Why Atheists Keep Finding God (in everything) - Alex O’Connor (4K)
Chris Williamson talks with Alex O'Connor about why debates over God rarely settle anything, why science may never explain consciousness, what prayer is really for, and ethical puzzles around embryo selection and fantasizing about others.
The gist
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O'Connor now calls himself agnostic and says belief in God is often rooted in experience and mysticism, not in arguments that can be won.
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O'Connor argues science describes how things behave, not what they are, so it can never explain why brain activity comes with experience.
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He says every common example of emergence, like heat or an image on a screen, already happens inside conscious experience, so it explains nothing.
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O'Connor thinks prayer mainly changes the person praying, and recommends a secular grace: pausing before meals to feel grateful.
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On ethics, he warns embryo selection could feed endless perfectionism and says indulging lust, including porn, is the real harm behind cheating.
"What is it like to be a bat? And he asks that question because... the question is what is it like to be a bat for the bat? And the conclusion of the essay, which I recommend everyone reads, is like there's no way to know that except from the inside."
▶ Play at 1:04:04"Michael Pollan's recent book is brilliant, talking about, you know, watching time-lapses of plants growing and watching how they move and being like, dude, like these things... I don't think they feel pain. I don't think they have a conscious awareness or anything, but there's..."
▶ Play at 1:12:27"It's just gratitude. That's why I'm a big fan of a secular grace. I love the idea of, before you're about to eat some food, just take a minute and just be grateful for the fact that you are where you are. You know, people call it mindfulness, right?"
▶ Play at 1:30:47What they recommend · 3 picks
"What is it like to be a bat? And he asks that question because... the question is what is it like to be a bat for the bat? And the conclusion of the essay, which I recommend eve..."
"Michael Pollan's recent book is brilliant, talking about, you know, watching time-lapses of plants growing and watching how they move and being like, dude, like these things... ..."
"It's just gratitude. That's why I'm a big fan of a secular grace. I love the idea of, before you're about to eat some food, just take a minute and just be grateful for the fact ..."
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