What I Really Think About Trump and Media Bias (Episode

[@davecunningham579]

I'm starting to get the idea that Sam doesn't like Donald Trump

[@tkenglander6226]

Just a bit. ;-)

[@ngpdreamteam2k4]

@boogiedahomey lol sams a grifter, and has exposed himself.

[@dava00007]

You are a very perceptive man!

[@katking6820]

@boogiedahomey another sad case of TDS ……. Orange man bad.

[@RobertHildebrandt]

Now that you say it

[@garylarcenaire5702]

Being intellectually honest is a lonely endeavor. Count me as a fan of your work.

[@bthomson]

Lonely but well worth it and badly needed!

[@samdg1234]

He is shown himself to be anything but "intellectually honest". *"The fact that I actually misspoke will be very easy to demonstrate because the word I, used really does contradict everything I said in the setup to the clip."* What a bizarre bit of sophistry that is? For who else besides himself would Sam allow this piffle to get a pass. Biden, for example, is shown once or twice to know a thing or two about Hunter's business despite repeated assurance that he knew nothing of his business. Are we to believe the most oft-repeated tale for that reason alone? How bizarre of Sam to spin such tripe. And how blind of you to not be able to see through all 40+ minutes of his attempt at salvaging his reputation.

[@tomnanD3]

Oh, please. Sam, I'm profoundly disappointed. Trump wasn't defending neonazis because...he said so?

[@tomnanD3]

Trump is a buffoon. It's the REPUBLICAN PARTY that we should fear. Look up Project 2025.

[@DS_P8]

For 4 hours while the Capitol was under siege, while cops were being beaten and the attack was being live broadcast around the world, Trump did nothing. Trump didn't contact a single law enforcement agency nor anyone in the Defense Department while he watched the entire thing on TV. Obscuring that reality, pretending that he bumbled his way into a coup, is to obscure the reality of his inaction. Donald Trump failed at his duty to protect and defend America. Donald Trump is a threat to the United States and the world.

[@hoeraufist]

I think we're putting two things together that should be independent. Let's put trump aside completely for second. What he now have is the FBI refusing to investigate a crime in a timely matter for political reasons, and we have journalists refusing to report on and actively suppressing reporting on that, also for political reasons. This is horrendously unethical, and does nothing but further damage faith in these institutions. And that damaged faith is exactly what got trump elected.

[@christheghostwriter]

Lolololololol no

[@skippystz]

Amen

[@auborduglobe]

@@christheghostwriter lololololol yes. Without a doubt. That's exactly what got trump elected. He says Fake News, and they indeed prove everyday that they are exactly that. That you agree or not with their ideology for "the greater good" is a separate issue.

[@ngrovotny]

What crime are you talking about? There's no crime in not publishing news stories.

[@Skeptique]

It's also what facilitated January 6th. Sam's post-hoc claim that dirty tricks were justified because Trump refused to agree to a peaceful transfer of power is circular and intellectually dishonest. First of all he has been hysterically against Trump for many years, predicting horrors that not only didn't happen but actually became less likely during Trump's administration eg hot war with North Korea or Russia. So all he's left with is January 6th as some kind of proof that Trump had to be stopped and only an moron under a cult-of-personality spell and living in a Fox News/Breitbart echo chamber would disagree. Why would anyone agree to a transfer of power prior to the election when dirty tricks to manipulate or commit fraud were clearly on the table? Clearly, because here is Sam saying point blank that this conspiracy not only happened but that it's possible to justify it. What he's actually doing is justifying Trump's claims of a rigged election.

[@M.Linoge]

"I can only explain it to you. I can't understand it for you."

[@JohnDoe-tt4fm]

It still sounds like Sam is arguing that censoring the laptop story was necessary for the greater good. Should it not be up to each and every one of us to decide for ourselves if a story is true or false? Are the common people not to be trusted with information that could damage the current narrative?

[@JamesN16]

Not that it was good, but understandably not trusted after the similar 2016 election laptop drop.

[@KCBluesJams]

You should tell trump and the new republicans that so they can get rid of their alternative facts and stop spewing 🐮💩

[@Manducket]

Pretty much. Sam hates that Trumps rhetoric damages the institution of voting. Sam also thinks it's totally okay to erode that same trust provided it gets him the results he wants.

[@drunkrtard]

I'm doing other things but with the attention I could give it so far was that the podcast was about people misrepresenting what he says, and it specifically happening in regard to the censorship of the laptop story, on which he is undecided. Now, either I missed something important, or the podcast is sort of about this comment.

[@Antekdzi1]

Sam response proves he clearly thinks the same way and his words weren’t misconstrued. He’s a disgrace who likes to smell his own farts

[@theculturedjinni]

He who fights with monsters should be careful to not become one. -Friedrich Nietzsche

[@MightyMarven]

The people who hate Trump the most are the most like him in their shadow. -Philosophers on the Internet.

[@nickelback3360]

You’re the top comment. With 17 upvotes. Sam has 100% “moderated” the comments section here and still the top comment is against him.

[@ym5891]

Still can't explain why Trump is a monster, though. In fact Sam defends monsters against Trump. The dude has no morals whatsoever; Proven by the dead kids comment.

[@mrjones422]

@@nickelback3360 Go home NIckelback you're drunk.

[@tripleplay4]

@@nickelback3360 From your lips to the conspiracy crowds' ears.

[@anthonyreed480]

Spending over 5 minutes suggesting you were taken out of context, right off the bat. Sam, tens of thousands of people watched the entire podcast, beginning to end. It wasn't out of context; moreover, it was reinforcing things you'd *already* said before. The bodies in the basement is an analogy you apparently thought so insightful as to be worth repeating. Oh, it's just rhetoric? Like when Trump said he could shoot someone on 5th Ave and still get elected? I'm sure you gave him the benefit of the doubt for bombast there.

[@almostd3ad540]

yep dude is a fking creep

[@randyevermore9323]

"Spending over 5 minutes suggesting you were taken out of context, right off the bat." Actually, he admitted he misspoke when he used the word "warranted." He also admitted that he was "not speaking especially systematically, or well, in that podcast."

[@jaysongibson]

Ben, we know. Thanks

[@leviburnum4009]

@@randyevermore9323 keep carrying that water buddy

[@randyevermore9323]

@@leviburnum4009 Whatever. Just point to one word of what I said that was false or misleading.

[@anthonyreed480]

19:37 he finally gets to the point. NY Post story being censored was "warranted" I.e. "justified" he says he should've said "justifiable" - embarrassing equivocation. He then congratulates himself for still thinking it was a "coin toss" as though being only half in favour of politically biased censorship is a respectable position.

[@anthonyreed480]

@SwallowingTheRabbitWhole Cope more.

[@almostd3ad540]

@@anthonyreed480 to busy swallowing sams white rabbit

[@lynncarter4964]

@SwallowingTheRabbitWhole You seem to want to suck up this long winded fake explanation of whe he ’really’ said. He was quite clear when he said subverting the democratic process by the left was ok by him as long as Trump couldn’t be President. And now it seems it’s ok with you too. Interesting.

[@anthonyreed480]

@SwallowingTheRabbitWhole TL;DR.

[@motorhead48067]

@@anthonyreed480 Ben Anthony doesn’t have a counter argument so he will act like two small paragraphs is too much for him to read and say retarded things like “cope more” as though it actually constituted an argument.

[@XJRSuper]

Interesting he doesn’t acknowledge the name of the podcast or the hosts at any point.

[@vagabondsteve]

I totally agree. It makes him seem bitter towards them. Like they are to blame for his folly.

[@miketomlin6040]

@@vagabondsteve Well, talking to two young UK Comedians may not have been all that sensible, they were out of their comfort zone/s.

[@JohnGrove310]

As much as i love Sam Harris more than any other intellectual, you do have a real fair point.

[@miketomlin6040]

@@vagabondsteve Folly? Sam stated the obvious, although he did get his words a little jumbled. Which might be because he has this habit of calling the Democrats, a solid centre right party, the Left.

[@jordanthomas4379]

@@vagabondsteve 100% correct, I do think Sam probably blames Constantine and Francis in some way for this controversy, even though they were doing nothing differently from how they typically run an interview.

[@befeleme]

There was nothing ambiguous about what you said in the Triggernometry interview, Sam Harris. You are being disingenuous by claiming that your words were taken out of context. They weren't. They remain horrifying no matter how far those clips are widened. You are so convinced of your intellectual superiority that your own views have become clipped. You have gone a full circle from being a champion of reason to a slave of blind narrow-mindedness. From a self-styled highfalutin meditation guru to a pretentious smirking clown incapable of introspection. You would have earned a million brownie points if you realized this and publicly declared your mistake. But intellectual honesty and narcissism do not make a good mix. This interview was sad to watch and this non-apology only makes it worse.

[@BIG-BOWSER]

100%

[@chiznowtch]

So you think that every news media entity should have run with story about a laptop that didn't belong to Joe Biden, had a very good chance of being a Russian false flag, was declared as such by an army of US intelligence people, a few moments before an election, in a country consumed by conspiracy and comprised of polarized voting blocks and a swing vote population teetering on the edge? You think that's a slam dunk, 100% thing that should happen? All Harris is saying is that he can understand why a responsible media entity would not want to do that...it's potentially justifiable (or warranted). All that above is even without considering the beneficiary of the story breaking out, Trump, whom normal, logical and intelligent humans understand is a morally degenerate scumbag.

[@befeleme]

@@chiznowtch Nice try, Sam.

[@vagabondsteve]

Sam please don’t discount comments like this that highlight your blind spots.

[@motorhead48067]

Most of your comment was just an exercise in you trying to impress yourself by coming up with creative insults and can be safely ignored, but to respond to the one thing of actual substance that you said: “there was nothing ambiguous about what you said in the Triggernometry interview, Sam Harris.” This is just flat wrong lol. And so obviously wrong. On one hand Harris said that it was a coin-toss whether it was right to ignore the story, and yet he also said ignoring the story was warranted. This is a contradiction. He can’t believe both. So it was absolutely ambiguous what he really thought. And then he clarified that ambiguity in this follow-up. Now we know that he thinks it’s arguable and can be defended, but that it was not necessarily warranted. Ambiguity resolved.

[@Science_Chad]

How can you simultaneously be worried about institutional trust while cheer leading them being undermined?

[@trystdodge6177]

his entire career has been about eliminating competition in thought. He didn't Destroy the faith with his atheism he consolidated it.

[@rosemaryalles6043]

And *that* is the point.

[@motorhead48067]

@@trystdodge6177 I mean the whole point of reason is to civilly expunge bad ideas.

[@rustyosgood5667]

LOL, you think Twitter is an "institution" ....hahahahahaha

[@buckchile614]

Waiting another October surprise from the right is what got us here in the 1st place.

[@lupemerrit]

👍👍👍Thank you Sam.

[@mra4955]

Sam 'the end justifies the means' Harris

[@ryanunknown4181]

lmao!

[@dmitryspivak4586]

Mr. I Only Hear What I Want to A

[@mra4955]

@@dmitryspivak4586 you sound hurt. It's ok , let it out, we here 4 u

[@dmitryspivak4586]

@@mra4955 Sorry I offended you. Good night.

[@thebloocat]

@@mra4955 Dmitry has taken it as his personal mission to defend Sam in every comment. Let him do it.

[@marykurdys3288]

Hmmm. My overwhelming critique having listened to both the Triggernometry interview- yes, Mr. Harris, the entire thing- and your explanation is this: Pot, meet Kettle. It’s fascinating to me that as you so condescendingly gouge the log from your neighbor’s eye, you do not recognize the aspen in your own which has given you such an incredible blind spot.

[@marykurdys3288]

Mr Harris, did you see Charlie Crist’s comments following his primary win? “"Those who support the governor should stay with him and vote for him. I don't want your vote. If you have that hate in your heart - keep it. I want the vote of the people of Florida who care about our state. Good Democrats, good independents, good Republicans - unify with this ticket," he declared during a press gaggle Wednesday.” After insulting DeSantis voters he then sanctimoniously claims this mantle of “love.” Do you see the dichotomy? Can you, for a moment, entertain the idea that this is what your audience took from this episode? This is what I take from your comments. You appear to have a myopic view of Trump voters: your impression seems to be that they must be cultists, that they couldn’t POSSIBLY be thinking people. Ask yourself this after reading the comments above from your audience who claim to predate this incident, if they are so lacking in independent thought, why are/were they a part of MY audience? Why are they watching Triggernometry?

[@ym5891]

Sam Harris is a fascist that thinks he is smarter and better than you. He actually thinks an excuse like 'i misspoke' will convince you. Because he is smart, and you are not. Or something.

[@Kraterlandschaft]

what does this even mean

[@motorhead48067]

What do you think is the “aspen” in Harris’s eye and what is he not seeing as a result of the blind spot it has created?

[@m74d3]

@@Kraterlandschaft the person who knows least of all what it means is Mary

[@fujifour8010]

Backtracking, reverse justification, and circumlocution. Nothing to see here.

[@Sun-Ra9]

Loved it Sam ! Calm and soothing as always !

[@shawqiha]

I would have loved to have watched Hitchens debate Sam on whether or not censorship is okay.

[@soulfuzz368]

They would be on the same side. Sam is right about Hitch

[@Brian-gw5hg]

Hitch would be ashamed of Sam. Glad he isn't around to see how far Sam has fallen.

[@Fuckingboredrn]

@@Brian-gw5hg what do you think his biggest disagreement with same would be

[@toddboothbee1361]

Or have him debate Noam Chomsky, who is, at least, still alive.

[@bangarang74]

@@toddboothbee1361 Nah, Trump broke Chomsky also.

[@tcorourke2007]

26:45 The fact that I am appalled by your support of censorship does not make me a "defender of Trump", hysterical or otherwise. Your collapse into tribalism is real...

[@tripleplay4]

Can you identify what tribe exactly?

[@CARambolagen]

Rubbish! You obviously understood very little of what Harris said...

[@tcorourke2007]

@@tripleplay4 Harris' claim is that, because I disagree with him, I am defending Trump. This is a false assumption and extremely disheartening from such a logical mind. By ascribing this motive to his detractors, his can dismiss our criticisms without having to actually address them. The element of tribalism here is his assumption that, because I disagree with him, a) I'm not in the anti-Trump tribe and b) I must therefore be in the pro-Trump tribe. That I disagree with him does not preclude me from being anti-Trump. And not being anti-Trump doesn't make me pro-Trump. And even being pro-Trump does not invalidate my criticisms.

[@tcorourke2007]

@@CARambolagen I've been a fan of Harris long enough to remember when his audience lacked mindless acolytes posting comments with zero substance.

[@CARambolagen]

@@tcorourke2007 You mean, "comments with zero substace" like yours? If you cannot distinguish between censorship and editorial thoroughness - as Harris clearly describes - than the mindlessness is all on your part. Choosing not to publish aggressive malignant disinformation is NOT "censorship"! No publisher is compelled to publish (potential) lies and fabrications before they have been examined to be just that. Anyone who proposes otherwise is NOT a champion of truth...

[@pjjmsn]

His evidence for how bad Trunp is is the level of hyperbole of his descriptions of Trunp. That alone should convince you.

[@ownthelibs]

Trump did not tell the Russian to hack Hillary. He made a joke months after the dnc was hacked about finding Hillary’s deleted emails. Sam purposely conflates the two email scandals and ignores the obvious joke

[@jmacvoy2484]

lmao oh yeah.

[@thehalloweenheavymetalwarrior]

He is right, though.

[@b0ris360]

Notice how he doesn’t mention the podcast’s name (Triggernometry) or the Hosts names. Konstantin and Francis were 100% fair and respectful throughout the podcast. This had nothing to do with anything underhand from the podcasters. This was 100% on Sam himself.

[@jmc5335]

He always has been a rather petty actor has ol' Sam.

[@jedward5155]

The irony of Sam Harris talking about the size of someone else’s ego. He is a small, petty, narcissistic man.

[@manwithoutacountry]

They were fair even in the Q&A afterwards. I'm curious if they had a bigger falling out, or if he just wanted to leave them out of this response. He primarily put this issue on himself and didn't really insinuate that they were underhanded.

[@Presticles1]

@@manwithoutacountry Honestly I think he was doing his best to divert negative attention away from their podcast so that it could be more directed at him. If he had mentioned it all these idiotic Trump cultists would be filling all their spaces with this dumb bullshit.

[@jacoblee5796]

The fact that Sam never mentioned the name or posted a link to it so people had proper context isn't a good look for Sam.

[@daleullom9008]

Well Sam this podcast sounds like you're trying to dig yourself out of the hole you dug yourself and jumped in!

[@dalisllama]

“Here’s why I’m right, and you’re wrong…”

[@User-bl5cw]

Any dispute ever could be reduced to this sentence. It means nothing.

[@zaphodbeeblebrox8382]

There is a lack of consistency in Sam's message here. And I'm disappointed how casually he acknowledges how lying can be useful, well simultaneously saying that the truth is essential for democracy. I understand it had no bearing on his decision to vote for biden, or against trump, but that isn't how democracy works.

[@dmitryspivak4586]

Then you misunderstood his message. He's not advocating lying. He's saying that in a grey area where information has not been verified it's an editorial choice whether you cover said information.

[@kanyeezy954]

@@dmitryspivak4586 which is the point of muddying the waters… then u can always do what you want to based on “there’s good people on both sides”

[@elmoblatch9787]

Sam never once advocated lying. It's stunning that you could think that.

[@kanyeezy954]

Let’s keep that area grey so we can do what we want

[@dmitryspivak4586]

@@kanyeezy954 I have literally no idea what you're saying. Care to explain?

[@Cnhfcsh]

Long time fan here. I have two comments. Yes you’ve built your brand on honesty. And I believe you were totally honest when you were speaking to the trigger people. And I believe you were totally honest when you did your explanation in this podcast, trying to clarify. And that’s what we’re all frightened about - we see that you are honestly for censorship. To say this is unAmerican would be the understatement of the century. In the last paragraph of this podcast you say you wish everybody was in the position that you are in, wherein they cannot be canceled by opposing forces. No you don’t. You don’t wish that. You did not wish it for the New York post.

[@Cnhfcsh]

An additional irony, Sam, as you explain you have gone to great lengths to make certain you cannot be canceled, that you are untouchable. Yet, you spring with relish to cancel The New York Post to sate your TDS. “Censorship for thee - not for me.”

[@randyevermore9323]

@@Cnhfcsh When, and how, did he ever try to "cancel" the NY Post? It's been around for 200 years, so his odds weren't very good.

[@jaysongibson]

You point out a lie in the video, but argue he is honest!

[@Cnhfcsh]

@@jaysongibson let me clarify for you. I am saying that he is being honest when he tells us he’s for censorship. Further I say he’s being honest once again when he tries to clarify his support of censorship. Two incidences of him being honest. When he says he wants everybody to be free from censorship but then he Applauds censorship of the New York post, I do not think he is lying. I think he’s just being thoughtless; accidentally hypocritical. Thanks for your comment.

[@Cnhfcsh]

@@randyevermore9323 Harris went to pains to explain that he was all in on canceling the New York posts Twitter feed to assist in hiding the Biden laptop matter from Americans. Difficult to imagine a more clear-cut case of canceling something.

[@Xceloverdose]

I was waiting expectantly to Sam's comments on this topic. I am very disappointed at his stance. This is nothing more than 30 minutes of a humble-brag non-apology. He is committed to his stance based on his obvious TDS. "Trump is worse than Osama Bin Laden" is even more deranged than his stance on the political censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop content. We are witsessing Olympic Level mental gymnastics from Sam Harris here! 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@twntwrs]

Sam suffers from the hubris generated by his early, easy and big success when he took down the obvious bullshit that religion is thinking that he could apply his method to any topic with the same results including topics he's not at all versed in. The arrogance he displayed in his exchange with Noam Chomsky flatfootedly, with his thought experiments, treading on that man's area of expertise (the most quoted and one of the most respected scholars in geopolitics/socioeconomics in the world) ended in a similar attempt at damage control through mental gymnastics and doubling down. That said, his lecture on free will opened a new way for me to think about a topic I hadn't thought much about.

[@AmyNewman]

Trump is one of the worst politicians we've ever had.

[@AmyNewman]

@Divide And Conquer Trump got in because the FBI began an investigation into Hillary's emails right before the election. There is no one here to blame but Donald, they asked for the documents he either said no, or lied about them. This should not be a left or right issue, he's a Republican in name only anyway.

[@Xceloverdose]

@@AmyNewman by what objective measures? What criteria defines him being the worst? By all accounts his financial, international and energetic politicy, as well as prison reform, black and Latino job integration etc. seem to indicate otherwise.

[@garen4841]

Censorship and suppression of facts was "WARRANTED". A very precise word that Sam is trying to walk back. Substituting "justified" or "justifiable" doesn't make it any better. It's clearly anti-democratic.

[@wasneeplus]

Even if it's to protect democracy?

[@phatpat63]

The idea that he isn't so off-his-gourd anti-Trump that he would be happy to see an election outright rigged to get rid of the guy is laughable. It's kind of amazing that him or any of these seals applauding him are even trying to keep up the pretense.

[@tomaszzieba315]

@@wasneeplus how is it possible? Elaborate please

[@ClihtYeastwood]

@@wasneeplus and who chooses that?

[@wasneeplus]

@@tomaszzieba315 well, they turned out to be totally correct about Trump being a danger to democracy, with him refusing to give up power after loosing the election (as he threatened beforehand). Besides, given all the interference in the 2016 election it wasn't at all unreasonable to suspect the Hunter Biden story was Russian misinformation.

[@functionmaster1503]

I really wish you would stop talking about Trump. I love almost all of your content. However, the beautifully logical framework you use to discuss issues seems to go out the window when he's the focus.

[@zonedoyestander]

How's that? What did he say about Trump that isn't reasonable. He addresses the typical examples in this video: nothing possibly bad enough on Hunter's laptop, reelection of Trump akin to meteor, worse man than Osama Bin Laden, etc. On the surface these examples do seem irrational, but in the video he explains his reasons for using them.

[@bobbyboywonder12]

@@zonedoyestander oh making the comparison that Osama Bin Laden is essentially a more moral and virtuous character than Trump. Probably something is a little off there. That is TDS at its finest

[@Orandu]

They “Love trumps hate”

[@Suraj-su5up]

You need to listen closely then, cuz in this video he clearly breaks down his opinions on Trump which may have sounded bizarre before

[@gregflores8959]

biden for Prison!

[@Hughmungus0909]

Out of all the people in the world, I never expected Sam Harris to lose his mind over TDS

[@DBQ42]

History makes clear where movements like Trumpism lead. It's predictable and terrible. TDS would just be people that know that.

[@archstanton3430]

This is probably too charitable, but I have a theory that he just does it to keep the cancel mob at bay. The only way he could've done that BLM episode is if he was constantly ranting like a mental case about Orange Hitler.

[@DBQ42]

@@archstanton3430 There is no cancel mob it's on your head made up by the media to keep you freaked out. Trumpism is (lower-case f) fascism we can identify the reasons for that and it needs to be called out. If you support Donald Trump stop acting like you're pro democracy you are not.

[@archstanton3430]

@@DBQ42 Wow, sounds like you just drank a whole pitcher of MSNBC Kool-Aid and barfed it into a reply.

[@Hughmungus0909]

@@archstanton3430 Honestly what you described is much much worse than the context of my comment. That would mean he is a complete it and intellectual sell out and coward

[@mikeyj.philly]

Sam I can't believe you are building a case AGAINST having all available information because you've decided (rather religiously, I might add) that no new evidence could possibly exist that would change your view. In your own words, "if we do not allow new evidence to influence our perspective, when the stakes are high all that's left to appeal to is force."

[@dmitryspivak4586]

I can't believe you've decided, rather religiously, I might add, that the Earth is round, and feel that no new evidence could possibly exist that would change your view.

[@mikeyj.philly]

@@dmitryspivak4586 if new evidence came in, that proved scientifically the Earth was flat, you would be an ignorant fool to refuse to hear it on principle.

[@mbevin]

Well said. I also felt Sam did a rather similar thing when it came to not talking to his seemingly previously close and respected friend/associate Brett Weinstein on his views on the pandemic and its treatments etc. From what I heard from Sam on the topic, he'd really not fully understood or fully heard Brett's arguments, however he felt sufficiently convinced they were both wrong, and too dangerous to give his platform to, and thus it was better to essentially contribute to the silencing of them by refusing to debate/discuss them with Brett on either of their podcasts. Like with what he's saying now with Trump, it felt so completely in conflict with his long stated principles - steel-manning rather than straw-manning people you disagree with, the importance of freedom of speech and debating opposing views rather than silencing/canceling them, etc. It seems in both cases that he let many of his principles slip, and in doing so precisely exemplified his past warnings of the dangers of what happens when you let these principles slip and thus why you really shouldn't, even when it seems a good idea (e.g. you end up self-righteously thinking you're serving the higher good, when really you're doing very much the opposite, while remaining completely confused about this fact, because you've cut yourself off from learning how you might be actually wrong).

[@samdg1234]

@Mikey J. Philly "if we do not allow new evidence to influence our perspective, when the stakes are high all that's left to appeal to is force." That is good. Shows Sam's hypocrisy. Here is another location where it shines through. If interested start listening to him at 29 seconds in the following video, Sam Harris - Echo Chamber Mentality & Online Media

[@DigiDriftZone]

Did you listen to this episode? - That's not at all what he's building. He's saying evidence about Hunter makes no difference to his personal decision about Biden, it's irrelevant information for him personally - it may not be for you. With this being suppressing this story is, and I quote: "not warranted or justified" - he makes this point very clearly in this episode and that he genuinely misspoke and that one single word "warranted" contradicts everything he says before or after on that podcast. He does not believe or stand by this word.

[@archstanton3430]

I love how he keeps explaining this as if we don't get it. We understand your point, Sam. We just think it's deranged. And it's incredibly sad that you've so fully disappeared up your own rectum that you can't see it. To use some of your favorite phrases: you are morally confused, and you've lost the plot.

[@lovefromthesun]

Well worth canceling subscription to this sub and the waking up app. When all logic fails, Sam wrangles up an insane way to push forth. Fair well!

[@fix5072]

Could you point out the logical mistakes in his argumentation?

[@jasonsangwin4006]

@@fix5072 the basis of Sams argument is ad hominem, which is a logical fallacy. He claims Trump to be so terrible .... because reasons. Sam has never provided a specific example, it’s all just because he says it is.

[@Taruby]

@@jasonsangwin4006 Sam was deeply troubled by Trump University. Sam felt if he was in Trump's shoes, he would've apologised and made amends to all the students who were scammed into getting worthless degrees from Trump University. I believe this is the source of Sam's intense dislike for Donald Trump, and why he will assume the worst of him without any critical analysis.

[@fix5072]

@@jasonsangwin4006 Trump has lied in pretty much every press conference he held, which is obvious by just listening ro his bizarre claims. He is like a child, impulsive, angry, etc. He did not consent to give up on his power, even when Biden was democratically elected, and called the election fake. He didn't stop his fans from breaking in the congress. He kept secret documents, which he had no right to do. He thinks foreigners are bad per se, nationalism is an answer, etc. I could go on for 100s of arguments, why Trump is by far the worst president america could have. But all of this is so obvious, that a well informed, intelligent man like Sam doesn't feel the need to explain it in detail.

[@joshuacornelius25]

Lol...Sam blaming everyone for misunderstanding his TDS as TDS... So it's their fault, not Sam's. He's gone. So sad. It's people like Sam that made and kept Trump relevant.

[@mihaimoldo]

He literally said it was his fault.... Wtf are you talking about?

[@rustyosgood5667]

TDS is appropriate...Trump is an existential threat to our country...especially if he ever managed to get serious power.

[@nomadproductions2812]

yeah sam is definitely keeping trump in the news. It's not because he was president and just had the fbi raid his house after he stole classified documents

[@Luke-jm5wr]

You have become religious without realizing it

[@float32]

I can’t comprehend that lack of self awareness that I’m seeing. I would assume someone like Sam would be rationally introspective, at least.

[@TwoKnowingRavens]

Sam - I've been with you a long time, the first time I saw you was back in 2010 I believe ; I had already been reading everything ever written and listening to every recorded thing ever said by Christopher Hitchens. You began your journey in this social commentary phase of your life riding his coattails. Somewhere along your journey you fell victim to this very mutated version of logic and reason. Regardless of what you think you know about anything, your skepticism has left you some years ago. You have fully turned around into the awakened savior, the truth yeller, the man on the dais. You've lost it Sam, fully lost it. I have no interest in defending Trump, I met the guy for the first time when I was 17 and I knew then I didn't like him. But you have taken dislike of a fairly gross, greedy, vain man and turned it into your own leviathan. What the hell is wrong with you, seriously? Now I can play back episodes/podcasts of you two years ago saying all the scary things about Trump, making claims that fell in line with the narratives of the moment. Many, if not most of those things you swore up and down were deadly sins, have been either totally debunked, or seriously diminished in their scope. Biden is a very dangerous, career political criminal, and in your heart you know it , but you can't say the truth because of the circle you've created around yourself. You joined the religion Sam, and now you're desperately trying to justify your mistake. It's painful to watch as a long time fan and fellow skeptic. We also share another thing in common; we both found God over the last twelve years. Only my god is a forgiving, loving, and patient one, and yours seems to be a vain, defensive, turbid god, without shame even in the face of a glaring error - you turned to self pity and finger pointing. What a shame.

[@lifeoflennie2443]

Perfectly said. I'm going to hazard a guess that Sam has lost a large chunk of his fans. How sad it is to see former greats demote themselves to the level of partisan hacks who block and censor anything they don't like. 🥲

[@rogerdavis5142]

Oh. U found god. Good luck with that.

[@Xocixo]

@@rogerdavis5142 hell is at your door! Do u believe in the same god as Sam?

[@ScottMedburyAuthor]

His true colours were bound to show eventually.

[@mitchjames9350]

He loves to bring up that he is a Neuroscientist yet only did a PHD on Cognitive Neurology it never Majored in it. He loves the sound of his own voice and is selling his brand.

[@fix-or8635]

Thank you for making your stance on censorship clear. Fans can continue listening to you. I will not.

[@Hughmungus0909]

Same here. What a shame

[@lu-vly]

What has happened to the left 😢

[@RicardoAGuitar]

@@lu-vly They got hold of the institutions, and discovered that they really, really like power

[@RicardoAGuitar]

@SwallowingTheRabbitWhole No. Sam Harris made it abundantly clear that he supports censorship if it contributes to the defeat of a political candidate he doesn't like. Stop lying about what Sam Harris said. You are defending an unprincipled charlatan.

[@aaronstapley]

Honest request: Can you do a podcast that further delineates the character of Trump from other political figures? I think most people are critical of you because you start with a premise that Trump is a narcissistic liar, which is true, but then act like similar traits haven’t and aren’t currently being manifested in other politicians (admittedly with more tact). The latter have far more institutional support which is arguably far more dangerous. Examples: Spending trillions doesn’t cause inflation. Inflation is at zero percent. Saying your policies are not increasing energy prices when they clearly are. Regardless of your opinion on this, it is Orwellian to say: Boys can become girls and we should be able to teach that to your children without your consent. Saying that rioters killed police on J6. Calling concerns any concerns about elections “the big lie,” as if the last 4 yrs weren’t about calling Trump an illegitimate president. Ascribing white Supremacy and racism to the motives of those you politically disagree with without substantiation. Lying that black Americans are disproportionately victims of police brutality to violent crime stats incited more to violence than anything Trump said on J6. Calling the other side fascists while you are calling on social media companies to suppress the 1st amendment for you.

[@mormovies]

A totally irrational, anti-reason way to start an argument and prove a point.

[@ScottMedburyAuthor]

Yes Aaron

[@vickymcpherson7985]

Another Harris that is as confused as Kamala. 🤔

[@harleydavidson1014]

Aaron you're obviously just racist. Nobody that's not racist uses facts and logic like that. Oh yeah your also white supremacist.

[@randyevermore9323]

@@vickymcpherson7985 Yawn.

[@jkluvschachi]

I’ll take “Grifters whose careers are over” for $1200, please, Alex.

[@1autoneurotic]

Excellent choice Jeremiah, excellent choice

[@siremagu4916]

Nice. I like this comment. :)

[@DavidASymons]

@PullupSeattle 2.0 amen!

[@erine.5680]

I'm genuinely trusting Sams intentions, sometimes I agree with him sometimes I don't but I never got the sense of him being mischievous

[@simonsharp3319]

its not that he's 'mischievous', its that he's so convinced Trump is the anti-christ that he's chosen it as his hill to die on - in that he is willing to have a president with links to someone who has dead children in their basement over Trump. And that behind all his calm sounding reasoning he is something of an ideologue and authoritarian.

[@erine.5680]

@@simonsharp3319 well he said that he didn't even think trump is some kind of Hitler president ,let alone the antichrist and that he even agrees with some of his policies, I've heard the video from start to end. He is convinced that trump is very destructive and then he proceeded to explain that he misspoke about the laptop case and that he could argue for both sides. The part with Twitter shows that he is against authoritarianism and he prefers companies to do as they please without government interference from any side.

[@dm3199]

@@erine.5680 yeah, but what he says is not the exactly what he does, he petitioned Twitter to ban Donald Trump even though other extremists who were responsible for murder and terrorism had their Twitter accounts, he didn't petition to ban them. His recent tweet before he deleted himself says it all he is not for free speech that is contradicting his point of view. He basically declares himself to be the judge of what is true and what is false he is insane.

[@erine.5680]

@@dm3199 on my comment you will see that I mentioned that I do disagree with Sam sometimes and this is one of the times I completely disagree with him

[@WrldFamousPlus1]

@@erine.5680 lol so clearly brainwashed

[@bb8328]

"1000 miles in any direction and not meet a less admirable human being than Trump" Jesus Christ you must live in a bubble Sam...

[@Razaiel]

Rent free.

[@SuperGirl-tf2wn]

What is wrong with that personal assessment of a completely contemptible piece of trash.

[@dancarter6044]

For a president, he's pretty bad.

[@gloriakincade7434]

@@SuperGirl-tf2wn You probably still think the Pee tape was real and no problem with fake media running with that ridiculous story. oh and no worries that Hilary created FAKE dossier to impeach Trump, It turned out to all be a big scam paid for by the Clinton foundation but maybe you are not even aware of that. Hilary's little scam cost the taxpayers over 48 million dollars. What about 10% for the big guy, that is OK with you too? Geez,

[@SuperGirl-tf2wn]

@@gloriakincade7434 Get back to me when you don't make a bunch of baseless accusations, smooth brain.

[@dashifoo]

I share the same view as Sam Harris regarding Trump's presidency. While Trump had right ideas on quite a few things as Sam mentioned, the concerns lie primarily with his personality and psychological state. However, my greater worry pertains to the phenomenon of Trumpism rather than Trump himself. It is essential to ask why he gained such widespread popularity. Can we attribute it solely to the perceived ignorance of his supporters? I don't believe so. If Trump was a flawed figure but still thrived, it is crucial to examine the underlying factors that nourished his rise. Consider this: if Trump had emerged on the political stage two decades ago, would he have stood a chance? I highly doubt it. Unless we delve into the root causes of Trumpism, it is likely to resurface and pose challenges even if we manage to eliminate him again in 2024.

[@Voller84]

I wish Sam was clearer on what he _doesn't_ believe is justified. After listening to him for 45 minutes, I still don't know whether he thinks it's ok for government to decide what is and isn't misinformation, e.g. in the realm of public health or politically sensitive information. Is it ok for big tech to pick a side and influence elections of their own volition? Is it ok for big tech to prevent competition from ever having a chance to materialise (remember Parler?) seeing as how Sam seems to think that competition will solve the problem to big tech having such influence. Is it appropriate for a president to declare significant portions of the populace as fascist? Is it ok for a government to decriminalise shoplifting or turn a blind eye to violent mobs setting shops on fire (summer of love) if they are on the "correct side"? Interesting to me also that Sam considers Trump to be a symptom (I agree) and hates him because of that (I disagree). Shouldn't we fix the underlying issues instead of trying to suppress the symptoms? I also find it mindboggling that we live in a time where the likes of Biden and Trump are the only choice that people have. Unless the democrats own up for their mistakes and start regaining the trust of the people, this will not go away. Don't blame Trump for that.

[@simonsharp3319]

I think he made it fairly clear - when it concerns Trump ALL restrictions are off the table. The president of USA could have extremely close links to someone with dead children in their basement and be a comatose plaything of the Chinese government. He would still justify mis-information, undermining of democratic process and suppression of news if it meant Trump not getting in again.

[@DigiDriftZone]

He covers the government misinformation bureau or whatever it’s called in another episode as a colossal mistake. My takeaway from this episode is follow democratic norms, follow the law. If a private company makes editorial judgement you don’t like, well, that’s unfortunate, they are free to destroy their reputation in this way, but the alternative is government intervention, which he is against. Would indeed be interesting to hear what he has to say about this unified alliance of big tech. The recent speech from the president is also after this episode but I saw Sam tweeted that the optics were a gaff for Biden, where Trump would actually want these optics (he even wants military parades right?) - this is a fair comment, but the messaging from Joe was very divisive, a comment on this would be good. He does speak at length about the lunacy of defund the police and BLM and the riots in the episode “Can we pull back from the brink”, it’s my favourite episode, I highly recommend!

[@glidercoach]

No it's not ok and he is delusional. Very disturbing for a so called intellectual.

[@vercingetorixarverni6343]

@@glidercoach delusional is thinking the coup president isn't above criticism

[@OldUncleDan]

@@vercingetorixarverni6343 we live in america brother if a coup was the goal there would have been piles of firearms your lack of coherent thought is concerning

[@pjflynn]

Thank you for speaking unabashedly about many subjects. You are intelligent and a thinker, a philosopher. It is only normal that so many do not understand you or choose to be offended by a phrase here or there, at their choice. Intelligence is rare, stupidity widespread.

[@cameronboden]

You already told us what you really think. And as a longtime fan of your work up until the past couple of years, I have to let you know how deeply and profoundly disappointed I am in you. Such a bright and thoughtful mind that’s just turned to total derangement. Sad.

[@rustyosgood5667]

You wouldn't know intellect if it smacked you in your face now would you?

[@tonycatman]

He really is deranged, unfortunately. Trump is most certainly a horrible person. Distasteful and crass. A charlatan, and I can't stand to listen to him speak. He has few redeeming qualities, and I was shocked about his inability to admit defeat at the election. But he isn't *that* bad. The idea that you could walk 1000 miles in any direction and not meet a worse person is ridiculous. Any prison is made up almost entirely of worse people. Every skeleton that could possibly be pulled out of Trump's closet has been investigated : every infidelity, bad joke, private phone call, lie, poor business decision, or poorly phrased sentence. I'm really not sure I would come off as good as Trump if every one of my indiscretions had been publicized. I've done a 'runner' from a restaurant. I've pissed in shop doorways. I still make racist jokes. I've shoplifted, and I've taken quite a range of illegal drugs. And many more worse things. I don't think I'm any worse than the next person though, and if Trump had done these things, they would be public, and those, and the other bad things I've done are worse than the things Trump has done. TDS is real.

[@buckchile614]

He explained perfectly how the TDS/TDD is yours

[@curledup]

@@rustyosgood5667 The way you're bullying former fans who have valid opinions speaks to the new breed of Sam Harris supporter. How can you stomach the guy? He literally bragged about his "Intellectual Honesty" and then goes on to champion selective dishonesty. Come on Rusty! You're better than that.

[@rustyosgood5667]

@@curledup There is no "new breed"...either you get it or you don't. If you don't get him now, you obviously never did in the first place. I love to bully bad ideas. So far, I have yet to "bully" a single "fan". It is not dishonest to withhold information if you are a business and it's not dishonest to withhold substantial claims without equally substantial proof. Sorry but Giuliani is not trustworthy...as much as you may love him.

[@romeo20maypole68]

Bruv, you are not on your own. We stand by you.

[@glyndavies6713]

Thank you Sam, I appreciate your efforts.

[@paulkerridge6001]

Big brain. No spine to hold it up.

[@ItsameAlex]

I don't agree with his ''any random person is better than trump'' thing, I think his strength and vigour can deter our enemies, and he can't be pushed around, whereas most random people are pushovers.

[@shamusosullivan5650]

You’re so caught up on T that all other logic diminishes in your support of your own position.

[@quitebald]

Thank you!

[@73Goodfellow]

This level of hatred of an individual is usually reserved for someone that you actually know. 🤷‍♂️

[@kerravon4159]

The absolute worst thing about Trump is that he seems to have successfully destroyed the ethical integrity and reasoning ability of Sam Harris, a formerly rational and *ethical* person I used to like and respect. Nothing else Trump has done has come close to the magnitude of this tragedy.

[@ryanlynch290]

Did he destroy it, or just uncover the hidden fact that it never really existed?

[@kerravon4159]

@@ryanlynch290 I think that's a question that many people are now asking themselves with great trepidation.

[@jeffreykennedy5953]

@@kerravon4159 Hopefully Sam is asking himself this question.

[@kerravon4159]

@@jeffreykennedy5953 If this video is anything to go by, questioning himself seems like the last thing he's inclined to do.

[@pjjmsn]

I agree with all of the above.

[@theadventuresofoldmort1746]

Sam would vote for someone who killed children and buried them in their basement. He's lost it.

[@heydudewhatsup]

That sounds like something Don Jr would do...

[@heydudewhatsup]

The killing children and burying them in their basement part, I mean.

[@MyName-cw4yr]

@@heydudewhatsup how so?

[@mikeseal2266]

He's lost it? Or you have? Spoiler alert: YOU HAVE.

[@insensitive919]

@@heydudewhatsup you guys are after Donny now? You only like politician's kids when they smoke crack? TDS will never end, you'll just leapfrog the rage to somebody else, no matter how good and honest they are. So much for not being tribalist.

[@nicolasrose3064]

You are definitely not "alone" Mr.Harris.

[@trtinda11]

imagine hating somene so much you will say anything or do anything to ruin them. and now this is him reading from a script.....

[@godisbollocks]

Script? Are you inferring that someone else wrote this spiel for him? Do tell...

[@trystdodge6177]

@@godisbollocks I don't think he means that, possibly. I think he meant even after time to think sam still ends up at the Same spot with the for the same reasons. He probably wrote a script, at least some talking points and researched to bring more validity to this podcast, even than his blind spots aren't admitted, they are covered up by faith.

[@godisbollocks]

@@trystdodge6177 Sam Harris, faith? Lol

[@trystdodge6177]

@@godisbollocks yes sam harris and faith. When Sams reason fails him he looks to the church for guidance, that which cannot be proven is answered by faith. In what world would proof of child murder be on the same level as business corruption? Some how sam is able to rationize nonsense, the answer is a distorted calculus provided and by our scared institutions, the times, wapo, Harvard, Yale, etc, etc, etc. None of which are proven just laundered ideas. What is Sam's faith? Progress. Nothing can get in the way of progress, sam may want to drive the progress bus at 10 mph while woke is driving 110 mph, still its a self evident, self congratulating, systematically nonsensical faith which attacks reality, and is very much unscientific. It's the zeitgeist submit or be run over

[@jesperjesper955]

Yeah… you changing the word warranted to justifiable doesn’t really help you 🤣 so it’s justifiable in your view to censor negative press for one candidate. and no, it wasn’t “clear” that you misspoke. It is “clear” though that you are engaging in damage control. You’re trying to come off as “neutral” but you’re making yourself look more like hypocrite.

[@tripleplay4]

What would make you think he's trying to come off neutral? He literally didn't change any of his positions from the Podcast. Are people really incapable of understanding his POV?

[@CARambolagen]

Rubbish! It helps if you actually understand what the man says, which apparently is beyond your scope...

[@themeangene]

It's beyond censorship. Zuckerberg admitted that the FBI told Facebook and Twitter to censor information. This is a HUGE example of violating the 1st amendment to steal an election. Trump was right. 2020 was stolen.

[@xx-er7se]

@@tripleplay4 yes, many people it seems, don't have the habit of entertaining an idea or trying to understand more complex ideas. He's totally open about his thought processes and ideas and a lot of people aren't used to that type of honesty that can make you unpopular.

[@tcorourke2007]

This is the first time I've ever seen someone issue a clarification using MORE ambiguous language.

[@nineteenfrankie]

Unfortunately many people on each side don’t really & truly think before responding. They are actually eager to take things out of context. It’s always the people farthest to each end of the spectrum that make all of the people in the middle miserable.

[@howiefelterup329]

bruh get off sams dick. Its obvious what he meant and no amount of context will change it.

[@nineteenfrankie]

@@howiefelterup329 Triggered. 😆

[@gangadin2873]

Do explain how dead children in Hunter Biden's basement are not more worthy of care than Trump university. Then we will go further and understand how nothing Joe Biden could possibly be worse than Trump.

[@sheiladineen9483]

I align in my judgments with Sam Harris. Thank you from Toronto.

[@KumaBones]

You're out of sync with what's "normal" or what a "normal person" is, if you genuinely think that Binladen was a normal person who was a victim of circumstance. **A "normal person" doesn't become the head of an organization.* By default A normal person does not elect to be a leader, and would not have the capacity to successfully lead a militia--let alone organize a handful of people for a long period of time. Notice how i'm not even addressing the "moral" arguments either. I'm simply pointing out an objectively measurable dynamic of the human social psychology, and a social dynamic amongst any animals that organize into groups. Binladen was by default not normal, by virtue of the position and goals which he consciously pursued. Simply being a leader of that scope, already exempted him from being a "normal person" let alone the moral path he chose for himself and his followers. Your words not only come across as belittling, but also blind-sighted by your own overconfidence in your intellect. As a byproduct, that also makes you come across as arrogant--even if you'd consciously hate to be arrogant. This is even more backed up by the intent that you want to pursue with the rest of this line of thought--that Trump is "worse" than Binladen. Because now you're trying to tell people what to think, without you even being aware of what a "normal person" even looks like anymore. From an outside and unbiased perspective: You *seem to have come to "worship" your own mind and "intellect" so much, that you're genuinely losing the ability to recognize what's objectively real around you. You're losing the ability to stay mentally grounded, and relatable to what's immediately around you or the rest of society. The alternate possible impression to this^ is even worse: You intentionally trying to mislead & gaslight people, for the sake of "leading the lesser enlightened (dumber)" people towards a better future which they might not understand themselves (but you think that you do). All while you're so out of touch, that you can't even present a hot take that's at least worth to mentally entertain. How TF are you gonna be able to lead others towards a "better future" if you're not even in touch with reality, yourself? How can you steer a ship, if you've lost sight of your location and destination--relative to your location? You can't even recognize a "normal person"

[@motorhead48067]

You really called your perspective “unbiased” in the same sentence that you accused Harris of worshipping his own intellect lmao. Unreal 😂. And I think you’re fixated too much on the word normal. As Harris argued, part of what made Bin Laden so dangerous is that his dangerous ideology was coupled to his personal virtues like commitment to things beyond himself. Most people are not as committed to things beyond themselves as much as Bin Laden was. So you could argue that although Bin Laden was more dangerous than your average person (for ideological reasons), he we was actually more virtuous than not just Trump, but most people. So yes, you could argue that Bin Laden was not psychologically normal. But you’re drawing the wrong lesson from that. Bin Laden was not normal, he was actually better (in terms of personal virtue, not in terms of total harm created) than normal. This only proves Harris’s point. But we can forget about the word normal altogether. The point is that Bin Laden’s primary problem was ideology. Had you given him a healthier ideology, he probably would’ve been a great man. Trump’s problem is not ideology. It is his personality. it his total lack of virtue.

[@KumaBones]

@@motorhead48067 Uh... yes. I said "it seems like he's worshipping his own intelligence" You can be unbiased and point out that someone is praying. You can also be unbiased and point out that something objectively doesn't make *logical sense. I'm pointing out how something seems, from a third party perspective who literally only recently heard that he existed. That doesn't make me biased.

[@KumaBones]

​@@motorhead48067 btw my fixation wasn't on "normal" I'm pointing out that if he can't even understand that small & simple aspect of his argument, the rest of the argument also falls appart. Let alone that he's making a comparison between trumpo (whom he has strong feelings about) and a person whom he admitted to not know much about. So he's literally attributing imaginary characteristics to binladen, and then comparing trump against that imaginary character. Again, that argument falls appart. He should at least try comparing trump to someone he actually knows about.

[@motorhead48067]

@@KumaBones I’m not saying that you must be biased. I’m just saying that calling yourself unbiased as you accuse someone of else of worshipping their own intellect is incredibly ironic and autistic.

[@motorhead48067]

@@KumaBones The argument does not fall apart if you disagree with his contention that Osama Bin Laden is closer to psychologically normal than Trump (which he almost certainly was). Let’s just say Bin Laden was not normal, but he was more normal *psychologically” than Trump. And even if you were right that Bin Laden was totally different than the average person psychologically (beyond just aspiring to be a leader) and that Harris is just attributing characteristics to him that he might not have actually had, you are still not hitting the core issue. Forget about if Bin Laden is one of them, do you actually doubt that there are people who are far more virtuous and normal than Donald Trump but commit more harm because of ideological reasons? Do you really doubt that there are people who are about ten times more admirable than Trump personally that just have bad ideas that lead them to cause harm? This is the point being made. Trumps problem is not ideological, it is who he is at the very core of his being.

[@tracesoftimegallery450]

You'd be much better off just coming out and saying "Yes, I said what I meant and meant what I said." But yet again here you go with the gaslighting. WE did not take ANYTHING out of context no matter how cute you try to get with the semantics. The comparison to "there are good people on both sides" has one distinct difference. When I go back and watch the clip of Trump I can see that hey, he didn't say the neo Nazis were good people. However when I go back and watch your clip, you very much said that you are in favor of suppressing information to sway an election in favor of YOUR candidate. It is insulting that you are now trying to shift the blame on us because we don't understand the definition of context. Unbelievable. You are incapable of saying that you were wrong.

[@vagabondsteve]

Great comment. Sam’s defensiveness, semantics, gaslighting, & ego makes him unable to neither own what he said or admit that he was abhorrently wrong. The fact that he blocked Twitter users who criticized what he said speaks volumes about his character & belief in censorship.

[@williammoss6744]

Both of these comments are great! Clear representation of how informed independent thinkers are viewing this debacle. Crazy to think that one of the greatest intellectuals of our time has Trump living in his head, rent free.

[@motorhead48067]

He said the ethics of ignoring the story was a coin-toss in the original clip and he never even backed down from that in this follow-up. It’s true that he also said it was warranted in the original clip. But as he pointed out, that is in contradiction with “coin-toss.” So now he’s clarifying that he thinks it’s a coin toss. He never changed his position though, and many people don’t even like that he said it was a coin-toss, which he didn’t walk back, so where is the gaslighting?

[@quininde]

Using terms like “we” and “us” are prime examples of how grievance politics are not just the MO of the woke far left.

[@fightstance411]

He didn’t ask the Russians to hack the emails, he said “if you have it, i would love to see them”

[@christheghostwriter]

Yes, because that's how that con man always talks

[@guitarsandbongos]

"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing, I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press." - that's asking them to hack, brah.

[@Agtsmirnoff]

@@guitarsandbongos you’re leaving out the context. At this point, her emails were declared 100% deleted and erased… Unretrievable….so it would be impossible for them to hack into anything, they would “find” the emails in stuff they’d already collected.

[@guitarsandbongos]

@@Agtsmirnoff Trump can't figure that Clorox can't kill COVID in the body you expect him to understand deleted emails?

[@guitarsandbongos]

@@Agtsmirnoff PS asking them to release or obtain hacked material isn't better than asking them to hack it again.

[@anthony452]

I've never seen someone so respected fall this quickly. I can't stand Trump but you've completely lost it.

[@kylerclarke2689]

I love the lucidity and precision with which you describe and denigrate Trump. It's refreshing. It really is hard to imagine a less virtuous person.

[@madguruJ]

Haha someone else’s podcast. I’m a huge fan of triggernomtry and I think it was a great interview, very revealing

[@nishuee9349]

triggernometry

[@Razaiel]

Yup, they gave him all the rope he needed.

[@toby9999]

I used to be a fan. Not longer. They overrated.

[@Razaiel]

@@toby9999 I've been listening to them for over a year, they're ok, but not the best. I used to be a fan of Sam Harris, but stopped listening to him about a year ago. I still check up on his podcast every now though.

[@tcorourke2007]

Lolz, the podcast that shall not be named. I don't want to kick Sam when he's down, but it does seem petty, doesn't it?

[@MDallDayPrepper]

We already know what you really think Sam.

[@simononeill941]

Mind reading is a wonderful skill

[@Jomi91]

@@simononeill941 yeah we'd have to be psychic Simon. It's not like he has a large public platform he uses to frequently and regularly proliferate his views.

[@kerravon4159]

@@simononeill941 Who needs mind reading when people have ears?

[@ym5891]

@@simononeill941 Mind reading? He clarified his position multiple times and is only trying to walk them back now, as if anyone believes that.

[@themeangene]

He admitted he thinks stealing an election by violating our 1st amendment rights is acceptable. Sam Harris is my enemy.

[@lisaratley4858]

You are one of the few voices that continues to give me hope for our country. I’m your audience and I love how you think…. It’s logical while remaking empathetic. Never stop

[@jamesblames2]

Its too late. What you said in that interview was so stupendously wrong that you should just stop talking politics altogether. You literally sided with the Ministry Of Truth. That is despicable.

[@paulb85]

Poor Sam. If only people could understand what you’re saying. Oh…OR…maybe you’re missing it. Noooo, that couldn’t be.

[@notloki3377]

Sam is always right, listen to how calm he is and how many multisyllable words he uses! (seal clap)

[@brianalt3912]

Haha! Right?! And to think the name of his podcast is called “Making Sense.” SMH

[@vercingetorixarverni6343]

^ the language of denial

[@notloki3377]

@@vercingetorixarverni6343 what is the language of denial, and who is denying what?

[@billj4525]

@@notloki3377 No one's always right, but considering his intelligence, he's more likely to be right on most of the things he said here than the majority of people who disagree with him.

[@Feuerbringer-Magazin]

If a publication has exclusive information on the Biden laptop issue, then it's a different kind of decision to ignore it than if you ignore it. The question is if you trust the public to evaluate these informations or if you want to prevent this. The democratic choice seems to be to let the people decide and let them live with the consequences of their decisions. It's about if you believe in democracy to defend itself against Trump or if you think that democratic principles have to be compromised to defend democracy.

[@EmWarEl]

"If a publication has exclusive information on the Biden laptop issue, then it's a different kind of decision to ignore it than if you ignore it." EXACTLY. That's the heart of it. Not a Trump supporter, didn't vote for him, but I do not want to be manipulated by the press and social media companies.

[@abstractnonsense3253]

​@@EmWarEl Social media very likely does something with politics that is illegal with TV ads: subliminal manipulation. Nobody knows the extent to which we're being manipulated by social media algorithms. Robert Epstein, a democrat voter and researcher on these matters with a PhD from Harvard, estimated that at least 2.6 million votes were swayed in favor of democrats in 2016 just by Google. How many were unknowingly manipulated in 2020?

[@martinm6368]

The story wasn't just ignored, but actively suppressed. Even the Press Secretary of the white house and a major newspaper got kicked off twitter for talking about the story. Zuckerberg admitted on yesterdays JRE episode that Facebook has been contacted by the FBI and they obliged to reduce the reach of messages covering the topic.

[@theculturedjinni]

@@EmWarEl Oh you will be manipulated by people that think they know better than you...after all people like Sam Harris have decided what is to be spread or not, as they know best...seriously this has creepy almost fanatical vibes to it.

[@GiantsHunt]

Biden won anyway, but being principled when your opponents have already stated up front that they are going to cheat is an invitation to lose the game. This is like complaining that one prizefighter should be penalized for an illegal elbow after his opponent tried to pull a gun out of his trunks

[@musicauthority674]

I have found that if you listen Sam Harris carefully he is extremely accurate. irregardless if some of his terms might be taken incorrectly. the people that do this are simply over critical of him. Sam's intelligence proves that incorrect.

[@martymattina4978]

Sam needs help.....Sam....list and rate Trump lies and how they effected American policy's. Now compare that to Biben ,Hilary or Obama. Get out of politics Sam it not your wheel house.

[@markphc99]

Affected

[@juanrodriguez7729]

When was Hillary president?

[@TentaclePentacle]

@@juanrodriguez7729 Hillary still thinks the 2016 election is rigged, just like trump who thinks the 2020 is rigged. And yet if you ask sam he would happily vote for hillary again.

[@hellbenderdesign]

@@TentaclePentacle there in nothing even remotely similar of how Hilary and Trump view their losses, respectfully, or how they handled it.

[@TentaclePentacle]

@@hellbenderdesign Trump thinks he was cheated, he thinks there is a conspiracy to rob him of the election. Sam admits there is a left-wing conspiracy to fix the election. Sam later changed it to just a conspiracy citing lizze Cheney is not left wing. So trump was right even Harris admits it.

[@shake6321]

we already know what you think. don’t back track. stand by your convictions. you believe in elitism. you believe leaders should do whatever it takes to “make the world a better place” so long as they have your values. you’ve said it before. you’ll say it again.

[@SaintKines]

That's exactly what MAGA believes though and we all witnessed it.

[@maxbants7737]

Well said.

[@ericcamarda3534]

No Sam, you still don’t get why people were upset with you. Not because you misspoke, it’s because you said burying the Hunter laptop story was ever conceivably justifiable in any way. It is not justifiable. Full stop.

[@credman]

No policy was at stake in the laptop story. Stupid people need help focusing on what matters, therefore censoring the story was justified.

[@chaosmos24]

@@credman Maybe that is a real motivation in your imaginary utopia, but here on earth there are important stories that largely go ignored while great attention and focus is placed on stories that are relatively inconsequential. Stupid people might need help knowing what stories are important, but they aren't getting it from the media class in this society.

[@JesusChristo]

@@credman nope.

[@credman]

@@JesusChristo Unlike you, smart people could see the connection between electing Trump and abortion being outlawed, a hundred million kids losing healthcare, etc. Smart people can connect dots that Trump's base is too stupid to. Therefore smart people assign the laptop story zero weight.

[@noel3830]

@@credman The election was at stake!

[@gwenroberts8649]

Sam! Thank you!

[@jorgemmc21]

Everyone understood what you said and what you said was abhorrent. And if you weren't, by far, the most severe case of TDS in the world, you would see it that way too.

[@AlexOfCR]

Here's where Sam loses me completely. He says that Trump can't even put the interest of his children above himself and I'm only left wondering "how do you know?" and "why are you saying it so confidently?" What we do know for 100% sure as can be is that his children are super well behaved, haven't had any scandals and overall seem to be as good as people as any parent would want their children to be. So... was he just lucky? WIth all his kids? Look at Joe Biden and his kids. The double standard that Sam has is evidence of his TDS. Oh and Sam, you don't need to convince anyone that you mean what you say about Trump, we're all super aware of your derangement being as real as it gets. Oh and blaming Trump for causing the left to go crazy worked in 2018, 2019 and 2020. But it's now 2022 and Biden has been prez for 2 years. Has the left been any crazier? Has it been any more entitled to it's own craziness? Has any of the craziness died down? SO if the leftist craziness started before Trump and kept escalating long after him; how can Trump be blamed for it? Sam is so obviously shitting the bed here and proving how he's lost the thread it's crazy to me how so many in the comments are praising him. He's completely lost it. Last of all, Sam, you do NOT get to criticize Trump for not admitting to have lost the Election. If even you, a so-called bastion of democratic virtues and honesty, are willing to sacrifice so many values to get rid of Trump, including censoring true information and conspiring against his re-election on many levels, then the man has all the right in the world to feel paranoid over election fraud and looking into it. You simply do NOT get to play the circular logic card of saying: This man is so bad that we must sacrifice many democratic values to get rid of him Oh and the thing that makes him most bad is him believing that we sacrificed plenty of democratic values in order to get rid of him therefore, let's get rid of him. The fact that Sam can't see how circular his logic is, is simply tragic.

[@christianschmitz5261]

All your points are not to be contended with! But, given Harris' "intellectual dishonesty" at display here, ask yourself: would someone as skilled and strategic as Harris, really have so obviously & stupidly cornered himself in public? What do we really know about Harris and the purpose of his public persona? And what feelings does the recognition of Harris' "hypocrisy" (& further indication of a vast "conspiracy" against Trump) evoke in some of Harris' loyal listeners? I believe the true answers to these questions would horrify most people.

[@DigiDriftZone]

"This man is so bad that we must sacrifice many democratic values to get rid of him" < please listen to this episode, he says Trump is not Hitler, Trump is not an asteroid, Trump is Alex Jones and you do not sacrifice even a single democratic value for someone like that, you just expose them. He talks about what he is and isn't willing to accept. If you are twitter and you decide you are now a platform for purple haired trans science deniers that cover up the laptop story, that's justifiable as a private company with editorial right, but it is not justified or warranted on any other level.

[@christianschmitz5261]

​@J B For all of Harris' protestations of expressing his "honest" opinions, we can observe arguments and justifications, that strikingly point in the opposite direction. Harris' listeners are urged to simply trust him, in part, because in the past he has demonstrated pursuits for "truth", even when they appeared to be "inconvenient" for him, and, because he claims to be morally bound to honesty anyway, regardless of consequences. For someone, who professes to be rational, critical and atheistic (or non-believing), Harris constantly urges his listeners to blindly believe, not unlike a preacher on a pulpit. Certainly, he has often sided outside of the narrow, dualistic spectrum of "acceptable" mainstream public opinions, thereby encouraging the perception of an impartial & uncorruptible persona. I can not claim to know what goes on inside another human's head, be it Harris or Trump. I do not know if Harris has an ulterior motive, but I've been having some suspicions based on the piling up of contradictions... Harris btw, seems to have an exact map of Trump's mental landscape, as he never ceases to remind his listeners of. The focus on politicians' personalities - a perfect example of one method, by which ALL talking heads reinforce the notion of where political power is supposedly located. How do Harris' very clumsy and inconsistent actions make listeners feel? How do they parallel other developments and ensuing dynamics? And what is the likely outcome of it all?

[@johnnymorawski6543]

I was a fan of yours but you saying you’re for The suppression of information to manipulate elections is insanely bad. You can’t walk this back. Tell you what you’ll regain my trust if you go on Ben Shapiro show or someone on the right to talk about your statement. I can’t believe anything you say anymore

[@dandybufo9664]

did you happen to listen to this podcast ?

[@davethebrahman9870]

Well put.

[@johnnymorawski6543]

@@dandybufo9664 he literally said he’s for the suppression of real news to get what he wants. Now he’s trying to walk it back. You can’t walk that back

[@joshboston2323]

regardless of your views, what we absolutely always have to do, is give someone a chance to clarify. I see too many comments of people on social media saying: "it's too late Sam" or "you can't make it all better". This is not being charitable. Someone can always change their mind or clear things up. In fact, it's a good thing when people do that. If we, as humans, do not allow for that, the world would be a very shitty place. Also, we have to acknowledge that people arrive at conclusions from very different moral frameworks. A consequentialist will look at things very differently compared to a deontologist. I've seen the respective ethical views in the comment section as well. Let's be open minded please.

[@Z3phlar]

There is no coming back from that. He literally said the corpses of children could have been on Hunters laptop, and getting Trump out was more important than even that. But by all means don't let us stop you from gargling his balls.

[@alternativeavenues7664]

fuck. that. there's no clarification necessary. we used to have laws to deal with degenerates who endanger children either through commission or omission.

[@OfZeitgeist]

Regardless of your position Sam, you and the CIA/FBI and media are not the gods of truth or information. We, as sovereign individuals get to decide what we believe to be true and it’s super arrogant to support withholding vital information from the public (laptop). It’s gross. But I guess you have no free will to be anything other than one who was always going to suffer TDS.

[@Derpadeedooda]

Sam has been saying he either misspoke, people don't understand or people aren't smart enough to understand for years. Sam seems to be the one who doesn't understand his TDS turned him into a laughing stock.

[@christheghostwriter]

The only laughing stocks are people who say stupid shit like "TDS"

[@Derpadeedooda]

@@christheghostwriter Nobody is denying that TDS exists in 2022

[@TangieTown81]

"That's a left wing conspiracy to deny the Presidency to Donald Trump. Absolutely is was." Then you argue with the question asking if you are really content with this "left wing conspiracy" saying it isn't "left wing" nor a "conspiracy". You have to explain what you meant by "Absolutely it was."

[@buckchile614]

It's what opposing parties do. DUH

[@TangieTown81]

@@buckchile614 Opposing parties leverage the security state to prevent the publication and dissemination of information to the public by knowingly lying to the press?

[@buckchile614]

@@TangieTown81 Yes, trump did that

[@TangieTown81]

@@buckchile614 How did Trump leverage the security State when the DOJ, FBI and CIA were running Democrat opposition research as a national security investigation? What information did Trump have the security State suppress? This is the problem with anti-Trumpers.....they speak in generalities with no concrete examples.

[@buckchile614]

@@TangieTown81 The oppositional research was started by republicans! trump ordered his people in the DOJ(and every other department) not to cooperate with any investigation--under the threat of being fired! Comey wouldn't kiss his ring(after handing him the election w/ his 11th hour intervention about Killary's e-mails) and got canned. The guy had every chance to be great, but couldn't get a wall built, couldn't dismantle Romneycare; no viable healthcare plan of his own, the tax cuts didn't pay for themselves, fumbled COVID, got caught extorting Ukraine, STILL waiting on proof of a stolen election, NOW takes home classified materials(with some empty folders,) just how blind are you?

[@chrisrayne3274]

The impulse to clarify was probably understandable. The decision to double down and make comparisons to OBL etc, however, mystifies me. Is this further detailing of his persistent and acute TDS supposed to help us forgive his moral relativism?

[@bobbyboywonder12]

Hahaha what a subtle backhanded compliment. We both know Sam would never willingly accept the title of being a moral relativist…after all he wrote a book called the moral landscape detailing explicitly how morality is based in the well being of conscious creatures. Haha. Well done. I enjoyed the comment. Sam’d TDS is quite bad these days.

[@Razaiel]

His TDS was acute 6 years ago, it's chronic now.

[@noprolixity]

@Stevie Wee that he would never accept it does nothing to detract from the factual nature of the observation. He said we should be careful when criticizing even those whom we know to be terrible people. When you refer to a subjective judgement as something you know, you are either an idiot, or you are deploying a novel definition for the word "know." This is just basic philosophy.

[@rustyosgood5667]

TDS? Is this a real thing? It couldn't be that Trump is a real threat to our Democracy? Sam has quadrupled down, ten times, in this context. Trump is the epitome of evil and if anyone doesn't see that, I'd call those people deranged.

[@chrisrayne3274]

@@rustyosgood5667 the fact that you would call Trump "the epitome of evil" is why TDS was first defined as a phenomena years ago. He was an American President who was duly elected and who duly served. He may be a narcissist, he may be a buffoon, he may say some batshit things (and refusing to transition peacefully was unforgivable) but demonising him saying that any of that makes him the epitome of evil and worse than OBL/Hitler etc. is a sign that some of the gears are slipping in the objective assessment engine.

[@jaywasd]

The comments on that podcast are mind blowing.

[@pbr653]

Yeah, b/c Sam betrayed his own reputation as a critical thinker. So sad.

[@sulljoh1]

I think YT tends to lean right - and apparently Trump-supporting

[@jaywasd]

@@pbr653 In what way?

[@cadarnell1]

You already said what you thought. Don’t be a wimp and walk it back.

[@User-bl5cw]

He explicitly states that literally the only thing he retracts is the word "warranted" in favour of "justifiable."

[@richardtyler3498]

@@User-bl5cw point in case. self-absorbed

[@tcorourke2007]

Duh... he already said he's NOT walking it back. Did you even listen?

[@tcorourke2007]

@@User-bl5cw To anyone who isn't a pedant (or Harris fanboi) "justifiable" and "justified" and "warranted" are synonyms.

[@ragnarlothbrook8117]

Listening to this a year later. You are my hero Sam.

[@warrenwilcock8183]

From what I can tell, Konstantin and the triggernometry folks had your back a couple days after the drop. Saying you can separate something that's said from the person saying it. They also said that they called you and made sure you were OK. Seems they're still friends, regardless.

[@stangss1]

TDS ALERT THIS GUY IS TOTALLY OBSESSED WITH TRUMP

[@asdf-bm4df]

@@stangss1 trump incited a coup where people nearly hanged Mike Pence outside the capitol- and is planning to run for the presidency again

[@stangss1]

@@asdf-bm4df You sound like the type that goes out looking for bigfoots and space aliens. Ill bet none of your family trust your judgement... sooooooooooo embarrassing to be you.

[@rosemaryalles6043]

Yes. Noted and appreciate your comment. I like/love Triogonometry. Sure, they capitalized on the clip - I don't blame them for it. It's the business model.

[@trentbillings]

@@stangss1 We don’t care about that guy. Just let him go out to pasture and grift in a different way that doesn’t affect us please.

[@kevinkelley2313]

From about 12:30 to 18:37, Sam does a fantastic job of articulating why Trumpism (not the person, the idea) is so bad. Most of the policies are actually quite reasonable, and if other Republicans would stick to that, and simultaneously denounce the anti-democratic and simply abororant statements, then we would see a true red wave wash over the mid-terms.

[@jmc5335]

In one sentence he says he ignored Trump when he was a celebrity but in the next he says his hatred isn't political. Square that one. 'Misadventures' in Iraq and Afghanistan? Calm them what they were. He agrees with Trump that globalisation has caused harm in society but outsources his admin to Simgapore. Square that one

[@DigiDriftZone]

@@jmc5335 What's to square? - these are rational positions. Alex Jones also says these things, but then he says that parents of massacred children are actors, square that one. As for the "misadventure" in Afghanistan, Sam goes on about the horrible, inexcusable mistakes and the long term implications in another episode, this episode was long enough without him going into the details of this again.

[@jmc5335]

@@DigiDriftZone Aw bless. I don't see why Alex Jones is relevant to the contradictions of Sam Harris that you can't engage with

[@kevinkelley2313]

@@jmc5335 Seems you have found some words to parse to mean what you want them to mean. In the lead up, Sam outlines the difference between "policy" that he agrees with and the "personality". I too ignored Trump and would have continued to ignore him in those "celebrity" roles. As the President, ignoring is not much of an option. As for outsourcing, seems we are talking about scale, not examples. Anecdote is not data. Sam's admin is not an industry. I think we need to distinguish between systems an individual actions. Cheers!

[@jmc5335]

@@kevinkelley2313 So like Harris you do care about Trump in the political sphere. So obviously can't say it's not political. Sam Harris practising in the neoliberal globalisation he apparently thinks is a bad thing is a data point, as well as an anecdote displaying his hypocrisy. I'm sure we can agree that calling Iraq and Afghanistan misadventures is rather weak. Harris also backed both. Good intentions and all that

[@zarfilg]

Sam, you should have just let it be. There is no need for this - your ego would have survived this. At most you should have just left it at "I bumbled through that interview, I was tired and I don't really think that censoring truth should ever be allowed under any circumstances" As it stands your 43 min explanation will be lost on most - as it should be.

[@rustyosgood5667]

LOL at "censoring truth"....

[@zarfilg]

@@rustyosgood5667 You find the concept of censoring truth amusing "Rusty" ? Do you speak for everyone who might have wanted to know about Hunter Biden and whatever involvement Joe Biden might have had in his shenanigan's before casting a vote?

[@rustyosgood5667]

@@zarfilg I find censoring information (that may or may not be known to be truthful) completely reasonable. I further hold zero value in anything Giuliani has to offer and am even less compelled to hold ANY business accountable for withholding anything. I use my real name and real picture so I speak for more people than you do. You speak for noone, coward.

[@zarfilg]

@@rustyosgood5667 I don't need to know your real name. All I need to know is that you default to insults when challenged. Have a wonderful day.

[@AmericanExpatInThePhilippines]

A lot of assertions. No examples, no proof.

[@casey5837]

Even worse with your context. Thanks!

[@jeffersonianideal]

Sam should seriously consider having his beliefs tested by participating, as an interlocutor, in a Street Epistemology session facilitated by an unbiased SE practitioner. The exchange should be broadcast live.

[@SiRushBass]

You don't think his beliefs are already tested in, erm, one or two places?!

[@mymyscellany]

Why would that be interesting?

[@jeffersonianideal]

@@mymyscellany Are you familiar with the Socratic method of inquiry?

[@jeffersonianideal]

@@SiRushBass No, not via the SE technique.

[@jeffersonianideal]

@@stratelite1337 All humans think. But, nowhere is it carved in stone that philosopher Sam Harris always thinks best.

[@davegold]

I'm very much in Sam's audience here but I think he's making errors about this laptop. There can't be different standards for reporting the laptop based on whether it is Biden vs Trump, or Biden vs Pence, or even Harris replacing Biden. It shouldn't become less important because of Trump. Claiming that one media source can bury news because others bury news is whataboutism, a race to the bottom. I think Sam's right in saying that the laptop isn't important compared to Trump's character, but the information about the laptop still has to come out to satisfy the people who think otherwise.

[@kevingao1693]

Sam is claiming that the ensuing radioactive fallout from the lack of integrity displayed by highly visible institutions (NYT, etc.) is preferable to 4 more years of Trump. When he describes putting the laptop and Trump's analogous crimes on opposite ends of the scale ⚖️, he is simply rationalizing this claim. Not to put words in his mouth here, but I think he would agree with your warning that the truth about the laptop must be brought to light afterwards, least if not to appease the skeptics. It's simply a matter of pragmatism and political timing, is all.

[@anthonywatson7676]

You are a very special person Sam. And I do really enjoy your thoughts.

[@seesidesummerhouse6112]

Always a good sign when it takes 20mins of scene setting before actually playing the offending clip, especially when not a single second of it contains any evidence of that supposed ‘context’ it was divorced from.

[@paulburger9904]

Ignoring news to favour one politician is indefensible.

[@User-bl5cw]

If Genghis Khan were running for office, and avoiding his triumph required ignoring an unfavourable and dubious news story about an opposing candidate, would that be indefensible?

[@Jomi91]

@@User-bl5cw ORANGE HITL.. Err, no, let's not do that, it's truly facile. Hmmm, okay let me think..oh I know! ORANGE GENGHIS!!

[@User-bl5cw]

@@Jomi91 I'm not saying that Trump is Genghis Khan; I'm using a hypothetical to assess the sincerity of OP's expressed principle.

[@paulburger9904]

@@User-bl5cw Bad argument. Fair and unbiased reporting on both sides would ensure he doesn't win.

[@User-bl5cw]

@@paulburger9904 "Bad argument." I didn't make an argument. "Fair and unbiased reporting on both sides would ensure he doesn't win" That's irrelevant to my hypothetical. I asked an "if" question. Even if we empirically grant your asssertion, it wouldn't matter. If you take issue with the hypothetical, then specify what the problem is (eg. incoherence; contradiction). Otherwise, answer the question: If Genghis Khan were running for office, and avoiding his triumph required ignoring an unfavourable and dubious news story about an opposing candidate, would that be indefensible?

[@jessedameron7985]

All content aside, agree or disagree... I just the most entertaining videos by Sam Harris are when he talks without anyone on the show. This video isn't boring.

[@mbolduc]

It's idiotic

[@Presticles1]

100% agree. I love his opinions and AMA's more than a lot of his podcast episodes.

[@bthomson]

Jesse D - A bit daming with faint praise. Not boring? It's riveting!

[@tammyburke9453]

I love the sound/delivery of Sam's voice ! content. cadence. nuance. all fantastic🎉

[@crunchie101]

Sam, it's irrelevant that *you personally* don't care what could be on that laptop, other people might care very much. You don't ever provide an argument *for* supressing the story, based on the fact that people who aren't you might be very interested in the story. You are saying that Twitter was simply editorialising like Fox News does. That's not a fair comparison. Twitter is a platform, not a publication. Twitter is not suppoed to editorialise. Twitter's function is to be a platform for anyone to share a news story, opinion etc. without restriction, as long as what they post doesn't harm anyone (doxing, death threats, libel for example). Twitter's function is not to act as parent and hide the stories which might not be true, or supress 'disinformation' that might lead you to make bad decisions. I disagree that Twitter has an obligation to editorialise for the 'public good' as that is too subjective a standard to hold. Twitter should put the control into user's hands. The user should get to decide if 'misinformation' or 'disinformation' has a warning attached or is hidden. Users should get to decide whether to see pornographic content or not. Users should get to decide whether certain words are hidden (and they can already do that by muting words or phrases). But of course Twitter is a private company and I disagree with Konstanin that there should be government intervention to make them uphold these free speech values. I want Twitter to be a free speech platform, but based on user feedback, not based on government control

[@christheghostwriter]

Get back to me when Truth Social (or any other platform) lives up to your standards.

[@Username-es5vv]

Well Sam does say that he was less comfortable with Twitter’s actions than with the NYT, most likely because it is indeed a kind of active suppression as opposed to the passive action of not publishing, and it is indeed a kind of public forum where many voices can be suppressed instead of the NYT which is just one voice out of many newspapers. He also says, as you point out, that it’s a private company and therefore should do whatever it wants in terms of censorship. He also agrees with you that they are currently not doing what would be necessary to keep users happy on the platform, as he points out sth along the lines of: if Twitter wants to make itself unpopular with its censorship and shrink down to a community consisting only of radical transgender ideologists then they’re free to do that.

[@crunchie101]

@@christheghostwriter Gab is pretty good as far as I can tell on the free speech front - far better than Twitter but obviously doesn’t have a very politically diverse userbase

[@crunchie101]

@@Username-es5vv yep and I totally will defend Twitter’s right to do those things too. And possibly if Musk ends up owning Twitter the issue will have been addressed by the free market.

[@christheghostwriter]

@@crunchie101 they all moderate and ban people. It's all bullshit. 90% of social media users are in a algorithmic bubble, and very few people I know or have seen are doing much to cultivate their own media literacy skills. You have to break the algorithms by purposely challenging your own beliefs. But most people don't do that, because they prefer the comfort of having their beliefs constantly reaffirmed. It's how most people who deploy social media for profit tailor their businesses. Look at the developmental arc of The Joe Rogan podcast, for example. Look at his early shows, like the first few years where he was becoming high profile on KZbin. Then look at some more recent shows, particularly those around the time the pandemic began and later. Joe has very purposely changed his show to appeal to and cultivate a specific audience demographic, and he has been highly successful at doing it. There was (and presumably still is) a lot of money in the whole "questioning the authorities" routine. It certainly doesn't require much effort. Tell your audience what freethinkers they are, and then pump out some unsourced garbage information that says "don't listen to the experts, there's a big conspiracy going on." That shit is HUGELY profitable. That's why it's always funny when audiences for rogan, jones, shapiro, or other entertainers in that realm claim that they listen to them because they don't trust the mainstream media. Because the mainstream media is all about selling a narrative to make money, so they can't be trusted. And they say this without a hint of irony or self-awareness, as if rogan, jones, and Shapiro are doing charity work. It's utterly baffling. Millions of people choosing to trust podcasters simply because they tell those people what they want to hear seems like a harbinger of civilizational collapse

[@jesuschristsuperczar1224]

And Joe Biden isn’t as reprehensible as Trump? Seriously?

[@thanksforbeingausefulidiot9016]

Yes. Seriously.

[@willashland4597]

@@thanksforbeingausefulidiot9016 Dude used Air Force Two to fly his son to China to make business deals, all using our American tax dollars. He also made an explicit quid pro quo to Zelensky to fire Victor Shoken who was investigating his son's dealings in Ukraine, which is worse than what they even accused Trump of doing. In fact may be involved in Ukraine simply because of the Bidens' entanglements with Ukranian businesses. We can't know that because the DOJ refuses to investigate the Bidens' impropriety while round five hundred and eighty seven of the Trump witchhunt is currently underway. Also Joe Biden is a lifelong racist, saying such things as that he didn't want his kids to go to school "in a racial jungle." This is the guy pushing for social justice by appointing an inept VP and a Supreme Court Justice who will not define what a woman is, simply based on their race and gender. Trump never did any such thing. Joe Biden is far worse than Trump, it's not even close.

[@m74d3]

Not even close. Trump refused to commit, over and over again, to a peaceful transfer of power, the very thing on which our democracy is built. That alone makes him totally untouchable and unacceptable in every way. Biden's just comatose, which, as bad as it is, isn't as bad as a sitting president who won't commit to a peaceful transfer of power. Biden could be dead and he'd still be better. If Biden died and they were just propping up his corpse like Weekend at Bernie's, he still wouldn't be worse than a president that refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. A taxidermied corpse of a cat would be an infinitely better commander in chief than a sitting president who refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. Literally anything would be. That's why Sam wasn't lying when he said you could choose a random American and they'd be virtually guaranteed to be better than Trump

[@thanksforbeingausefulidiot9016]

@@m74d3 Agree 100%, but don't expect Jesus Christ Super Czar to understand. Fox News has convinced him that Biden is evil and the greatest scandal in American history is to be found in Hunter's laptop (or Hillary's e-mails).

[@okyouknowwhatever]

Biden is way creepier than Trump.

[@citizensnips100]

What Sam Harris meant to say, when he said "totally warranted", which was "totally justifiable". Sam Harris: but I can defend everything I say here, because I believe everything I say here, except for one word (warranted). 18:46 20:02 22:29

[@tcorourke2007]

You have obviously put in effort as evidenced by the time stamps, but your post is totally unclear.

[@spaceedementia]

He totally meant justifiable

[@tcorourke2007]

@@spaceedementia "Justifiable" meaning "perhaps justified". I have never seen anyone attempt to "clarify" their "misstatement" with a MORE ambiguous word.

[@Dannelrandal]

@@tcorourke2007 that’s the point, it’s supposed to be somewhat ambiguous because he’s not 100% sure how he feels

[@tcorourke2007]

@@Dannelrandal To claim that "justifiable" is different that "justified" is ridiculous. And both are synonymous with "warranted". Furthermore, he's lying. He didn't "misspeak". If he had, he would have immediately stated so in his follow up tweets. What he said was reprehensible. His semantic arguments immediately afterward were embarrassing. His attempts to walk it all back while telling us he's not walking anything back are disingenuous. He's destroying his credibility from multiple angles.

[@thesubhumancomedy]

Later released. Words are free, lying is not

[@ConspiracyNutsMakeMeLOL]

Nice

[@basedinstinct]

Classic Harris response. No apologies. Impossible to ever admit he was wrong. Just a spiel about how everyone misunderstood and mischaracterized his statements. Crowder is spot on. You really just love the sound of your own voice.

[@ronin4160]

He hides his massive ego behind fake humility like most elite liberals. They'll make fun of everything about themselves except the things they treasure most which for Sam is his opinions. They must always be rational and must always be interesting

[@curledup]

This is calm, low-voice Sam Harris. Totally different guy then comedian, Sam "Dead kids in the basement" Harris.

[@James-ip7zk]

Also, all these comments are so thoughtful and calm😂 I’m not used to read comments that make sense

[@rosemaryalles6043]

Agree. 💚

[@chiznowtch]

Except for the 80% of them posted by people who clearly didn't listen to it