Sam Harris gave a talk at TED recently and it’s now available. He talked about morals and how science doesn’t have to stay silent when it comes to what is best for conscious beings. It was very interesting. Please share it around if you like what he has to say. I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments. I agree with him.
About the talk:
Questions of good and evil, right and wrong are commonly thought unanswerable by science. But Sam Harris argues that science can — and should — be an authority on moral issues, shaping human values and setting out what constitutes a good life.
Sam’s project: Project Reason
His homepage: SamHarris.org
It seems to me that he’s arguing against some sort of a straw man, or perhaps preaching to the choir. I should of course add the disclaimer that I grew up in an irreligious society (i.e. the Netherlands) and that I don’t understand American society in that regard, despite knowing many Americans. Again I should add a disclaimer: these are mostly my Humanistic Jewish in-law family members. At least that’s how I interpret their Judaism; they call it Reform, though they don’t do anything with it nor do they seem to believe in God to a large extent as far as I can tell.
Then again, Dutch and Belgian Christians, although a minority, do propagate the kind of nonsense he’s arguing against. As such it’s nice to have some ammunition at hand, in a manner of speaking.
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Neece Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 8:24 am
Hi Frans,
Well, it’s very different here in America I guess, because I think he’s made excellent points that really need to be said and talked about. The christians in this country are extremely polarized and yes, they fully believe that all morals come from the bible. That’s just not healthy thinking. It’s crazy.
How wonderful that you grew up in an irreligious society. I’m a bit envious, but I guess what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, lol.
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This post increased my knowledge… very interesting..thank you..
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