What, Why & How do we Know ?
Sam Harris conversation with Thomas Metzinger in the Waking Up Podcast. Hat tip to Terry Waites for the link as a conversation starter: Brain dump only whilst listening (few sentences / little editing) : In usual “naive” Sam Harris way the conversation skips superficially across many topics, and Metzinger is himself highly politically motivated. These days … Continue reading “Progress in Dialogue – Thomas Metzinger meets Sam Harris”
Last week & weekend I followed two conferences via Twitter. HumanMind2017 and BreakingConvention. #HumanMind2017 I had originally intended to attend in Cambridge (partly because I have a nostalgic soft-spot for The Møller Centre where it was held), but diary log-jam meant I overlooked doing anything about it until they started Tweeting. I ended up following them very … Continue reading “Two “Mind” Conferences Storified”
A running theme throughout Psybertron is the reality of conscious mind and its consequences in the real world. That’s partly because explantory understanding of our understanding and of our decision-making is my main research focus and partly because – probably not coincidentally – it’s also a prime (but not the only) example where politicised scientific dogma … Continue reading “Altered States of Consciousness”
I blogged my own confusion about exactly what Sam Harris education was way back here, over a year ago. Reality is he’s an English major and a very clever writer. A bit like Pirsig “skating on thin ice” when writing about Zen having previously read only one book on the subject, later pursuing studies to cover his … Continue reading “What is Sam Harris game?”
I mentioned and shared, a few posts ago, a brief presentation on Free-Will I gave to Teesside Sceptics in the Pub last week, but I also wanted to mention the other contributions: Sue Whitcombe was probably the highlight of the night, partly because it was delivered with the passion of direct personal experience and partly … Continue reading “Teesside SitP Open Mike Night – a Round-up.”
I’m completing a review of Julian Baggini’s “Freedom Regained” [previous reference] [and another] in which there are quite a few comparative references to Sam Harris and Dan Dennett. I’m a big fan of the latter – philosopher first and foremost with a special interest in evolution and cognitive science. Harris I often defend as a … Continue reading “Sam Harris – philosopher or scientist?”
Research on psychedelics as part of the neuroscience of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy is not new, but activity seems to be growing in this space again. Four blog links here from a couple of months ago, that bring a number of threads into one place. Neurocritic, Neuroskeptic, Minds-Hacks, and a potted summary from Neurophilosophy. Plus the Shulgin (Erowid) … Continue reading “For Another Day”
Today at last, I had a chance to watch Ant McWatt’s second documentary on the life and work of Robert Pirsig, “On the Road with Robert Pirsig“. (The first installment “Arrive Without Travelling” I reviewed when it came out around a year ago, and it was a little difficult to disguise my disappointment, though relatively … Continue reading “On the Road with Robert Pirsig”
“Arrive Without Travelling” (AWT) is the first in a series of documentary films by Anthony McWatt about the work of Robert M Pirsig. Ant is to be congratulated on achieving his debut film-making milestone, the culmination of his own determined journey down a long and winding road, paved with intentions of many kinds. [Post Note: The 2nd part “On The Road … Continue reading “Arrive Without Travelling”
Linked from David’s own Fragments of Consciousness blog is this Interview on Bloggingheads he did with John Horgan. A full hour and wide-ranging … from David’s roots in the Woodstock of Consciousness, via the “hard problem”, free will, pure (non-objective) concsiousness, blurring the science / philosophy boundary, to rational mysticism and peyote and LSD induced states of … Continue reading “David Chalmers Interview”