256. Psychedelics, Consciousness, and AI | Richard Dawkins

Dr. Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist, theorist, and one of the world’s foremost atheists.In this episode, Dr. Dawkins and I discuss religion, psychedelics, consciousness, symbolism, postmodernism, and the importance of objective truth.Links:To follow Dawkins on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RichardDawkinsWebsite: https://richarddawkins.com/Read Dawkins’ articles: https://richarddawkins.com/articlesTo donate to the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science: https://richarddawkins.net/donate/Show Notes:[0:00] Intro[1:30] Jordan’s rise to fame, Bill C-16, and Free Speech[5:30] Intimidation and fear of speaking out against the far left[9:10] Micro retreats[11:40] Dawkins’ paper about the organism as a model[18:30] Female sexual selection[21:10] Differences between Jordan and Dr. Dawkins' thinking[24:00] Jeffrey Gray, his work on modeling, Psychedelics, and Anxiety[30:00] Psychedelics, Symbolism, and Consciousness[41:00] Jordan’s experiences with psilocybin and yoga[45:40] Postmodernism, Lacan, Foucault, and Mikhaila’s Oxford Union debate[52:30] Jordan addresses Dawkins' assertion that despite being against postmodernist thinking he at times utilizes symbolism to speculate in a way which is similar to them.[53:50] Finding commonality between myths and symbols across cultures[55:50] False pattern recognition and revelatory thoughts[59:20] Objective truth and the scientific process[1:07:10] Unpleasant or dangerous truths[1:08:10] The metaphysical vision of the redeeming power of truth[1:10:10] Jordan and Dawkins discuss the idea that a narrative drives the process of inquiry, even in regards to objective truth[1:12:50] Humans’ ability to understand difficult concepts on a biological level[1:16:10] Question: Do you identify the religious impulse or even the religious phenomenon with the totalitarian proclivity for dogmatic certainty and the potential acceleration of aggression and atrocity as a consequence?[1:20:10] Question: To what degree do you think that consciousness operates as a fundamental mechanism of selection and shaping?[1:23:00] Artificial intelligence and the metaphysical significance of consciousness