So, should this channel change its name? Also: remember that the Within Reason podcast is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts if you prefer to listen that way!

Ive never heard of cosmic skeptic but for some reason i felt like he knew what destiny would say and had an immediate response. Dude seems very well read and i cant wait to dive into more of his content.

I've never seen someone who Destiny struggled so hard with but also didn't devolve into boredom or personal attack which means he respects you alot. Good job.

I was shocked to find out Alex is just 24 and grew up poor. He's very inspirational and a great representative for the UK!

Watching just one video on Alex's channel would make it clear that you're dealing with a very intelligent, good-faith person approaching subjects with genuine curiosity and due depth. Can't wait to watch more vids. This was a fascinating conversation.

FINALLY someone who can really put Destiny's feet to the fire on these fundamental questions. Been a fan of both of your channels for a long time and I'm very happy that you two finally had a discussion.

Ooooh, this is gonna be a good one.

I'm so glad Alex is still having conversations about animal rights

I've been binging your videos. Love your mix of interviewing and philosophical build work. Really cool way of getting to know someone whilst also challenging them on their foundations.

This is the video I never knew I always wanted. The opening alone is pure gold.

WOAH this is a crossover we don't deserve but absolutely do need.

Great conversation. It was nice seeing you push him. Very "satisfying" - to quote you two. 😊

Man, what a fantastic collaboration. Really enjoyed the brain massaging interview, you both are super well-read and it's a joy to listen in :)

I’m such a fan of the both of you and to see Destiny properly challenged on Ethics is a breath of fresh air.

My favorite part was when Alex turned on his gravity boots and fell from the ceiling to the floor and said “Names Cosmic… Cosmic Skeptic.” And shot the high evolutionary in the chest with his laser cannon.

AMAZING CONVERSATION, FELLAS! Definitely gained a ton of respect for both parties! 🙏🏻

Very interesting conversation - I certainly wish for a continuation.

I'm so glad that you challenged Destiny on the meta-ethics and animal ethics issue. These are probably the two of the most major things I disagree with Destiny about, and it was refreshing to have seen him being challenged on that. I'm even more glad that you demonstrated to him how his positions on animal ethics led him to a worldview that is incongruent with his fundamental intuitions. Regardless, it was fucking amazing to have seen you both together, and I really hope you do it again sometime.

I liked when the CosmicSkeptic was like "Its skeptic time", and skeptic'ed all over the place. Great episode, keep it up!

I relate to Destiny’s disinterest in ethics but also understand the importance of it. This was great!

I really appreciate you two. Excellent idea.

I’m a Christian and have been following Alex since he appeared on Unbelievable with Justin Brierley. I appreciate how bloody smart the guy is, and how he avoids strawmanning and listening purely to make his next talking point. Keep it up Alex!

What i like about this conversation is how verbally non-judgemental you were and how you spent the majority of the time just trying to understand his perspective by carefully questioning him, which is a real breath of fresh air for a destiny viewer having to sit through raids and raids of people who just couldn't hold their loads; it did seem like you both were low-key fed up with each other by some point though lol

1:24:57 "Meeting Eat". Nice to meet you, Eat.

Finally an interesting morality debate. Thank you both! 🙏🏻

The CosmicSkeptic name is iconic. My vote is don't change it.

THis is absolutely crazy, I was literally thinking to my self "Man I would love to hear alex have a philosophical talk with destiny" and BAM the next day it happens. Unreal, keep up the great work Alex, really looking forward to this discussion

This was a great conversation

Thank you for this discussion! It's so rare these days to find civil discourse where ideas are actually exchanged and pondered in good faith. Really interesting points brought up from both parties!

I thoroughly enjoyed this. You managed to actually make Steve show his deeply human and emotional side. I have almost infinite capacity to listen to you talk dude. You are such a welcome coherent voice.

I've seen most of the content from both of these creators and I never would've guessed they'd come together. I'll say I've never seen Destiny squirm this much. Interesting Convo.

Jonathan Pageau is helping here a lot. Words that will help sort this conversation is "hierarchy" and "patterns". Alex gained a lot of respect in my eyes.

I really enjoyed this. Destiny has rarely come up in my mind in a positive light but he was very respectful and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to hear his perspective. Very well done conversation I hope we get to hear from him on this channel again

I've been waiting for these two people to have a conversation/debate for years. Lots of props to both of you.

wow. this is how the perfect conversation would go. then entire time i kept waiting for someone to finally get triggered and go off but they both listened to each other and addressed each others points beautifully

Nice conversation :) thanks!

Great convo. Coming from a Destiny fan, you kinda wiped the floor with him...

Someone reading back intentionally inflammatory quotes is the funniest shit I’ve ever heard and is probably my favorite thing about watching destiny content, because it happens so much

Perhaps the best 2+ hours of my time I've spent on YT all year. What a fantastic conversation! Thanks Alex and Destiny.

You're both such wonderful forces for critical thought. Loved this!

Found your channel through destiny. Earned a new subscriber, good stuff!

I did not expect this conversation to be this fascinating. More please!

This was a spectacular conversation. So many important and fundamental topics raised. Would love to see another one.

Excellent video, enjoyed it a lot!

This is a crossover I never would have thought happened been watching both for awhile.

Definitely wasn't expecting this collab. This was a very fun conversation!

I'm shocked I didn't know this conversation happened until just now. Have listened to hours of both these guys in other convos. Already know it'll be well worth it

Great questioning !!

Man I don't have time to watch this right now with an exam coming up, but damnit I'm so hyped to watch this when I get a chance.

What a fantastic discussion, really intriguing and thought provoking!!

Great conversation

This was my DREAM crossover. Thank you so much Steven and Alex for making it happen!

I usually don't watch these until I'm on a walk or something, but I was interested when I saw who you were talking with, I just had to turn it on right away! I hope you two get a chance to have more formal debates and discussions.

Great episode. Thank you Alex for a lesson in patience and civility.

There’s a lot of holes in destiny’s philosophy

I can sum up this whole video: “How do we prove murder is wrong” “🤷‍♂️”

"Where did I go wrong?" Wow. Alex's conversational skills are next level. So logical and intuitive

Such a delicious conversation I came back for seconds

How the hell can someone just "not care about animals"? I genuinely cannot understand how that happens?

Evolutionary Biology is my field of interest and research. When Destiny says he doesn't find the brain evolution part compelling evidence to recognize animal sentience, I don't think he quite understands the extent to which human behavior and animal behavior is similar, or how these behaviors are known to evolve. When we think Cat vs Human behavior, we tend to emphasize major differences, like how we communicate (meows, blinking, hissing, purring, etc.) or our preferences (cats tend to prefer solitude and crawl into tiny spaces to hide), but we have far more similarities, like how we prefer companionship, or how trauma causes us to remember and avoid triggers, a desire to stay active, need for agency and control, preferences for food (especially when familiar), reaction to pheromones of our species, etc. Cats with alzheimers even exibit very similar breakdowns in mental function like memory loss and anxiety behaviors. If it were just cats, we could potentially blame convergent evolution for similar behaviorーthat is, animals that exhibit similar behavior due to completely different genes coding for that same behavior. However, so many of these experiences are present in nearly every animal across the board that we would be far safer to assume this "consciousness", which we tend to associate with many of these behaviors in humans, is likely present. In fact, we can already read and identify the origin of many of these behaviors in the genome, and they match our genetics as well. Even if you argue we can't know for sure, the body of evidence is massive, which is why it's a given in most science institutions that study biology and animal psychology. You're fighting an uphill battle.

Love it when people like this come together and talk. Awesome man!

Destiny: logical absurdity. Alex: that is logically absurd. Destiny: .... so?

as a destiny fan and a fellow brit, from both sides, we appreciate you

I've been wanting someone to have this conversation with destiny for a long time, glad you did it

I loved this conversation. Great pushback from Alex and very interesting topics covered.

Yea.. interesting keep up the prodding Alex!

Fab video!

Im so glad they're doing this, I hope you guys work together again.

This was enjoyable as frick. Follow both of these guys and this was just perfect.

Amazing as always, Alex. You are an inspiration.

I came up with this concept a few years ago that's similar to this idea of individually maximizing pleasure and minimizing suffering. My idea centers around the paradigm that giving is better than receiving. Personally, some of the best feelings I've ever felt in life is when my actions cause a clear positive emotional response in another person. I call this moral selfishness -- the act of performing altruistic acts in order to maximize the pleasurable experiences for the actor. I was hoping Alex or someone in the comments could tell me if there is already a word for this and/or if a philosopher has already discussed this concept in detail. Thank you in advance! P.S. I haven't seen a CosmicSkeptic video since the conversation with David Benatar over anti-natalism and I immediately recognized you 3 years later! Keep up the good work!!

Please chat again you two. This was fascinating to watch.

Beautiful stuff, just lovely content. Thank you Alex!

Copy and paste the following facts, to help educate pre-vegans who are visiting here:

The fact that a vegan diet is best for the environment is supported by numerous scientific studies and reports from reputable organizations. Here are some examples: 1. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published a report in 2006 titled "Livestock's Long Shadow," which concluded that the livestock industry is one of the most significant contributors to environmental problems, including climate change, deforestation, and water pollution. 2. A 2018 study published in the journal Science found that if the world's population shifted to a plant-based diet, it could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70% and free up land equivalent to the size of the United States, China, Australia, and the European Union combined. 3. A study published in 2018 by researchers at Oxford University found that adopting a vegan diet could reduce an individual's carbon footprint by up to 73%. 4. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognizes the impact of animal agriculture on climate change. in their 2019 report, they emphasized the importance of shifting towards more vegan diets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These are just a few examples of the many scientific studies and reports that have demonstrated the environmental benefits of a vegan diet.

Found these guys 5 years apart and now together

I am an avid Destiny viewer, and I agree with about 90 plus percent on the things he values. I really enjoyed this conversation and I want to hear more from you two. He doesn't usually get people who are on his level of really digging into the foundations of all this stuff. Loved the content, Alex.

We need more of this duo!

Discovered Cosmic Skeptic from debates you had with muslim debaters especially Muhammad Hijab sometime ago, the stuff you do here is just awesome man, keep it going.. one of the few "atheists/agnostic" that I can say is a real seeker of wisdom, as opposed to a propagator working under a set agenda. I hope you consider inviting people of different religious/philosophical backgrounds in your podcast.

oh my god so much of this went so far over my head but loved what i got to grips with all the same pure logic discussion was brill

Please, we need more of you two together!

In the example of the chocolate bars on the island nobody mentioned the benefit of building rapport and trust with the others you are stranded with. If you find the hidden food yes you can eat it all by yourself, but if you take a gamble and share it with the others you will have gained some of their trust and respect. They know that you could have eaten it on your own without sharing, but the fact that you were willing to share may improve group cohesiveness and improve your chances of survival. You're also going to have a better chance of surviving if you have help to split up the work of hunting, building tools and shelter, defense, etc. Sharing resources is going to improve your situation in all those ways thereby still maximizing your own well being.

Man I would love to be part of this kind of conversation with either of these two gentlemen

Evolution is a clever route, here. Thanks for posting this. Have a good one!

1:53:49 ,Alex has Destiny here and I think he himself knows it "I don't think it's right for me to not have delicious cheeseburgers" is ultimately what it comes down to, there is no rational excuse for how we treat animals. now I'm not a vegan/vegetarian, but I at least recognize that I'm hypocrite in that aspect.

this is a collab i've always wanted but never expected

Really enjoyed this convo, and glad Destiny was willing to engage on an un-favorite topic, props to both!

good convo

I really appreciate the way you both articulate. I have been a long time Alex watcher and recently started watching Destiny's stuff. I really find both of your approaches are really good at sinking into my brain in a way I can understand and sometimes sinks deeper into the mind. I would love another podcast on anything no matter what the topic

Alex, I loved the way you kept up the challenges to what you were you hearing. Brilliant the way you’re able to think on your feet - like when you nuked the narcissists and turned the tables on the mental argument. Really great conversation.

wow... amazing stuff.

This was good.

I just recently subscribed to CS and was wondering if he has ever had a discussion with Destiny and now its happened. Amazin!

Alex did an incredible job at pushing back on Destiny for veganism.

This is kind of wild. Started watching this channel again after at least a year away and within a week I get the dream crossover. This looks fantastic.

16:30 I really enjoyed this conversation, and specifically this point. Here is a man that has pretty well defined ideas, for his standard as we might consider a hobby, defaulting and asking someone else for their input in the genuine interest that they might be able to define these ideas better. He is pretty confident in his ideas, but wants to be consistent and is open to refining his ideas and being proven wrong to get there. Even if he ends the discussion with the same philosophy, he has made a good effort to explore these ideas with someone that might have a better grasp on them because that's what they're trained in. This is fantastic humility and true scholarship.

Awesome. Bravo 👏 👏

Alex, thank you so much for your content! I’ve grown so much philosophically due to your channel and your presence. Please keep doing what you’re doing! I love your content :)

Forgot to mention, to any human that isnt a sociopath or similar, sharing chocolates with others is a benefit to yourself considering that we have evolved to feel good by making people happy, the only exception to this i can think of is sharing to someone you dont like and or doesnt like you.

Destiny when he encounters an actual smart person:

The title of this video is so perfect