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SamHarrisOrg's profile
Sam Harris
Sam Harris
Sam Harris
Verified account
@SamHarrisOrg

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Sam HarrisVerified account

@SamHarrisOrg

Author of The End of Faith, The Moral Landscape, Waking Up, and other bestselling books published in over 20 languages. Host of the Waking Up podcast.

samharris.org
Joined February 2010

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    1. Sam Harris‏Verified account @SamHarrisOrg Jan 10

      Getting from “Is” to “Ought” 1/ Let’s assume that there are no ought’s or should’s in this universe. There is only what *is*—the totality of actual (and possible) facts.

      174 replies 487 retweets 1,651 likes
      Show this thread
    2. Sam Harris‏Verified account @SamHarrisOrg Jan 10

      2/ Among the myriad things that exist are conscious minds, susceptible to a vast range of actual (and possible) experiences.

      6 replies 46 retweets 379 likes
      Show this thread
    3. Sam Harris‏Verified account @SamHarrisOrg Jan 10

      3/ Unfortunately, many experiences suck. And they don’t just suck as a matter of cultural convention or personal bias—they really and truly suck. (If you doubt this, place your hand on a hot stove and report back.)

      48 replies 52 retweets 493 likes
      Show this thread
    4. Sam Harris‏Verified account @SamHarrisOrg Jan 10

      4/ Conscious minds are natural phenomena. Consequently, if we were to learn everything there is to know about physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, economics, etc., we would know everything there is to know about making our corner of the universe suck less.

      20 replies 53 retweets 409 likes
      Show this thread
    5. Sam Harris‏Verified account @SamHarrisOrg Jan 10

      5/ If we *should* to do anything in this life, we should avoid what really and truly sucks. (If you consider this question-begging, consult your stove, as above.)

      41 replies 47 retweets 444 likes
      Show this thread
    6. Sam Harris‏Verified account @SamHarrisOrg Jan 10

      6/ Of course, we can be confused or mistaken about experience. Something can suck for a while, only to reveal new experiences which don’t suck at all. On these occasions we say, “At first that sucked, but it was worth it!”

      8 replies 40 retweets 395 likes
      Show this thread
    7. Sam Harris‏Verified account @SamHarrisOrg Jan 10

      7/ We can also be selfish and shortsighted. Many solutions to our problems are zero-sum (my gain will be your loss). But *better* solutions aren’t. (By what measure of “better”? Fewer things suck.)

      13 replies 48 retweets 434 likes
      Show this thread
      Sam Harris‏Verified account @SamHarrisOrg Jan 10

      8/ So what is morality? What *ought* sentient beings like ourselves do? Understand how the world works (facts), so that we can avoid what sucks (values).

      6:15 PM - 10 Jan 2018
      • 167 Retweets
      • 1,111 Likes
      • VOLT DOG Abhishek Paudel Sahil Chawla Ben Kristjan sig Margrave Masane Sean Fitzgerald Steven Sterling Ryan Gapp
      188 replies 167 retweets 1,111 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. Brendon J. Brewer‏ @brendonbrewer Jan 10
          Replying to @SamHarrisOrg

          I generally like this argument but have objections along a couple of lines which you might associate with FA Hayek and J Haidt. I don't think explicit, articulated understanding will ever be powerful enough (not even close), and morality is behavioural.

          1 reply 0 retweets 9 likes
        3. Brendon J. Brewer‏ @brendonbrewer Jan 10
          Replying to @brendonbrewer @SamHarrisOrg

          Many failed and disastrous ideologies thought they were scientifically justified moralities

          3 replies 0 retweets 9 likes
        4. Jordan‏ @jordanhodg Jan 10
          Replying to @brendonbrewer @SamHarrisOrg

          That doesn’t necessarily make Sam incorrect, but speaks to the incompleteness of knowing the “is”... no?

          3 replies 0 retweets 9 likes
        5. Brett Hall‏ @ToKTeacher Jan 10
          Replying to @jordanhodg @brendonbrewer @SamHarrisOrg

          His argument rests on a premise assuming he can know 4/ "everything" about the "is". This is at odds with the claim 6/ he can be "mistaken". So, notwithstanding all the other problems, the logical form of the argument is invalid.

          1 reply 0 retweets 8 likes
        6. Jordan‏ @jordanhodg Jan 10
          Replying to @ToKTeacher @brendonbrewer @SamHarrisOrg

          No it rests on the premise that everything could be known. There’s no evidence that it can’t be, we are chipping away, however slowly.

          2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
        7. Brett Hall‏ @ToKTeacher Jan 10
          Replying to @jordanhodg @brendonbrewer @SamHarrisOrg

          We cannot know everything because that implies a state of perfect knowledge. But because we are error prone (fallible), correcting errors is an infinite process. Knowing everything implies correcting all errors. But that's a contradiction.

          3 replies 0 retweets 1 like
        8. Jordan‏ @jordanhodg Jan 10
          Replying to @ToKTeacher @brendonbrewer @SamHarrisOrg

          This seems like a logical disconnect. Most of us accept that we shouldn’t smoke (truth) although many of us do (fallable/behaviour). That doesn’t mean we haven’t found a truth, nor does it mean everyone will act perfectly.

          1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
        9. Brendon J. Brewer‏ @brendonbrewer Jan 10
          Replying to @jordanhodg @ToKTeacher @SamHarrisOrg

          If we had perfect knowledge, the optimal number of smokers would not be zero. It would include all those who would not get diseases (we'd know which people that is!) and those for whom the benefits outweigh the later suffering.

          3 replies 0 retweets 1 like
        10. 4 more replies
        1. New conversation
        2. Jason Maxwell‏ @mrjasonmaxwell Jan 10
          Replying to @SamHarrisOrg

          So what makes the reduction of suffering the OBJECTIVELY appropriate goal to pursue? You and I and others may agree that it is the right end, but it is only the right end because we say so. What is the objective (external of our own wishes) reason to minimize the suffering?

          2 replies 0 retweets 8 likes
        3. Don Julio‏ @don_julio6 Jan 10
          Replying to @mrjasonmaxwell @SamHarrisOrg

          Morality external to sentient beings is nonsensical. What matters to us is all that matters.

          0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
        4. End of conversation
        1. New conversation
        2. Natanael‏ @natanaelmoro Jan 11
          Replying to @SamHarrisOrg

          Sure you can get from an “is” to an “ought” the way you describe but it required that you smuggled in a few assumptions that don’t logically follow from the “is.” 1/ What is morally important is the well-being of sentient beings. (Seems intuitive to most but doesn’t follow from >

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
        3. Natanael‏ @natanaelmoro Jan 11
          Replying to @natanaelmoro @SamHarrisOrg

          > the “is.”) 2/ What is moral is to grant standing (economics term from cost–benefit analysis) to ALL sentient beings. (Doesn’t follow from the “is” and is vastly counterintuitive to a lot of people. E.g., if a highly conscious alien race descended on Earth with the explicit >

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
        4. Natanael‏ @natanaelmoro Jan 11
          Replying to @natanaelmoro @SamHarrisOrg

          > goal to extinguish the human race because it would provide them so much well-being most people would want to fight back and try to kill the attackers even if their potential well-being outranks that of humans by orders of magnitude.) 3/ There are objectively ”worse” and >

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
        5. Natanael‏ @natanaelmoro Jan 11
          Replying to @natanaelmoro @SamHarrisOrg

          > better states in this infinite-dimensional space of well-being. (Even if we grant 1 this would only imply that we strive for Pareto improvements (economics term again) but it doesn’t tell us anything about what to do in cases where even one sentient being gets a worse deal >

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
        6. Natanael‏ @natanaelmoro Jan 11
          Replying to @natanaelmoro @SamHarrisOrg

          > than before. In fact even to navigate that landscape requires that we input a weighting of different sentient beings’ different kinds of well-being and that we input a discount rate on future well being based on uncertainty and other factors. In many of these considerations >

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
        7. Natanael‏ @natanaelmoro Jan 11
          Replying to @natanaelmoro @SamHarrisOrg

          > there will be vast differences in people’s moral intuition and the resulting model of this landscape would necessarily be highly subjective.) If you make the three assumptions above and specify everything in assumption 3 (there is already a breadth of theory about this in >

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
        8. Natanael‏ @natanaelmoro Jan 11
          Replying to @natanaelmoro @SamHarrisOrg

          > economics), then what’s left is to employ the branch of mathematics called optimization theory. Finally, I don’t see how your position is different than the old utilitarian position. Perhaps with the exception that you claim to be able to derive your position from an “is.”

          0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
        9. End of conversation
        1. New conversation
        2. Michael Greiling‏ @mikegreiling Jan 10
          Replying to @SamHarrisOrg

          To put it succinctly, you can get from “is” to “ought” *if* you have universally agreed upon values. But even universal values are subjective. Nothing about the universe says that human suffering is “bad”. That is a value we ascribe, even if we all agree on it. /1

          4 replies 0 retweets 7 likes
        3. Michael Greiling‏ @mikegreiling Jan 10
          Replying to @mikegreiling @SamHarrisOrg

          I think a better way to say it is “You can’t get from an is to an ought, but if we all agree that the suffering of conscious beings is *bad* then this doesn’t matter because we _can_ derive oughts from that single shared value”

          2 replies 0 retweets 9 likes
        4. VizStrong‏ @visualimpactnc Jan 11
          Replying to @mikegreiling @SamHarrisOrg

          You can not show an age or people that enjoyed smashing baby heads. At best you can show a group that killed babies out of fear to a god but they didn’t derive joy from it. Point is there are universal truths.

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
        5. Michael Greiling‏ @mikegreiling Jan 11
          Replying to @visualimpactnc @SamHarrisOrg

          A value that is universally agreed upon ("killing babies is bad") is still a value. We cannot derive this value from facts about the universe. And we don't need to, because we all agree. @SamHarrisOrg claims the is/ought dichotomy doesn't exist, I say it exists but doesn't matter

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        6. VizStrong‏ @visualimpactnc Jan 11
          Replying to @mikegreiling @SamHarrisOrg

          Are you familiar with the ideas that something like “Love” could be a force in the universe measurable like any other force? That it is this existence that allows our brain sets to interact with it the way we do? The way we use it to create societies etc...

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        7. Michael Greiling‏ @mikegreiling Jan 11
          Replying to @visualimpactnc @SamHarrisOrg

          do you mean to say it is a force like gravity or electromagnetism? maybe in a very abstract way one could consider something like love a force, but I’m not sure in what sense you mean this

          2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
        8. VizStrong‏ @visualimpactnc Jan 12
          Replying to @mikegreiling @SamHarrisOrg

          1/ Using my scenario about let’s say punching a baby in the face. Now assume a force exists in the universe that plays a part in how we feel about such events. We may do it out of ignorance or appease a leader but never actually happy about it. Consider it a check/balance force.

          0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
        9. End of conversation

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