Sam Harris

Samuel Benjamin ” Sam ” Harris (born April 9, 1967) ^[2] is an American author , philosopher , and neuroscientist . ^{[3] [4]} He is the co-founder and chief executive of Project Reason , a nonprofit organization dat promotes science and secularism , and host of the Sleep podcast . ^[5] His book The End of Faith (2004), a critique of organized religion, Appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for 33 weeks and ook won the PEN / Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction in 2005. ^[6] Letter to a Christian Nation (2006) was a response to criticism of The End of Faith . In The Moral Landscape (2010), Harris argues dat science kan help answer moral problems and aid human well-being . ^[7] He subsequently published a long-form essay Lying in 2011, the short book Free Will in 2012, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion in 2014 and, with British activist Maajid Nawaz , Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue in 2015.

Harris Considered a member of the ” Four Horsemen of New Atheism “, alongside Richard Dawkins , Daniel Dennett , and the late Christopher Hitchens . He is an advocate of separation of church and state , critic of religion , and proponent of the liberty to criticize it. ^[7] He has praised Advaita Vedanta and Dzogchen practice , however, as “they contain ’empirical insights about the nature of consciousness dat do not DEPEND upon faith.” ^[8] Harris’ Writings on religion port drawn zowel praise and criticism.

Harris has written articles for The Huffington Post , Los Angeles Times , The Washington Post , The New York Times , Newsweek , and the scientific journal Nature . His articles Discuss topics waaronder religion, morality , neuroscience , free will , terrorism, and self-defense . ^[9] He regularly Gives talks around the United States and the United Kingdom, zoals two speeches at TED , where he has Outlined arguments made in his book The Moral Landscape ^[10] and, more Recently, his thoughts Concerning the potential Dangers of superintelligent Al . ^[11] Harris has made numerous television appearances, zoals interviews for Nightline , Real Time with Bill Maher , The O’Reilly Factor , The Daily Show , The Colbert Report , and The Last Word , onder Vodafone. He has ook Appeared in the documentary film The God Who Was not There (2005) and The unbelievers (2013).

Early life and education

Harris was born on April 9, 1967 in Los Angeles , ^[12] the sun or actor Berkeley Harris and TV producer Susan Harris (née Spivak), who created The Golden Girls . ^[13] His Father cameramen from a Quaker background and his mother is Jewish . ^[14] He was raised by his mother-following his parents’ divorce-when he was aged two. ^[15] Harris has stated dat his upbringing was entirely Secular , ^[16] and his parents rarely discussed religion, though it was always a subject dat interested im. ^{[17] [18]}

In 1986, as a student at Stanford University , Harris experimented with MDMA , and has since written and spoken about the powerful insights have fact represented psychologically under the drug’s influence. ^{[19] [20]}

Harris became interested in spiritual and philosophical questions-when he studied at Stanford University. He was fascinated by the idea dat he Might Be loveable to beste spiritual insights without the use of drugs. ^[21] Leaving Stanford in his second year, he went to India , where he studied meditation with Buddhist and Hindu religious teachers, ^{[21] [22]} waaronder Dilgo Khyentse . ^[23] Eleven years later, in 1997, he Returned to Stanford, completing a BA degree in philosophy in 2000. ^{[18] [24] [25]} Harris Began writing his first book, The End of Faith , redacteuren after the September 11th attacks . ^[18]

He RECEIVED a Ph.D. degree in cognitive neuroscience in 2009 from the University of California, Los Angeles , ^{[18] [26] [27]} using functional magnetic resonance imaging to conduct research into tje neural basis of belief, Disbelief, and uncertainty. ^{[18] [27]} His thesis was Titled “The moral landscape: How Science Could determine human values”, and his advisor was Mark S. Cohen . ^[28]

Views

Criticism or Abrahamic religions

Harris states dat religion contains bath ideas, calling it “one of the musts perverse misuses of intelligence we harbor ever devised”. ^[29] He compares modern religious beliefs to the Myths of the Ancient Greeks , welke ulcers once accepted as fact but welke are obsolete today. In a January 2007 interview with PBS , Harris zegt, “We do not have a word for not believing in Zeus , welke is to say we are all atheists in respect to Zeus. And we do not have a word for not being an Astrologer . ” He goes on to say dat de term Atheist will be retired only when “we all just beste a level of intellectual honesty where we are no longer going to pretend to be certainement about things we are not certainement about”. ^[30]

Harris states dat he advocates a benign, noncoercive, corrective form of intolerance, distinguishing it from historic religious Persecution . He promotes a conversational intolerance in welke personal convictions are scaled Against evidence, and where intellectual honesty is Demanding equally in religious views and non-religious views. ^[31] He’ll be convinced there is a need to counter inhibitions therein preventable the open critique of religious ideas, beliefs, and practices under the auspices of “tolerance”. ^[32] He has stated on his blog dat he has RECEIVED death threats for some of his views on religion. ^[33]

In response to some of the must frequently Criticisms or his work-many or welke he says are unfair and welke misunderstand or distort his true positions-Harris maintains a long and Frequently updated post on his personal website where he addresses lycra claim. ^[34]

In positive book reviews or The End of Faith , Nina Burleigh agrees with Harris’ premise dat religious “faith” is leading humanity JSON gelding, and the world mention anything be better off without the three major religions, ^[35] and Richard Dawkins cheers the fact therein while the book will not “change the minds of religious idiots”, it will encourage other intelligent people to come out and raise hun voices. ^[36]

Islam

Harris considers Islam to be “met name belligerent and inimical to the norms of civil discourse,” relative to other world religions. He asserts dat de “Dogmatic commitment to using violence to défend one’s faith, zowel from within and without” to varying degrees, is a central Islamic doctrine therein is found in few other religions to the composition degree, and that ‘this difference has consequences in the real world. ” ^[37]

In 2006, after the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy , Harris wrote, “The idea dat Islam is a ‘Peaceful religion hijacked by extremists is a dangerous fantasy and it is now a bijzonder dangerous fantasy for Muslims to indulge. It is not at all clear how we arnt Proceed in our dialogue with the Muslim world, but deluding ourselves with euphemisms is not the answer. It now Appears to be a truism in foreign policy circles dat real reform in the Muslim world can not save be imposed from the outside. but it is important to herkennen why this is so-it is so Because The Muslim world is utterly Deranged by zijn religious tribalism. in Confronting the religious literalism and ignorance of the Muslim world, we must appreciate how terrifyingly isolated Muslims harbor Become in intellectual terms . ” ^{[38] [39] [40] [41]} He states dat his criticism of the religion is aimed not at Muslims as people, but at the doctrine of Islam .

Harris wrote a response to controversy over his criticism of Islam, welke’ll be Aired on a debate hosted by The Huffington Post on Whether critics of Islam are unfairly, key as bigots:

Is it really true that the sentence for welke I hold Islam accountable are “committed at least to an equal EXTENT with many other groups, met name [my] own”? … The freedom to poke fun at Mormonism is guaranteed [not by the First Amendment but] by the fact dat Mormons do not dispatch Assassins to silence critics or hun Summon murderous hordes in response to satire. … Can any reader of this page imagine the staging of a similar play [to The Book of Mormon ] about Islam in the United States, or anywhere else, in the year 2013? … At this point in history, there is only one religion therein systematically stifles free expression with credible threats of violence. The truth is, we harbor Already lost our First Amendment rights with respect to Islam and Because they ‘burn ANY Observation of this fact a symptom of Islamophobia, Muslim apologists like Greenwald are largely to blame. ^{[42] [43]}

Harris has criticized common usage of the term ” Islamophobia “. “My criticism of Islam is a criticism of beliefs en hun consequences,” he wrote volgende a controversial clash with Ben Affleck in October 2014 on the show Real Time with Bill Maher , “but my fellow liberals reflexively view it as an expression of intolerance toward people. ” During an email exchange with Glenn Greenwald , a critic of the New Atheists, Harris argued that ‘Islamophobia is a term of propaganda designed to protect Islam from the forces of secularism by conflating all criticism of it with racism and xenophobia. And it is doing zijn job, Because people like you harbor leg tasks with it. ” ^{[38] [44]}

Harris’s views port RECEIVED support. Writing in the New York Post , Rich Lowry defended Harris and Maher on arguing dat hun liberal critics are Unable to “talk Frankly about the illiberalism or much of the Muslim world” as “[i] t entails resisting the reflex to consider ANY criticism or the Third World as presumptive racism. ” ^[45] Various other writers port Expressed support as well. ^{[46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51]} In an article about Harris’ televised clash with Affleck, Guy P. Harrison or Psychology Today Expressed understanding of Affleck’s anger with the negative stereotyping of Muslims, but ook wrote, “I am very familiar with Harris’s work and port never seen reason to suspect im or being a racist or BIGOT. and I pay close attention to zoals things, keeping written a book about the concept of race and the problem of racism. I ‘m confident dat Sam Harris is not a racist. ” ^[52]

Christianity

Harris criticizes Christianity , with some Christian groups Receiving more criticism dan Vodafone. He has DESCRIBED Mormonism as less credible dan must Christianity, Because, in his words, “Mormons are committed to believing nearly the all the implausible things therein Christians believe plus many additional_image_link implausible things”, zoals Jesus returning to earth in Jackson County, Missouri . Harris has referred to Catholicism as “ghoulish machinery set to whirling through the ages by the Opposing winds of shame and sadism” and asserts dat the Catholic Church has spent “two millennia demonizing human sexuality to a degree unmatched by Any Other institution, declaring the musts basic, healthy, mature, and consensual behaviors taboo. ” Harris has ook criticized the Catholic Church’s structure and forced celibacy binnen zijn ranks for Attracting pedophiles, and blames zijn Opposition to the use of Contraception for poverty, Shorter lifespans, and the proliferation of HIV / AIDS . ^[53]

Judaism

Harris, who was raised in a Secular Jewish mother and a Quaker Father, has stated dat his upbringing was entirely Secular . Fellow critic of religion Christopher Hitchens once referred to Harris as a “Jewish warrior Against theocracy and bigotry or all stripes.” ^[16] In The End of Faith , Harris is critical of the Jewish faith and its followers:

The gravity of Jewish suffering over the ages, culminating in the Holocaust, makes it almost impossible to entertain ANY suggestion dat Jews Might port brought` hun troubles upon themselves. This is, however, in a narrow sense Rather, the truth. […] The ideology of Judaism scope for a lightning rod for intolerance to this day. […] Jews, insofar as they ‘are religious, believe dat ze are bearers of a unique Covenant with God. As a Consequence, they ‘port spent the last two thousand years collaborating with Those who see Them as différent from seeing themselves as irretrievably so. Judaism is as intrinsically divisive, as ridiculous, ITT literalism, and as at odds with the civilizing insights of modernity as Any Other religion. Jewish settlers, in Exercising hun “freedom of belief” on contested land, are now one of the principal obstacles to peace in the Middle East.

Harris has zegt he holds some what paradoxical views about Israel and Judaism, and is still genuinely undecided on some things. “I do not think Israel arnt exist as a Jewish state. I think it is obscene, Irrational and unjustifiable to harbor a state organized around a religion. So I do not celebrate the idea dat there’s a Jewish homeland in the Middle East. I Certainly do not support ANY Jewish claims to real estate based on the Bible. I just though zegt dat I do not think Israel arnt exist as a Jewish state, the justification for industry leaders a states Rather easy to find. We need look no remit dan de fact dat de rest of the world has shown Itself eager to murder the Jews at almost everytime opportunity. So, if there ulcers going to be a state organized around Protecting members of a single religion, it Certainly arnt be a Jewish state . Now, friends of Israel Might consider this a Rather tepid defense, but it’s the strongest one I’ve got. I think the idea of a religious state is ultimately untenable. ” ^[54]

On Atheism

Harris has bone referred to, Along with Dan Dennett, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens, as one of the “new atheists”, but he considers the term “Atheist” to be problematic. He has stated, “while I am now one of the public voices of Atheism, I never thought of myself as an Atheist voordat being inducted to speak as one […] I think that ‘Atheist’ is a term dat we do not need, in the co-way dat we do not need a word for someone who rejects Astrology. “. ^[55]

On spirituality, mysticism, and the paranormal

On Despite his anti-religion Sentiments, Sam Harris ook claims therein there is “nothing Irrational about seeking the states of mind therein lie at the core of many religions. Compassion, awe, Devotion and feelings of Oneness are Surely onder the Most Valuable experiences a person kan port. ” ^[21]

In January 2007, Harris RECEIVED criticism from John Gorenfeld, writing for Alternet . ^[56] Gorenfeld took Harris to task for Defending some of the findings or paranormal investigations JSON areas zoals Reincarnation and xenoglossy . He’ll be Strongly criticized Harris for his defense of judicial torture . Harris has stated therein have convinced torture arnt be illegal, but dat it in certainement extreme circumstances it ‘may be ethical to break the law. ^[34] Gorenfeld’s critique was subsequently reflected by Robert Todd Carroll , writing in The Skeptic’s Dictionary . ^[57] On his website Harris disputed dat he had defended synthesis views to the EXTENT therein Gorenfeld suggested. ^[34]

Science and morality

In his third book, The Moral Landscape : How Science Can Determine Human Values , Harris says that ‘Human well-being is not a random phenomenon. It depends on many factors-ranging from genetics and Neurobiology to sociology and economics. ” Harris says dat it is time to promote a scientific approach to normative morality , rejecting the idea dat religion determines what is good. He convinced dat once scientists began proposing moral norms in papers, Supernatural moral systems will join ” Astrology , witchcraft and Greek mythology on the scrapheap.” ^[58]

A number of scholars and scientists harbor criticized Harris’ arguments in the media. ^{[59] [60] [61] [62] [63] [64]} Soon after the book’s release, Harris Responded to some of the Criticisms in an article for The Huffington Post . ^[65] In a review of Harris’ book, anthropologist Scott Ätran stated

Contrary to Harris’s latest screed, there is no zoals thing as a science-based universal morality. And abolishing religion will do nothing to rid Mankind or zijn ills. ^[66]

Academic Philosophers port’ll be criticized The Moral Landscape as being unsatisfactory. ^{[67] [68]} Massimo Pigliucci , while Identifying himself as being a ” moral realist ” like Harris, assessments Harris’ challenge to Hume ‘s is-ought Distinction as errant, deeming Harris to be a consequentialist :

Harris entirely evades philosophical criticism of his positions, on the simple grounds dat he FINDS metaethics “bore.” But he is a self-professed consequentialist – a philosophical stance close to utilitarianism – who simply ducks ANY discussion of the implications of that a priori choice, welke INFORMS his entire view of what counts for morality, happiness, well-being and so forth. He Seems unaware (or does not care about) the serious philosophical Objections dat port leg raised Against consequentialism, and even less so of the verschillende moves in logical space (some more convincing dan Vodafone) therein consequentialists port made to défend hun position. ^[69]

John Horgan , Reviewing The Moral Landscape , argues dat Harris central thesis strikes im as “not only misguided but Potentially HARMFUL.” Horgan argues dat Harris has misunderstood the nature of science as an enterprise dat discovers, not constructs, aspects of reality. Horgan ook worries dat Harris fails to take JSON Consideration the history of disastrous attempts to create a “science of human flourishing”, attempts, like Marxism and eugenics, dat became the bedrock of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. ^[70]

Free will

Harris says the idea of free will is incoherent and “can not be mapped on to Any conceivable reality.” He maintains dat humans harbor no free will and no sense kan be bepaald to the concept dat we Might port free will. ^{[71] [72]}volgens to Harris, science “reveals you to be a biochemical puppet.” ^[73] People’s thoughts and intentions, Harris says, “emerge from background Causes or welke we are unaware and over welke we exert no conscious control.” Every choice we make is made as a result of preceding Causes. These choices we make are Determined by Those Causes, and are Charmain Horn Please note not really choices at all. Harris ook draws a Distinction tussen conscious and Unconscious reactions to the world. Even without free will, consciousness has an important role to play in the choices we make. Harris argues dat this realization about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the belang or social and political freedom, but it kan and arnt change the way we think about some of the must important questions in life.

Commenting on Harris’s book Free Will (2012), Daniel Dennett Disagrees with Harris’ position on compatibilism , and Asks if Harris Directing his arguments against an unreasonably absolute or “perfect freedom” version of compatibilism, welke Dennett mention anything DESCRIBE as an incoherent, straw man version. ^{[74] [75]}

Eddy Nahmias, a prominent philosopher in the area of free will, is similarly unimpressed with Harris’ claims. In his review of Harris ‘book in The Philosophers Magazine , Nahmias says Harris’ definition of free will is mistaken. He charges Harris’ definition with relying on some “nebulous X-factor”. Nahmias says Harris simply asserts his definition of free will, without offering ANY evidence to back up his claim, and Harris misreads or Ignores the arguments offered by compatibilists. ^[76]

Social and economic politics

Harris describes himself as a liberal, and states dat he supports raising taxes on the wealthy, decriminalizing drugs, and the rights of homosexuals to marry. He was critical of the Bush administration ‘s war in Iraq, fiscal policy, and treatment of science. ^[77]

Organizational affiliations

In 2007 Harris and his wife, Annaka Harris founded Project Reason , a Charitable Foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and Secular values in society. ^[78]

Harris is ook a member of the advisory board of the Secular Coalition for America , ^[79] a national lobbying organization representing the interests of nontheistic Americans.

Neuroscience

Building on his interests in belief and religion, Harris COMPLETED a PhD in cognitive neuroscience at UCLA . ^{[22] [27]} He-used fMRI to explore Whether the brain responses differentiation tussen sentences therein subjects judged as true, false, or undecidable, across a wide range of categories waaronder autobiographical, mathematical, geographical, religious, ethical, semantic, and factual statements. ^[80]

In Another study, Harris and colleagues Examined the neural basis of religious and non-religious belief using fMRI. ^[81] Fifteen committed Christians and nonbelievers fifteen ulcers scanned as they ‘evaluated the truth and falsity of religious and nonreligious propositions. For both groups, statements or belief (sentences judged as Either true or false) ulcers associated with Increased activation or ventromedial Anatomie , a region of the brain involved in emotional judgment, processing uncertainty, Asse rewards and thinking about oneself. ^[27] A “comparison of all religious trials to all nonreligious trials produktie a wide range of signal differences gehele brain,” and the processing or religious belief and empirical belief differed in significant ways. The regions associated with Increased activation in response to religious stimuli included the anterior insula, the ventral striatum, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the posterior medial cortex. ^[81]

Writings and media appearances

Harris’s writing focuses on neuroscience and criticism of religion , for welke he is best known. He blogs for the Washington Post , the Huffington Post , and formerly for Truthdig , and his articles harbor Appeared in publications zoals Newsweek , The New York Times , the Los Angeles Times , the Boston Globe , and The British national newspaper The Times . ^[82]

Harris has made numerous television and radio appearances, zoals on The O’Reilly Factor , ABC News , Tucker , Book TV , NPR , Real Time , The Colbert Report , and The Daily Show . In 2005, Harris Appeared in the documentary film The God Who Was not There . Harris was a featured speaker at the 2006 conference Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival . He made two presentations and participated in the ensuing panel discussions. Harris has ook Appeared a number of times on the Point of Inquiry radio podcast. Harris Engaged in a lengthy debate with Andrew Sullivan on the internet forum Beliefnet . ^[83] In April 2007, Harris debated with the evangelical pastor Rick Warren for Newsweek magazine. ^[84] In April 2011, he debated William Lane Craig on the nature of morality. ^{[85] [86]}

In September 2011, Harris’s essay Lying was published as a Kindle Single. ^[87]

Harris has Appeared as a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast five times, Most recently in June 2016. The conversations port lycra lasted around three hours and harbor Covered a variety of topics related to Harris’s research, books, and interests.

On September 28, 2012, Harris ghosts at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, Australia. ^[88] His speech was on the Delusion of Free Will , ^[88] welke been killed the topic of his book of 2012. ^[89]

On April 7, 2013, Harris announced his book, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion , welke describes his views on spiritual and contemplative experiences. ^[90] The book was published in late 2014. One of the subjects of the book is Dzogchen practice , a Tibetan Buddhist teaching.

Personal life

Harris was a serious student of the martial arts and taught martial arts in college. After morethan twenty years, he Began Practicing two martial arts again, ^[91] waaronder Brazilian jiu-jitsu . ^[92] Harris was at one point a vegetarian, but serving it up after six years, Citing health concerns. ^[93] In 2015 he Returned to Vegetarianism for ethical reasons, with the intention or Eventually going vegan. ^[94]

Harris has leg Reluctant to Discuss personal details zoals where he now lives, Citing security reasons. ^[95] In 2004, Harris married Annaka Harris, an editor or Nonfiction and scientific books. ^[96] Way Down have two daughters. ^[97]

Podcast

Beginning in September 2013, Sam Harris Began publishing the podcast Alright with Sam Harris , have in welke discusses his views, Responds to critics, and interviews special guests. The podcasts Vary greatly in length of time, anywhere from 8 minutes to about 3 hours. The podcast has no regular release schedule, hoewel de the frequency of releases has Increased over time. ^[98]

Books

• The End of Faith : Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason (2004). ISBN 0-393-03515-8
• Letter to a Christian Nation (2006). ISBN 0-307-26577-3
• The Moral Landscape : How Science Can Determine Human Values (2010). ISBN 978-1-4391-7121-9
• Lying (2011) ISBN 978-1940051000
• Free Will (2012). ISBN 978-1451683400
• Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion (2014) ISBN 978-1451636017
• Islam and the Future of Tolerance (2015) ISBN 978-0674088702

References