Sam Harris- Debating the Lab Leak, Gaza, the Self, and Extremism
Channel: Decoding the Gurus
Date: 2024-02-17

Sam Harris is an author, podcaster, public intellectual, ex-New Atheist, card-returning IDWer, and someone who likely needs no introduction. This is especially the case if you are a DTG listener as we recently released a full-length decoding episode on Sam.

Following our Decoding episode (available here: https://decoding-the-gurus.captivate.fm/episode/sam-harris), Sam generously agreed to come on to address some of the points we raised in the Decoding and a few other select topics. 

As you will hear we get into some discussions of the lab leak, what you can establish from introspection and the nature of self, motivations for extremism, coverage of the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and selective application of criticism.

Enjoy!

Timestamps
00:00 Intro
1:02 Lab Leak
16:00 The limits of introspection
32:08 Debates on Self
45:01 The role of jihadism in the Gaza conflict
54:19 (Mis)representations of the war in Gaza
1:04:48 Collateral Damage and Intentions
1:09:56 The Ethics of Ethnic Cleansing
1:27:16 Selective Criticism and the Far Right

Sources
- Kevin Drum's blog. 'I read the entire Slack archive about the origin of SARS-CoV-2. There is no evidence of improper behaviour'
https://jabberwocking.com/i-read-the-entire-slack-archive-about-the-origin-of-sars-cov-2-there-is-no-evidence-of-improper-behavior/
- Global Catastrophic Risk Institute: The Origin and Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Expert Survey. 
https://gcrinstitute.org/papers/069_covid-origin.pdf
- Our previous interview with three Virology experts on the Lab Leak: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JdzZGhQAPE
- New York Magazine article by Eric Levitz 'Sam Harris’s Fairy-Tale Account of the Israel-Hamas Conflict' 
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/11/sam-harriss-fairy-tale-account-of-the-israel-hamas-conflict.html
- The Israel Democracy Institute. War in Gaza Public Opinion Survey (2): See Question 15. 
https://en.idi.org.il/media/21835/war-in-gaza-public-opinion-survey-2-data.pdf
- Sam Harris Episode 351: 5 Myths about Israel and the War in Gaza
https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/351-5-myths-about-israel-and-the-war-in-gaza
- Making Sense Podcast Episode 352: Hubris & Chaos- A Conversation with Rory Stewart
https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/352-hubris-chaos
- Atran, S. (2016). The devoted actor: Unconditional commitment and intractable conflict across cultures. Current Anthropology, 57(S13), S192-S203.
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/685495