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Intelligence Squared

Daniel Dennett on Tools to Transform our Thinking

Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared

News, Society & Culture, Arts, News Commentary

4.21.2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2013

⏱️ 84 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Daniel Dennett is one of the world’s most original and provocative thinkers. A philosopher and cognitive scientist, he is known as one of the ‘Four Horseman of New Atheism’ along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and the late Christopher Hitchens. On May 22nd he came to Intelligence Squared to share the insights he has acquired over his 40-year career into the nature of how we think, decide and act. Dennett revealed his favourite thinking tools, or ‘intuition pumps’, that he and others have developed for addressing life’s most fundamental questions. As well as taking a fresh look at familiar moves – Occam’s Razor, reductio ad absurdum – he discussed new cognitive solutions designed for the most treacherous subject matter: evolution, meaning, consciousness and free will. By acquiring these tools and learning to use them wisely, we can all aspire to better understand the world around us and our place in it. — We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be.  Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com or Tweet us @intelligence2.  And if you’d like to support our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations, as well as ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content, early access and much more, become a supporter of Intelligence Squared.. Just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Sure, this is Peloton. This is a 15 minute low impact ride.

0:05.6

But so is this.

0:07.2

We're here together for a 10 minute empathy meditation.

0:10.5

And even this.

0:11.9

We get here in with a 20 minute hip-hop shadow boxes session.

0:16.7

Ah!

0:17.7

What more could you ask for?

0:18.7

Well, with thousands of classes on our bike treading app, there's more to Peloton that you might have thought.

0:23.4

This is Peloton.

0:25.4

Internet Connection and Peloton all acts as membership required.

0:28.4

C1 Peloton.

0:30.3

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0:36.0

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0:39.0

Fast, safe, simple.

0:41.0

Match days made easy with Google Pay.

0:43.6

Add a card to your Google wallet.

0:45.2

Thank you for downloading this Intelligence Squared podcast.

0:48.0

For more information on our debates, talks and discussions,

0:51.8

visit Intelligence Squ Square.com.

0:54.0

Daniel Dennett on tools to transform our thinking.

0:58.0

This talk took place on the 22nd of May 2013

1:02.0

at the Royal Geographical Society in London.

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