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Must be amazing for Alex to go from his bedroom making videos in response to Sam Haris' morality to discussing it with him in person. Huge props to Sam for being very open minded, patient and good faith. A discussion like this is what us nerds live for.

I liked it when Sam Harris said "I am the moral landscape" and moral landscaped everywhere

My new life motto is "fewer boos, more yums."

Both are immeasurably smarter than I, but by gosh does O’Connor put him through his paces in a way I don’t think I’ve ever seen. What an extraordinary interview. Well done Alex.

Parents: Don’t put your hand on the stove. Philosophers: …Hear me out…

The real Moral Landscape is the friends we made along the way.

I love how Sam explains a concept and then immediately presents an example to make it more understandable!

I think this really well represents the fundamental differences in how a research scientist thinks vs how a philosopher thinks. Yes theres overlap... But Sam repeatedly offers the anchoring of should in empirical data gathering, quantitative and qualitative synthesis of observations... And Alex repeatedly probes these articulations with definitions and thought experiment extrapolations.

I love how Sam's audio quality is superior even when he's the guest

"Sam Harris, welcome to within reason" is pure music to my ears. Glad the day has finally come.

This is so refreshing to hear people that don't agree on everything but really listen and try to the best abilities understand each other. If only all people be able to discuss ideas like this.

This was brilliant, Alex. Great conversation and extremely educational, but most importantly it was very fun to listen to. Thanks to you and Sam!

4:51 "what do you mean by suck" It's the delivery😂 Quote of the day...

Wow these two actually listen and reply to eachother, how refreshing.

Could you please revisit your video "Sam Harris is Wrong About Morality (It Can't Be Objective)" and make an updated one? I would be curious if your opinion is different after this detailed debate with Sam. I really couldn't find a flaw in Sam's argument and logic on this topic, I now understand his view even more clearly, and I have to say that I agree with his view. That was a great conversation that the two of you had. Thank you.

I can definitely agree with Sam here when he challenges Alex on the use of the word "prefer." Alex's insistence on this word seems incredibly strange. It seems like he's just arguing to argue during this section at different points in the discussion.

I adore the irony of a Better Help sponsorship on a three hour discussion of morality.

Always nice to see Ben Stiller continue to branch out

Long time coming, this. Loved every second.

I think this is my favorite 1-to-1 so far for me. Thanks for organizing these!

i loved when he said "its over alex, i am the moral landscape"

Who else is thinking “finally! After all this time he *finally* has Sam Harris on the podcast”

Loved the conversation. Hope you will do a part 2 somewhere in the near future!

This is so good that I’m on my second listen-through, and already scheduling a third. Thanks so much for this content.

When you've been playing a videogame for a long time, and then at long last get to the final boss battle.

All I have to say, even before finishing this conversation, is that I want more. Please invite Sam back. These two intellectuals, putting it plainly, really is a breath of fresh air. Love you both

Listening to you two talk about 'preferences,' 'oughts,' and maximizing pleasure, especially by *changing* your preferences, made me realize one component of ought that really matters a lot. If I could change myself to prefer a painful thing that I can't escape in my life, I would naturally start making choices that lean into this new preference. This one choice to prefer something I didn't before could change the shape of my life forever. So I suppose the question is: if you could choose to change your preferences, what changes would you make? How would you maximize your future? And potentially most important: where should you place others in this choice? I think a lot of morality ends up being trying to convince others to make choices that help ourselves and those we love, and then balancing that with how much they would need to sacrifice of themselves to make the choices we want them to make. If this is the case, you can compute an ought: whichever solution negotiates the least sacrifice from all potential sacrificers for the most payout in all potential receivers. But if you could change your desires, that changes the whole game. How do you choose to solve a puzzle with infinite solutions? Admittedly, you aren't starting from nowhere. You have an initial state, so you could at least narrow down your infinite solutions by pruning paths you don't prefer. You'd just have to keep doing that forever or do things the old fashioned way and use your current preferences. I also like Harris' argument that "preference" tuned up in intensity gains the moral imperative, but also loses the intuitive definition of preference. It does seem the word is deceptive in how it reframes desires from imperatives to trivialities, even if the actual nature of them is unchanged.

Love this conversation. Top shelf from the both of you. Will be interesting to hear about your experiences with meditation - Sam did a truly amazing job of painting the picture - hope it helps other others become curious too

The only debate to ever lower my blood pressure… Thanks chaps 🙏

Been looking forward to this conversation for 5+ years

Alex, I'm a Catholic and I disagree with you about many, many things, but I keep coming back to listen to these interviews because you are a deeply intelligent and shrewd interlocutor. Thank you for sharing your thinking with us!

wonderful conversation thanks! :)

This clarified Sam Harris's Moral Landscape for me beyond anything else I've read or heard from him, all thanks to Alex's incisive and thoughtful questions

Listening to you two talking for hours was a great experience ❤

it's so trippy to think that I was with you in your early days of youtube. you were so young as i was then. I'm so happy to hear you talk to these brilliant people and see them being challenged.

1:53:13 "whoa whoa, I'm not gettin' on this plane until you start talking differently... " Sam's wit is underappreciated :)

Sam freaking Harris! He is here and saying, "Good to meet you finally" because yes, finally is the word! I supported you on patreon before you moved to a new patreon page and I hope to support your work there, soon. In any case, I am thrilled to see you actually got Dr. Sam Harris! I am who I am in no small part because of Sam Harris. I might not be an atheist if it wasn't for Sam, I certainly started meditating as a result of his passionate and articulate way of describing it, I use the Waking Up app and it has helped me on my journey to being a regular meditator, touched me deeply and improved my life. Sam is one of the most well-rounded people in our time, a philosopher neuroscientist meditator and doting husband and father who also hits the gym, it may in part be my fanboy talking but truly the man is goals. I always smile at the accusation so often raised on Christian channels and whatnot that you bring up early in the interview, that the new atheists try to tear down religion but leave nothing in its place. Hitchens gave us debates and outstanding books and journalism, Dennett gives us philosophy, Dawkins gives us the wonder of science, Harris gives us direction and a deeper connection to ourselves, our minds, and the world through meditation. What else does one need, really? Cheers.

this is maybe my favorite episode of WR that i’ve watched so far. Im listening on a 15 hour car ride and, even though it’s much longer than normal, ive been engaged the entire time. Truly one of the great conversations.

Really good convo, thanks

3 minutes and I’ve had to go to the dictionary three times. One of my favorite things about listening to Sam Harris is the secondary benefit of vocabulary lessons

Alex has been blowing up so far this year! Keep it up young man!

Been fan of both of you in a long time Glad to finally see this episode!

To me there is nothing better than going on a long walk in the sun, knowing you have three hours of stimulating discussion ahead from two people you admire and respect. Thank you so much for making this happen! 🙏🏻

They say that the higher you arch your eyebrow the wiser you are . Mine is arched so high it’s like an A frame . I’m planning on becoming even wiser so much so that my eyebrow will break through its fullest arch and just lay straight up and down , no arch whatsoever at all . Now that would be pure wizdomb

Thank you Alex for the great channel! ❤🙏

wonderful conversation!

haven’t watched the video yet but it’s actually insane to watch alex grow this much

“I thought he was sexually harassing me yesterday, but now I sort of like it.” Throughout his life, can you imagine all the absolute bangers Sam has been forced to squander to deaf ears lol. He’s so brilliant that you almost fail to notice how hilarious he is

Fantastic questions, fantastic responses. Very well done, very peculiar.

This is a fantastic conversation. Huge thanks to Alex and Sam. You are both favourites of mine and so this has been a treat.

You've really gotten far since when I first started watching your videos as cosmicskeptic, love that you're still going strong.

I use Occam's Razor for the moral manscape.

I really appreciate Sam, but you managed to confront him on several of his most stubborn points and blind spots. It was a very healthy conversation. Love your work, Alex.

This is pure class! Just two amazing minds coming together and discussing their views 🎉🎉🎉

Honestly, and I don't want this to sound mean, but the kind of hair-splitting pushback Sam gets on The Moral Landscape is representative of why so many people view philosophy as a waste of time and philosophers as people who completely disappear up their own backside with nothing actually useful to say about the real world. If we can't even conclude that a world where nobody is being tortured is better than a world where everybody is being tortured, then wtf are we even doing here?

Just starting watching the conversation, but wanted to say thank you, Alex, for your work for the channel and for these videos with some very big names you've been uploading. Keep it up!

brilliant conversation alex, you must have another one

@36:13 "S&M Reward Function" would be a great name for a band 😂😂

Alex channeling Jordan Peterson, "What do you mean by suck?" Flashback 2017, lol

We gonna need like 5-6 podcasts at least with Sam. Thank you

So satisfying to hear two brilliant people trying to understand reality rather than win an argument. Impressive conversation. Beyond their capacity to reason, their patience for and interest in one another’s exposition and counters. Very yum. Few boos.

Really great conversation. 3 hours long and I still want more.

"It seems to me like 2+2 should equal 4" is a next level logical jiu jitsu move nobody anticipated.

This will make the rest of my day very pleasant, thanks for releasing it!

11:10 “In his last hour of life, Winston Churchill was not thinking consciously about how much he wishes he could get Taylor Swift tickets” Had this on in the background but this legit made me lol.

I might just be missing something, but I can't help but to be impressed with Harris' use of language and his ability to get an idea across.

Fantastic conversation! Thank you Alex and Sam

Finally this was uploaded! Thanks Alex, Sam.

It is a contemporary prejudice that ancient people were naïve, easily duped, willing to believe any far-fetched tale-but this is simply not the case. They knew about visions, hallucinations, dreams, and even claims to ghostly hauntings. Bishop Robert Barron

The bedrock disagreement which Alex and Sam seem to be dancing around is that Sam basically believes there is no such thing as “morality” in the abstract without consciousness. Just like there is no chemistry without physics, for Sam you need conscious beings to then derive morality from their existence. Whereas Alex is searching for morality in the abstract, even in a universe without consciousness. For him morality pre-exists consciousness.

I feel that this is really the only conversation worth having. Sorry for the impatience but it was a must, to watch this talk as a whole! Thank You!

Thank you, Alex for this!

Absolutely brilliant. Stunning stuff to listen to

Perfect interview. Alex has surpassed his heroes. I cannot wait to see what he does in the future! We need a new generation of thinkers like Harris and Hitchens. Alex is that.

I’d recommend looking into the integrity of BetterHelp as a sponsor and company.

Nice treat thanks Alex and Sam.

I was waiting for this!

This conversation was helpful in so far as you got Harris to clarify that he's not pitching the moral landscape in terms of ontological objectivity.

Great interview this one. Sam looks fully engaged here. Real nourishment for the mind !

Oh booooy I have been waiting for this since like 2018

The best interview on Alex’s channel!

Simplicity of the argument (worst possible suffering...) makes it great ❤

Fantastic interview.

Great conversation. I remember when young Cosmic Skeptic was reading Sam Harris. Now, here you are. 👍💙💙💙🥰✌

I’ve been waiting for this collab for years

always a great experience to hear Sam thoughts

I loved this! Two of my favourite people. 🥰

This is the best conversation on the Moral Landscape ever recorded! Congrats!

Fantastic stuff. Great conversation.

The answer to the thumbnail on this video is easy. Ethics are NOT objective. It doesn't matter what kind of games you play with the moral landscape, they're still inherently subjective by their very nature because they're based on values that are inherently subjective. The moment you begin introducing "peaks and valley's" into the equation, you're already operating in the realm of subjectivity. The best you can do is take a utilitarian approach and say that certain ethics are objectively better than others at serving certain values.

Alex. I haven't thanked you enough for having such clear and thoughtful metaphors and examples in order to communicate your ideas.

I love how Sam acknowledges Alex's remark about circularity starting at 1:31:21 - Good!

This is great. The moral landscape feels so much more fleshed out and tangible. I can see the utility of his way of thinking and why he chooses to conceptualize ethics this way. I understand seeing ethics epistemologically for its utility, even while admitting on a technical level that ontologically, ethics is subjective.

This was exceptional. It is a real treat to hear two people actually identify where the heart of their disagreement lies in a very nuanced philosophical conversation. I especially liked the back and forth with the analogy of using the word _preference_ to describe one's desired outcomes in relation to math problems.

Very deep and engaging debate. Loved it. Thank you.

I really enjoyed this conversation, I wasn't as familiar with Sam Harris before this, aside from a few KZfaq videos, nice work here.

Great convo Alex and Sam 👍

What a beauty of a podcast. This is one of the best I have heard in a while

Alex surpassed the four horsemen years ago. Sam's refusal to define precisely why should/ought are logically necessary and accurate terms to use, speaks to an ideological blindspot. Until you can argue for an objective 'ought', you are not justified in skipping ahead to the rest of the argument. He reminds me of Daniel Dennets extreme bias on the topic of free will, a subject he argues very incompetently despite his incredible knowledge and intellectual capacity. Ideology is the death of truth. Bravo Alex.