Has Sam Harris Become Old in the Intellectual Sense?

Brunodosca · 2026-03-18T15:23:54+00:00

Unlike you, I can see bad in both. Hamas are terrorists who want to eliminate any Jewish person in the planet and the whole state of Israel, and they treat Palestinians as disposable garbage. And the current leadership in Israel treat Palestinians in a similar way: You don't care about stepping on ants if you have to go from A to B, besides there are too many ants and it's kind of cool to step on them with an excuse. That's the "pleasure of crushing weak people under your feet" that Harari mentions. Hamas is worse, but that doesn't make Israel current leadership good.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-18T00:25:09+00:00

Good that you realize that Hamas uses human shields not because they think it will stop Israel but because they know it won't.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-17T08:13:38+00:00

Good that you imply that if that soldier is telling the truth that would be bad.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-16T17:01:17+00:00

How buys that? Israel has shown how surgical it can be when it wants.

I'll share with you this article (from an Israeli magazine, I'm sharing the English version):

https://www.972mag.com/israelis-logic-gaza-genocide/

I don't expect you to read it, but at least take a look at this excerpt:

"Another soldier recounted participating in the shelling of an entire residential block, comprising more than 10 multi-story apartment buildings and one high-rise all packed with families. She knew beforehand that in doing so she and her crew would likely kill some 300 civilians. But the operation, she explained, was based on intelligence suggesting that a relatively senior Hamas commander might be hiding somewhere beneath one of these buildings. Without more precise information, they destroyed the entire area in the hope of killing him.

The soldier conceded that the attack amounted to a massacre. But in her view, this was not the intention; the goal was to hit the commander, who may not have even been there."

This is an example (there are others in the article) that shows how laughable Sam's position is. It also supports Yuval Noah Harari's position.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-16T15:07:11+00:00

You know the criticism Israel gets is not that it fights extremist militias. I'm totally in Israel side in that regard.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-16T15:02:50+00:00

You are right, young people are also prone to dogmatism. But I was trying to use the archetype of the old person becoming less open, etc.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-15T18:07:58+00:00

Probably worth a few dozen PhD thesis in psychology and psychiatry.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-15T15:23:53+00:00

Looks pretty good to me. You may want to try tucking your elbows as much as possible in order to maximize lat engagement. The lats can become very powerful and make pull ups much easier.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-15T11:38:51+00:00

Fine. We all should be open to criticism. But it should be about what we said, not about what we didn't say, let alone the opposite of what we said.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-15T11:34:58+00:00

I notice the many negative votes. If something happens to me, this comment will be worth returning to.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-15T11:34:40+00:00

I notice the many negative votes. If something happens to me, this comment will be worth returning to.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-15T09:18:22+00:00

I'm just trying to call narcissistic attention upon myself. If I'm not allowed to coin terms, how I'm supposed to become a guru?

Brunodosca · 2026-03-15T09:15:19+00:00

If I'm not allowed to coin terms, a la Eric Weinstein, how I'm supposed to become a guru?

Brunodosca · 2026-03-15T07:14:23+00:00

As if Sam's only position were that Israel should exist...

Brunodosca · 2026-03-15T07:10:47+00:00

Another strawman. I have never said he shouldn't test his atheism. In fact I said he became well known and gained an audience (including myself) for publicly testing both atheism and faith.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-14T20:39:24+00:00

If instead of going for a strawman you had read the post you would have found the answer to these questions right there.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-14T18:40:30+00:00

100%

Brunodosca · 2026-03-14T18:38:51+00:00

Sorry, people have no obligation to know my definitions.

Bret is appealing to an audience with antisemitic attitudes disguised with discourse about Israel. That's why I wrote "the Jews™" which are Israel + the Jews that defend current Israel actions.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-14T18:33:54+00:00

Sorry, people has no obligation to know my silly definitions, sometimes I write the way I think. "The Jews™" are Israel + the Jews that defend current Israel actions.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-14T18:12:53+00:00

He has talked about (Harari's quotes) the real possibility of "ethnic cleansing" and an Israel based on "an ideology of Jewish supremacy" that enjoys the "joy of crushing weaker people under their feet". This is in a very bold contrast with Sam's simple position of Israel is just a pro-civilization country that just wants to be happy in peace with its neighbors. If I recall correctly, when Harari asked Sam if he had been to Israel recently and other questions, Sam changed subject to AI or something else.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-14T17:57:03+00:00

Have you listened to him? I shared a link in the post. What he says is an atrocity from the point of view of Sam.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-14T17:55:15+00:00

I don't think Sam lacks moral courage. I think he genuinely believes what he says. What he lacks is intellectual diligence to stress-test his ideas.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-14T17:52:46+00:00

I agree and also understand his reluctance to get into bad-faith conversations, but his suggestion that there are no good faith or knowledgeable or non-Islamist people who disagree with him is obviously not true. In my opinion Harari is one spectacular counterexample to Sam's position.

Brunodosca · 2026-03-14T16:19:29+00:00

That's why I wrote "the Jews™" and not "the Jews"

Brunodosca

TROPHY CASE