Howie (@askhowie & plantyourself.com) is a coach & author & podcast host. His coaching work with people & organisations focuses on leadership, values, productivity & health.
In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”
Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.
We discuss:
00:00 Welcome
02:01 Howie's Intro
- Coaching & writing
- "Not a big fan of capitalism"
- Effective altruism through organisations
- "Helping people respond to reality"
- Not knowing "what's real?" or "what matters?" but let's try to work it out
04:54 What's Real?
- Growing up in a conservative Jewish household in New Jersey
- Culturally Jewish but "kind of atheist"
- Mother's history of the holocaust & kindertransport
- Father's "Jewish identity & socialism." Needling the Rabbi: "We have to rest on the Sabbath so now I have to walk up 30 flights of stairs?!"
- Being given "The Truth About the Bible" book. Bible inconsistencies & immorality
- "The Jews have learned to argue & doubt & question"
- "The Jewish people must survive" as a core commitment
- Einstein, Marx, Freud
- A militant zionist phase
- "It was safe." There was no danger to the ritual vs. sweatlodges
- A "safe, conventional, suburban religion"
- Attending an Ivy League college
- "There are smart people who believe in ghosts"
- Exploring parapsychology
- "There were serious academics questioning my worldview which was completely materialistic"
- Rejecting the exclusive tribalism & the simplistic narratives of religion but "There is a big effing mystery out there"
- Shamanic practices "oh honey, it's all bullshit"
- Being sceptical of our own perceptions & reasoning. Be open
- Predictive dreams
- Contextualism... "How is this working for me?"
- "Look for & assume positive intent... then act like it's true"
- Talking to trees, brambles as defences, mycorrhizal fungi as comms networks
- Narratives of dominion vs. "consciousness in everything"
- Arbitrary vs. narratives grounded in reality
- "Supposedly using evidence & reason we've destroyed the planet"
- Checks: 1) consistency with the natural world & 2) compassion
32:50 What Matters?
- Be nice to people
- Mother's experience of Nazi occupation of Austria. "The teachers & her so called friends were wearing Nazi armbands" & "Punch a Nazi".
...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info and on YouTube.
Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.
Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!
Thanks Graham.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sentientism/messageCheese Challenge & Pescetarian Paradox - Maja Cullen, Devon Docherty, Carol Jasper - Sentientism 200
"Reductionism is well-named. It reduces what you can do." - Michael Levin - Sentientism 199
"We need to imagine a different world" - Emilia Leese - author and host of Think Like a Vegan - Sentientism 198
Hip Hop is Going Green - Keith Tucker of Hip Hop is Green - Sentientism 197
Nigerian Food Revolution - Hakeem Jimo of Veggie Victory and ProVeg Nigeria - Sentientism 196
Consciousness Live! - with skateboarding philosopher Richard Brown - Sentientism 195
A Truly Humane Education - Laura Chepner - The Vegan Society's Education Officer - Sentientism 194
Imagining Ethical Schools - Sentientism 193
Is Veganic the Future of Farming? "We grow plants using plants" - Jimmy Videle - Sentientism 192
Half-Earth Socialism - Troy Vettese - Sentientism 191
"Your Neighbour Kills Puppies" - Tom Harris - Activist, Artist & Author - Sentientism 190
"A new world of animal justice" - Sabine Brels of World Animal Justice - Sentientism 189
Talking to Humanists about Sentientism - Cross-post bonus from Podcast for Inquiry - Sentientism 188
"What if we saw ourselves as species diplomats?" - David Peña-Guzmán of Overthink and SFSU - Sentientism 187
Could animal farming be good for the animals? The Logic of the Larder - with Nick Pendergrast - Cross-post bonus episode from 3CR's Freedom of Species radio show and podcast - Sentientism 186
"If you combine rationality and compassion you have the essence" - Jonathan Leighton of OPIS - Sentientism 185
Is veganism a moral obligation? Ghostless Machine cross-post bonus - Sentientism 184
Don't underestimate your influence! - Chris Bryant of Bryant Research - Sentientism 183
160: "Mother Cow, Mother India" - Yamini Narayanan - International Development A/Prof - Sentientism
Waking Cosmos - a cross-post bonus episode - Sentientism 182
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