Sam Harris: The Self is an Illusion | Big Think

[@bigthink]

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[@joshuarohantitchener7395]

Big Think for you

[@joshuarohantitchener7395]

Why? People are quite smart going through their mistakes to acquire wisdom for themselves

[@rubenanthonymartinez7034]

The best description of what consciousness is, was written by Descartes, "I think therefore I am". Any further analysis of the subject of consciousness, you run into the problem of being incomplete. A characteristic of a all self- referential systems.

[@ultrainstinctgoku2509]

I was going to comment how moronic this guy is, but many people already did that. I guess I'll just laugh at this guy's illusions, which I have the free will to choose to do. Also it's good comedy for intelligent minds. 😂🤣😂💀😇

[@vigirlioblanco6217]

Get smarter!! What did you smoke!? One is either born that way, or paid enough attention in life, what you must mean is "fall in line", misinformation is what rules, only the delusional will fall for your every word, today's worst malady.

[@JohnnyArtPavlou]

I have no self and I have no free will and yet somehow I still have to pay my student loans.

[@Knaeben]

That's how they get you...

[@arminiusofgermania]

@@Knaeben with student loans.

[@arminiusofgermania]

@@Knaeben kinda like how they completely dupe you into thinking cat tastes good by using msg.

[@Mark-hn1si]

Kaeben oh yeah? Tell me how did you fully escaped this system?

[@sunnydlite-t8b]

Yes. You will spend your entire life chasing things that you will lose when you die. Enjoy.

[@SimplySoccer]

He has to be one of the most eloquent speakers I've ever heard.

[@Homunculas]

Ematched, closer to three million years.

[@Ematched]

Prospero yeah, that's the evidence for our lineage. I was just referring to the modern human-specific branch.

[@Ematched]

Michael Clark what good reason do we have to think a god even exists, let alone created everything and gave a damn about what humans have done?

[@Ematched]

John Saf You must be dropping in from an alternate reality.

[@osvaldovaldes10009]

JC spoke as the I AM; “of myself I can do nothing.”

[@achildofgod9954]

We are lucky to live in the present time of phone technology where we could hear intelligent and articulate beings like Sam without actually going to college . This is a type of talk that one can only hear in academic environments.

[@stanleyklein524]

God forbid -- but sadly you are right.

[@christianvanmatre7620]

Or on the toilet!

[@DarkAngelEU]

My hippie teacher in high school said the exact same stuff. When I was younger, my Christian grandfather taught me the exact same stuff. The ego does not matter.

[@eventhorizon2873]

Or with friends, smoking weed.

[@nainwalgaurav]

This kind of teaching is very old. Maybe it sounds very new to you because of your cultural background. What Sam Harris is saying is directly influenced by Buddha's teachings.

[@ROCKOCTANE]

Without struggle the mind creates struggles.

[@timon20061995]

@@vodkacannon But...but it's true. That's why people shouldn't aim for Utopia society. Humans will drive themselves mad.

[@daneman8619]

That's a evolutionary trait. We are wired to overcome adversity. When we arent, we feel empty.

[@Erik-lq4eo]

@@timon20061995 depends on what you mean by Utopia

[@Gouravthappa]

no no..he's got a point

[@Ray2311us]

Nah, its just the closed walls and ticking clocks. Basically society

[@justgivemethetruth]

Why is Ben Stiller trying to pretend he is a philosopher?

[@arminiusofgermania]

justgivemethetruth probably needs the money, and plenty of idiot plebs who will believe him simply because he's famous, and not because the ideas he espouses carries any weight.

[@isaacpreven3693]

@@arminiusofgermania your cynicism might be clouding your judgment

[@arminiusofgermania]

Isaac Preven ...or maybe, roofers hate gravity.

[@isaacpreven3693]

Arminius of Germania I can’t make you understand him, all I can do is suggest you reserve your judgment until you’re confident you do understand what he’s saying. I don’t agree with everything Sam Harris says, but I find his ability to reason through ideas incredibly refreshing and worth the effort. Arguing that he’s in it for the money, however, is undeniably cynical, and dismissing ALL of his ideas for “not carrying any weight”?!??! Cmon bro

[@arminiusofgermania]

Isaac Preven The truth/reality isn't all sunshine and lollipops, nor it is all bad but it is more oftentimes dark, and gritty. Regardless of what life throws your way, you take the good with the bad and you make the most of what you have. Oddly enough, the people who can't accept reality for what it is, and are not resilient to hardship, are mostly the same people who are positive thinkers, and who are more apt to conciously run from life's problems and less likely to acknowledge them, much less to devise solutions to them (to resolve life's problems, you must first acknowledge and accept that they exist, and positive people are not inclined to do that.)

[@Bobstew68]

He explains each point so clearly and precisely. You can tell he's put a lot of effort over the years into speaking as accurately as possible.

[@channiedhillon]

Didn't he just tell you he doesn't exist.... So who made the effort then..?

[@nuhaalkhalifah2803]

“Put a lot of effort “. Well, he is a philosopher, neuroscientist and an author.🙂

[@jonasjrgensen2637]

I feel like speaking this eloquently is just the default state once you put enough time into meditation. Because you don't got a bunch of junk running around in your head lol

[@gabrielab238]

​@@channiedhillon I understood that: His accumulated personal experiences did it, while being organized by the mind, in an "unware" state. And this doesn't mean we don't exist, but that everything done by us is put together in a seemless way, where we can't especify this ability of evoking thoughts.

[@Someguy66-i6s]

@@jonasjrgensen2637 That's a good point! Often when we're flustered, or lost for words, it's because we're trying not to sound stupid. Our concern for others' opinion of our speech gets in the way of a consistent train of thought. Meditation helps filter that out, and other mental noise.

[@UserName-ii1ce]

Yeah im gonna have to watch this 5 more times to understand it

[@68plus1.]

lmaoo samee

[@8koi139]

twice must be enough, just take notes :)

[@jayrealuglah6011]

Take shrooms then watch it

[@Someone-ee1lr]

I am watching it 2nd time. Still I am confused

[@IAn0nI]

You are conscious awareness, not your thoughts.

[@fibee8324]

I'm currently doing the Waking Up course of meditation and although it's really simple (and probably obvious), the biggest breakthrough for me was to realise that I needed to stop trying to 'find myself', which is something I've always tried to do, and instead make every effort to lose my self.

[@laza6141]

Can you explain to me how you meditate through Waking Up ?

[@fibee8324]

@@laza6141 I use the guided meditations on the app

[@idklol9408]

In order to find yourself you must lose yourself

[@Malt454]

I think the key is that there is no self to find or lose; it's like worrying about finding the nonexistent key to a nonexistent chest.

[@idklol9408]

@@Malt454 exactly. We all feel like this “i” that “has” an experience. Truth is we ARE the experience.

[@MidiwaveProductions]

The Self: Sam Harris is an illusion

[@youdeservetobeloved4048]

Beautiful

[@youdeservetobeloved4048]

@@dan78789 trying to explain something unknowable by the mind, using an out dated and already disproven materialist paradigm is just absurd

[@youdeservetobeloved4048]

@@dan78789 sam harris is a fool and a denier of truth

[@youdeservetobeloved4048]

@@dan78789 but he claims that consciousness arises primarily in the brain, which shows how he is still stuck in his paradigm

[@youdeservetobeloved4048]

@@dan78789 you can't understand the infinite nature of reality with a finite tool such as the human mind, it's incredibly arrogant and "self" centered

[@markg8022]

Honestly, I opted out of the philosophy of consciousness thoughts by my mid-20's. There were too many incorporeal aspects to the conversation that I felt were not useful to delve into any further. My future attention was to simply major in neurology at a university. Now I gives hand jobs to bums for $15 under the Queensboro bridge.

[@JamesRichardWiley]

The only reason I'm in this comment section is because my girlfriend left me after we had an argument over which of us was an illusion.

[@barofsoap7542]

Kissy, Kissy! Don't tell him what the frick he should do.

[@assrape6979]

Are you the new Buddha?

[@rdl99]

Bums have $15?

[@kittywampusdrums4963]

Kissy! You owe me $45

[@codinginflow]

He's literally my favorite person in the world to listen to

[@danibernd]

Especially during daily meditation on Waking Up

[@randomname2366]

You would enjoy his debate with William lane Craig.

[@anthonydouglas1240]

This guy is literally a fluke and if you new anything about philosophy you'd feel dumb for listening to him.. like I do at this moment

[@floepiejane]

@@anthonydouglas1240 I agree. His emphasis on experience and consciousness actually gives ground for the self in this argument.

[@late8641]

@@anthonydouglas1240 Has he ever claimed to be a philosopher. He's a neuroscientist talking about neuroscience. That's like saying that any professional rock climber wouldn't regard him as a rock climber. But has he ever even claimed to be one?

[@irrelevant2235]

Once I realized that the Self is an illusion, it shattered my reality where I'm still picking up the pieces (and this is a good thing).

[@rhymeforadime8478]

My life feels like it can be divided before my introduction to the buddha’s teachings and after

[@ChasingDepth]

Nietzche said it first: The body tells the I, "Feel hunger!", so the I says "I am hungry!"

[@santosepang7584]

I say 'I am hungry' to whom? Thanks

[@erictko85]

He was not the first. Many many before him

[@larrytinsley4247]

@@erictko85 who said it before nietche

[@erictko85]

@@larrytinsley4247 Spinoza did, "We neither strive for, nor will, neither want, nor desire anything because we judge it to be good; on the contrary we judge something to be good because we strive for it, will it, want it, and desire it."

[@jman8128]

Nietzche was a genius. when I get online, my body tells me, "porn", so I open pornhub.

[@RODERICKMOLASAR]

If I am not me, den hoo da hell am I? Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[@williamburts3114]

you hit the hammer on the nail.

[@sourcetext]

With respect.www.guadiantext.org

[@shadowsdad903]

Roderick Molasar better just be yourself. Everyone else is taken.

[@arminiusofgermania]

derp. :P

[@firesailstudios1003]

Total Recall: Reboot To the New Athiest Age

[@zachpatterson686]

If Sam Harris's voice could narrate the thoughts in my head I might be okay with the constant chatter.

[@ltariku]

take some acid and watch a bunch of his videos then he'll narrate your thoughts for the rest of the trip

[@wadeinn463]

All I hear is Redrum Redrum

[@thegoodlistenerslistenwell2646]

Can you not change how the voice in your head sounds? Its literally the same as remembering someone talking to you.

[@thegoodlistenerslistenwell2646]

@Subarashii Ningen you must be from a 3rd world country. I say this because higher education has taught that no one can provide proof of things NOT existing. You cannot prove unicorns have never existed, or that pink elephants are NOT the reason for god being able to speak. You cannot prove I'm wrong about the universe being a microchip inside the iPhone of god. You CAN prove something to exist....if it actually does. So, since you....somehow....know god exists, please prove he does. No one is disproving you, you need to show us its actually real first.

[@thegoodlistenerslistenwell2646]

@Subarashii Ningen I can't criticize it....because people thought about so much? Do you have any idea how much effort went into the quantum field theory? You are simply coping the statements of others. Your words hold no importance. Details about opinions mean nothing. Your religion is just s bunch of opinions.

[@tyroy57]

I never tire of hearing one of the most articulate rational compelling intellectuals around today.

[@a13xdunlop]

Celebrity pundit on everything from race, identity to politics.

[@Nuberville]

The phrase "whatever your favorite contemplative is" is one that has been missing in my life. That one is headed straight to long-term memory for future use.

[@channiedhillon]

And that is exactly what the self is... Just a collection of other peoples rubbish being repeated

[@Nuberville]

@@channiedhillon you know, the biggest disappoint about the pandemic to me was that in the beginning I really hoped we would realize we’re one species on one planet and maybe figure some shit out. That was pretty naive of me

[@adrianmasters250]

@@channiedhillon Boy, the level of arrogance and ignorance here is impressive

[@channiedhillon]

@@adrianmasters250 it's mostly insecurity.

[@strongadolf3794]

I searched: "Ben Stiller neurologist", and this came up.

[@kittywampusdrums4963]

LOL

[@tanseygreen291]

Yawn

[@brightblackgrouse6236]

@Firstand Last no he hated the gay jews, and rightfully so

[@caiheang]

@The Power of Nature because you are a charlatan who pretends to be informed.

[@Emma-fq9pv]

This gave me a good chuckle

[@needicecream100]

His thinking is so so clear.

[@TheHerrUlf]

No, that's an illusion. If you think critically, his thinking is incoherent

[@needicecream100]

Dieter H. Can you give an example?

[@TheHerrUlf]

He doesn't control his mind, yet claims objective knowledge

[@kylesnage]

Dieter H. The knowledge is still true, no?

[@TheHerrUlf]

Since it's logically incoherent it is, of course, not true

[@anotherfinger]

Sam is one of my spiritual parents. He’s been with me all throughout my journey. I owe him a great deal of gratitude. Thank you Sam!

[@aryangoswami7512]

Brother sanaatan dharma is funding father of yoga meditation 🧘‍♀️ and spirituality pls Read maharshi mahesh yogi Raman yogi

[@Simon-xi8tb]

check out Bernardo Kastrup, he will be your spiritual Dad

[@ayushmaan1012]

@@aryangoswami7512 spirituality is beyond sanatan dharma.

[@jamescrud]

4:57 "In spiritual, mystical, new age *g* ...religious literature..." I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he almost said "garbage". Nice save.

[@bwyan22]

AHAHAHAHA yessssssssssss

[@Krshwunk]

... but let's not forget that Sam Harris promotes an atheistic spirituality and mysticism. He has explicitly said so many times.

[@TheYopogo]

Krshwunk Spirituality? Yes. Mysticism? I don't think he'd like the term.

[@Krshwunk]

TheYopogo Well, you need to do a little more research. Google it. Harris has said: "I used the words spirituality and mysticism affirmatively, in an attempt to put the range of human experience signified by these terms on a rational footing."

[@Krshwunk]

Claude Lebel So, there is a God? God is the self? Is that what you're saying?

[@idahoplantguy9027]

I woke up from a very vivid dream last night that was heavily emphasised on my insecurities. Immediately upon waking I had this surreal feeling that we really are in a dream during our waking state and that our thoughts do become our reality. It was as if a veil had been lifted and I could see through the fog of the ego. I could subjectively compare the two states of being in a dream and being "awake" and realised that neither of them hold any sort of weight and that they are both paper thin. It was like I realised that I was an actor in this play called life and I'm just playing a role that isn't my true self or spirit. My waking state after this dream felt no more real to me or indistinguishable from the dream itself and I could see clearly through the layer in the mind that helps to facilitate the trick that convinces us that this is all real. What occurred after this dream as I walked to the bathroom to pee was what I can only describe as a psychedelic induced feeling of being on the outside looking in and seeing through the masterful trick that is the self. I understood that this life is not all there is and that something bigger is behind it all, whatever that may be. The feeling in this moment was undeniable and profound.

[@paytongutierrez5723]

Mike Jones something very similar happened to me yesterday from a 30 minute guided meditation by Sam in which he basically presents the same ideas in this video.

[@davidsanders3973]

Yeah, that feeling dissipates after you have been awake for a while and you have to start following the script. No choice but to make choices about how to play the hand that is dealt you as you navigate your way through the game.

[@cobalius]

Hmm. I had many lucid and nested dreams, so it is a funny question what difference there is between a dream and the waking state. I would say it is the immediate influence. Dreams are then, when i'm able to let things happen frequently before the corrresponding thought could be finished. Btw you can still have those effects in a waking state, for example when several brain functions are heavily overloaded and slowed down. At least that's how i would describe a psychosis: Then simulations couldnt be shut off (hallucinations), the low level dream logic kicks in (content thought disorders and cognitive delusions), the overall awareness drops down significantly (dissociation and dissolving of the self) and the internal communication becomes incoherent (formal thought disorders). And the last resort would be either a total reduction of all brain functions (stupor) or a sudden panic attack (acute psychotic breakdown). And pondering about all this mess despite heavy formal thought disorders and memory problems is called hyperreflection, because you'll fail to generate productive thoughts over and over again, effectively draining even more ressources, overloading yourself more and more and loosing time for calming activities, rituals, sports and other basics. Psychosis and hyperreflection fit together like adhd and moba games or depression and bargaining thoughts.

[@floweryunicorn8888]

I've had a similar experience, it happened randomly, after my brain decided to let me relax from the torture induced by my mental illness, for a while.

[@davidmickles5012]

If the "self is an illusion" and "life is but a dream" etc.. my simple question is this: WHO IS EXPERIENCING THIS ILLUSION? WHO IS DREAMING THIS DREAM? You can say (nonsensically) things like "the self is an illusion" but there is still that endless repeating regression of subjectivity that is the self. It makes no sense to try to deny it or call it an "illusion" because illusion or not it's still a REAL experience. But sure, yes, you may experience "self transcendence" or "no-self" but in that case there is still a mind or an awareness that is aware of or experiencing that experience of "no-self." And so, if you understand this correctly, that awareness of "not being" or "not having" a self is infact still a subjective experience or a SELF - although arguably a deeper level of self.

[@uzimachi1]

I've thought about this before, we are the collective experiences of our lives, combined with our chemical and electrical impulses from our brain. It's almost like when we're babies we have no consciousness, we are just a biological machine that is programmed to cry when feeling discomfort, and to release poo and pee. To suck whatever comes close to our mouths and swallow. (Please don't turn these words into a sexual joke) Then as we grow up and we begin to search for "Identity" we grow up with a lot of different forms of identity, and we experience each and every one of them. Through time, some experiences were pleasant, others were unpleasant, and we began tossing out whatever didn't work for us, and kept whatever did work, and through all that stumbling, all that falling and getting up, little by little we shaped this collective experience and called it "Me". Me is not one, but all that I have experienced ever since I began to learn. If someone could simply erase everything I've experienced, my consciousness would be erased, and I'd be just a mechanical baby once again.

[@xeno126]

Yes, I agree. Except that a babies brain develops. So, it would be interesting to learn about someone who started life with an adult brain.

[@kiki5711]

ForceOfWizardry why did you have to say that? LOL exactly happened to me. and then we die. so what's the point in all of it? he he

[@xeno126]

Kiki Malone There's no point :) But don't think about it too much ;)

[@chrisx7013]

WhoopMQ That's a very reductionist perspective.

[@RomulessI]

Chris X It's called reality.

[@XandriaRavenheart]

Basically, without the self our experience of the world becomes pure non-judgemental awareness.

[@gargdye1924]

We do not study consciousness, we study the process of consciousness. When one of you geniuses can show everyone WHY a "mass of neurons" actually thinks in the first place-THEN we will be talking about consciousness. Right now all we are doing is observing the the brain as it goes through the motions of consciousness. A noteworthy distinction I think!

[@JamesRichardWiley]

Someone elses brain not your own.

[@prithwiparthadasgupta4869]

people are studying why a mass of neurons thinks.... its called AI...

[@MrShoopezino]

Wrong sir! how do you know I'm not a sea cucumber dreaming of being a human. PROVE IT TO ME!

[@sinkec]

Claim that neurons create mind or consciousness is worse than some of those ancient religious scriptures

[@stanleyklein524]

@@guntsmith Apples and a rotten fruit (if you prefer oranges)

[@damenadams6692]

Palms sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, his consciousness is all but head-y, don't forgetty--he's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop "Ahhmmms" when he's deep down in medi--Meditation, the whole world seems so loud, he opens his mind but the truth's not around. He's chokin' now, everybody's jokin' how he's smarter Ben Stiller, big-nosed breathing--BLAOW! Okay, got that out of my system. Now I can express just how much I admire your logical processing skills and thoroughly coherent explanations of complicated subjects, including that of consciousness and the "Self." Inspired, intellectual, imperterbable and seamless. Sam Harris, my man. 👏👏👏

[@golkeeper8517]

Next topic: Ben Stiller is an illusion

[@wardkerr2456]

Or the solipsistic thoughts in Ben Stiller's mind are correct, and we are the illusion.

[@gabbar51ngh]

i meditate a lot it helps get rid of stress and i much more in control.

[@kboy7777777]

control is an illusion

[@kboy7777777]

***** control? what need is there to control what I type...I simply choose what to type and I type away?

[@gabbar51ngh]

kboy7777777 i saw this comment after so many months need to start meditation again.

[@TheNoraa890]

Saral You're not much in control of your grammar. If mediation helps you feel less stress good for you. Mediation is placebo effect. It can also be negative thing. Also I don't think mediation could help control yourself. I control myself fine and I don't meditate. The only thing mediation can do is less stress that about it. Most people I know who mediate are completely dumb and some of them do drugs and commit crimes. Also most of them are very gullible.

[@gabbar51ngh]

TheNoraa890 lol. Kuch bhi. Drugs and crimes? Wut.

[@Jordan-hz1wr]

Anyone too focused on any single discipline, will always miss the forrest for the trees. This is true for both scientists and philosophers.

[@nunu4evaaa]

🙏🏽

[@MrOceans]

Amen! Talk about missing your own consciousness for technical details about the brain.

[@robertwillis4662]

I'm happy with Sam's new content. For a minute it felt like he had atrophied into someone who needed to be right all the time.

[@criscrisler8604]

The degrading of a sense of self is readily experienced watching a loved one descend into dementia or Alzheimer’s.

[@markmontes1795]

Ugh, cris Crisler, dude, you ripped my heart there. I don’t know that specific pain but one very similar .I’m trying to make sense of it and maintain composure. Ha. While my world blew up, I am learning to not be bitter with “reality”. To just get back on my feet is hard. But it’s stories like yours that’s gives me strength. I hope you are well.

[@douglascarkuff1969]

Okay, having ingested a wide variety of substances, both prescribed and proscribed, with certain of these substance I experienced a sense of dis-integration of my consciousness. I came to believe that consciousness and the self is an illusion - an emergent property of co-operating processes, but then it dawned on me, who is the me who was aware of having this experience. There was always a me who was experiencing the sense of loss of integration, so behind of these experiences there is a self having them, even the experience of feeling that your self is dis-integrating.

[@davidwise3426]

It's nice to hear a prominent, scientific atheist confirm a primary Buddhist principle.

[@LePedant]

He didn't confirm anything, he just stated his theory. You are a victim of conformation bias.

[@stussysinglet]

Kristi Marie I was going to say I think he is saying the opposite of what Buddhist teach about the self

[@athleticaesthetixfitness6937]

@@LePedant Confirmation*

[@LePedant]

@@athleticaesthetixfitness6937 I thought people stopped correcting others spelling back in 2005.

[@rasmusturkka480]

@@LePedant I thought people would have figured spelling out in 14 years

[@z0uLess]

I always thought of the self and the ego as something seperate from each other. The self being the experience and the ego being the story you tell yourself about your life.

[@makeyourmommaproud6500]

You don't have a body, you are a body.

[@adbewe]

If the ego is the story you tell yourself, then who are you telling it to? If the self is the experience, then who is experiencing it?

[@z0uLess]

@@adbewe You are telling the story to yourself via others. I dont have an answer for the last question as it relates to the hard question of consciousness.

[@robertjsmith]

@@adbewe you realise there is no inherent self,when you realise there is no inherent self to realise it,there is a conceptual self but it doesn't refer to anything in actual experience,you are awareness

[@MrCmon113]

That's a pretty good summary of anatta.

[@IvanGarcia-cx5jm]

The explanation about the self being an illusion at around minute 3:07 is still based on the objective 3rd person experience of reality, excluding the 1st person subjective experience of reality. He acknowledged at the start of the video that full reality can't be determined by the 3rd person view of reality, the external sensor perception in which science seems limited to.

[@spudsmorocco9202]

I think he is a honest interlocutor who I find interesting and helpful whether I completely agree with what he’s saying in the moment or not.

[@brightmoon7132]

Whatever consciousness is, it is. Explaining it, knowing where it comes from, understanding where it goes when we no longer have it, etc- none of this matters in the least. It's a fact, it stands on it's own ;)

[@asloii_1749]

But it's certainly fun to talk about

[@user-hh9ni8su3p]

Understanding consciousness is one of the most important tasks that stands before science. It matters, a lot.

[@monsterhuntervideos4446]

Of course it matters because it's absolutely fundamental.

[@samirpalepu1588]

@@monsterhuntervideos4446It’s the most fundamental.

[@budte]

It matters to understand that it emanates from the brain and is not evidence of some descrete self that endures or exists independantly.

[@bretnetherton9273]

"Awareness is known by awareness alone," is the sole irreducible axiom of reality. To put forth a syllable to refute it is to concede....

[@ramonkonrad2217]

Sir, I really like what you say.

[@monsterhuntervideos4446]

Absolutely! Consciousness is self and it's conscious that it's conscious. "I think therefore, I am."

[@yantsuthongm7241]

I'm a christian yet I love is incredible knowledge and his articulation.

[@OceanSwimmer201]

You get it. It's awesome to have other beliefs and to just listen to others' with curiosity and no judgment.

[@monsterhuntervideos4446]

His knowledge is false though because there is a real self. Ask a person who believes there is no self this: What evidence would you require to be convinced that there is a self? I guarantee they won't be able to answer, because they will accept no evidence because they've already made up their mind. Ask them this: If emotions, thoughts, intentions and consciousness doesn't convince you you are a self then what would convince you? Ask: Do I need to not have emotions, thoughts, intentions and consciousness in order to be a self? Do I need to be a brick to be a self or something? Only these kinds of questions have a chance of planting seeds and waking them up. Argumentation just will not work. You need to create doubt in them and get them to reason within themselves, True enlightenment is becoming more aware of of just how much of a self you are and just how amazing and transcendent consciousness is. It shows there truly is an ultimate mind behind the universe (namely God), who is also personal. If Sam Harris thinks his self is an illusion then how does he know any of his thoughts are true if he thinks there is no self to truly think them true? How does he know that the chemical reactions in his brain that makes him think "there is no self" are being accurate and revealing the truth? He simply doesn't know and cannot know. His chemical reactions could be producing thoughts that are completely wrong and he has no self to assess them right. This is why naturalism defeats itself.

[@AshrafKkhan]

Philosophy creates more questions than it answers

[@davidsanders3973]

Yeah, that's the great part about it, it makes you think.

[@uncleusuh]

@@davidsanders3973 Yeah, that's the worst part about it, it makes you think of all this nonsense, arbitrary stuff until your mind wears out and leave you in a Great Depression. Philosophy is more like a foolosophy.

[@davidsanders3973]

@@uncleusuh Certainly you must have heard the old Socratic cliché that the unexamined life is not worth living. Perhaps you would prefer a life of blissful ignorance?

[@j.avocado]

@@uncleusuh people can extract meaning, values and virtues to strive for out of philosophy too, you know?

[@vamshik]

This man is genius. I have watched most of his videos, especially his views on religion, it’s mind-blowing. His thoughts are rational, and his speeches are well articulated. You must watch his views on Islam, you will get a whole new perspective, he exposes every bit of bigotry which runs through the community.

[@DerAua]

It's like the paradox of time in physics. The real question is why we experience time in this forward moving way.

[@yojohan4564]

Der Aua its a different question but I agree, the experience of the arrow of time is connected to the feeling of the self, and as fundamental

[@AwakenedSouls]

Because of clocks

[@douglascarkuff1969]

My thought is that time is constantly moving forward and backward, but we are only able to experience its forward movement. As time moves backward we can only "un-experience" things. It seems obvious that we would not be able to experience the backward movement of time.

[@TheSonicDeviant]

Ketamine can fix that.

[@JPeraltavideos]

@@DuncanKassel what if we start first by asking what is we. Is it each one of us' selfs/illutions created by our physical bodies (vessels)? Since we experience everything through our senses including time. Maybe the problem is just that those materials that constitute us are not well equipped or simply they lack the capacity to perceive reality (time )in its real form. Maybe if we had other means to perceive reality other than our bodies we could perceive a bigger picture of reality. Sorry for my English though. It's my first time into this amazing subject. I think I wrotr the obvious, something thst you already know but I wanted to express my thoughts

[@Loved_evolved]

The personal "I" is the illusion. The personal "I" is "Identity." The personal "I" suggests separation THE PERSONAL "I" IS EGO ❤ The impersonal "i" is reality, NO separation exists, Equation: "I" IS "X" where "I" is "experience," and "X" is "the one who experiences." I, me, we, you, they, them, those are ALL reflections of the "self, "I" consciousness "I" is "X", ALL is Existence ❤

[@lordoftheflings]

exactly what Alan Watts has been saying since the 50s

[@whatsgoingonwhy9096]

which was exactly what Buddhists have been saying since 2500 years ago.

[@BiggySeth]

lordoftheflings he is actually heavily influenced from Alan Watts.

[@kulu2628]

Do you have any direct evidence for that? This is not an attack i'm just curious.

[@BeyondSideshow]

+ku lu Watts' books, perhaps?

[@kulu2628]

you don't understand what direct evidence is? I've read Watts as well and yes. Some of Sam's and Alan's ideas overlap. But the nucleus of what they both are saying here came from the Buddha.

[@soccerboiR10]

The two types of comments on videos about consciousness: Consciousness is the result of the great cosmic oneness astral projecting into a past life and harmonizing with the songs of the stars as it rides the great unicorn of enlightenment. Thanks to my IQ of 352, I have recognized that consciousness is a mere illusion that arises from quantum oscillations of dark energy in the microtubules of the nucleus acumbens which can be clearly observed when the wave function collapses in the 8th dimension. Oh KZbin 😂😂

[@larrytinsley4247]

They are both essentially saying the same thing.... life is so God damn beautiful and bizarre

[@cme1447]

It’s NOT illusion! Because it needs SOMEONE having an illusion, but there is NO SOMEONE..

[@Doriesep6622]

Everyone knows that.

[@daniel1fullerton]

Both are simultaneously true and false at the same time.

[@spockboy]

Yeah... I always say that.

[@rjwasser8312]

All these people getting up in arms over Sam's phrasing, when in other conversations I've hear him broach the topic more precisely by adding a "seems to be" in front of the verb phrase. "The self seems to be illusory" is a vastly different statement and one that I'd say more accurately reflects his position.

[@thesupergreenjudy]

True but it's being stated and accepted by many as a scientific fact. I wish they made it clearer that it's not. It's basically just a philosophy and worse, mixed with religion

[@pseudo_ra]

I wish intellectuals apply this type of rigorous methodology and thinking to develop morals and integrity.

[@wisdom-for-life]

"be identical to the sphere of experience" I like that

[@dontfaround441]

I am consciousness pretending to be human , and yet still I haven't figured out reality even after feeling these things are indeed true

[@arcadegamesify]

I'm pursuing no self and spiritual enlightenment, and I'm surprised and happy to see that a popular figure like Sam Harris actually spreading the message O.o Never expected to see this.

[@clearwaterlakota8405]

+Yawning Gull May I suggest some videos? Click my YT name and navigate to my "awareness" and "beyond identity" playlists! Not my videos, just a sampling of some that have had a tremendous impact in my life.

[@arcadegamesify]

***** I like actualized.org's enlightenment videos. It's a youtube channel and a website for self help and enlightenment/spirituality and meditation.

[@clearwaterlakota8405]

Yawning Gull I've watched a couple of his videos. Good stuff if you're looking to improve the self. I've never had success with that approach, the only thing that really makes a big difference in my life is to drop my identification with myself as a separate individual, sort of like vanishing into the present moment so that there's just awareness of what is without a "me" that exists separately from it. If you're able to take a more psychological self-actualization type of approach then more power to you. That's a difficult path!

[@arcadegamesify]

***** Why is it difficult? I figured it would be one of the fastest paths I could take. But I'm not really focusing on enlightenment rn anyway I'm doing a lot of self help work because it seems more practical short term for me.

[@clearwaterlakota8405]

Yawning Gull I say it's difficult for me because it has always failed. Years of therapy, meditation, various methods and philosophies and practices. My sense of shame is extremely deep and I've never been able to overcome it. But about 5 years ago I had a life-altering near-death experience, followed by 2 concussions that kind of miraculously rearranged my brain and solved a lot of my problems. I came to see that nobody is responsible for anything --- we're accountable in that we bear the consequences of our words and deeds, but nobody is "good' or "evil," there is no soul and no self. We're a complex process of trillions of cells that have evolved over billions of years. All of it is just happening, there is nobody behind the scenes controlling anything. I now see "me" as a boundless space in which everything is witnessed. And this boundless space is the same for all of us. When it's witnessing through you it "sees" your experiences. It's impossible to make any sense of it in words, it's just something that became apparent to me and it eliminated all sense of shame, blame, guilt, etc. But i still act like a jackass sometimes because that's what this mind-body organism does. I'd love for that to change, and it's slowly changing.

[@johnb8854]

I was pronounced DOA ( DEAD On ARRIVAL ) at a medical center in 1973... No further attempt was made to resuscitate me... More than half an hour passed, and then my Heart started to beat again... During that half hour, I discovered the DIFFERENCE, between the human body, and "LIFE The Real Self"... I found this universe including the human body, to be just a 'STORY', presented in the form of a 'Holographic Simulation', in a Display Register, of "The Processing System of LIFE", where "LIFE The Real Self", ( An Offspring of The LIGHT ) is the OBSERVER.

[@Mandibil]

Only to you Sam Harris

[@varblade821]

Self is not an illusion. Self is All. Illusion is everything that is not-Self.

[@MrShahid0072]

He is defining self as the ego and not like you are from Advaita Vedanta.

[@jman8128]

I found the title and rush in and mute the video and then I laugh together with the comments. Thank you, its so much fun here.

[@micosenor3148]

The self is not an illusion It is a meaningful word , that poeple understand , when it is used . It refers to a common object , a concept referred to often in communication when the words I , you , him , her , it , are used . Myself , yourself , himself , herself , etc. To say it is an illusion is to deny the utility of evolving languages .

[@jj-mcgreezies]

Ever since I realized the self and free will are an illusion I have been completely liberated from so many bad thoughts and feelings, thanks sam

[@Foogi9000]

I don't really agree with the notion that free will is an illusion because that would imply that there's a set path for us to follow and I don't believe that. Determinism always sounded like a cop out for people who have given up. Free will exists in the decisions and choices you make. As for the self I believe that there isn't one sure but that we are just a collection of hormones, experiences, chemicals, and our environment.

[@counterculture10]

@@Foogi9000 If there is no self then what is "it" that's free willing?

[@ExistenceUniversity]

Ever since you "realized"? Sorry that is free will.

[@jj-mcgreezies]

@@ExistenceUniversity realization is the complete opposite of freewill. You cannot control when you realize something, and you cannot control what you realize, every realization you've ever had has been completely spontaneous and it's content was unknown to you until after you realized it, so if you can't control when it happens and you can't control what it is, what sort of freewill are you exerting here?😭

[@ExistenceUniversity]

@@jj-mcgreezies How did you get the knowledge to realize anything and why does my brain take in all the same information and disagree with you? Who is programmed correctly? I argue that I have free will and can focus my mind to let information in or keep it out, that is my free will, to focus and take in or to evade and blank out. Because of this, I can argue that I am right because I focus on reality and can make knowledge from reality. You, on the other hand, cannot say anything is correct or wrong because your argument requires that reality is only what electricity signals tell you it is. You cannot be wrong or right for the same reason a computer cannot be wrong or right, it can only provide the glimpse of some of the attributes available to it. Which of us is programmed wrong?

[@AGENTARMES]

I didn't fully understand this concept of non-local consciousness until I took mushrooms. I'm not advertising. That's was just how it happened for me.

[@dovahking6514]

MsAgnostica Goes Quantum Nope. That's all temporary, be like Guatama buddha, look within.

[@Addeionized]

AGENTARMES I swear, there's a big chance that drugs in generall does some kind of lasting effect on people. Young and old

[@duke3326]

What kind of mushrooms.

[@pingdingdongpong]

I have had this experience with ingesting weed. It was actually a cleaner experience in the sense that there were no hallucinations other than the body dropping out leaving the consciousness be an immediate part of the surroundings. One can describe it as the soul being embedded into the surroundings. I also have similar experiences after I exercise and I am driving.

[@jacobgirard7175]

Do you mean out of body experience?

[@Shannendetro]

If everyone has this "ego" and some claim to lose it. Is it possible that losing your ego is the illusion? Honest question. Whos to say that the self isnt an illusion but a genuine thing that we just dont understand?

[@sign543]

This goes back to a thought I had when I was a kid: I was at once convinced that when a person died, if you could use a weight measurement system sensitive enough, you could detect the weight of the “soul” or “spirit” that exited. I thought this was a scientific fact that either was already established or might one day be. Funny how I was having existential-type thoughts as a young kid...that I considered the existence of a physical spirit (which sounds like, and likely is, an oxymoron) with dimensions. Then again, in those days, I had no idea that God wasn’t an established scientific reality. I was late into my teens before I realized that the existence of god was in dispute.

[@JamesRichardWiley]

There is no self, soul or spirit.

[@sign543]

James Richard Wiley Yes, I know that. 👍🏼

[@jlrinc1420]

@@JamesRichardWiley who said that?

[@elliot7205]

How did you evidentially establish that?

[@thelegaloccupier]

22 grams

[@eli_here]

What a great and rich way to put all of that into ~7 minutes. Priceless!

[@blickluke]

I'm always curious as to why sam Harris haters dislike him, can some one tell me please?

[@ennius42]

+Luke Crant Mainly because he criticises Islam, and says that an important reason for the existence of terrorist groups like ISIS or al-Qaeda is because of violent, intolerant passages in the Koran or the Hadiths. He's not wrong, but hand-wringing do-gooders and lefties don't like to single out some religions as more violent than others. It's not politically correct.

[@ExplodingStar00]

+Michael McHugh LOL. I must congratulate you on bringing the word " unnuanced " to a whole new level.

[@ExplodingStar00]

+Luke Crant I personally don't like Harris because I find him to be very unnuanced and simplistic in his thought processes. He, like most neo-atheists, tend to repeat the same mantra over and over, without bringing anything conclusive or new to the table. He's logically inconsistent in his arguments (logical fallacies are not hard to find in his speeches), and appeals to his own personal, subjective and unrelated values when attempting to make meaningful arguments. I don't like Harris, and those of his likes, because they're transparent in their acts. Different fruits, same tree, you could say. Not far off from your average puppeter.

[@ennius42]

Okay then. If you're so smart, then tell us what you disagree with that Harris says. Instead of denigrating the man, point out his fallacies and correct them. And there is nothing wrong with simplicity. Leonardo da Vinci said "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication". It's a sign of intelligence if you can explain complex concepts in simple language.

[@ExplodingStar00]

Michael McHugh Not simplicity in linguistic terms. Simplicity in contrast to complex and nuanced thought processes. There are many things I disagree with Harris. His appeal to personal values, attempting desperately to veil them as objective and binding. His attempts to connect terrorism originating from the middle east with Islamic sources (i.e the Hadiths) without adding any scholary context to show that he's done his research. In contrast, it seems as if he's been spending too much time looking for any sort of reference to back his agenda up in google. Child play. Then there's the typical neo-atheist mantra, which unfortunately, Harris and the likes of his (i.e Richard Dawkins) cannot seem to ever transcend, and in the proccess, look like parrots. " Lack of evidence.. " " Evidence, this.. Evidence that... " It gets old. And it goes further than that, because it is evident that they're using retarded theists' arguments as their basis for saying that, with no actual counters to more nuanced and complex formulated arguments that ironically, have existed for hundereds and years (though perhaps not as developed as they are today). It's the likes of Christopher Hitchens, who can stand and talk for 30 straight minutes without saying anything at all. A parrot at its finest. Please. I want to see it. Feel absolutely free to provide an argument, or something conclusive and thoughtful that Sam Harris has produced in the context of theology, and I will withdraw all the statements I have spilled about him.

[@syanushka]

i've listened to this several times, i've read the transcript, i also read and re-read the chapter on Self in his book Waking up. I still don't get it. Why is Self an illusion? The fact that my mind cannot be dissected and put into one particular cell inside my brain doesnot negate the fact that i am a separate being which experiences and thinks. Can anyone explain this to me?

[@acslater017]

The claim that you’ve described physiologically can also be experienced subjectively. Committing to a meditative practice for 1-2 weeks might give you a glimpse of it. 4 g of magic mushrooms will convince you beyond a doubt. If you tune into your mind’s sensory input, breath, thoughts, feelings, & experience you can see that it’s all just the contents of consciousness. Thoughts and experiences appear in consciousness the same as the ear hearing noise or the sensation of breathing in your nose. There’s no Thinker or Experiencer required, only consciousness. The self is not the bedrock you think it is, it’s actually a house of cards than can be slowly deconstructed or suddenly dissolved , depending on your approach. It’s why both Buddhists and people on psychedelics claim that they’re seeing things as they truly are. We walk around our entire lives assuming the self is the center, when really it’s just an ongoing hallucination.

[@syanushka]

@@acslater017 Thank you for replying. This made me think. I do meditate, though not regularly. And as far as psychedelics go - maybe i will try someday. But i really want to understand this intellectually, as well as maybe i will someday understand it experientially. What confuses me is that you describe consiousness as if it doesn't belong to anyone. It's a place where thoughts, feelings, experiences appear. But if a separate being is not there to analyze those thoughts, to process the sensations, then who is aware of the objects in the consiousness?

[@acslater017]

@@syanushka Physiologically, yes consciousness is contained in/produced by the brain and the brain obviously belongs to someone. But in terms of the software, you have the org chart flipped. Consciousness is not held by the self; rather the sense of self is one thing among many (breath, thoughts, feelings, etc) that appear in consciousness. Consciousness is the prior condition, the irreducible bedrock, not the self. This can be observed jn meditation and psychedelics because consciousness continues to observe inputs while the sense of self dissolves. Call it disembodied, third person, objective, Anatta, non-self, etc.

[@syanushka]

@@acslater017 very good analogy of hardware vs software. Thank you for taking the time to explain. Let me digest this :)

[@acslater017]

@@syanushka seeing through the illusion of the self is a huge first step and mind-blowing insight once you grasp it. It’s like seeing through The Matrix :) Good luck

[@jasmats]

After reading waking up and using the app to meditate I see myself very differently ,I sometimes literally feel I am in the head of a giant version of myself which may or may not exist in some reality of which I have never seen nor felt . I also see infinite mirror type projections of myself, how strange.

[@insanelanegaming5167]

When I used to meditate I felt like I was part of the universe. Almost like I was a higher power.

[@dr.tre90]

Two things I never understand when someone talks about this. 1: If this is true, are they happy about it? 2: If this is true, why we do anything in life then, besides fullfilling our basic needs? Or why do we fulfill even those?

[@bentleymayes1579]

1. Yes, it's quite a pleasant experience to be honest. Without this self that we have in our heads, a lot of the forms of suffering we create disappear. A broader experience opens up to us, one not so conditioned by everything and in that, greater freedom and joy. It really cannot be shown intellectually, but if you experience it you will see. 2. Why not? Why do objects fall to the ground? The experience we have is happening, and it has a quality too it. It can be unpleasant or pleasant and other things in between. You can ask why do anything, but also why not do anything?

[@dr.tre90]

@@bentleymayes1579 It is just the unintentional cruelty of evolution, where a type of animal that is aware of it's own death is able to evolve and I msyelf think that is a mistake. I can't really figure out how to get around this. Life was probably "made" for the normal people who are either believers or materialists who are still happy for their brief lives. Because I am somewhat emotionally (or maybe mentally) unstable I belong to neither and I'm not sure I can decide myself to be happy about life. There are some for whom life is useful and there are some who are scrap like myself, but in our species the scrap survives too since we evolved morals. Science don't seem to mind much about the scrap. Here you can see the scrap complaining about existence 😂

[@frv6610]

@@dr.tre90 do you hate yourself?

[@gristly_knuckle]

That’s a distinctly Asian belief. I agree that evil dissolves when the ego is revealed as an illusion, but I think there can be a world without evil in which everyone retains their personality.

[@joelfry4982]

Imagine you were born a genius. You live the life of a genius. It is the only reality you know. Now imagine you came into this world a slug. It is the only life you know. I can fathom the life of the former, but not the latter. Which has the deeper mind? Which mind is more opaque? This brings to mind Buddhism. My inability to fathom the consciousness of a slug, which probably has only three senses: touch, taste, and some rudimentary sight which only senses light but not color (I'm guessing)--allows me to have more compassion on the slug. The reason for this is deeply intuitive and not something I can explain in rational terms, but it may have to do with pity. Anyway, the Buddha would not have taught this, because the desired effect (increased compassion) depends on my ignorance of the slug's internal state of mind--which seems to be purely sensory. This dependence on ignorance runs counter to the ethos of Buddhism. Self is the part of me that hurts when you hurt.

[@joelfry4982]

It's not, because slugs don't have any linguistic awareness. And besides, opiates induce dreaming.

[@joelfry4982]

But I don't think they're dreams are the same as ours, because our dreams are informed by complex symbology which goes back to language.

[@eltouristoduo]

good way of putting it. You could also refer to a different but related set of concepts known as the Dunning-Kruger effect. And pair that with something that is the opposite of that, among strong thinkers, that has a different cause and may not have a name.

[@bcuzz109]

Joel Fry you may want to invest some time learning thermodynamics.

[@sethfrazer7404]

This whole video is a completely subjective experience.

[@roudys]

+Seth Frazer Correlating with certain brain states...:)

[@TempestTossedWaters]

+Seth Frazer And yet there are objective things to be said about it. Science can tell us things about this video which are as close to objective as we can currently get.

[@SebastianLundh1988]

+Paul Proudlock You know, according to materialists you could never ever see a brain; only a virtual representation of a brain. The actual brain is supposedly made of a supposedly existing woo-substance called matter. Unfortunately I don't have enough faith to believe in that kind of things. ;)

[@davidroberts1689]

+Seth Frazer Well, if it's not objective at least we can act as if it was.

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

+Seth Frazer as is your sense of commenting on it O.O

[@jasmats]

You are not in your head , your head is in conciousness.

[@VirtuosicFantasies]

"Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve." Max Planck

[@secularsoldier1170]

"By denying scientific principles, one may maintain any paradox." Galileo Galilei

[@constantavogadro7823]

"Hm.. Uh.. Haph-haph hah" A caveman

[@siyaindagulag.]

@@constantavogadro7823 finally, some sense.......I am Grrooot !

[@craigwillms61]

I just feel joylessness when I hear and contemplate whatever Sam Harris says. To be so convinced that there is nothing known or unknown that can't be put into a analytical little box and tied up with a bow is frankly depressing. But then depression isn't real either, right Sam?

[@Jess-TheMess]

Missed the point heavily didnt you?

[@bennyandersen742]

Convinced is not the issue here, having good reasons is

[@ottofrinta7115]

I think I see what you are getting at about analysis and I agree. Too much analysis destroys meaning, probably because it obliterates subjectivity. I would say that if you go all the way with analyzing, you end up deconstructing all that "irrelevant" stuff like for example love, morality, meaning. There really are things that you can't just label a social construct, explain away the evolutionary logic for how they came to be and conclude that this is all there is to them.

[@bennyandersen742]

@@ottofrinta7115 because you feel so?

[@ottofrinta7115]

@@bennyandersen742 Because repeatedly observe it happening on both induvudual and social level.

[@El-Leion]

consciousness is not the illusion, neither is the self, but the belief that you are separate from the rest universe and existance is the illusion. All is one and that one is the all

[@madgodloki]

infinity2012starseed Then what does a star feel like? Since you're saying its an illusion that a star and you are not the same thing, that you are in fact the same thing as a star what does it feel like being a giant ball of fusing gases? Oh right, You're full of shit. You're rambling like a hippy with no actual understanding or meaning being put forward and honestly I'm sick of hearing this idiotic claim. The thing you just said is absolutely meaningless. What harris said was completely backed up by neuroscience. There is no floating self over or outside of the brain. If what you mean to say is that you're like a piece of seaweed encompassed in every direction by water and you're trying to say the seaweed and the water are the same thing then you're retarded and need to go back to elementary school. Sure the first part is true, in every direction you are encompassed by some amount of energy and places where energy is condensed are what we call matter. Even atoms are huge amounts of energy compressed into small places. But they are apart from each other When I move it has no effect on how you move trying to say that's not the case is just idiotic not to mention useless. I have one question for kicks though, If me and you are the same thing then why are you fighting yourself about this issue?

[@El-Leion]

madgodloki wrong again, you already are the star, there is no difference from the energy your body is made of to the stars and at any point will be used in one another, imagine the feeling of how it would be like for your atoms to explode, thats how a star feels like, but a star has no soul for there to be a feeler of it, it is just intelligent energy in the universe, all energy is intelligent, if anything the universe has the mind to be and feel the star as a PART of it, you really need to learn physics before you open your mouth, there is an intelligence within every living entity, which is independant from the form of their body and mind, you obviously dont know how to astral project or go out of body, CIA personel are trained for it., anyway seems like you dont know what you're on about and have numerous contradictions in your own arguement, so until you realize and fix those its pretty pointless talking to you

[@madgodloki]

infinity2012starseed "but a star has no soul for there to be a feeler of it" So is the soul not part of everything? Doesn't that make "everything is one" a lie? You said the star doesn't have a soul you just disproved your own statement. "there is no difference from the energy your body is made of to the stars" The amount, the location, the bonds, the gravity. Seems like these things aren't "no difference" Are you saying that it seems this way for no reason what-so-ever? "and at any point will be used in one another" According to you there is no "one another" they are the same. Or did you just say all that meaningless garbage without meaning a damn word of it? " imagine the feeling of how it would be like for your atoms to explode, thats how a star feels like" Weird, Cause that's not what happens in stars. Its a process called fusion they're not exploding they're releasing energy from fusion light elements like hydrogen fuse together hydrogen becomes helium, so on and so forth. If its your imagination that tells you this I think you should reflect. " it is just intelligent energy in the universe, all energy is intelligent, " Do you know what the word intelligent means? I suspect not. I think you're saying that all energy is sentient, In which case I would wonder if you know what sentient means LOL Instead of playing this game of back and forth with this part I'm just going to ask you for your proof, or evidence? How about I hit it from a logical perspective.. What energy do you know of that's intelligent? Now tell me do you know all of the energy in the universe? You're telling me that you know something about ALL energy so tell me how you studied energy that's in the Andromeda galaxy? " if anything the universe has the mind to be and feel the star as a PART of it" I know how the mind works. A lot more than you do. Its not just cause your brain has form that it can be conscious it has the mechanisms. You have no way to determine if the universe is anything more than motion and lifeless energy. Which means you're just asserting it without proving it... and you'll never prove it cause its impossible! " you really need to learn physics before you open your mouth" I have. Which part of physics do you think would make the universe a big brain? the part firmly rooted in your ass? Cause I suspect that's where you're getting your facts. " there is an intelligence within every living entity, which is independant from the form of their body and mind" Again, that's bullshit. Who told you that a fortune cookie? I'm getting to the epic finale in a moment, Where you claim something really really stupid and wrong and I show you up on it. "you obviously dont know how to astral project or go out of body" Yeah and neither does any other person in the history of ever. There have been tests and the absolute best one that most people cite without reading was a complete joke the guy falls asleep during the test, the patient gets up and looks at the thing she's supposed to be acquiring while out of her body... The brain scan machine proves it when her brain spikes in activity... They didn't have a camera I mean shit its like they took a book of "what not to do during an experiment" and then did all of it. That's the only way any cases ever appear like they agree with what you're saying is if they're so amateur and flawed that some dipstick can cheat it and make it seem like they used their astral powers. Why do these astral powers not work when properly tested? I've actually went through the whole process and "felt" like I had started to leave my body, I was pretty convinced until I gave it the simplest test in the world check to see what results come from it. None. Not one, So you know what my rational brain did? Ditched the idea that it had any merit. "CIA personel are trained for it" No they're not, lol. They gave it a test in the 70's and over years of research they kept having little things that seemed like they were positive results which never actually bloomed into anything. They terminated the program in 95 after not receiving anything more than vague guesses which seemed to sometimes be clued in on what the result should be... which can be a contamination of the experiments in several ways. The one thing that doesn't make sense is that they have vague results on the tests and then nothing when actually applied if it's actually the case. Let me restate that in an easier to understand format.. When one of the researchers had the answers... it seems like one or two of the test subjects would have the answers too. When it was real world tests with things the experimenters did not actually know they failed. People like you who've wanted this to be true have existed for a long time, fudging results for that reason isn't uncommon. The one reliable thing in the whole thing is that they terminated it because it never had any results when they tried to apply it. I can think of one reason why you'd have results in the lab, but not when its put to the real test.... Faulty tests. If it was actually their abilities which showed results in the lab then why did they disappear in the field?

[@El-Leion]

madgodloki if you understand how holograms work you might understand. i am in your mind, but im not you, im a part of you though, but with my own mind, you are in my mind but you are not me, you are a different expression of the same wave, again, im not going to answer your outdated and flawed statements and experiments simply based on the fact that you literally cannot understand the physics of reality. loads of scientific experiments have proved all this. do some research ty and goodbye

[@madgodloki]

infinity2012starseed "if you understand how holograms work you might understand." Holograms as in the laser technology which makes a 3D image you think that would make me understand some non-sense woo woo? Pfft that's hilarious. " i am in your mind, but im not you, im a part of you though" Then how old am I? What kind of dog is in my house? If you don't know those things (you don't) then what do you even mean by being in my mind? You mean something that has nothing to do with anything that you've said, I assume? "you are a different expression of the same wave" What is it with all you woo woo believers just nonsensically repeating this whole "expression of the same wave" crap, That's literally meaningless when speaking about two individual people. Waves and particles and functions and all that stuff are quantum mechanics quanta being the key part of that, Its some of the smallest units of existence we can measure, Anything outside the quantum level is not a wave or blah blah blah none of the nonsense you're spewing is backed at all by science. Which is entirely evident when you see how many citations you've made, no sources whatsoever. This is the same regurgitation of the hippy dippy nonsense shit that's been in the realm of pseudoscience for decades. You made a claim that me and you are the same, and everything is one and all this shit about oneness and then when pressed on it you say "well I don't mean they're one" that was the only thing you were trying to sell in that statement and you immediately backtracked and still haven't provided even the first line of evidence. I will wait patiently for the "loads of scientific experiments" that "have proved all this." Actually I'll wait patiently for ONE that isn't as I've stated a faulty load of horse shit that's easily shown as a fraud.

[@waldwassermann]

It is not that there is no Self but that there is only One Self which does not like to be by itself hence the why of Life: Love.

[@kendallburks]

His distinction between “consciousness” as irreducible, subjective, first person experience and “the self” as having a unitary center of experience is highly ambiguous, and a lot seems to hinge on that. Perhaps he clarifies this in his books? Anyone familiar with the details here?

[@flumpyhumpy]

Yes

[@vrerse4772]

Check out nonduality. When you experience pure consciousness, all the concepts, including the concept of "I", collapse. The intuitive boundary between subjectivity and objectivity, collapse. So you become one with everything. You can experience this with various religious practices, The best one being meditation, a most direct path which relies on no external factor and theoretically maintain it (aka. enlightenment). To give you a taste of that, remember when you staring a word for an extended time, the word become alienated to you? Now imagine that times million and expand to the whole world around you.

[@pe4153]

I like the last part where he says that consciousness, despite being viewed as mystical and supernatural, can help us see things for what they are.

[@Alphardus]

''For my part, when I enter most intimately into what I call myself, I always stumble on some particular perception or other, of heat or cold, light or shade, love or hatred, pain or pleasure. I never can catch myself at any time without a perception, and never can observe any thing but the perception. When my perceptions are remov'd for any time, as by sound sleep; so long am I insensible of myself, and may truly be said not to exist. And were all my perceptions remov'd by death, and cou'd I neither think, nor feel, nor see, nor love, nor hate after the dissolution of my body, I shou'd be entirely annihilated, nor do I conceive what is farther requisite to make me a perfect non-entity. If any one, upon serious and unprejudic'd reflection thinks he has a different notion of himself, I must confess I can reason no longer with him.'' - David Hume

[@counterculture10]

Right but that's not what Sam and/or Enlightened beings are arguing. Enlightenment isn't about removing perceptions from experience; it's about temporarily removing "ego" from those perceptions. Many, many human beings have had this experience. The perception is still there but instead of experiencing "I am seeing a tree." There's just "seeing a tree"-no me nor dichotomy involved in the perception, just a centerless, boundary-less experience. Of course, as human beings, ego always returns. It's the way our perceptual apparatus is constructed. We can, however, have glimpses where we see through the illusion that ego projects.

[@TheEternalClown]

@@counterculture10 Who is seeing the tree?

[@counterculture10]

​@@TheEternalClown I don't know. Just because there's no conventional self doesn't mean we have to deny being. It's the "way" in which we exist that is being challenged not that we are. There's no reason to lie to ourselves about our identities just because we have held this deeply held belief in a conventional self for a long time.

[@TheEternalClown]

@@counterculture10 Then how can you call it an illusion if you do not know what is seeing through the illusion? How do you even know that the ego-less state of being is the true state of being? It could be like saying a true human being is a spinal cord with a brain. Is it simply because of the idea that pure consciousness is consistent whereas "ego" is inconsistent and mutable?

[@counterculture10]

@@TheEternalClown If you see how a magic trick works, you wouldn't explain the trick to someone by using the term "magic" would you? Why not? Because you can explain the trick without referencing magic. Same with the "self." We can see how the illusion of a self is created in perception from both an insider's account (through meditation) and through an outsider's account (through neuroscientist's studying the brain). We know that there is a feeling of an independent self when we perceive but we also know for a fact that the brain doesn't work that way. There is no command center. Different processes are mediated by different brain regions with no central controller. There is no place in the brain where all sensations come together or where decisions are meted out. The feeling of a self (unified central controller) arises when the two brain hemispheres communicate with one another. We know this so we can dispel the notion of the conventional self. I don't think I mentioned that the egoless self is the true self. It may be. But we don't need to explain what we are to say what we aren't. The former is a much bigger claim while the latter is specific. For example, we don't need to know all about schizophrenia to know that an episode is not demonic possession. All we need to do is explain enough of the process to show how the episode occurred. Of course, a skeptic could always say: Well, how do you know for sure it wasn't demonic possession? To which the answer might be: How can we know anything with 100& certainty?

[@somatiful]

I love that Rupert Spira enlightened you about the nature of consciousness

[@TheCoffeeNut711]

if the self is an illusion who is responsible for our actions?

[@neverstopaskingwhy1934]

atoms interaction

[@TheHerrUlf]

If you don't exist, how do you know this?

[@neverstopaskingwhy1934]

Dieter H. You are a mass of atoms

[@TheHerrUlf]

How do you know there are "atoms" and "masses" of things?

[@neverstopaskingwhy1934]

Dieter H. science

[@phoenixkennedy5927]

This woman had more insightful things to say about consciousness than anyone else because she lived its potential through to its completion beyond consciousness. Sometimes you can only know what something was by its absence. Bernadette Roberts was the greatest expert on Self and consciousness of the 20th and 21st centuries. Enjoy!

[@jessetruro]

In a way Sam shuts down his own argument. First, he explains that subjectivity is necessary to understanding objectivity. Then, he counters that by saying subjective concious experience cannot be extrapolated to the objective world. Of course one's own experience can speak of an objective truth larger than ones self. :)

[@garycasey3739]

Objective science obviously works but philosophy is still logically stuck in the "I" Perplexing!

[@123lowp]

+I see good ... Hey Donkey ;)) Science is not a religion. Of course science is the best way to kill millions of people, because science IS THE BEST WAY TO DO ANYTHING!! haha ;)) Science is the best way to cure diseases. It's the best way to make our lives easier. It's responsible all the technology that we all use. Religion is brainwashing. Religion is illogical. Hopefully, one day "the god of abraham" will be in the dust of history books as Zeus is.

[@123lowp]

+I see good ... "Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the Universe. In an older and closely related meaning, "science" also refers to this body of knowledge itself, of the type that can be rationally explained and reliably applied." "A religion is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to an order of existence. Many religions have narratives, symbols, and sacred histories that aim to explain the meaning of life, the origin of life, or the Universe. From their beliefs about the cosmos and human nature, people may derive morality, ethics, religious laws, or a preferred lifestyle."

[@ExplodingStar00]

+123lowp Unable to read between the lines, I see.

[@lefrenchbaguette3782]

+Jesse Thomas "First, he explains that subjectivity is necessary to understanding objectivity." No, he never said that, here's the correct edit: First, he explains that subjectivity, as well as objectivity, is necessary to understand consciousness.

[@johnnycade6705]

3:06 krishnamurti. (truth). sam is insightful! great work sir. Thank you!!

[@kevinamare106]

I watch all his podcasts more than 3 times so I can really understand what he means… he is so awesome 👏

[@WalkerThatMixedGuy]

this video fucked my whole shit up

[@Billy_Bull_Sheeter]

I have a friend, named moisseur Lala Princhy, French in origin, who is a self taught professor and critical thinker, and through his experiences of life has basically found himself and let go of his ego. He removed himself from all physical existence and experience. This video is basically what his philosophy in life is. His level of self consciousness is beyond anything I have seen. He has had no physical connection to anything except his nookie sessions, of which he has plenty, from many different races and cultures. Infact he doesn't discriminate when it comes to nookie. In his own words, "every hole is a goal". He has managed to look at things from the outside inwards, something he says he incorporates into his nookie sessions, if that makes sense. He told me that letting go is the easy part, but keeping focused and realising that your consciousness is what ultimately exists is the difficult part. He says without consciousness, humans are just bones, skin and shite. In the early days of his self realisation, he told me that he actually watched himself playing football, a kind of strange, out of body experience if you will. It was the 2nd half of the game and the defender was having a dart up the middle of the pitch, princhy explained that suddenly, everything went into slow motion. I joked that it might have been because he was cream crackered, but princhy told me no, he just came onto the pitch 5 min prior. He said that he saw himself on the pitch playing football, pointing at players, and as weird as it sounds, it was quite a life changing moment for him, as it led to months of meditation, totally isolated and eating nothing but grapes, cheese and wine. He emerged with a long beard and shoulder length hair. People actually thought he was from Nelson. His only words were, "skids, beach", followed by a hiccup and then total silence. A few hours later he spoke to us and said, "it is not your emotions that control you, it is you that control your emotions, let go and be free, for the caged bird sings a song of melody, to us it sounds like poetry but to other birds it's a cry for help". Then he passed out for several hours. Waking up to the new life he now leads.. Apologies, I digress.. Letting go of your ego, finding oneself and realising that it's all an illusion is something that any individual can achieve. It takes practice and lots of patience. Peace to all.

[@psz931]

@Carbon Proksi Self exists in the now and changes constantly according to previous selves progression, not to mention that self is a focal point that serves as an anchor of individuality. I understand his statements that the self seems like an illusion but in fact every single mental recognition about ourselves forms the selves we are. So I give a point to you Carbon. In the new spiritual practices and methaphysical studies they even declare as an empirical evidence that the self is in fact the recognition of the persona you are by your many many many experiences that shaped you that way. The animating force they called spirit which connects us all ... and in that way we can say we are all one yet our individual consciousness remains intact. It's very deep topics. Yet I don't seem to understand why some people find comfort in the "all is an illusion" or "I don't even exist" ideology.

[@theTranscendentOnes]

"He removed himself from all physical existence and experience." Sorry but that's not necessarily possible. And you might've misunderstood what self-is-an-illusion actually is.

[@Billy_Bull_Sheeter]

@@theTranscendentOnes not really. I understand exactly what it is. This story is that of Monsieur lala princhy.

[@theTranscendentOnes]

@@Billy_Bull_Sheeter It is not Monsieur Lala Princhy. His full name is Monsieur Lala Princhy de Lafayette Baron-Wise of Chauttevilleu. And you have misunderstood what his story really means.

[@Billy_Bull_Sheeter]

@@theTranscendentOnes aka Dave from Leeds?

[@Phoenix-tv4gb]

I learned this too... there's only One being in the entire universe and we are its infinite reflections .... 💖💖💖🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️

[@reggie8370]

Better not be that fairy tale religion stuff lol

[@cockroachv]

@@reggie8370 Its equally absurd to believe in god or not believe in god if there is no god . We are an accumulation of cells with no purpose and that includes our brain. Truth and logic does not even exist outside our heads and truth can be distorted into any way a person can. It's just brains fizzing neurochemicals. So whether you believe in God or not, truth itself is all a fairytale if there is no god.

[@colejames423]

@@cockroachv If all conscious life ceased right now, would facts still exist about the universe? Would the planets still move along their orbits in mathematically verifiable ways? Would the sun still be 1 AU from Earth, and be comprised of helium and hydrogen?

[@patrickkissane4341]

Sam Harris, since I got into meditation a couple years back, (while in the midst of being depressed/anxious) I had the amazing but somewhat confusing realization, that "I" am just the observer of my thoughts. With this newfound "mind", I now throughly enjoy silence, but am finding difficulty in finding my passion, also trouble with conversing, mainly with family and friends, much easier with stangers. I have an idea as go why that is. I'm really curious on your opinion about manifesting things into your being, and weather or not you apply it into how you manage things. You are an amazing Spirt, Sam Sir! greatly appreciate you! Ah what I would do to have a conversation/interview with you! ~PeACE~

[@idklol9408]

You are existence experiencing existence. The universe cannot exist without something experiencing it just like we cannot exist without something to experience(the universe). In the same sense that light cannot exist with darkness to contrast it and vice versa. We simply are the manifestation of the universe so the universe can be aware of itself. Which is us being aware of the universe. We are the universe

[@patrickkissane4341]

@idklol9408 well said. To many words tho 😅

[@idklol9408]

@@patrickkissane4341 sorry I get very passionate ab this topic without even trying to be 😂

[@patrickkissane4341]

Awesome, stay passionate...even more so, remain compassionate and humble. ✌️❤️

[@melovestech]

I just today had an experience which I might call a "headless/selfless" experience. I have been meditating and listening to a lot of lectures on the subject but was having a hard time grasping the concept of illusory self. So tonight I was just driving and thinking about this when suddenly it dawned on me! There was nothing spectacular about the view I was having through my windshield but my experience was different. I was seeing the street lamps and the trees like I have never seen before. It's was as if my stream of consciousness was vivid and clear as crystal. I swear I was crying and hair on my body were standing erect. The purpose I drove for was to get some drinking water so when I reached the ​station and the guys who severed me came to my window to get the money, I felt nothing but pure love for him. A total strange, whom I never met before! Sorry if it reads like a dribble but I was just being honest..

[@AmericoVespucioo]

As if the "self" perfectly aligns with the body and experiences the world without subjective filters is what some call moments of clarity. I've heard about people that meditate to achieve that state fro longer periods, eventually live in such state. I've heard some other people achieving this state through mind altering chemicals.

[@melovestech]

Actually I tried magic truffles (psilocybin). I know what you are talking about

[@sourcetext]

With respect.www.guardiantext.org

[@leteveryoneknow]

Well actually you experienced a heightened sense of awareness. A purely mental phenomenon. There is no need to explain it in terms of the fictious " Self ".

[@lifewasgiventous1614]

You didn’t lose yourself, you lost your ego and only partially.

[@dzzzzzt]

I've felt that, numerous times, namely the loss of the feeling I have a center, an ego, a self. I was scared shitless everytime I had to bounce back immediately by trying to conjure that feeling of a center back, fiercely at that. Why? Because I felt I could do anything, be anyone. I saw a side of myself that I've never seen before, a limitless potential. However, I also saw that my ego was trying to make me normal, fit into society and I was afraid I would be outcast and shamed if I left my true self seen and realized it because I was scared that I didn't know what I could become, I could he bad. It's so strange. It feels like you enter this infinite space, you lose you weight, your orientation, like you merge with everything and become one. When I'm back I subconsciously long for that freedom again, but deep down I'm also afraid of it. Perhaps that's why my life is a constant back and forth. It's so weird and I still don't know what to do.

[@ardabayram7602]

I had a very similar experiences. Don't give up the idea that you are pure potential as a being. However, you should also consider that you are realizing your potential by being human. Potentials must be realized to be :)

[@ardabayram7602]

​@Tove Lo Do not expect your inner life to be stable like external world. It is totally different field needed to be perceived differently but I don't mean that there will be always a gap. Just be aware that the only one who can fill that gap is you because you are the only one who have access to both sides. It is also normal to experience it in variety of intensity at the age of 16 because the potential just starts to release. It gets better when you start to build something out of the chaos of your inner life. Use this time to construct the center you lacked but don't expect it to lasts forever :))

[@frv6610]

this feeling has happened to me to. I view it as a test of your real character, for example if you are not really a good person then you could fail the test to stay good.

[@cookbake2]

I like that he does differentiate here between what consciousness is vs what the qualitative experience of consciousness is. One is actually simple in definition, being an intelligent system that is actively aware of something and actively making decisions based upon that awareness. A virus is conscious, though in an extraordinarily simple way compared to humans. The other, the qualitative aspect of being conscious, is the truly complex one to fully understand, the why and how we feel and experience consciousness as we do, and how is that different from how a dog, a mouse, an ant, a plant, a fungus, or a virus experience their consciousness.

[@sumittiwari919]

" self is an illusion" and who said it , " An illusionary self".

[@MyLittleMagneton]

what?

[@wanda1396]

"self is an illusion"... So why can't I end your life, if there's no such thing as "self"?

[@ryry5249]

Paradoxical ... must be true

[@MrRizo23]

lol, *you're*....you might be right though :P

[@zandra8830]

@@wanda1396 That is the most idiotic thing said after scias...

[@ApPersonaNonGrata]

Sam Harris not always right. But he's is SO well-informed, compassionate, genuine, sane, articulate, humble, and reasonable that: ~IF~ you hate or even just 'usually disagree' with Sam Harris, ... that discord is revealing of some handicap of yours; not his. In every relevant respect, he is the best available living litmus test of everything we ought aspire to.

[@squamish4244]

I think he's Islamophobic. That's my only major criticism of him. I don't think that's a handicap of mine.

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

The selfless experience happened and became embedded in my self's memory. I phrase it in that odd way to focus attention on the fact that, it wasn't that my self was revealed to be non existent, rather, it was as though valves in the myriad channels conducting sensory input to my evaluation-for-relevance-to-my-self processes had all closed thereby stopping relevance evaluation. So now sensory input continued unencumbered reaching and modulating the being-conscious-process and getting recorded. It is the memory record that permits me to talk about it. I call the being-conscious-process my self. The fact that 'process' is an abstract notion i.e. immaterial, means non existent from a materialist perspective. Is that what is meant by illusion?

[@counterculture10]

I think a lot of people get this point confused. The "self" is not unreal or non-existent; it's a manufactured reality--created in perception. It's a mere belief or perspective that has no substance. In other words, there's no agent experiencing reality and there's no one part of the brain that is controlling "your" life. That "unity" that we feel that is behind our perceptions, thoughts, etc. is an illusion that occurs when the two brain hemispheres communicate with one another. Unless you buy into the notion that the self is an immaterial essence (which you may), then neuroscience shows that contrary to our intuitions about our identity, we're more like universal processes of awareness than independent things with a command center.

[@rubenpartono]

Sam looks so damn bored here, while I've probably made 5+ faces being blown away by how well he puts these superbly interesting yet relatable ideas into such beautiful words.

[@dj67084]

I literally think I just caught a glimpse of enlightenment.

[@counterculture10]

@@makomichael not destroying but seeing through the illusion self projects.

[@counterculture10]

@@makomichael That's exactly the point-we're conditioned to think of the "self" as a given; as something real and the agent behind experience. We're conditioned to think of the universe as containing "things" (nouns). Enlightenment for men like the Buddha wasn't about answering questions like: Why are we here? Enlightenment is about identity: Who am I? The exploration of this question is given by Zen monks to students and the subsequent answer to this question produces Enlightenment. Perhaps we're really a process called universe looking at itself, pondering reality, and discovering the illusion that there is no self. Perhaps we're the entire Universe looking through the peephole of you, me, and everyone else and pretending to be separate, individual existences- a kind of grand cosmic game of Hide 'n seek; a joke the universe plays on Itself. Now grasshopper, when you can snatch the pebble from my hand, you are ready to leave the temple.

[@counterculture10]

@@makomichael Man, just lost what I wrote twice. It's a great question you ask--can I get you tomorrow?

[@counterculture10]

@@makomichael I never posted. Both times, midway through typing, another program came up spontaneously (maybe my mouse hovered over it) and when I clicked to remove it, I lost my writings. Anyway, I've never been Enlightened or experienced Oneness so I can't really answer your question from experience. I've often thought about that same question. I can't feel your experience and you can't feel mine. So, whatever is going on in experience involves privacy and locality. I don't doubt that. That still doesn't mean that there are separate, independent agents called selves behind the experiences. That self that we feel as "me" and "you" is a trick of mind; a by product of perception. In neuro and cognitive science it's well known that there's no command center in the brain controlling the process of being you. Different bran regions mediate different activities with no central controller. The feeling of unity (self) is produced when the two hemispheres communicate with each other. So, who or what is it that's reading or witnessing the experience? For men of Enlightenment it's Big Mind of Nondual Awareness. It's the true "Me" from which everything in the universe emerges and the intelligent energy that flows through everything all of the time. It seems to function without any central processing. In other words, even though it's One, it has the capacity to emerge here in Counter Culture and there in Michael Reynolds and everywhere else. It's completely unbiased without preconception. It doesn't bring any memory, pre-conceptions, biases, etc. to experience other than Pure Silent Awareness. It is directly felt by meditators upon experiencing Enlightenment as Oneness and, from what I heard, instant recognition as to our True Nature.

[@counterculture10]

@@makomichael So, the self that we normally identify with "you", "me" other and of which seems to be the agent of private experiences is like a wave on the ocean. Each wave is unique and different. It has locality. One wave in Hawaii may have surfers on it while another wave in Samoa might gently push ducklings along. They're different and unique waves yet they emerge from One Ocean. You wouldn't say that the ocean is made up of parts called waves; instead, the waves are forms One Ocean takes at a moment in time. Same with us--we're unique forms One Universe takes at moments in time. Everything in us is stardust-we're made up of the same basic elements that were floating around during the Big Bang. We're just the result of the way the universe's chemistry has been organized at this moment. And that organization is an ever changing process. So, we are quite literally One Universal process emerging as seemingly separate entities -the whole universe becoming conscious and aware in you, me, and every other sentient being just like the ocean waves, the universe peoples. So, to circle back--there is uniqueness and privacy to the universe just no ultimate separation.

[@justintime2432]

" The self is an illusion". Whew! I'm glad you cleared that up, for awhile I thought I was listening to someone of substance.

[@georgelux126]

Apparently you weren’t even listening.

[@monsterhuntervideos4446]

LOL! If all that's talking in this video isn't a self, but rather brain chemistry just fizzing up thoughts then how do we know that that brain chemistry produced thoughts that are correct and true? Sam fails to see the obvious flaw in his own philosophy. If all thoughts are just produced by matter in motion and brain chemistry then they're all just predetermined with no real freewill thinker in the equation, which means we have no way of knowing whether we've been given thoughts that are true. Our brain chemistry may be causing us to believe they're correct, but we have no way of knowing under a naturalistic or deterministic worldview.

[@checallo]

In some eastern doctrines, notably Zen or Indian Upanishad, is well taught about the illusion of the 'self' in which we live, as opposed to the realization of the 'True Self', as this is called our true nature, that may be experienced basically by attaining a state, more or less prolonged, of no-attachment. Yes. You will spend your entire life chasing things that you will lose when you die.

[@tposetheman4448]

The fact that you recognize that illusion proves you have a self.

[@Shannendetro]

I see what you are saying although im not sure that it "proves it". I dont know if i agree with what hes saying either. If everyone is born with an "ego of self" whos to say that the illusion is that you can lose that "ego of self". Im not saying you cant, but its interesting to think about. Ive found that the brain can lie and convince itself of a lot of things in order to make itself feel good.

[@devandeep]

No it doesn't. 'Recognition' can be a process independent of 'recognizer'. There is direct evidence for 'recognition of illusion' in the form of its awareness, but the idea of a 'recognizer' is merely an after thought. Also, while reading my reponse, please do not confuse recognition (a mental event) with its awareness. This is a very common mistake.

[@MrCmon113]

@@devandeep Couldn't have said it better.

[@monsterhuntervideos4446]

Ask a person who believes there is no self this: What evidence would you require to be convinced that there is a self? I guarantee they won't be able to answer, because they will accept no evidence because they've already made up their mind. Ask them this: If emotions, thoughts, intentions and consciousness doesn't convince you you are a self then what would convince you? Ask: Do I need to not have emotions, thoughts, intentions and consciousness in order to be a self? Do I need to be a brick to be a self or something? Only these kinds of questions have a chance of planting seeds and waking them up. Argumentation just will not work. You need to create doubt in them and get them to reason within themselves, True enlightenment is becoming more aware of of just how much of a self you are and just how amazing and transcendent consciousness is. It shows there truly is an ultimate mind behind the universe (namely God), who is also personal. If Sam Harris thinks his self is an illusion then how does he know any of his thoughts are true if he thinks there is no self to truly think them true? How does he know that the chemical reactions in his brain that makes him think "there is no self" are being accurate and revealing the truth? He simply doesn't know and cannot know. His chemical reactions could be producing thoughts that are completely wrong and he has no self to assess them right. This is why naturalism defeats itself.

[@GottfriedLeibnizYT]

Asserting that consciousness is an illusion is a vacuous claim. What do you mean exactly by illusion? What is it like to have a real consciousness?

[@baptistic]

He said the self is an illusion, Herr Leibniz. No wonder Mr. Newton beat you to the discovery of calculus.

[@AchillesBuena]

Newton created/discovered calculus. Stfu Leibniz

[@Clymaxx]

Besides that he wasn't saying that exactly, I believe the definition of "illusion" here is not necessarily a false facade that has an otherwise "real" analogue. It's that the experience of what consciousness is must not be what it really is. That is to say, what we think of it is not the objective assessment, which is what he supports when he talks about how people describe their own consciousness does not correlate closely with what the relevant sciences tell us about it.

[@108padma]

You cannot THINK your way to an understanding of this stuff. Some meditative experience is required to even begin to 'get it'.

[@mysticwine]

The Self is immortal. The Self's body is finite.

[@luka7158]

Do you have anything to back that up?

[@mysticwine]

Yes I do Do you have anything to refute it?

[@neoliberal_af]

@@mysticwine no you dont and he doesn't need to since you where the one claiming stuff that you can't prove.

[@mysticwine]

@@neoliberal_afI can prove it. He can't.

[@willseest3732]

I dont know why but this helped me understand, that control if anything is an illusion, therefore it should not be something that should be fully desired, Just let it go, my man, cause it's one of the major causes of unnecessary pressures.