Why Smart People Believe Silly Things
Вставка
- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- To support me on Patreon (thank you): / cosmicskeptic
To donate to my PayPal (thank you): www.paypal.me/c...
To purchase Cosmic Skeptic merchandise: teespring.com/...
To anybody who supports (or even considers supporting) my channel monetarily, thank you. I am naturally grateful for any engagement with my work, but it is specifically people like you that allow me to do what I do, and to do so whilst avoiding sponsorship.
-------------------------------------VIDEO NOTES-------------------------------------
I gave this speech in February at the LogiCal LA conference in Los Angeles. Receiving the footage at this time has been helpful, since as this uploads I will be on holiday, meaning it fills what otherwise would have been an empty week with no content.
----------------------------------------CONNECT-----------------------------------------
My Website/Blog: www.cosmicskept...
SOCIAL LINKS:
Twitter: / cosmicskeptic
Facebook: / cosmicskeptic
Instagram: / cosmicskeptic
Snapchat: cosmicskeptic
---------------------------------------CONTACT------------------------------------------
Business email: cosmicskeptic@gmail.com
Or send me something:
Alex O'Connor
Po Box 1610
OXFORD
OX4 9LL
ENGLAND
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think I'm more of a silly person who believes smart things.
The mark of a smart person.
Rubjerg lmao
Same
Of course... How can you know that what you believe is smart?
I sponge on the minds of people who're wiser than myself and generously share their knowledge in a relatively unbiased way in articles, books, documentaries etc. Often you don't even need to leave the tube for some of the good stuff in this respect -- for the way our world works, for example, there're great channels like World Science Festival, Royal Institute, PBS Spacetime etc.
I get the feeling that Alex just begged the arrangers to put the lecture in the morning so every one of his videos could start with “Good morning, everybody”
I doubt he appreciated the jet lag.
It was actually secretly filmed in the afternoon in a secret room at Denver's Horror Airport, to an audience of 'clones' and 'sleepers' charitably supplied by
Sam Harris's avon lady.
He doesn't believe that shit. That's his shtick. He's just a huckster.
Imagine him starting a speech at a funeral...
@@AquaPeet “Good morning, everybody...well, not everybody I'm afraid *chuckles Britishly*”
We can take a moment to acknowledge the fact he was 18?
Very inspiring speech Alex.
19
@@csupor1046 That's literally my age
@@gabrielchattaway1663 There are a couple of hiccups where he seems to need time to find the right mental track again, but it's certainly miles above anything I could procure, and I'm 19 too. I wonder if he's a natural or if he practiced a lot; or both.
Yes! Alex O'Connor is a smart person who believes in silly things, such as atheism. For example.
@@robinrobyn1714 Hehe. Why is atheism a silly thing?
Your words touch my heart. It is true. My own girlfriend is one of those people. She is kind, loving, smart and all I could ever hope for. She is my soulmate. Nonetheless, she still holds this abhorrent belief. But I still love her and I want to get old with her, even if she likes pineapple pizza.
Sultan Laxeby 👍
Didn't know pizza is a belief!? 😉
You will be cooked in the stone oven forever if you don't trust in our Lord and saviour, the Pineapple-pizza.
funny. now turn the microscope back on yourself and question why someone's affinity for pineapple pizza perturbs you so much, bigot :)
Am I a bigot for despising the idea that putting pineapple on pizza is okay?
_wounded_
Sultan Laxeby that’s a crime
Didn't think Hitchens would reincarnate this fast.
LeneChibi give him a couple of years and more bite and I’ll begin to believe in reincarnation... when Hitchens died I feared greatly for the atheist movement but I’m gaining trust in a comeback
He's still a million books behind Hitchens. Hitch could quote history just from his memory.
Yootoober 95 You don't know that. A shit diet isn't the only cause of cancer.
@Yootoober 95 did his smoking like a chimney have nothing to do with his cancer?
@Yootoober 95 agreed
"It is infinitely more productive to be openly biased, than to be deceptively neutral"
That's one of my favorite quotes from Alex. 33:12
Productive towards what ends?
Wish the people above me weren't so purposefully obtuse
@@crunchylettuce5446 it's called intellectually honest, not obtuse.
"than to be deceptively neutral"
Deceptively neutral is how to have a conversation.
“Deceptively neutral” is the BBC.
Aww he looks so grown up! *pinches cheeks*
ummm......ok
Of course, isn't he like 15 already?
saucy!
I'm not an alcoholic, I'm just fun!
he definitely needs some facial hair
I did not know you have a sense of humour. 😂
it´s because of his earnest face
Almost feels weird why there are no such witty jokes in his normal videos.
You should watch swish
Pineapple on pizza is not a joking matter.
he needs to smile even a little bit when he says a joke
Thanks! Why smart people believe silly things (26:30):
1- We are emotional animals prone to allowing our emotions to overcome our reason;
2- Smart people are often more of a problem because they are better at rationalising their emotional hunches;
3- When a smart person does hold a silly belief, they are better at convincing other people of this;
4- Even with the benefit of a free market of ideas, confirmation bias, like a snake in the grass, ruins its efficiency.
Conclusion: Smart people not only can hold silly beliefs, but often pose even more of a problem when they do.
Stupid people are the most dangerous people on the planet.
what's up with the snake in the grass?
I was a devout christian until I was 62. I got several versions of the bible, booklets by famous TV evangelists. I started from Genesis 1;1 and went through the bible page by page, verse by verse. I wanted to become a better christian, however, the more I got into this intense study, I found verses, chapters, books, that made me feel that all this was nonsense. It took me 3 years before I actually did not believe the bible and became an Atheist. And another 2 years before I stopped looking over my shoulder to see if god was watching me. I am now 77 and have no doubt Atheist-ism is my firm belief now.
Buzz
“Bravo!” I too am *older*. I wish I hadn’t spent time riding the jesus wave for so long but at least I now know my time here is so wonderfully special and I spend each day marveling at the beauty instead of checking every thought and action for the possibility of offending an imaginary deity.
Buzz
So you stopped being a christian or you just don't belive in god anymore
Buzz *I'm no Christian but what it sounds like according to your post is that you read the Bible in a literal fashion without any research put in by scholars and came to the conclusion that the Bible is bullshit. Am I right?*
62 you say? Maybe Sigmund Freud was onto something...
he was "enlightened" or "awoken" people who believe in this bullshit have a veil or delusion clouding their sight. More people need to join reality.
On a more serious note: this video is once again a brilliant one. Interesting, well spoken and funny. I am so happy you are the same age as me. Knowing my generation has somebody like you to represent it, even if it remains on a relatively small scale, is absolutely delightful.
Laya's UA-cam
Alex is a freakin’ good speaker, and he’ s only half my age. My kids generation **WILL** survive.....
When I grow up I wanna be like Alex.
Wait...
Right
Having teached young people for many years I can safely say that no generation surprised me so much and infected me with more hope for the future than the ones born after 1999. It feels (at least to me) as if they have regained an ethical aspriration and drive that diminished in the generations born after 1975. I am very proud of you.
@@leporello7 thank you❤️
As a wise man once said: "I'm not sure I'm doubting myself enough."
So many people, not sure (aware) that they are doubting themselves.
Honestly this talk should be heard by more people, I'm from highly intelligent family, i myself am nuclear scientist and I've been thinking a lot about the topic of believing that as a person is smart, he is not susceptible to fall for irrational beliefs and i am constantly stopping myself to think, if everything i believe in is based in evidence and logic and i am trying to only believe in those two things. I like to think that im not susceptible to bad beliefs as im trying to find inconsistencies in all beliefs i have and find my mistakes, but even i am susceptible and im constantly trying to prevent myself from falling for bad beliefs. I know many extremely smart people who have fallen to this trap of thinking that they can't fall for bad ideologies and actually believe irrational stuff. Even my father holds some beliefs which are not supported by evidence and logic. People should always doubt everything they believe in and what they think and hear.
The only problem is, that once you do that, you are unable to produce definite predictions, and are unable to align with almost any ideology fully. Ive been thinking about politics a lot (im not from the us, I'm European), as i went through all information about political parties we have here, i found out that i can't vote for any of them, because none of them are aiming to do the best for everyone. We don't have a bipartisan system here, there are dozens of political parties, but still none is going for the overall good in all fields. If you do all the selfless things to do overall good, noone will support you. Also if you just follow the evidence and logic, you will never do anything because you cant be certain.
Once you really try to not fall for bad beliefs, you will find yourself at the point of not believing anything except the proven solid evidence, and then you will always be also doubting all interpretations of the evidence. But its hard to argue other people who hold bad beliefs, because you cant tell them with certainty that they're wrong, because there is no proof of it, but there isnt a way to disprove it either. You cant really talk people out of believing bad stuff, they have to do that by themselves. They have to try to find their flaws, and flaws in their beliefs. Everyone is susceptible.
I really enjoy math, because everything is built on the base of solid theory. Everything is properly defined and people build everything from those already proven theories. Everything can be disproven if its false. There is either proven or disproven (or waiting for proof in some cases), and everything one does is replicable. If someone believes something and you think its wrong, you can disprove it and once disproven, there is nothing ot debate about, the theory was wrong.
I had the grace to doubt my doubts
@@mitotakjde9763 I feel you, my brother, on so many points. Yet, logic and evidence, while being necessary, are not enough, as one needs postulate to strat conversing with the world. There is consciousness, and then are the stuff that are inside consciousness. And as soon as one take those things seriously, they are implying some postulate.
This makes infinitely harder to discriminate between good ans bad belief.
Stay strong!
Like it. We all need more humility, modesty, honesty, and objectivity about ourselves. At the same time, our true potential and thus long term worth is not affected by our current shortcomings or mistakes.
I feel my IQ slowly rising listening to him
Serb Hunter Rising to what? 47??
Just remember that it isnt rising. You didn't have these ideas, you only listened to them. Watch the video a few times and really learn it, then go on to make your own opinions and really get smarter that way.
+Tyler Haley I know it's not actually "rising", there's no need to break it down as it was just a rather joke comment. But hey that's good advice you have there anyways
@@tylerhaley6301 wooooooosh
I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers.
~Stephen Hawking
I’m biased toward Alex O’Conner speeches
It is no problem. But did you question this bias? What was the conclusion?
Me too
@@mikloscsuvar6097 my conclusion was 'silence brain computation
Alex: When I was young
Me: wait wut
Same lol I am 22, very young, and this guy was 3 years younger when he talked there WTF
Jordan Peterson is a good example of an intelligent person holding fallacious beliefs.
What kind of fallacious beliefs?
eggo
He believes you need to believe in God to be a good person and that atheists are by definition bad people.
Orange Boy he doesn’t think they are bad people. He just doesn’t believe they are true atheists. He thinks their morality is influenced by Christian ideals
Big Brother Thunder
Exactly
One of the most consequential fallacious beliefs he holds is that there is no objective truth, but only a "Darwinian truth".
He thinks that whether or not a statement, theorie or belief is true only depends on whether or not holding it increases your chances of survival.
Other than obviously being a completely ridiculous assertion, together with his idea of a dominance hierarchy it allows him to justify taking, and arguing for, any position that serves his agenda, regardless of the actual truth content of what he's saying.
Woah this is amazing! Alex I've noticed you've made a lot of progress in your analytical thinking and I see you have a bright future ahead of you.
Amateur Professional
Too bright a future, actually he can't even see the audience!
I can think of a smart person who’s beliefs can sometimes be dumb: Ben Shapiro. No doubt he’s intelligent, but a lot of his views are centered around the fact that he’s part of a faith. He debates college kids who most definitely don’t know how to correctly stare their argument and he appears to be correct all of the time. But what I see in Alex that Ben lacks is his ability to be completely objective about really difficult/controversial issues. He coined the saying “facts don’t care about your feelings” but a lot of his arguments are centered around his feelings, but all of the time they’re presented as fact.
The problem is a person who seeks debate and wants their beliefs challenge would actively seek out good opponents. Shapiro does not seek out said challenges. He is nearly constantly punching down and not punching up or even punching sideways.
He does this because his little tricks are easier to use on someone who isn't skilled at debate or only has the most basic of knowledge on how to do it. Its why, when he IS invited by people who are clearly as versed, if not more versed, than him in the art of rational thinking and the debate, he usually makes excuses.
Exactly..
it's tough to beat a man with a silver tongue
Smart person???
Andrew Neil may agree with you.
Hittin' it with the good ol' dry english humour
Damn, this kid is a natural. Gives me hope for humanity.
Without God there is no hope
@@akeem4772 nope, there is more hope without God
Thank God I'm an atheist how? in terms of the afterlife. believers have nothing to lose if their wrong. but if non believers are wrong they have everything to loose. if it's a a 50/50 chance why be on the lose lose side
@@akeem4772 ua-cam.com/video/NKzqQ-IVxGs/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/RWj5kKZqKgg/v-deo.html
Alex, I’m impressed by your vast knowledge, eloquence and oratory. It’s really difficult, if nor impossible, to find those in someone so young. I believe you have a brilliant future ahead of you. Young people like you give us, the seniors, hope for the future. Thank you. Take care of your many gifts.
"This to me is the true horror of religion, it allows perfectly decent and sane people to believe by the billions what only lunatics could believe on their own"
-Sam Harris
Sam harris is ok this guy is alot more reasonable and conclusive his answers though.
Which is also why it's so useful.
HA! Religion saved this world. Who is your poster boy?? Hitler or Stalin?? Atheists are responsible for the most horrific sickness in our world, FACT. You are just an amoral person seeking to justify your actions. FACE IT.
@@louispower7822 Hitler was a Christian you know that right? And if you're really going to keep score on who is responsible for worse actions, atheists don't hold a candle to what religious people have committed. Atheists dont sin anymore than Christians, that's a fact.
@@ispartacus1337 Perfect, you fell for the classic entrapment!
Hitler was a catholic, he abandoned his religion. Showing perfectly, abandon your faith and become an atheist, you can kill people easily then. Why not? Thanks for just proving my point!!!! LOL!!!!! Fell for it , hook line and sinker!!!! Set up of the century.
Atheists generally can't put up with the moral code and expectations, they general become an atheist because of this weakness. Also, bring up people as an atheist, they are likely to be amoral.
I have seen the blight of non-religious countries, the people care little for anything else but money.
The day the Christian religion fails, is the day this world is in a cesspit. Say all you like but atheists are responsible for by far the most deaths. Mao, Stalin AND HITLER (the newly converted). Now, please, read up to educate yourself, Hitler had anti-christian views and German Christianity was persecuted and planned to be fully destroyed. DO YOUR RESEARCH before you look like a FOOL.
Now, sit down, be quiet, learn and grow up.
British accent = Sound smart
Fluidity
Ozzy Osbourne.
User or snotty
I'm from Yorkshire, England and I would disagree with that statement strongly lol
@@andrewoliver8930 lmao. Very underrated comment. Top 1% best comments of all time.
He is incredibly expressive. Such a way with words! Not one syllable is wasted.
Lol there are less productive things we could be doing on a Sunday morning 😂 yeah you're right
Ah I see you're a man of ulster too
@@samdoyle3945 Born and (bread) lol
@@samdoyle3945 good music btw I like it
@@papadoc711 Cheers mate
4:46 "A change in the way that we're viewing, not necessarily the bad ideas, but the people who hold them; the demonization of the people who hold them, I think, is the main problem and something that I want to change."
This says everything.
He truly is kind :)
@@a.l.michael6240 kind or pragmatic?
45:25, "You've really got to pick your battles" is invaluable. For me this often means choosing between being right or being effective which is context and relationship dependant. I've learned to act and speak from kindness and respect over burnishing my ego and identity which, counterintuitively, allows me to be comfortable with my self and others.
Wish he brought the wacky cupboard
Yes, that should be one of his props.
You really are an amazing speaker, and I am genuinely inspired by you! You make me believe that our generation actually can accomplish something good. Thank you Alex, keep up the good work!
Do not despair. Each generation brings us new wisdom and hope 🙋♂️ It never fails
The thing with Einstein wad that when he found his beliefs were incorrect, rather than keep believing them by faith .. he changed his mind based on the evidence. Unlike some religious people I could mention.
@@idontcare2851 Hello, my brother.
Yeah but that was before he learned about Joe Mama entanglement principles.
God’s a blackjack dealer in Atlantic City
Meanwhile there are tons of dishonest scientists among us
@@PInk77W1 And they eventually get found out when the evidence doesn't support or contradicts them. That's the advantage of science. Self correcting.
Jesus, very nice speaker.
random guy - true, but what about Alex?
@@mickeytwoshoes9476 he is jesus
random guy 👍😊
mohammad*
Wow, I can tell Hitchens was a major inspiration for you. The witty humor, right down to the mannerisms and intonations. Very impressive.
What do you mean?
I think his calm objectivity and good humour are even more powerful than Hitchens' speech, if a little less entertaining.
I think he's more of a Harris
..yet.
He's more like Sam Harris. A very precise speaker, same mannerisms, same low key humor.
I consider myself a smart person, I have a very logical way of thinking, but I was also a heavily indoctrinated Christian. I could think logically about everything except my own religious beliefs. I would even use my logic to point out how silly other beliefs are, but then use the same silly methods to show my religion is true.
Why do smart people believe silly things, the same way smart people sometimes fall for online scams, they have faith. I'm my situation, I had faith because I was indoctrinated to do so.
As a closeted ex muslim from a muslim majority country, I heard a lot of silly things my friends and my family members say all the time. When I had lunch with my friends, and and one of my friends started talking about her friend who studies biology in the same university, and that bology student reiterate one of the most overused argument against theory of evolution; if humans came from monkey, why are there still monkey? This is sad coming from a biology student and makes me wondering about what the biology lecturers would say about theory of evolution. I knew exactly how to respond to that, but we were still eating, and the topic just came out, and on top of that they still didn't know that i was an ex muslim, so supporting theory of evolution would be very suspicious.
When you talked about people who come from religious family and when they left the religion they have to choose between living a more reasonable life and preserving the relationship of family, that's exactly the position I'm in. And this is a zero-sum game, I still have yet to decide what I'm gonna do about it.
I am also a closeted ex muslim in a muslim majority, and I've heard that statement too many times. I'm not so proficient in debating, so I end up stating what I believe, and move on. Although I do say silly things as much as any other person. :/
Would your families accept you as non-teligious or would they discard you? If you don't want to you don't have to answer
@@GamingPenis Well, i've only told 3 people. My sister, who is an atheist as well, my step father, who accepts me, and my uncle who disagrees with it but also accepts me. My mother is obsessed with religion, and she has told my sister and i several times that she would rather die than us being atheists. So that about sums it up.
LordKellthe1st It’s slightly rude to say it’s a good thing. Religion helps billions of people and many love it.
@Mr Cabot no, safety is more important than honesty many times
Jordan Peterson is a great example of a very smart person that gets things wrong (especially regarding theism) and can convince a ton of people of the bad ideas.
Respectfully disagree. While he does sometimes get things wrong, the ideas he's putting forth have had very positive results on the world.
you're a dummy
eggo indeed, many of his advice is indeed really well thought and useful
I liked Peterson until he said morality can only come from religion/god which is obviously a false statement
How do you know it's a false statement? Are you smarter than Peterson?
I find it amusing that Alex was still a meat eater at this time, it really shows the validity of what he said in this video.
PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals!
Pineapple belongs on pizza fight me Alex.
gajjit I’m with you, brother!
Listen up now Alex: Hawaiian pizza was created in New Zealand by a natural evolutionary process as each generation became more discerning. (Eventually our kulture will be normalised in the Old World.) We have also added canned spaghetti with sauce to pizzas, but only as a sacrament to our saviour the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
This is the one true religion.
There is one big reason for all of these psychological traits that I did not hear from you: we have very limited resources to evaluate the immense flood of information that reaches us every minute. We did not evolve from computers or from a race of classical Greek philosophers, we evolved from the very slow Savanah-strolling ape who had to make life-or-death decisions on a daily basis, usually based on the flimsiest evidence.
The first proto-human scientist was the one who saw two brilliant spots in the bushes, and contrary to his group, went to the bushes to investigate, became a scientist for ten seconds and lunch in the next five. We hold to our biases and preconceptions because we follow algorithms that have evolved with us, and work frequently.
“... became a scientist for ten seconds and lunch in the next five.”
I like this.
Cosmic's suggestions:
1. imagine you're advising somebody else
2. criticize your own ideas
3. criticize other people's ideas, watch debates rather than talks
4. don't eliminate your bias, embrace it
Waiting for the creationists in the comment section going on about clever people believing in evolution "the fairy tale for adults"
The most surprising thing I found in the comments is people who believe 9/11 was an inside job, not that many creationists here yet
I troll Kent Hovind's channel from time to time. Its astonishing the things they believe. Some of it is lack of education, much of it is willful ignorance and misrepresenting science.
@@MFink-oq5hy I love trolling religious channels hahaha
Phoe
If you actually believe that two aluminum jet liners can totally immerse themselves through a solid steel external shell, you are beyond help. You would expect me to believe this bullshit supporting the narrative from NIST.
ua-cam.com/video/gui_ATdfHx4/v-deo.html
You may answer this very sensible question, how did the aluminum make it through solid steel unaffected? Again, this would mean the planes would have not disintegrated on impact but instead somehow totally immersed themselves inside. I suggest a study into physics, so you know, this steel exoskeleton was the strongest part of the two towers.
I am an atheist by the way and you also probably think we actually went to the moon. If I may, how old are you?
What does 9/11 and the conspiracy theory have to do with creationists, what is your point?
belaireguy411 I agree, if anything is hard to believe if the official version about 9/11
This was so fascinating and I never expected to get so many nuggets of wisdom in one video. Your communication skills are excellent Alex! I'm 21 right now and hopefully I can improve my communication skills to a level like yours in the future.
Great work Alex, keep on reading and speaking!
I am always trying to prove myself wrong. If all you do is try to prove yourself right, then you will never learn anything.
You are a great orator and your wisdom is already oceanic!
Its f i ne ti not believe in a. God until your child gets cancer and you ll be on your knees begging for. God s mercy. Intellect does save people from themselves or tyrants like trump.
Why is "things" the only word without a capital letter in the title? Did it do something particularly offensive which you deemed worthy of such punishment?
It's fixed now
I love how well spoken he is, the way he thinks is amazing
most of this talk was alright until you said pineapple on pizza is a bad idea. unsub
I feel like that's just become low-hanging fruit for comedy's sake. Kind of like how making fun of George W. Bush for being dumb was an easy pot-shot in the early- to mid-2000s (and still is to today for a lot of personalities). Pineapple on pizza isn't demonstrably a bad idea, it's just become mantra now for people wanting to make an easy joke that we can relate to for humor's sake but not in practice. I've even made jokes about pineapple on pizza, and I love pineapple on pizza. Lol
You're point is invalid because you like pineapple pizza.
Why does me liking pineapple on pizza invalidate my point that jokes about pineapple on pizza are an easy joke material?
Because liking pineapple pizza isn't moral
Okay... you're trolling. Haha jokes on me. Lol
A long way from your bedroom and the long missed drawers! , Keep up the good work Alex :)
Wow that was bad, as in really bad. Coming from a guy well schooled in fallacies. He groups 9/11 deniers with flat earth believers?
Also coming from a guy that rightfully go against the Bible for lack of evidence and seems not to bother to look into the evidence pointing 9/11 as an inside job.
He is the best example of his own speech. First I facepalmed then I just laughed at the irony.
Unless this was done on purpose, which will pose some serious credibility issues.
Is 9/11 a inside job,evidence?
Why are so sure about your believe
*Also coming from a guy that rightfully go against the Bible for lack of evidence and seems not to bother to look into the evidence pointing 9/11 as an inside job.
*
What evidence?
@@puckry9686 watch the documentary called 9/11 the dancing Israelis 👌🏻
Physics denies what we believe happened that day. Free fall building cannot collapse without assisted demolition practices.
I'm pleasantly surprised by how good this speech turned out. The humor kept it light for a very mature subject.
Also... He named dropped Aron Ra and it makes me giddy to know Alex has listened to him before.
Alex has mentioned Aron Ra in a few of his videos, I think he's a fan :)
Love the fact that he has such a chill no cholent tone even when making a joke
"Take away is this. You are no Einstein." Love it!
I feel proud of you haha!
This was incredibly insightful. I struggle when talking to hard headed members of my family and friends and this gave me a great perspective to look inward at my own ideas as well as outward at those I don't hold. I try to question everything but do hold notions that I don't criticize enough. Thank you.
Just thinking aloud here but Alex I can one day see you being the next Hitchens, you make it all look so effortless and natural just like he did.
Just hoping he doesn't get drunk before his speeches.
Who knew that you were so smart and funny too.
And he can sing??
Pineapple is pronounced Pi-napoli in Latin.
Pi= circles
Napoli is the home of pizza.
Ham is a lump of meat from a simple creature.
I wanted to be smart, but then I got high...
LMAO
Questioning the official 9/11 narrative is *anything* but a silly endeavor.
Providing evidence would be nice. So where did the tons of explosive and thermite coming from? Who bought them? Who installed them? Who detonated them? Why did no one see the tons of explosives and thermite be moved and installed? Who actually paid these people? So where is the huge paper trail?
Predictable response from someone who hasn't spent more than an few moments looking into it. There are plenty of anomalous activities *both on and before that day* to be suspicious. And to expect a paper trail (!) in a covert operation (!) is a bit naive.
Lady at the end is correct. Many people consider their beliefs as their identity. Problem is that their identity is frail, weak, shallow, surface. They haven’t anything else to tell them who they are. It’s the saddest condition.
If Alex ever decides to start a cult, I'm all in
Lol, underrated comment
Hahaha.
In my high school days I was very gifted in chemistry. My life goal was to be a chemical engineer. I wanted to only take classes that supported that goal. Then as life progressed I discovered people with horrible educations about social issues and political processes and history. I never became a chemical engineer but was on a path to law school because I saw and experienced injustice. Because of medical issues law school did not happen either. I became a legal reformer. In meeting people with legal problems I found that most had no knowledge of political influences on the courts or the distinct jurisdictions of each. These people had Ideas about the law and constitutions that were absolutely wrong. So I have changed my mind about education: if you don't learn about science, government, psychology, history or law to name a few; you are not prepared for a modern society. That lack of knowledge harms the greater societal interests by the uneducated making bad political choices. We are all suffering the consequences.
I'm currently 26. Started reading Nietszhe, Frankl, Spinoza and mainly presocratic philosophers when I was about 19. and quite rapidly, philosophy became my primary interest in life. It's so refreshing and beautiful that in the midst of all these endless sensationalist, populist and dogmatic nonsense in our modern society, there's still a young guy devoted to meaning and truth.
I love math for that reason. Studying maddening beauty using mostly irrefutable logic.
Wait what, he's 1 year younger than me? That means he's born in 1999, while I'm born in 1998
. . . . and who might the young lad be, pray tell? . . .
Is not.
Prepsychotic filosofers?
People like Alex O'Connor are the future in logical thinking along with his friend Stephen Woodford and A-theistic thinking..hugely intelligent at such a young age, i just wish i had the brains he has, at any age..cool guy and Stephen is as well.
It's not fair that his brain at such a young age can grasp difficult ideas and come out being able to spread them to others so effortlessly. While im over here googling definitions to words every 10 minutes.
Knowlage has nothing to do with intelligence.
What has religion, flat earth and '911 deniers' (whatever that is) got to do with each other? Why not 'mask wearers, Climate Crisis believers and those who think men can turn into women' put up as examples?
The thing is that one has to make a choice toward the good. Your ability to choose and 'good' come from somewhere and the study of that is called theology and leads, hopefully, to spirituality. Logic and rationality are pathologies left to their own devices. Some smart people would like you to think there is golden path of machine think - it is a horror show. Perhaps that 'denial of susceptibility' is what led to the madness of 'Lockdowns' or what Canada and Australia have become in the last couple of years? People, neighbours, doctors and public servants denying basic rights to people who were being nothing much more than neutral on a new pharmaceutical product - unheard of before 2020 in the West.
When I was about seven, I asked the question, "Where did god come from?" Boy, my mom was mad, so I never brought it up again; and I allowed myself to be brainwashed. (Not exactly sure that's the right word; our frontal lobes aren't developed until our mid-20s. There's a reason kids aren't allowed to do a lot of things.) Anyway, when I went to college, I decided to find the truth; guess what? I didn't, but I still chose to believe in god because I just couldn't imagine how the universe got here without him. (I should back up and say I was raised YEC; that went out the window during my first quarter at college.) Fast forward to today.
I am now agnostic because I can't say NO god exists, just that the Christian god doesn't exist, (It's a long story that started not too long ago.)
Lisa For Truth that’s very good, there is no more honest thing that acknowledging we don’t know if God exists.
Lisa
Gnostic = pertains to knowledge
Theist = pertains to belief
So,
Agnostic Atheist = does not claim to have knowledge about - and does not believe in - gods existence.
Agnostic Theist = does not claim to have knowledge about - yet believes in - gods existence.
Gnostic Atheist = Claims to know god doesn't exist - and does not believe in gods existence.
Gnostic Theist = Claims to know god exists - and believes in gods existence.
An agnostic is not a middle point between atheist and theist. If you believe that any god exists you are a theist. If you do not hold such a belief you are an atheist.
Frederik-yes, I know; but there are two reasons I call myself an agnostic (and the second one is the REAL reason):
1. for whatever reason, the term "agnostic" is less scary to creationists than "atheist" (they don't know the difference)
2. I'm really not sure which class of agnosticism I fall into; I'm open to there being a god(s)/goddess(es)(though, if there is, Yahweh is not it)
Lisa For Truth Alright, sounds fair
Lisa, Frederick is full of Internet atheists BS. You had it correct.
You are properly an agnostic and their is no conflation of agnosticism and atheism in a Philosophy classroom or scholarly circles (outside the Internet atheist swamp). Agnosticism is the undecided or withholding judgement position. Atheism is the belief position (disbelief or denial) affirming no God exists.
Atheism:
Websters: a : a disbelief in the existence of deity b : the doctrine that there is no deity.
Critique and denial of metaphysical beliefs in God or divine beings. Unlike agnosticism, which leaves open the question of whether there is a God, atheism is a POSITIVE DENIAL.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEoP) ‘Atheism’ means the negation of theism, the denial of the existence of God.
Cambridge Dictionary of American English atheist: someone who believes that God does not exist
atheism: the belief that God does not exist
Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
Disbelief in, or denial of, the existence of a God. Also, Disregard of duty to God, godlessness (practical atheism).
The power of him cracking jokes with a poker face is so uncanny...
Damn. The announcers mic is waaaay too loud. It actually kinda made me angry. I know he could hear it himself yet he didnt lower his voice
Congratulations on giving this talk, Alex! Well done with regards to both content and delivery!
I hope you managed to get into the university that you wanted.
Thank you for all that I have learnt from you and good luck for all your future endeavours!
LMAO , it Happened to me (in the near future 😂😂)
My mother threatened to abandon me if I left my religion (Islam) & I've never seen her that determined on something '-'
Ofc i don't care about that because I've never liked her narcissistic behaviours 😀
Only a narcissist and fool would dump on their own mother for the sake of UA-cam likes. Sounds like an ungrateful brat. I feel bad for your mother.
jane Patton wtf are you on? She made this comment because other people go through it and it provides solace to know that you aren’t alone with an experience. Your just an asshole who sympathizes with child abusers
@@janepatton8100 you sound like a fucking moron
its more silly to believe the 9/11 commission report,and that a building can freefall into its own footprint just from burning furnishings and was never hit by one of the exploding planes.
When I hear about education, my mind goes to schooling, even though it shouldn't. But surely we can find other ways to educate or, rather, inform children and young adults about science other than imprisoning them in a classroom.
You should view the bible or the quaran simply as fantasy books when you read them. And also deal with them the same way you would deal with the lord of the rings.
@@nelavlasakova331 is this a joke or are you actually angry.
@@tjfree04 I think he is being absolutely dead serious.
@@nelavlasakova331 same
No. You should consider them philosophical works. Moral codes to evaluate and consider. Despite the issues and obvious fallacies, there are still good messages and you should find the good in bad works. Don’t think of it like LoTR, but like Beyond Good and Evil or The Republic.
@@tjfree04 What else do you assume a story collection to be in which someone turns water into wine to produce more drunks? Why would you assume something as anything but fantasy when graves open and these dead people walk the streets of Jerusalem? These people have been dead decades or even hundreds of years. So how can one imagine it to be anything but fantasy?
The atheist somehow believes that chasing his tail and dreaming up silly outlandish theories makes him superior.
Intelligence is one thing, education/knowledge is another, it is no coincidence that the more a person is educated, the more knowledge they acquire, the more likely they are to be agnostic or atheistic. Emotion, personality/psychology also play a huge part. And there is nothing that holds such a strong emotional grip than the questions of life and death, the relationship between loved ones, and the enquiry of why we are here. Aspects which have largely been held hostage by religion and religious ideology, it makes it incredibly hard to let go of. Even the most intelligent of us have weird quirks and reasons we do certain things in certain ways, we have to think outside of ourselves and our emotions to see this, we aren’t rational beings, we are emotional beings, and this is why the fight is so tough.
Trolltician Nice try haha!
The vast majority of scientific great minds were theists, it is annoying how atheists claim that science is atheism and ignorance is theism with no basis on reality but only on how they would like things to be.
DavGP1208 No it’s a proven fact, and the operative word you used was “were”, past tense, of course they were in the past, they hadn’t discovered as much about the nature of reality, we know vastly more now than we did, do we know everything? No, does everything we currently know lead us away from the idea of god and an afterlife? Yes, Do religious people claim they know? Yes, the burden of proof is on them, do they have any evidence? No.
DavGP1208 Also you’ve just described your own opinion, on what you would like to be, there is mounds of evidence showing the likelihood of being agnostic or atheistic based on increasing levels of education and knowledge.
Trolltician Nice ad hominem argument my friend. I can’t even dignify an explanatory response to a reply like that. You’re arguing from the point of assuming the answer is outside of scientific endeavour and knowing to begin with.
I'm 62, adequately smart, yet I look back at myself at 19 years old and could no more articulate myself like Alex than flap my arms and fly. I couldn't do it now. He's an incredible intellect.
David. possibly programmed by the state I know I had very little confidence and certainly the system did not encourage free thinking.
How I loved to have a nice hot pizza, made with the brains of an intellect.
i can’t believe he’s only 19 in this!
Alex: well I'm here today to talk abou...
Audience: HAHAHAHA
You once said hello to me on your livestream. I have a feeling that might be my claim to fame one day. You're an absolute natural at this and I feel so proud of you. (I hope that doesn't sound too patronising)
Didn't know you are such a good live speaker. Your speech is really well executed, even though jet lags and other issues.
I'm glad Alex no longer believes in the Biblical fairy tales, now if only he were to stop believing in the government's fairy tales as well (re. 9/11). Peer pressure was applied in all cases. It's just that 9/11 wasn't written about in a book (or was it? Death in the Sky) prior to its occurrence. I don't base any of my behavior on the assumption it was an inside job. I know I don't have the power to investigate the Military Industrial Complex (that Eisenhower warned us about), nor Halliburton, Dick Cheney's old job. But bombing domestic buildings is not new, Hitler did it with the parliament building, and blamed it on the Austrians in order to generate public support for invading Austria. With 9/11 it was to gin up support for invading Afghanistan. No difference. There were none of the earmarks of an outside job. No sifting through all the evidence to get to the bottom of it. Just a sweep under the rug ASAP. On top of that, eyewitnesses from within the government have posted information in The Disclosure Project that the war on terror was in its planning stages prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union. 9/11 was a clear extension of that ethos.
We found out with the Vietnam War that the US government lies to us, (all the time). The JFK assassination was just as much an inside job as 9/11, but this time, an operative very cleverly constructed Q-Anon in order to lump legitimate conspiracies in with a whole bunch of bogus ones so as to completely discredit them, and here is evidence of that discrediting working.
Of course, no one wants to believe the US government would intentionally harm its citizens, but one ought to also be aware of the fact that humans sometimes need a push in order to get them to do things, be they good or bad.
Some have argued that FDR created the situation that became "Pearl Harbor" by putting the old battleships in the harbor, put the new ones out to sea, and then goaded the Japanese into attacking (I think it was refusing to sell them any more steel), in order to convince the isolationists into supporting joining WWII. In that case, one could argue that we would have ended up fighting in it anyway, best to get a jump on it earlier rather than later, so that ploy on balance, may have been the right move.
With 9/11, the military goal was far less honorable on the face of it. They wanted continued support for military spending by the government, so what better way than to start another war?
130 people didn't enjoy being made to feel stupid by this talk.
However, I myself thoroughly enjoyed it!
I call it humility. To know I myself cannot be holding all the highest good ideas. Some of my ideas must be fallacious. What they are seems to be why were here. Were searching to find how intelligent people can be dupped. And by themselves.
So might is right?
@@SpicyTexan64 3ys old thread so you'll have to clarify what you're responding to and what you mean.
Literally dropped every other videos the moment I see this in my recommended. Any videos of yours are guaranteed in quality!
Great ideas but I would make a massive distinction between political conspiracy theories (that are more murky and often mocked then found true) and purely scientific ones.
I feel my IQ doubled after listening to this.
I had this in my 'watch later' playlist for a year and finally watched it today, and firstly, let me say I wish I watched it sooner! Very great job, 19 year old Alex!
religion exists so many people believe things that dont make sense
What a gift to all of humanity is Alex
O Connor.
There's definitely quite a lot of Hitchens-inspiration here, the way Alex talks, the structure and sound of the sentences etc.
I like Alex and Christopher Hitchens.
You're on fire alex! You've started to remind me of a less unapologetic Christopher Hitchens.
If you continue down this path, I can see you joining the ranks of the greatest thinkers of our time. Congrats on how far you’ve come and I’m honoured to be tagging along for this journey.
If the universe is "expanding".....what is it expanding into? Meaning....picture the outer "layers", so to speak, of the expanding universe....what is on the "outside" of the universe? And what is beyond that "layer"....and the next "layer"....and so on and so on.....I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks for your outstanding videos.!!
It’s a tricky and convoluted question. Its particularly difficult to imagine these kinds of concepts when our only point of reference is from inside the universe making any kind of comparison unhelpful. Although people may claim they can, grasping what nothing is cannot actually be done when ‘things’ are the only thing we know. In attempt to evaluate, the brain prefers comparing things relative to one another instead of objectively viewing one thing as an absolute, in and of itself. The only conclusion that you can come to is that we may never have a conclusion and as unsatisfactory is may be it’s all we’ve got.
Watching alex go places by time is just like watching your own brother do good things in life. its satisfyingly lovely to watch.
First time im listening to you ......you have hitchens in you ....you go boy !!!!....the world is your oyster
Let's see how well you listened. Is it possible that atheism as a whole is a bad idea?
@@janepatton8100 possibly but imo theism seems moreso like a bad idea.
@@Praepositus_Magna_Muliebris
Soooo nothing exploding to create everything, intelligence being the result of un-intelligence, and person-hood being the eventuality of rocks seems like a "good idea"... 🤔?
We're sending probes into space right now looking for signs of intelligence. If NASA came across the remnants of an elaborate city on the other side of Saturn, what do you think the headlines would read the next day?
It definitely wouldn't be: Evolution Strikes Again.
The evidence of a creator is the creation.
@@janepatton8100 "Soooo nothing exploded to create everything" pretty big assumption on your end, the answer is we don't know what happened before the big bang. Also what do you mean by creator, which creator.
@@janepatton8100 also Saturn wouldn't have life on it due to the lack of water, it's a literal gas planet. Also I'm pretty sure you strawmanned science. Atheism is the lack of belief in a God. You did a black and white fallacy here.
Years ago I was lead to believe that to practice Nichiren’s Buddhism correctly, one had to attend meetings and belong to an organisation. Nowadays I’ve come to understand that anyone, regardless of whether they become a ‘member’ of a group or not, can benefit from their own personal practice.
The reason for this is that the Law myoho-renge-kyo represents the identity of what some scientists refer to as the ‘unified field of all consciousnesses’. In other words, it’s a sound vibration that is the essence of all of existence and non-existence, the ultimate creative force behind planets, stars, nebulae, people, animals, trees, fish, birds, and all phenomena, manifest or latent. All matter and intelligence are simply waves or ripples manifesting to and from this core source. Consciousness (enlightenment) is itself the true creator of everything that is, ever was and ever will be, right down to the minutest particles of dust, each being an individual ripple or wave. The big difference between chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and most other conventional prayers is that instead of depending on a ‘middleman’ to connect us to our state of enlightenment, we’re able to do it ourselves by tapping directly into it by way of self-produced sound vibration.
On the subject of ‘Who or What Is God?’, when we compare the concept of ‘God’, as a separate entity that is forever watching down on us, to Nichiren’s teachings, the true omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence of what most people call ‘God’ is our enlightenment, which exists nowhere else but within us.
When the disciples asked Jesus where the Kingdom of God is, didn’t he tell them that it was within them?
Some say that ‘God’ is an entity that can never be seen. I think that the vast amount of information that is constantly being conveyed via electromagnetic waves gives us proof of how an invisible state of ‘God’ could actually exist. It’s widely known that certain data being relayed by way of electromagnetic waves has the potential to help bring about extraordinary and powerful effects, including instant global awareness of something or mass emotional reaction. As well as many other things, it’s also common knowledge that these waves can easily be used to detonate a bomb or to even enable NASA to control the movements of a robot as far away as the Moon or Mars. However, none of this is possible without a receiver to decode the information that is being transmitted. Without the receiver, the information would remain impotent.
In a very similar way, it’s important for us to have our ‘receiver’ switched on so that we can activate a clear and precise understanding of our life, all other life and what we and all else that exists truly is. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo helps us to achieve this because it allows us to reach into the core of our enlightenment and switch it on. That’s because the sound vibration of ‘myoho-renge-kyo’ represents the combination of the three major laws that underlie all existence.
‘Myoho’ represents the Law of latency and manifestation (Nature), and consists of two alternating states. One state of ‘myo’ is where everything in life that’s not obvious to us exists. This includes our stored memories when we’re not thinking about them, our hidden potential and inner emotions whenever they’re not being expressed, our desires, our fears, our wisdom, happiness, karma, and more importantly, our enlightenment. The other state, ‘ho’, is where everything in Life exists whenever it becomes obvious to us, such as when a thought pops up from within our memory, whenever we experience or express our emotions, or whenever a good or bad effect manifests from our karma. When anything becomes apparent, it simply means that it has come out of the state of ‘myo’ (dormancy/latency) and into a state of ‘ho’ (manifestation). It’s simply the difference between consciousness and unconsciousness, being awake or asleep, or knowing and not knowing something.
The second law, ‘renge’, governs and controls the functions of ‘myoho’, ‘ren’ meaning cause and ‘ge’ meaning effect. The two laws of ‘myoho’ and ‘renge’, both functions together simultaneously, as well as underlies all spiritual and physical existence.
The final and third part of the tri-combination, ‘kyo’, is what allows the law ‘myoho’ to be able to integrate with the law ‘renge’. It’s the great, invisible thread of energy that fuses and connects together all Life and matter, as well as the past, present and future. It is often termed the Universal Law of Communication. Perhaps it could even be compared to the ‘string theory’ that some scientists now suspect exists.
Just as our body cells, thoughts, feelings and all else are constantly fluctuating within us, everything in the world around us and beyond is also in a constant state of flux, in accordance with these three laws. In fact, more things are going back and forth between the two states of ‘myo’ and ‘ho’ in a single moment than it would ever be possible for us to calculate or describe. And it doesn't matter how big or small, important or trivial that anything may appear to be, everything that’s ever existed in the past, exists now, or will exist in the future, exists only because of the workings of 'myoho-renge-kyo'.
These three laws are also the basis of the four fundamental forces and if they didn't function, neither we nor anything else could go on existing. Simply put, all forms of existence, including the seasons, day and night, birth, death and so on, are all moving forward in an ongoing flow of continuation, rhythmically reverting back and forth between the two universal states of ‘myo’ and ‘ho’ in absolute accordance with ‘renge’ and by way of ‘kyo’. Even stars are dying and being reborn in accordance with the workings of what the combination ‘myoho-renge-kyo’ represents.
‘Nam’, or 'Namu', on the other hand, is a password or a key; it allows us to reach deep into our life and fuse with or become one with ‘myoho-renge-kyo’. On a more personal basis, nothing ever happens by chance or coincidence, it’s the causes that we’ve made in our past, or are presently making, that determine how these laws function uniquely in each of our lives from moment to moment, as well in our environment. By facing east, in harmony with the direction that the Earth is turning, and rhythmically chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for a minimum of ten minutes daily, anyone can experience actual proof of its positive effects in their life.
In so doing, we can pierce through even the thickest layers of our karma and activate our Buddha Nature (enlightened state). We’re then able to bring forth the wisdom needed to challenge, overcome and change our negative circumstances into positive ones. It brings forth the wisdom that can free us from the ignorance and stupidity that is preventing us from accepting and being proud of the person that we truly are, regardless of our race, colour, gender or sexual preference. We are also able to see and understand our circumstances and environment more clearly, as well as attract and connect with any needed external beneficial forces and situations.
Actual proof soon becomes apparent to anyone who chants the words Nam-myoho-renge-kyo on a regular daily basis. Everything is subject to the law of Cause and Effect, so the strength of the result from chanting depends on dedication, sincerity and determination. To explain it more simply, the difference could be compared to making a sound on a piano, creating a melody, or producing a song and so on.
NB: There are frightening, disturbing sounds and there are tranquil and relaxing sounds. It's the emotional result from any sound that can trigger off a mood or even instantly change one. When chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo each day you are producing a sound vibration that is the password to your true inner-self - this soon becomes apparent when you start reassessing your views on various things, such as your fears and desires etc. The important way to get the best result when chanting is not to see things in a conventional way (it's not easy to achieve this), rather than reaching out to an external source, you need to reach into your own life and bring your needs and desires to fruition from within, including any help that you may need. Think of it as a seed within you that you are bringing sunshine and water to in order for it to grow and blossom. It’s so important to understand that everything that we need in life, all the answers and potential to achieve our dreams, already exist within us.
ua-cam.com/video/6CZ0XJqWRr4/v-deo.html OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN sings about Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
ua-cam.com/video/Ix1QXWBVPEk/v-deo.html BOY GEORGE sings about Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
Brilliant and funny! What an honor to be able to witness your growth as a thinker, it is very vicarious but at the same time makes me wish I can make it otherwise, which is the best form of a speech
He looks like a young Paul McCartney
Looks a *lot* more like Freddie Highmore of Bates Motel.
I say "knock on wood". I know it's ridiculous;I know it's superstitious but I do it anyway.
Wow such a brilliant young man !!! We need more like minded folk like you!
This was a brilliant speech. I really admire your public speaking, and intellectual abilities. I'm curious to see where you'll be in a few years, and I'm sure there's a bright future ahead of you.