Dr Jordan B Peterson | full-length 2014 interview @Transliminal

Transliminal **Religion, Myth, Science, Truth** | an evening with Dr. Jordan B. Peterson

This video was filmed prior to JBP's 2016 statements on gender, and neither condones, nor addresses, his post-2016 work.

***
Table of Contents:

0:00 INTRO: PETERSON'S JOURNEY

9:45 RELIGION: CROWD-CONTROL, NAIVE SCIENCE, OR NEITHER?
10:08 "They're straw man arguments"
11:45 Multiple motivational systems, different levels of thinking
13:32 Fundamental presuppositions
14:13 Dawkins vs. Christianity: like a "smart 13 year old boy"

14:36 INTERMISSION: PETERSON ADDRESSES HIS DOG

14:44 SCIENTISTS MISREADING RELIGION
15:52 Different systems of thought, different purposes
16:00 More than one basic assumption is possible

17:13 ENTER: DOMINANCE HIERARCHIES
17:19 What's real is what's persistent across time
17:33 Dominance hierarchies and lobsters
17:58 We're evolutionarily adapted to hierarchies

18:14 HIERARCHIES, RELIGIOUS THINKING, AND SUBJECTIVITY
18:42 "Being" as not reducible to material reality
19:12 The road to nihilism and authoritarianism

19:57 DETERMINING THE TRUTH OF A THEORY
20:07 Newton or Darwin? Choose one. You can't have both.
20:20 Nitzche's "Truth serves life" is a Darwinian idea
20:38 No idea if our knoweldge will help us survive over deep time
20:50 Answer to: "But look what we've built with it"
21:20 Crossing Ebola and Smallpox: some science is clearly insane
22:30 Check your assumptions about reality
23:45 Darwinism: truth is what enables survival within chaos, period.
25:03 Dawkins is a Newtonian not a Darwinian
26:09 Reductionism leaves things out. This has consequences.
27:27 The pragmatic problem: truth for what?

28:09 DEEP DARWINISM & RELIGION
28:15 Religion as evolved knowledge about action
29:40 American Pragmatist philosophers: the true Darwinians
30:17 Godel, the stock market and reality

31:02 TRUTH AS ACTION
31:44 Truth from the bottom up: lobsters, wolves, humans
34:27 Ethics: evolved patterns in dominance hierarchies
39:23 Dogs, chimps and humans: hierarchy navigators
44:45 From dominance hierarchies to archetypes: ancient Egypt
52:36 The soul
55:50 Jung on Christianity, truth and speech
59:07 Truth versus the lie

1:00:52 THE INTELLECT
1:00:52 The totalitarian intellect
1:02:43 Have you made thinking your God?
1:03:38 Attention trumps thinking

1:04:11 EVOLUTIONARY ROOTS OF WESTERN RELIGION
1:04:33 Christ as a metahero
1:04:43 The deep roots of myth
1:07:00 Chaos monsters
1:08:55 Myth as behavioural truth
1:09:37 "Darwin trumps Newton"
1:10:02 "Dawkins is a rationalist...not a darwinian"
1:10:07 Darwinian time, Darwinian truth
1:13:57 Mesopotamian myth as successful behaviour blueprint

1:17:36 FROM NATURE TO HERO MYTHOLOGY
1:19:33 Religious stories model being as a field for action
1:21:13 Our religious task
1:21:47 Religion as hero mythology
1:22:30 "You...don't know that you know the story."

1:23:58 PIAGET AND PRE-RATIONAL MORALITY
1:25:16 We learn to act before we learn the rules
1:26:18 Moses the Judge: observer of emergent moral patterns
1:27:54 "Opiate of the masses" as naive industrial era thinking

1:28:43 METAPHORICAL THOUGHT
1:29:11 Hyperactive agency detection module: it goes deeper
1:31:00 The brain as archetype detection organ
1:32:08 Women are nature
1:33:48 Metaphor, myth and science

1:36:00 SCIENCE AND MORAL TRUTH
1:37:52 Are all scientists devoted to the truth?
1:39:44 How do we judge if science is ethical?
1:42:57 Evil as archetypically real
1:44:06 The reality of good and evil
1:45:09 Science and mythology: which is embedded in which?

1:48:17 EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY AND DEEP TIME

1:49:13 RELIGIOUS METAPHYSICS: OPTIONAL?
1:49:20 Is God an old man with a beard in the sky?
1:51:12 Hurricane Katrina, corruption and poverty
1:52:12 The significance of the bible
1:53:43 The genius of the sacrifice

1:55:50 INTERLUDE: TRIANGULATING MEANING

1:58:02 END OF RELIGION?
1:58:02 On new atheists' claims of a secular rational future
1:58:29 On new age spirituality
1:58:49 New atheist rationalist optimism so absurd it must be motivated

1:59:18 REDUCING RELIGION VS. EXPANDING EVOLUTION
1:59:40 "[The Jungian alternative]...is terrifying [for people]"
1:59:57 "[Jung's work]...puts enlightenment thinkers to shame"
2:00:17 "Which ideas have you? ... We're like playthings of the gods"

2:01:09 JUNG: STUDYING INFORMATION, NOT MATTER
2:02:23 "If you study religion properly, it'll demolish your personality"

2:08:16 METAPHOR VS REALITY: NOT OBVIOUS
2:10:11 Ancients: phenomenologists, not scientists
2:12:24 Religion as spatial

2:13:24 HUMANS: EFFICIENT COMPLEXITY MANAGERS
2:13:48 Reality in terms of resolution
2:15:52 There's lots worse than death
2:16:46 On Becker's "The Denial of Death": smart but mistaken
2:19:40 Death's not the problem, it's complexity

2:21:06 THE MULTICULTURAL DIMENSION

2:27:35 FROM THEORY TO ACTION
2:28:40 Fixing what bugs you
2:29:30 Overcoming the lie
2:31:54 Peterson's experience with truth
2:34:45 The most powerful thing we can do

updated 8 years ago

Dr Jordan B Peterson | *full-length* 2014 interview

Transliminal 2015-11-10 | **Religion, Myth, Science, Truth** | an evening with Dr. Jordan B. Peterson

This video was filmed prior to JBP's 2016 statements on gender, and neither condones, nor addresses, his post-2016 work.

***
Table of Contents:

0:00 INTRO: PETERSON'S JOURNEY

9:45 RELIGION: CROWD-CONTROL, NAIVE SCIENCE, OR NEITHER?
10:08 "They're straw man arguments"
11:45 Multiple motivational systems, different levels of thinking
13:32 Fundamental presuppositions
14:13 Dawkins vs. Christianity: like a "smart 13 year old boy"

14:36 INTERMISSION: PETERSON ADDRESSES HIS DOG

14:44 SCIENTISTS MISREADING RELIGION
15:52 Different systems of thought, different purposes
16:00 More than one basic assumption is possible

17:13 ENTER: DOMINANCE HIERARCHIES
17:19 What's real is what's persistent across time
17:33 Dominance hierarchies and lobsters
17:58 We're evolutionarily adapted to hierarchies

18:14 HIERARCHIES, RELIGIOUS THINKING, AND SUBJECTIVITY
18:42 "Being" as not reducible to material reality
19:12 The road to nihilism and authoritarianism

19:57 DETERMINING THE TRUTH OF A THEORY
20:07 Newton or Darwin? Choose one. You can't have both.
20:20 Nitzche's "Truth serves life" is a Darwinian idea
20:38 No idea if our knoweldge will help us survive over deep time
20:50 Answer to: "But look what we've built with it"
21:20 Crossing Ebola and Smallpox: some science is clearly insane
22:30 Check your assumptions about reality
23:45 Darwinism: truth is what enables survival within chaos, period.
25:03 Dawkins is a Newtonian not a Darwinian
26:09 Reductionism leaves things out. This has consequences.
27:27 The pragmatic problem: truth for what?

28:09 DEEP DARWINISM & RELIGION
28:15 Religion as evolved knowledge about action
29:40 American Pragmatist philosophers: the true Darwinians
30:17 Godel, the stock market and reality

31:02 TRUTH AS ACTION
31:44 Truth from the bottom up: lobsters, wolves, humans
34:27 Ethics: evolved patterns in dominance hierarchies
39:23 Dogs, chimps and humans: hierarchy navigators
44:45 From dominance hierarchies to archetypes: ancient Egypt
52:36 The soul
55:50 Jung on Christianity, truth and speech
59:07 Truth versus the lie

1:00:52 THE INTELLECT
1:00:52 The totalitarian intellect
1:02:43 Have you made thinking your God?
1:03:38 Attention trumps thinking

1:04:11 EVOLUTIONARY ROOTS OF WESTERN RELIGION
1:04:33 Christ as a metahero
1:04:43 The deep roots of myth
1:07:00 Chaos monsters
1:08:55 Myth as behavioural truth
1:09:37 "Darwin trumps Newton"
1:10:02 "Dawkins is a rationalist...not a darwinian"
1:10:07 Darwinian time, Darwinian truth
1:13:57 Mesopotamian myth as successful behaviour blueprint

1:17:36 FROM NATURE TO HERO MYTHOLOGY
1:19:33 Religious stories model being as a field for action
1:21:13 Our religious task
1:21:47 Religion as hero mythology
1:22:30 "You...don't know that you know the story."

1:23:58 PIAGET AND PRE-RATIONAL MORALITY
1:25:16 We learn to act before we learn the rules
1:26:18 Moses the Judge: observer of emergent moral patterns
1:27:54 "Opiate of the masses" as naive industrial era thinking

1:28:43 METAPHORICAL THOUGHT
1:29:11 Hyperactive agency detection module: it goes deeper
1:31:00 The brain as archetype detection organ
1:32:08 Women are nature
1:33:48 Metaphor, myth and science

1:36:00 SCIENCE AND MORAL TRUTH
1:37:52 Are all scientists devoted to the truth?
1:39:44 How do we judge if science is ethical?
1:42:57 Evil as archetypically real
1:44:06 The reality of good and evil
1:45:09 Science and mythology: which is embedded in which?

1:48:17 EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY AND DEEP TIME

1:49:13 RELIGIOUS METAPHYSICS: OPTIONAL?
1:49:20 Is God an old man with a beard in the sky?
1:51:12 Hurricane Katrina, corruption and poverty
1:52:12 The significance of the bible
1:53:43 The genius of the sacrifice

1:55:50 INTERLUDE: TRIANGULATING MEANING

1:58:02 END OF RELIGION?
1:58:02 On new atheists' claims of a secular rational future
1:58:29 On new age spirituality
1:58:49 New atheist rationalist optimism so absurd it must be motivated

1:59:18 REDUCING RELIGION VS. EXPANDING EVOLUTION
1:59:40 "[The Jungian alternative]...is terrifying [for people]"
1:59:57 "[Jung's work]...puts enlightenment thinkers to shame"
2:00:17 "Which ideas have you? ... We're like playthings of the gods"

2:01:09 JUNG: STUDYING INFORMATION, NOT MATTER
2:02:23 "If you study religion properly, it'll demolish your personality"

2:08:16 METAPHOR VS REALITY: NOT OBVIOUS
2:10:11 Ancients: phenomenologists, not scientists
2:12:24 Religion as spatial

2:13:24 HUMANS: EFFICIENT COMPLEXITY MANAGERS
2:13:48 Reality in terms of resolution
2:15:52 There's lots worse than death
2:16:46 On Becker's "The Denial of Death": smart but mistaken
2:19:40 Death's not the problem, it's complexity

2:21:06 THE MULTICULTURAL DIMENSION

2:27:35 FROM THEORY TO ACTION
2:28:40 Fixing what bugs you
2:29:30 Overcoming the lie
2:31:54 Peterson's experience with truth
2:34:45 The most powerful thing we can do

The Settlements | Gershom Gorenberg | Part II

Transliminal 2019-12-25 | Three ways to support!

Paypal: paypal.me/transliminal
Patreon (main channel): https://www.patreon.com/transliminalm...
Patreon (Zionism channel): https://www.patreon.com/zionaninvesti...

Zion--an investigation: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLh8...
Main channel: youtube.com/transliminal

***

Gerhom Goernberg is a widely acclaimed, highly accomplished journalist, author and historian of Israel and Zionism.

His latest books include:

The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977 |
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080...

The Unmaking of Israel |
https://www.amazon.com/Unmaking-Israe...

The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount |
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019...

The Settlements | Gershom Gorenberg | Part I

Transliminal 2019-04-19 | Three ways to support!

Paypal: paypal.me/transliminal
Patreon (main channel): patreon.com/transliminalmedia
Patreon (Zionism channel): patreon.com/zionaninvestigation

Zion--an investigation: youtube.com/channel/UCLh8dPQbz5xzVSmo8zqsiBw
Main channel: youtube.com/transliminal

***

Gerhom Goernberg is a widely acclaimed, highly accomplished journalist, author and historian of Israel and Zionism.

His latest books include:

The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977 |
amazon.com/gp/product/0805082417/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vamf_taft_p1_i0

The Unmaking of Israel |
amazon.com/Unmaking-Israel-Gershom-Gorenberg/dp/0061985090/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount |
amazon.com/gp/product/0195152050/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

The Roots of Existentialism (Part II) | Dr Steven Taubeneck | 2019

Transliminal 2019-02-23 | Do you find this interview valuable?

Patreon (patreon.com/transliminal) | PayPal (paypal.me/jlevbc)

If so, please subscribe, share, and considering supporting my channel ^ !

---

Here I interview popular philosophy professor Dr Steven Taubeneck, who specializes in modern European thought. Dr Taubeneck studied directly under RIchard Rorty, and has given highly acclaimed lectures in both in European Studies and philosophy departments across North America.

In Part I of this interview, we discussed the origins of existentialism as a movement, beginning with Hegel, and continuing to the likes of Kierkegaard and Dostoyevsky. (See Part I: youtu.be/g0flzyym9-Y)

Here in Part II, we move on to a discussion of Heidegger, the emergence of post-modernism, the continental-analytic split in modern philosophy, and how each of these is related.

At the end of the interview, I ask Taubeneck to recommend a small handful of readings for those interested in pursuing these ideas further. He suggests the following three pieces:

Trotsky and The Wild Orchids -- Richard Rorty:
http://cdclv.unlv.edu/pragmatism/rorty_orchids.html

Plato's 'Symposium':
http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/symposium.html

The Question Concerning Technology -- Martin Heigdegger:
simondon.ocular-witness.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/question_concerning_technology.pdf

---

*NOTE TO OTHER YOUTUBERS*:

If you wish to re-post any of this video content on your own channel, please simply contact me first to discuss terms. I'm quite reasonable.

---

The Roots of Existentialism (Part I) | Dr Steven Taubeneck | 2019

Transliminal 2019-01-26 | Do you find this interview valuable?

Patreon (patreon.com/transliminal) | PayPal (paypal.me/jlevbc)

If so, please subscribe, share, and considering supporting my channel ^ !

---

Here I interview popular philosophy professor Dr Steven Taubeneck, who specializes in modern European thought. Dr Taubeneck studied directly under RIchard Rorty, and has given highly acclaimed lectures in both in European Studies and philosophy departments across North America.

Here we talk about where existentialism as a movement came from, beginning with Hegel, and continuing to the likes of Kierkegaard and Dostoyevsky. In Part II we move on to Heidegger, the continental-analytic split, post-modernism, and more.

---

*NOTE TO OTHER YOUTUBERS*:

If you wish to re-post any of this video content on your own channel, please simply contact me first to discuss terms. I'm quite reasonable.

---

On 1948 | Ilan Pappe | Part II | 2018

Transliminal 2018-12-09 | What happened to the Palestinians when Israel declared its independence in 1948?

Was it ethnic cleansing? Chaos? Legitimate Jewish self-defense?

Prof. Ilan Pappe is perhaps the most contentious Israeli historian of this question.

Decidedly left-wing in his outlook, Pappe is both an historian, and a social activist. He's perhaps most famous for his book "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine," in which he lays out a case that the war for the creation of Israel in 1948 is best understood as an ethnic cleansing of the native Palestinian population by primarily European Jews.

Unsurprisingly, Pappe's scholarship is widely derided in Israel. Yet his work is often celebrated by many pro-Palestinian activists in the Middle East and abroad.

Pappe currently teaches history at the University of Exeter, in the UK.

This is part two of my two part interview with Pappe last summer, in Haifa.

For the contrasting academic perspective, please see my interviews with Prof Benny Morris, of Ben-Gurion University, here: goo.gl/sC5BTe

On 1948 | Ilan Pappe | Part I | 2018 interview

Transliminal 2018-09-01 | Please support this channel: patreon.com/transliminal

***

What happened to the Palestinians when Israel declared its independence in 1948?

Was it ethnic cleansing? Chaos? Legitimate Jewish self-defense?

Prof. Ilan Pappe is perhaps the most contentious Israeli historian of this question.

Decidedly left-wing in his outlook, Pappe is both an historian, and a social activist. He's perhaps most famous for his book "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine," in which he lays out a case that the war for the creation of Israel in 1948 is best understood as an ethnic cleansing of the native Palestinian population by primarily European Jews.

Unsurprisingly, Pappe's scholarship is widely derided in Israel. Yet his work is often celebrated by many pro-Palestinian activists in the Middle East and abroad.

Pappe currently teaches history at the University of Exeter, in the UK.

This is part one of my two part interview with Pappe last summer, in Haifa.

For the contrasting academic perspective, please see my interviews with Prof Benny Morris, of Ben-Gurion University, here: goo.gl/sC5BTe

***

Like this raw interview content? Want to see the pithy, captivating documentary version?

So do I!

Please support this project on Patreon, and help me convert all this material (including dozens of hours of additional raw interviews) into an informative, compelling, documentary film.

Learn more here:
patreon.com/zionaninvestigation

***

Note to other YouTubers:

Please contact me for permission before using this material on your own channels. Thank you for your understanding.

On 1948 | Benny Morris | Part II | 2018 interview

Transliminal 2018-08-01 | What happened to the Palestinians when Israel declared its independence in 1948?

Was it ethnic cleansing? Chaos? Legitimate Jewish self-defense?

Prof. Benny Morris is arguably the preeminent historian of this question.

His answers tend to upset everyone equally, which is an accomplishment when it comes to Israel & Palestine. In short, Morris' scholarship is contentious, but hugely important.

This is part two of my two part interview with Morris last summer, at his home in southern Israel.

***

Like this raw interview content? Want to see the pithy, captivating documentary version?

So do I!

Please support this project on Patreon, and help me convert all this material (including dozens of hours of additional raw interviews) into an informative, compelling, documentary film.

Learn more here:
https://www.patreon.com/zionaninvesti...

***

Note to other YouTubers:

Please contact me for permission before using this material on your own channels. Thank you for your understanding.

Big Gods & the Fabric of Society | Dr Ara Norenzayan | Spring 2018

Transliminal 2018-06-02 | Like the material? We're fan funded! Please support us on Patreon:
patreon.com/transliminal

---

Transliminal Interviews - Episode 03

Here I interview renowned social psychologist Dr Ara Norenzayan, Co-Director of UBC's Centre for Human Evolution, Cognition and Culture (www.hecc.ubc.ca) and a pioneer in the psychological study of religion.

Norenzayan's also the author of the highly acclaimed "Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict," available here: goo.gl/KyyC4T

Norenzayan's prolific work features prominently in our online MOOC, "The Science of Religion," which is available totally for free via EdX: edx.org/course/the-science-of-religion

Check it out!

---

*NOTE TO OTHER YOUTUBERS*:

If you wish to re-post any of this video content on your own channel, please simply contact me first to discuss terms. I'm quite reasonable.

---

On 1948 | Benny Morris | Part I | 2018 interview

Transliminal 2018-03-01 | (Ad-free version: youtu.be/TPWZPRsLLHM)

What happened to the Palestinians when Israel declared its independence in 1948?

Was it ethnic cleansing? Chaos? Legitimate Jewish self-defense?

Prof. Benny Morris is arguably the preeminent historian of this question.

His answers tend to upset everyone equally, which is an accomplishment when it comes to Israel & Palestine. In short, Morris' scholarship is contentious, but hugely important.

This is part one of my two part interview with Morris last summer, at his home in southern Israel.

***

Like this raw interview content? Want to see the pithy, captivating documentary version?

So do I!

Please support this project on Patreon, and help me convert all this material (including dozens of hours of additional raw interviews) into an informative, compelling, documentary film.

Learn more here:
https://www.patreon.com/zionaninvesti...

***

Note to other YouTubers:

Please contact me for permission before using this material on your own channels. Thank you for your understanding.

***

Religion & Moral Psychology | Dr Azim Shariff | Jan 2018

Transliminal 2018-01-23 | Like the material? We're fan funded! Please support us on Patreon:
patreon.com/transliminal

---

Podcast link:
soundcloud.com/transliminal/religion-moral-psychology-dr-azim-shariff-transliminal-interviews-e01

---

Transliminal Interviews - Episode 01

In this inaugural episode of the new 'Transliminal Interviews' series, I talk with psychology professor Azim Shariff about the origins of religion, morality, and how and why we make the moral judgments that we do.

Dr Shariff is a former student of Dr Jordan B Peterson, as well as a brilliant (and enviably well-published) young thinker in his own right.

To see some more, check out this sample lecture from the MOOC we made together. It's actually pretty funny, given the weightiness of the material (moral reasoning): vimeo.com/200656826/9cdbb78d26

---

Our MOOC, the Science of Religion:
edx.org/course/science-religion-ubcx-religionx

---

Links to some of the papers we discuss in the episode:

Haidt:
http://www.victorkumar.org/uploads/6/1/5/2/61526489/haidt_-_emotional_dog.pdf

Boyer and Petersen:
cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/7D84E452710ACCC6A35D49B8590B614F/S0140525X17001960a.pdf/folkeconomic_beliefs_an_evolutionary_cognitive_model.pdf

Roemer paper (We made a mistake during the podcast: it’s John Roemer, not Paul Roemer, and he’s the second author. Woojin Lee is the first):
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.414.9473&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Luttig et al paper on the racism about the mortgage assistance program:
drive.google.com/file/d/0BzCuEQv_ZRf4RGlTbGhQSW0tVDQ/view

Sznycer paper on compassion, envy and redistribution:
http://www.pnas.org/content/114/31/8420.full

Shariff et al.'s paper on punishment and free will: researchgate.net/publication/261066203_Free_to_Punish_A_Motivated_Account_of_Free_Will_Belief

---

Henrich’s Sackler talk:
youtu.be/f-unD4ZzWB4

---

Rough transcript of the captions to this interview available here:
goo.gl/ZK6JAH (Courtesy of Louise Parberry)

---

*NOTE TO OTHER YOUTUBERS*:

If you wish to re-post any of this video content on your own channel, please simply contact me first to discuss terms. I'm quite reasonable.

---

Cultural Evolution & the Origin of Faith | Dr Joseph Henrich

Transliminal 2017-01-20 | Dr Joseph Henrich explains how genes and culture have cumulatively evolved in tandem to create the human capacity for faith, and thus for biologically unprecedented development.

*CC BY NC SA*

The New Science of Religion | Series Intro | Dr Edward Slingland

Transliminal 2016-11-08 | *** | http://www.newscienceofreligion.com | ***

Dr Edward Slingerland, co-director of UBC's Centre for Human Evolution, Cognition and Culture (www.hecc.ubc.ca), introduces what it means to view reilgion from a scientific perspective.

Religious ritual video provided courtesy of Vincent Moon (www.vincentmoon.com).

***

CC BY-SA-NC

Jane Mayer on Money in US Politics (October 2016)

Transliminal 2016-10-04 | Ever feel like there are hidden forces quietly controlling the political landscape with massive amounts of cash? Well, you're not crazy.
---
Jane Mayer, investigative journalist, author of "Dark Money," and staff writer at The New Yorker, speaks to UBC's Liu Institute for Global Issues about the role of "dark money" in the US electoral system, and in the broader American public sphere.

liu.arts.ubc.ca
lindinitiative.ubc.ca
transliminalmedia.com

Gods, Morality and Cooperation (Part I) | Dr Ben Purzycki

Transliminal 2016-05-29 | Dr Benjamin Purzycki explains how the idea of a powerful, moralizing god is empirically linked with higher degrees of cooperation amongst believers.

Religion and Cooperation in Brazil | Dr Montserrat Soler

Transliminal 2016-01-05 | *** | http://www.newscienceofreligion.com | ***

Dr Montserrat Soler draws on fieldwork in Brazil to explain why people expend so much time and money on costly religious rituals.

She concludes with the difference between 'New Atheism' and the genuine scientific study of religion.

Lush audio-visuals of Brazilian religious musical rituals provided courtesy of Vincent Moon (www.vincentmoon.com).

***

CC BY-SA-NC

Belief, Identity and Sacrifice | Dr Jonathan Lanman

Transliminal 2016-01-02 | *** | http://www.newscienceofreligion.com | ***

Dr Jonathan Lanman describes surprising factors that predict whether someone will grow up to believe in god, and what makes people most likely to sacrifice themselves for their religion.

Spoiler alert: it's not doctrine.

Footage of Sufi rituals in Chechnya via Vincent Moon: http://www.vincentmoon.com

Morocco footage is from 'Exils,' by Tony Gatlif: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exils

***

CC BY-NC-SA

The New Science of Religion (intro)

Transliminal 2015-12-21 | New scientific advances are shedding fresh light on the phenomenon of religion, where it comes from, and what's made it so compelling throughout history.

Whether you're a devout believer, avowed atheist, or somewhere inbetween, the answers may surprise you.

Follow this video and podcast series, and have your mind bent in intriguing new ways.

CC BY-NC-SA