#323 — Science & Survival

Making Sense with Sam Harris

Waking Up with Sam Harris

Samharris, Currentevents, Politics, Ethics, Religion, Neuroscience, Science, Society & Culture, Philosophy

4.6 • 29.1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2023

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sam Harris speaks with Martin Rees about the importance of science and scientific institutions. They discuss the provisionality of science, the paradox of authority, genius, civilizational risks, pandemic preparedness, artificial intelligence, nuclear weapons, the far future, the Fermi problem, the prospect of a "Great Filter", the multiverse, string theory, exoplanets, large telescopes, improving scientific institutions, wealth inequality, atheism, the conflict between science and religion, moral realism, and other topics.

If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.

Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Making Sense Podcast.
0:09.1	This is Sam Harris.
0:11.3	Just a note to say that if you're hearing this, you are not currently on our subscriber
0:14.8	feed and will only be hearing the first part of this conversation.
0:18.6	In order to access full episodes of the Making Sense Podcast, you'll need to subscribe
0:22.5	at samharis.org.
0:24.5	There you'll find our private RSS feed to add to your favorite pod catcher, along with
0:28.3	other subscriber-only content.
0:30.7	We don't run ads on the podcast, and therefore it's made possible entirely through the support
0:34.6	of our subscribers.
0:36.0	So if you enjoy what we're doing here, please consider becoming one.
0:46.2	Today I'm speaking with Martin Rees.
0:49.4	Martin is a well-known astronomer and the former president of the Royal Society, a fellow
0:55.2	and former master of Trinity College Cambridge, an emeritus professor of cosmology and astrophysics
1:01.3	at Cambridge.
1:02.3	He's also a member of the UK House of Lords.
1:05.5	And he's the author of several books.
1:07.9	Most recently, if science is to save us, which is the principal topic of today's conversation.
1:14.6	We talk about the importance of science and scientific institutions, the paradoxical
1:20.4	provisionality of science, and the strange relationship we have to scientific authority.
1:26.5	We talk about genius as a scientific and sociological phenomenon, civilizational risk, pandemic
1:34.4	preparedness, artificial intelligence, nuclear weapons, the far future, the Fermi problem.
	...

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