Episode description

Today it’s great to have Sam Harris on the podcast. Sam is the author of five New York Times best sellers, including The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, Free Will, Lying, and Waking Up. The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction. His writing and public lectures cover a wide range of topics—neuroscience, moral philosophy,religion, meditation practice, human violence, rationality—but generally focus on how a growing understanding of ourselves and the world is changing our sense of how we should live. He also hosts the Making Sense Podcast, which was selected by Apple as one of the “iTunes Best” and has won a Webby Award for best podcast in the Science & Education category.

Topics

[1:57] Sam’s reflections on his childhood

[7:18] Sam’s interest in martial arts

[8:04] Sam’s experience with MDMA

[12:09] How Sam ended up on the Dalai Lama’s security detail

[16:39] Sam’s experience with meditation teacher Sayadaw U Pandita

[23:12] Dualistic vs Nondualistic mindfulness

[24:34] Sam’s experience with Dzogchen meditation

[28:27] Sam’s dream about Dilgo Khyentse

[34:15] Sam’s experience with fiction writing

[37:50] Scott questions Sam’s position on free will

[41:33] Sam’s disagreement with Daniel Dennett

[42:41] Sam’s take on free will and human interaction

[46:38] Why Sam thinks we’re getting “free will” wrong

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