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The Michael Shermer Show # 376
Daniel Dennett, preeminent philosopher and cognitive scientist, has spent his career considering the thorniest, most fundamental mysteries of the mind. Do we have free will? What is consciousness and how did it come about? What distinguishes human minds from the minds of animals? Dennett’s answers have profoundly shaped our age of philosophical thought. In this episode, he reflects on his amazing career and lifelong scientific fascinations, as well as the value of life beyond the university, one enriched by sculpture, music, farming, and family.
Daniel Dennett is Professor Emeritus at Tufts University and the author of numerous books, including Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking, Breaking the Spell, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, and Consciousness Explained.
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Any practical reason not to divide the West Bank and the land from Gaza to Jerusalem, North and South?
The infidelity example doesn’t disprove Sapolskys argument. It only demonstrates what some partners would accept or not.
It is wonderful to hear Dan Dennett talking just like Bernie Sanders.
Dan Dennett is just a professional storyteller. It's also sad that Shermer was compelled to insert a thumbnail that suggests he's 20 yrs younger.
I hope you have a more in depth knowledge in other areas than you do about the EU. What a ridiculous response. I think you lost the questioner as a listener. It is better to explain you have little expertise in the area than showing it.
Dennett is absolutely correct that all Scientists have or make philosophical assumptions that they either examine critically or not. Im wondering if Dennett has ever read Karl Popper and what his opinion is of him if he has?
Please just get Sapolsky and Dennett in the same room, or the same episode. It’s painful watching both sides here misrepresenting Sapolsky’s views, and then strawmanning.
Darwin spent twenty years crafting his work.
49:30 I like the husband cheating example. Good discussion.
49:00 That thought experiment doesn't do anything. Sam's point stands just fine. No, you could not have chosen to do otherwise, or you would have. Whatever your choice was you did not have any control over the factors that made you choose what you did. To say "of course you could have chosen to do otherwise" is just not seeing the argument. You chose what you chose for reasons beyond your control. And no, Dennet, it is not a "good example". You have zero input on what your neurons will make you do or say next, or NOT say or do. Consciousness does not control consciousness, neurons do. Just like the pressure in a room is determined by the density of air molecules. The pressure doesn't control the pressure!?!? The pressure is the thing that is controlled. Same for consciousness and neurons. If your argument is "of course you could have chosen to fire a different pathway of neurons" then you'll have to explain that one to me.
Eeeh eeeehm eeeeeh eeeeehhhhm
The four horseman👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍Thank You
Why did this end suddenly?
This was a wonderful discussion!
Dan is the man!
My favorite living philosopher. Great interview Michael.
Love these guys forever.
Dan Dennett will be greatly missed :/
Daniel Dennett died today. 😢. He was a wonderful influence for me. Maybe, he lives on through the one he influenced.
Dan passed away yesterday. Very sad news. Dan was everything you would want to say – kind, generous and talented in many areas of life. Not least, he made excellent cider from his own orchard. I had the privilege (and pleasure) of sampling his best at Tufts University, Medford in 1992. I wrote to Tufts in the throes of a personal crisis, asking whether I might sit in on his classes as a PhD student from the UK. He immediately accepted me, no charge, so I was able to sit in on his classes when he was going through some of his new book, 'Consciousness Explained'. We got into some stimulating and animated exchanges, something I will always treasure. Thank you Dan. Your kindness and generosity at that time means a huge amount to me.
Good bless you, Dan
So sad that Dan went out on a losing battle in defending free will. 'Self control' would be better seen as controlled self… Locating an enduring authorial Self is difficult enough. If you accept edge cases as lacking in free will, or that allowances should be made for mitigating circumstances regarding responsibility etc. then all you need to do is take the logical step of regarding all of the circumstances pressing in on an individual's behavior over a life time (and due to genetics and so on) and you have the same situation for everyone, there is no merit nor blame that can be attributed to free agency. Maybe the best way to put it is 'life is brain damage'. I think Dennett was a great mind, but I think he was somewhat naive where determinism and qualia are concerned. Or possibly I don't have the intellect to appreciate his counter arguments. Either way, respect to a powerhouse thinker. Breaking the Spell was an important read for me.
Dan seened like a truley kind man. I really learned a lot from him.
I loved Dr. Daniel Dennett, very sad to hear about his passing, I've would have loved to meet him, he was my absolute favorite, an intellectual giant, a legend, true sage, heard he was also very kind gentle person, huge loss to civilization, I will watch tons of his lectures in the next few weeks in his memory, I made a playlist of his lectures and interviews for myself to work through, listening to Dr Dennett lectures would be my idea of Heaven 11:02
His inventions, discoveries and ideas will stay forever. What an intelectual hero!. Thank Goodness for Daniel Dennett.
How I miss Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, Hans Rosling and Martin Amis…every day…
Lopez Jason Lewis Scott Garcia Brian
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I'm generally positive about Dan Dennett's contribution to philosophy. I think a lot of what he said about free will was right. Austin's putt was particularly important and still most don't see the significance or just what he was saying. And now the but, he was not as clear as he should have been on luck. Yes it's not luck in the sense that it doesn't matter what you do so just wing it. But the sense that it is 100 % luck is vital to whether he deserved his success or not and he didn't tackle it, instead he left it out of sight.
Dennett thought we could have done otherwise, which I'm sure is right and so things could have turned out a lot worse for him. Now this is the thing, if variables that he did not choose stretching back into his past had been appropriately different he would have done otherwise. That's how he could have done otherwise in his compatibilist philosophy if we think it through. It is 100% luck that those variables were not different as far as he was concerned. He got lucky and many are unlucky in that regard. It's unfair and unkind not to recognise that. Either we are ultimately responsible which he agreed we are not, or it is all luck in the crucial sense I described and that is the bottom line. He did simply side step that issue.
To answer Michael Shermer's thought experiment here is the good and correct response. Yes of course John could have done otherwise but to have done so the background causes he had no conscious control over would have to have been different in such a way that he would have done otherwise. They weren't and in that respect it was sheer luck and it should be acknowledged to be fair to him.