Sam Harris

…he then goes on to criticize Trump, but while doing so at least admitted that he doesn’t have a total political bias against him

I thought this was a very good way to argue against Trump at the time

EDIT - looking for the specific episode

As per the email.

And we're off and running - https://samharris.substack.com/p/president-felon

Do you think now that Israel has offered a ceasefire deal that they will acknowledge that it’s not and never was a genocide?

Despite the mountain of evidence that Israel worked hard to avoid civilian casualties do you think this ceasefire offer will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and these people will think ‘wow I was wrong, I was lead to believe that Israel is blood thirsty’?

How will their minds cope

I’ve been aware of and listened to Sam for a few years now, but I’ve always been undecided about him. Lately I’ve been going in deeper and more frequently and his articulation and stances, while I may not agree with all of them, are still impressive and thought provoking and I’m coming around more to him. While doing so I’ve been trying to figure out what it is that I’m unsure of or runs me wrong. I thought it was an image of arrogance or pomposity, but assuming he means what he says I don’t know if that’s a valid assumption. I’m starting to think maybe it’s just his constant raised eyebrow that gives this unidentifiable vibe I’m getting. Anyone have any response to this completely ridiculous thought I’m having?

Presumably many here may even be happy with it... but for those of us that see the dangers of Trump- are you ready for the strong possibility the guy gets in office again?

Someone like Joel Osteen. Does Sam have more followers? Less? How would you measure it?

Has anyone tried the radical honesty concept. I think I understand Sam's opinion on lying. I have been trying and the world hates it. Even my oldest and dearest friends are very uncomfortable with a certain level of honesty. So anyone else give radical honesty a go?

Edit for clarification: I have not being trying the candor part, saying whatever is in my mind, or starting the conversation, simply giving the honest answer when prompted. Also most the relationships I am talking about are already established ones, not random work relationships.

I have taken my honesty as an offer to others, but pretty much everyone doesn't like participating in relationships that way(at least mine). With that said dating has been much easiser and smoother bc you don't have to prepare or keep track of anything.

TLDR: Has Sam talked in depth about guilt, regret and grief with respect to the loss of a loved one? And about unattainable closure... What do you think Sam would say about my situation?

---If you want to know why I'm asking this keep reading. But feel free to ignore---

I lost my father two days ago. He died very unexpectedly. And the regret that just keeps torturing me every second since I learned about his passing is the fact that I didn't have the best relationship with him and it was because of my infantility. I just couldn't let go of my anger despite knowing that it's pointless and it's better for me to let it go. And the worst part was that I wasn't even that angry at my father, it was mostly my mother who gave me childhood trauma and my father just got under the collateral damage of my anger. 5 years ago I had pretty good relations with my parents because my life was going well but then 2 years ago I was at a very low point in life and I decided to call them and complain about my upbringing (I never complain prior to that). Then a little over a year ago I decided to stop talking to them because my life kept getting worse. I wanted to get my life back together and once I did it I wanted to restore my relations with my parents. I remember my father asking me to at least keep one way communication going even if it's just once a month to let him know that I'm doing fine. But I didn't even fucking bother doing that and it wasn't out of anger but because I thought it was unnecessary. I blocked my parents to prevent them from reaching me.

My life had just recently gained a good trajectory and I contemplated about calling my parents two months ago but I fucking didn't. And now my father is dead. I looked at his WhatsApp and it shows that he logged in about 30 minutes before he died. I keep thinking that he wanted to tell me something, talk to me one last time. But I fucking blocked him (and my mother) because I didn't want any of them to have access to me during this time. I talked to my mother yesterday and she told me how he'd always have tears in his eyes when talked about me, how he kept blaming himself for not being the best father after that time two years ago when I complained to them on a call. I don't even remember what my last conversation with him was like. I remember how I'd always try to find a reason to get angry at my parents. I kept blaming and scorning them for their past mistakes, for things they couldn't change anymore. Not every one of conversations was like that but every once in a while something would just click in my head and I'd get angry and frustrated at them.

I'm an atheist (like many of you here) and it's just unbearable to me that my father probably died with all those regrets and that he was never truly happy because other people kept screwing him over (including his own brother who scammed him twice when they started a business and my father still loved him), he never got to travel and see the world and lived and died in really shitty country, and he never got to hear that I actually love him and forgive him for his mistakes. There are so many things he'll never get to see now and he was such a curious human, he was a mathematician and taught at a university until the day he died. Every news about advancements in tech, space, maths, physics, etc. would get him so excited. And he'd always root for me to achieve things in the tech and startup world but I'd always dismiss his support because of my infantility. And we hadn't seen each other for over 8 years because I moved to another country. And now he's dead and gone forever. The chain of his conscious experience has ended. The only window of time in the existence of this universe where we got to know each other and have a father-and-son relationship has been permanently shut, in fact there is no window anymore.

I just... don't know what to do or to think anymore. I hate this fucking world, I hate life.

I am currently reading Haidt’s “The Righteous Mind” and I think it’s more than relevant to the conflict. I am still not even halfway through but what I have read so far has definitely given me a bit more of an insight into understanding moral psychology and how people form their opinions on divisive moral issues. In Chapter 2 Haidt presents his “Social Intuitionist Model” which explains how using reasoning one can influence someone else’s intuitions and thus understanding of a given situation.

My question is - has anyone successfully been able to change someone else’s mind about the conflict? If yes - what were the main arguments that tipped the scales? If no - do you think it’s even possible?

In my experience, I think I have managed to converge on a lot of points with some of my more moderate friends that are not heavily subscribed to a particular ideology. However, it’s felt impossible to have a productive discussion about it with my leftist/marxist friends who apply the framework of “oppressor-oppressed” to literally every aspect of society.

Do you guys know anything about this? I have a relative who just lost her husband to a very fast moving cancer and she's doing it. I'd like to know that it's actually going to help and not be habit forming or mess her up or anything. It seems like a pretty vulnerable time to be doing drugs. Sam has sung the praises of psychoactive therapies a lot but this is also a reasonable skeptical/informed crowd.