Two of the most popularly significant analytical thinkers on challenges facing our World are Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson. These speakers are introduced, then briefly we listen to them individually speak, then presented are the series of four dialogues they participated in, and I attempt to write a note with Erich Fromm’s help on what is now unfolding.

I listened to  Video 1 taped in Vancouver: https://bit.ly/2OlRZUa and Video 2 also taped Vancouver: https://bit.ly/2CUQT0g on 10.13.18 and took some notes. I am planning to listen to Video 3: https://bit.ly/2CUa0HG and Video 4: https://bit.ly/2On6Y0a this week. However, I am starting to record my reflection on this experience in writing in order to capture the abstract conceptualizations driving these to thinkers with what is unfolding with my reflection

I have been reading and following Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson for some years now. I listened to Video 1: Vancouver: https://bit.ly/2OlRZUa and Video 2: Vancouver: https://bit.ly/2CUQT0g on 10.13.18 and am planning to listen to Video 3: https://bit.ly/2CUa0HG and Video 4: https://bit.ly/2On6Y0a this week.

Sam Harris (born April 9, 1967) is an American author, philosopher, neuroscientist, critic of religion,^[3] blogger, public intellectual, and podcast host. His work touches on a wide range of topics, including rationality, ethics, freewill, neuroscience, meditation, philosophy of mind, politics, Islamism, terrorism,  and artificial intelligence. He is described as one of the “Four Horsemen of Atheism,” together with Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett.^[4]

Harris’s first book, The End of Faith (2004), won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction^[5] and remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 33 weeks.^[6] In The Moral Landscape (2010), he argues that science answers moral problems and can aid human well-being.^[3] He then published a longform essay Lying in 2011, the short book Free Will in 2012, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion in 2014, and, with British writer Maajid Nawaz, Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue in 2015. Harris’ work has been translated into over 20 languages.^[7] In September 2013, Harris began releasing the Waking Up podcast, in which he interviews guests, responds to critics, and discusses his views (Wikipedia).

Jordan Peterson (born June 12, 1962^[4]) is a Canadian clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. His main areas of study are in abnormal, social, and personality psychology,^[3] with a particular interest in the psychology of religious and ideological belief,^[5] and the assessment and improvement of personality and performance.^[6] Peterson studied at the University of Alberta and McGill University. He remained at McGill as a post-doctoral fellow from 1991 to 1993 before moving to Harvard University, where he was an assistant and then associate professor in the psychology department.^[7][8] In 1998, he moved back to Canada, as a faculty member in the psychology department at the University of Toronto, where he is currently a full professor.

Peterson’s first book, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, published in 1999, examined several academic fields to describe the structure of systems of beliefs and myths, their role in the regulation of emotion, creation of meaning, and several other topics such as motivation for genocide.^[9][10][11] His second book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, was released in January 2018.^[7][12][13] In 2016, Peterson released a series of YouTube videos criticizing political correctness and the Canadian government’s Bill C-16. The act added gender identity as a prohibited ground of discrimination,^[14] which Peterson characterized as an introduction of compelled speech into law. He subsequently received significant media coverage, attracting both support and criticism ^[7][12][13] (Wikipedia).

These guys are prolific and following their work can be done at their websites and on social media outlets. I am only going to link one clip to introduce these fellows before we get into the main bout – the 4-part faceoff of Harris and Peterson.

Science can answer moral question Sam Harris on TED

Jordan Peterson On The Illuminati

There we have at least an introductory video of Harris and Peterson. Much more can be learned about their thinking by searching the web and you may want to get a better handle on these two fellows, so go at it. However, now these two popular speakers faceoff in four monitored sessions which are linked below for us to watch and work to understand. May I suggest we take notes on what is unfolding, reflect on our experience, and attempt to write about the abstract conceptualizations Harris and Peterson are using to comprehend life. The central thrust of this encounter is to understand the other’s processes of thinking.

01 Harris/Weinstein/Peterson Discussion: Vancouver

Jordan B Peterson Published on Aug 31, 2018 This is the first video of the four-part debate that Sam Harris and I undertook in June 2018. Audio normalizes at 4:40. Sam and I met twice in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with Bret Weinstein moderating, for a third time in Dublin, Ireland, and for a fourth and final time in London, England. Douglas Murray joined the debate with us for the latter two occasions. Video 1: Vancouver: https://bit.ly/2OlRZUa Video 2: Vancouver: https://bit.ly/2CUQT0g Video 3: https://bit.ly/2CUa0HG Video 4: https://bit.ly/2On6Y0a Sam is a well-known Enlightenment rationalist, and a prominent atheist – one of the “four horsemen,” along with Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens (now unfortunately deceased) and Daniel Dennett. He believes (1) that our ethical systems should or even must be grounded in something other than arbitrary revelation or opinion; (2) that the world of facts can and should provide that grounding; and (3) that the grounding of values in fact can occur in the absence of much perceptual or cognitive intermediation. I agree with him with regard to point (1) but not point (2) and (3). I won’t present any of my argument here, however, because Sam isn’t here to respond, as he is in the videos. I have also written three blog posts on the Harris/Peterson discussions, here: 1. https://jordanbpeterson.com/philosoph… 2. https://jordanbpeterson.com/philosoph… 3. TBA A note on the release of the videos, and their delay: Any event of this scale occurs because of the collaboration of many people, including, in this case. Travis Pangburn and his staff at Pangburn Philosophy, who organized and promoted the four-part debate series, and who incurred substantial financial and reputational risk in doing so (as nothing like this has been attempted before at this scale). None of us were sure at the outset whether Sam and I would manage a useful discussion, let alone four of them, or whether there would be a positive public response. In consequence, we didn’t spend much time before the debate series thinking about release (or formatting/editing) of video or audio recording. Since the events went well, however – appearing both productive and well-received publicly – we decided to move ahead with the production and release of the recordings. The team at Pangburn Philosophy completed the editing, in consequence. Sam and I agreed to allow the initial release behind Travis’s Patreon paywall, for a two-week period, after which we would post the videos for full public access on our respective video platforms, and release the audio in podcast form. The team at Pangburn Philosophy plans to use some substantial portion of what was raised through Patreon subscription for multi-language translation of their previously produced and future content (including these four debates). Additional relevant links: Sam Harris Podcast: https://samharris.org/ 12 Rules for Life Tour: Dates, Cities and Venues: https://jordanbpeterson.com/events/ My new book: 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos: https://jordanbpeterson.com/12-rules-… My first book: Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief: https://jordanbpeterson.com/maps-of-m… Dr Jordan B Peterson Website: http://jordanbpeterson.com/ Self Authoring Suite: http://selfauthoring.com/ Understand Myself personality test: http://understandmyself.com/ Blog: https://jordanbpeterson.com/blog/ Podcast: https://jordanbpeterson.com/jordan-b-… Reading List: https://jordanbpeterson.com/2017/10/g… Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordanbpeterson Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jordanbpeterson

02 Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson & Weinstein Dialogue – Vancouver

Published on Aug 31, 2018. Harris/Weinstein/Peterson: Discussion 02: Vancouver This is the second video of the four-part debate that Sam Harris and I undertook in June 2018. Sam and I met twice in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with Bret Weinstein moderating, for the third time in Dublin, Ireland, and for a fourth and final time in London, England. Douglas Murray joined the debate with us for the latter two occasions. Video 1: Vancouver: https://bit.ly/2OlRZUa Video 2: Vancouver: https://bit.ly/2CUQT0g Video 3: https://bit.ly/2CUa0HG Video 4: https://bit.ly/2On6Y0a Sam is a well-known Enlightenment rationalist, and a prominent atheist – one of the “four horsemen,” along with Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens (now unfortunately deceased) and Daniel Dennett. He believes (1) that our ethical systems should or even must be grounded in something other than arbitrary revelation or opinion; (2) that the world of facts can and should provide that grounding; and (3) that the grounding of values in fact can occur in the absence of much perceptual or cognitive intermediation. I agree with him with regard to point (1) but not point (2) and (3). I won’t present any of my argument here, however, because Sam isn’t here to respond, as he is in the videos. I have also written three blog posts on the Harris/Peterson discussions, here: 1. https://jordanbpeterson.com/philosoph… 2. https://jordanbpeterson.com/philosoph…

03 Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson and Douglas Murray Dialogue – Dublin

07/14/2018 This is the third time Sam & Jordan appeared live together on stage. They were joined by Douglas Murray. This event took place at Arena in Dublin, Ireland on July 14th 2018 in front of 8500 people. The event was produced by Pangburn Philosophy.

04 Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson and Douglas Murray – London

07/16/2018 This is the fourth time Sam & Jordan appeared live together on stage. They were joined by Douglas Murray. This event took place at The O2 Arena in London, England on July 16th 2018 in front of 6500 people. The event was produced by Pangburn Philosophy.

I hope you are still here and have begun to crystalize your own thinking on this topic. To help us we have moderator Bret Weinstein reflections on what he witnessed.

Reflections on Sam Harris vs Jordan Peterson, Bret Weinstein

There, now it is time to share my reflections on this experience in light of an abstract conceptualization we in the process of formulating by actively writing about what we have witnessed.