That's correct - I wasn't arguing otherwise. (And by the same token, you can't judge the validity of an experiential claim (e.g. if use your attention in X way, you will observe Y result) until you've followed those instructions.)
Try telling that to Dawkins, or Dennett, or... pretty much any big-time scientist or philosopher with a sizable influence in the intellectual public sphere.
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I think they would fully agree! They may just hesitate to take all conclusions of spiritual teachers at face value, before being convinced of the merits of their arguments and interpretations.
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I've seen a lot of IYI nonsense from Dawkins, Dennett, and Pinker. I don't think I could ever take any of the seriously.
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As an undergrad, I got introduced to a number of groundbreaking ideas by the books and lectures of all three of them. These ideas are still considered to be mostly true today! I owe them a great debt.
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I've never read them. They just sounded really stupid on video, making some very basic logical errors. I used to like Sam Harris until I found Taleb, who I derived far more utility from.
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Dawkins in particular specializes in sounding stupid on video. I do recommend reading The Selfish Gene and maybe also The Ancestor's Tale. His writings on evolutionary biology are quite good. I enjoyed Pinker's book The Language Instinct. Haven't been impressed by his others.
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Dennett has written tons of short articles and I can't recall off the top of my head which is the best starting point, but it's worth learning his perspective. I strongly disagree with his reductionist stance but he articulates that stances very well.
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Dennett comes across as a huge jerk in person (I've met him a couple of times) so you'll have to forgive his personality when judging his ideas. Same with Dawkins. Similar personality issues. Well mannered jerks. Pinker is at minimum an actually nice person (or LARPs it well).
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My criticism of them isn't that they are nice/mean, they are just plain wrong once you understand the Talebean perspective on risk. Pinker is actually too nice. I find him hypocritical for being for free speech, but never actually saying anything risky or offensive.
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$Bill N¥€ the Science® guy™Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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