Daniel Dennett: Do We Have Free Will?

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Welcome everyone to a fascinating deep dive with the late Daniel Dennett!

In our interview, we tackled fascinating problems like free will, human consciousness, ethics, and the philosophy of science. He also explained why he’s sounding the alarm on AI!

Shortly after our interview, Daniel sadly passed away at the age of 82. He was a renowned philosopher, thought-provoking writer, brilliant cognitive scientist, and vocal atheist. He was the co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University in Massachusetts, a member of the editorial board for The Rutherford Journal, and a co-founder of The Clergy Project.

Known as one of the "Four Horsemen" of New Atheism, he was at the forefront of discussions on consciousness, free will, and the impact of Darwinian evolution on religious belief. Dennett's works, including "Breaking the Spell" and "Consciousness Explained," have provoked both admiration and controversy, challenging readers to reconsider deeply held beliefs about the mind and its relationship to the physical world. Needless to say, I was thrilled to have Dan on the show!

The world has truly lost an extraordinary soul and a groundbreaking thinker.

RIP

Key Takeaways:


00:00:00 Intro

00:09:27 Judging a book by its cover

00:12:29 Dan's critique of Sam Harris's position on free will

00:21:43 The evolutionary advantage of music

00:29:01 Language, nonverbal communication, and artificial intelligence 

00:34:33 Are brains computers?

00:46:04 Sounding the alarm on AI

00:51:38 Bioengineering and bioethics 

00:57:21 Philosophy of physics 

01:02:47 The evolution of academia

01:09:08 Audience questions 

01:23:10 Outro


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