in recent years?What did you think of Simon Biles’s decision to drop out of the Olympics?How should Facebook and other social media platforms deal with the tradeoff between misinformation and censorship?Why are people so resistant to changing their beliefs?

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris recalls his experience of September 11th, 2001, and considers the future of American foreign policy.

Sam Harris speaks with Balaji Srinivasan about American decline, rise of India and China, politics, technology, failures of regulatory agencies, significance of Bitcoin and blockchain, Chinese government attack on Bitcoin, threat of US regulation of cryptocurrency, blockchain scalability, creator coins, life in Singapore, future of decentralized journalism, wealth inequality, ubiquitous investing, non-zero-sum capitalism, and 'start-up countries'.

In this Ask Me Anything session, Sam begins by addressing the blowback that followed a recent podcast episode on “vaccine hesitancy” with Eric Topol and then answers the following questions:How can I inoculate my biracial children against identity politics?In what way is journalism broken, and how can we fix it?Have you read the research suggesting that the effects of microdosing psychedelics are indistinguishable from taking placebos?Can you comment on the degree to which Leftist political ideas have captured the Buddhist community?What should Democrats do to prevent a resurgence of Trumpism?What are the ingredients for a good life?Is it ever ethical for governments to lie to their citizens?If the present moment is all that matters, how can we plan for the future?

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Peter Bergen about the US exit from Afghanistan, the resurgence of the Taliban, and his new book, “The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden.” They discuss the Neo-isolationist consensus on the Right and Left, the legitimacy of our initial involvement in Afghanistan, our ethical obligations to our Afghan allies, Biden’s disastrous messaging, the weakness of the Afghan army, the advantages of the Taliban, the implications for global jihadism, the relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, how Osama bin Laden came to lead al-Qaeda, bin Laden’s sincere religious convictions, our failure to capture bin Laden at Tora Bora, the distraction of the war in Iraq, the myth that the CIA funded al-Qaeda, bin Laden’s wives, his years of hiding in Pakistan, his death at the hands of US Special Forces, and other topics. Peter Bergen is the author or editor of nine books, including three New York Times bestsellers and four Washington Post best nonfiction books of the year. His most recent book is The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden. Bergen is a Vice President at New America, a professor at Arizona State University, and a national security analyst for CNN. He has testified before congressional committees eighteen times about national security issues and has held teaching positions at Harvard and Johns Hopkins University. Website: peterbergen.com Twitter: @peterbergencnn Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Dambisa Moyo about the state of the world. They discuss public goods, economic growth, capitalism, American economic history, bad public-policy choices, inequality, tax avoidance among the wealthy, government inefficiency, the problems with democracy, the breakdown of trust in institutions, failures of transparency, voter participation, future automation and unemployment, identity politics, the reality of racism in America, the problems with affirmative action, competition with China, and other topics. Dambisa Moyo is a prizewinning author of the New York Times bestsellers Edge of Chaos, Winner Take All, Dead Aid, and How Boards Work. Born and raised in Lusaka, Zambia, Moyo holds a Ph.D. in economics from Oxford University and a master’s degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She worked for the World Bank as a consultant, at Goldman Sachs, and serves on a variety of corporate boards. She regularly contributes to the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times and was named one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” by Time magazine. She lives in New York City and London. Website: dambisamoyo.com Twitter: @damibisamoyo   Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

In this engaging conversation, Eric Topol, a leading cardiologist and expert in genomic medicine, discusses vaccine hesitancy fueled by misinformation. He addresses the political and social divides affecting public trust in vaccines, the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines, and the dangers of misinterpreting data. Topol critiques the use of ivermectin and the ethical issues of emergency use authorization, as well as the challenges of navigating misinformation in the digital age. He emphasizes the urgent need for evidence-based strategies to enhance public health.

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Jeff Hawkins about the nature of intelligence. They discuss how the neocortex creates models of the world, the role of prediction in sensory-motor experience, cortical columns, reference frames, thought as movement in conceptual space, the future of artificial intelligence, AI risk, the “alignment problem,” the distinction between reason and emotion, the “illusory truth effect,” bad outcomes vs existential risk, and other topics. Jeff Hawkins is a scientist whose life-long interest in neuroscience led to the co-founding and creation of Numenta, a team of scientists and engineers applying neuroscience principles to machine intelligence research. His research focuses on how the cortex learns predictive models of the world through sensation and movement. In 2002, he founded the Redwood Neuroscience Institute, where he served as Director for three years. The institute is currently located at U.C. Berkeley. Previously, he co-founded two companies, Palm and Handspring, where he designed products such as the PalmPilot and Treo smartphone. Jeff has written two books, On Intelligence (2004 with Sandra Blakeslee) and A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence (2021). Jeff earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University in 1979. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2003. Website: numenta.com Twitter: @Numenta Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.