29 October 2017
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The elusive “rational” religion
Robert Wright and science historian Peter Harrison discuss whether religion and evolutionary science can ever seamlessly integrate.
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In this video:
The Physics of Consciousness (or Vice Versa)
Physicist Paul Davies holds out hope for a quantum theory that could ‘incorporate consciousness in its description of the world’. Plus: Could information be the most fundamental stuff?
“Making friends with desire”
Ethan Nichtern, author of the new book The Dharma of The Princess Bride, offers a Buddhist take on the film’s themes of family, friendship, and romance.
Do comedians have a moral responsibility?
Daniel Kaufman and Daniel Tippens on what political scrutiny of stand-up comedy says about our collective morality.
Does world peace start with inner peace?
Robert Wright and biologist Tyler Volk, author of the new book Quarks to Culture, on what might save the world.
Practice makes perfect
Jazz pianist Aaron Goldberg explains the cognitive feat of performing improvisational music. Plus: The meeting of musical minds.
Turning your autopilot off
Developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik and Robert Wright discuss how meditation can disrupt rigid patterns in adult cognition. Plus: Did Hume borrow from Buddhism?
Military monks
Scholar of religion Michael Jerryson, author of Buddhist Fury, on responses to Muslim-Buddhist violence in southern Thailand. Plus: The Buddhist apocalypse.
Scientology’s secret abuse scandal
Journalist Tony Ortega explains how the organization has used its canonical texts to justify incidences of child sexual abuse. Plus: Scientology vs. the IRS.
Is Richard Dawkins bad for secularism?
Sociologist Joseph Baker, author of the book American Secularism, contends that the New Atheism movement was influential, but doesn’t represent America’s growing non-religious population.
What Peter Singer overlooks
Philosopher Stephen Asma, author of the new book The Evolution of Imagination, says that advocates of “effective altruism” should consider how imagination aids moral development. Plus: What came before consciousness?