A Golden Age for Assholes (Episode  

We perceive others from the level we are at. I am at the level where the illusions of individuals is a concept. A horrible one. Theres no point meditating unless its an attempt to stay in meditation. Looking to a puppet for hope or calling non puppets ..A holes is a sorry state to live in. The problem with your world is that you think it matters

Paraphrased maybe from Yeats "the second coming"-"the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity" he was referencing ww1 I believe.

Ahh, yes ... and Joe Biden has NO doubts whatsoever. Sweet! LOL - @NotFlexing

​@@scotthullinger4684And in steps an example of who Sam is talking about.

@@imacmill - Based on specifically WHAT? Name it. Yes, name it.

​@@passiveactionAgree, humans are in the hands of the tech god and captured in the illusion it is a good god.

Why not blame both the narcissist and the enabler?

“My hate is general, I detest all men; Some because they are wicked and do evil, Others because they tolerate the wicked, Refusing them the active vigorous scorn Which vice should stimulate in virtuous minds.” ― Moliere, The Misanthrope

@@gordonbgraham “Looks like we’ve got another mystery on our hands.” - Fred Jones

blame both

Like the babies in the basement

@@jonhelguson yawn, even if I grant you it was a weird comment and probably not the best way of making the point he was trying to make, does that really undo any of the moral claims we can make about Trump based on obvious evidence?

@@jonhelguson get over it dude

Obvious evidence. 😂 there you go. It’s done

@@favourites4 Nothing Sam says about Trump exculpates Trump. The point is that Sam does not care when it's his team behaving like assholes. It's pure Schmittian friend/enemy distinction. I accept that politicians are imperfect vessels for political goals, and I don't look at my political opponents as necessarily bad because they chose Biden, whose moral failings we can go through if you want.

Like is a great honor.

Sam and the left as usual completely ignore that the left created Trump, He also ignores the fact that even women, LGB and other left-wing groups are speaking out about extreme left ideology. He ignores the destruction of free speech. He ignores the fact that the mainstream media's reputation has been destroyed and the role of the media has been destroyed. The media has historically been the institution that questions power and holds politicians to account, Now the mainstream media is the propaganda arm of the Democrat party, News and media's role has changed from holding politicians to account, to protecting those in power and running propaganda to protect them 24/7

I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it. Edith Sitwell

@@insinserious It would if he lacked it.

Americans are the simplest people i swear WOOOOW THIS SUPER BASIC PLATTITUDE IS SOOOOO DEEP

Pretty sure Sam Harris wouldn't know Buddha hood if it came up and bit him in the ass.

I didn't listen to it coz I don't believe in the BS of anyone but the first truth that buddha taught was "life is suffering" which basically means 'life is sh!t"....people who cruise and are in peace and bliss don't compete and fight and stress in the sh!t for crumbs...they get out of it and go live on the land growing their own food and living simply...I've always said buddhism is a polite way to say "fck the world" because we dont stay in the sh!t we get out of it for peace...the most peaceful people live in nature and have very little or no dealings with people and it's how the extremely rich live too...private lives with big high fences to keep people out and very few contacts...like semi recluse lifestyles...it's what monks do too...they build thick high concrete walls around the temple and have big iron gates to lock each evening to keep random assholes out...I'd say the happiest people on this planet are misanthropists...not hating people but just not needing them...when there is a rich spiritual life to explore and one spends several hours in meditation each day often having out of body experience (astral travel) one lives more in the spirit world than physical world

​@@sasa-ix9ydI agree with most of your words. Except the spirit world. The spirit world is the world in your head, the fantasy of the mind. Which could be much better place than reality.

There are many problems with your position. First, life is suffering as a statement of western pessimism is a bad mistranslation of the concept 'dukkha'. Buddhism at its philosophical apotheosis produces the notion of the bodhisattva- the man who has one foot in nirvana and one foot in samsara (the so called "fucked world") and realizes that nirvana IS samsara, that the thing he thought was awful was actually ideal all along, it was his wrong seeing or ignorance that was the problem. The bodhisattva will not transcend this plane until he has enlightened all other beings first. What you're describing IS true samsara, a "fleeing the difficulty of the world" that only CREATES the difficulty of the world. And using meditation as a way to silo yourself from pain and difficulty "because people suck" is absolutely the opposite of the spirit of the whole Buddhist project, not to say we should all hang out in crackhouses all day. But we must live in society and tend to it, otherwise it will quickly become impossible to live in isolation in the woods, because they'll all be razed by nuclear fire. There is no escape, we must fight@@sasa-ix9yd

@@saulkorzenecki hmm...opinion is asshole..we all got one...no need to label myself as anything but u could call me 'misanthropic'...aside from relativistic and subjective judgements or measurements of good or bad or right or wrong or true or false which are illusion anyway because anything goes in a world in which everything is anything u wanna make it out to be..my view is just my view...some will agree and some will disagree but reality is life is pointless and meaningless and and the highest understanding is nothing is happening and nothing exists....I see your point about the boddhisatva helping people but it is my understanding that step is not required for buddhahood...plenty of buddhas have gone to live alone in a cave living on only a small amount of food each day and either had little or no contacts with anyone and attained buddhahood...it does not require work or service as u may think...just letting go of all desires and spending several hours in meditation each day and the karma which forms the spirit body disipates more and more until the arahant has no soul or individual spirit body due to existing in everything everywhere which is nothingness..his spirit is the infinite essence...the akasha in which everything seems to exist...as we know nothing is not simply nothing it is one thing or power which is two things (dualism) which is everything (endless multiplicity of details) which is nothing...therefore everything is nothing and nothing is everything...I acknowledge the path of the boddhisatva in buddhism but it is by no means a requirement for buddhahood (non returner with no next life) ...due to their past karma some people have taken on the role of boddhisatva and also due to their karma some have literally said "fck the world" and gone to have thousands of hours of samadhi in a cave and become arahants...as for fighting hmm...the monk does not need to fight...in thailand the military protect the monks...the rough tough and brutal guys will protect the calm peaceful guys...often a rich man will take security guards with him who will forcefully handle anyone who threatens the saftey of rich man...how many soldiers in battles have killed and died to protect kings? or a royal family?...let the fighting take place how it will we need not be busy with that...many asians have a mentality of laying low and not wanting to get involved and they get attacked in western nations...I see it...many attacks by black americans on asians seen as weak and easy targets...what can be said...they need to be packing heat...they need a gun for protection...for the monk calling on angels and various deities for protection they can even stop a gun from firing which has been proven a lot in thailand and also cambodia...lord buddha did not teach about all the magical stuff...animist practices that our ancestors joined with buddhist katas or mantras for amazing results...it's a whole other topic how an individual can be protected by unseen forces connected to a blessed amulet or takrut which will cause physical harm to an attacker such as sudden weakness in body or decision to walk away or even heart attack and death if the person persists with their attack...I will state that spiritual men and warriors have always had a connection...oftentimes the warrior who had killed many became a peacful soul of meditation in later years...sometimes the spiritual man with special abilites has left the monkhood to resume killing people again...people are busy creating karma that is their road...those who want to get off the road can do so with some guidance...its all happening and there are really no rules but the ones we convince ourselves to believe or the ones others created to influence us and manipulate and control us for various reasons

@@saviormoney. Or you got fooled by a politician

@@stanleyalanSam is a smug arrogant asshole who can’t admit when he’s wrong. He was wrong on Covid vaccines and he was wrong on censorship. This is Sam’s ego having a tantrum.

@@gordonbgraham But Sam would have been right if Covid had been worse or if masks had worked better or if vaccines had worked better blah blah blah.

​@@samdg1234You fundamentally misunderstand the point he was making in the speech of his you just referenced.

​@@michaelneufeld4515really? What was the point? All those actions would have been justified if everything was different than it was?

I might be wrong but buddha (atleast guatama) was described as pretty apathetic yet compassionate

​@@levisnotjeansYeah read Buddha's statement about women Real compassion right there😂

@@deeznutz8320 What statement?

i cant wait for the meme!

Take a drink, every time he says assholes…

Pity that subtitled seem to be so pc that it's just omitted.

YES ! 😅😊

@@tinatrottier582 😭😭😭

Elegant, humerus and very spot on. Thank you Sam!

Does being a smug arrogant narcissist who can't admit when he's wrong qualify Sam as an asshole?

That doesn't help if he couldn't hit a barndoor.

@@Galdring Yeah, "hits it out of the park" foul

*You cannot possibly serious, mate. As an atheist, I used to like the ole' Sam Harris that would debate William Lane Craig or the one who would tried to educate twerps like Ben Afleck on the "Real Time with Bill Maher" show (see: Bill Maher and Sam Harris vs. Ben Afleck). But, for someone who claims to care about TRUTH and SCIENCE -- he's conveniently quiet when it comes the one of the biggest A-holes (to use his preferred word here) of our time: That is Dylan Mulvaney -- a the one who appropriates womanhood, farcically advertises "tampons" on social media (yeah tampons), and makes millions of dollars whilst still swinging his MALE genitalia for laughs and giggles. Where is Sam Harris to call out such a monumental A-hole? At least Richard Dawkins has the guts to explain biology and debunk the garbage peddled by Mulvaney and his kind. Again, Harris is conveniently quiet. Why is that? Because he's a coward who is scared of getting "canceled" for speaking the truth. And in my book -- than not only makes Harris the A-hole -- it makes him a coward and intellectually dishonest.*

Sam's podcasts make best lullabies..

Lol. That's right.

This is a weirdly sycophantic comment but I agree that Sam is boring enough for it to work.

It's funny how lefties believe they have morals that should be emulated. All I see is fake elitism.

@@macdietz yeah intelligence is boring to the dumb.

It seemed to get better- thanks for confirming that. I just wish he would have released it with those last 3 minutes as a kind of PSA rather than paywalling it.

⁠@@AndyAckeryeah, PSA woulda been nice, I agree. But t'was super easy to "apply" for the free subscription. And so now I'm set to hear other future goodies beyond the paywall.

Pithy and potent are great distillations of Sam’s take on these themes-sorta pithy and potent yourself in a comically redundant way😂

why is there elon musk in there ? did sam also talk about elon too ?

@@darthvader1793 Elon Musk is another Trump only he actually has money.

Notice how Sammy ignores his Jewish buddies from the ADL True tribal nose moment

"wrapping my head around the ability to describe " Trying to be polite. :-)

​@@bakedbean37No, the quotation marks aren't strictly necessary and if one so chooses to use them, they would only be applied to the clause "wrapping my head" because it is the only part of the sentence that is metaphorical

@@madallas_mons "the "quotation" marks " Are there to make it clear what is being responded to.

literally same

Bruh Imagine being 40 years old and having trouble to describe basic morality😂

Yes Sam does suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, that is why he is incapable of admitting when he is wrong. Sam Harris logic- If everything was different right, I would not be wrong right, and since eveything could be different right, I am correct right. Somone suffering from NPD is incapable of admitting when they are wrong.

A narcissist is, by defenition, an asshole. An asshole isnt by defenition an narcissist...

You sure are@@ikik3406

Sam needs to look in the mirror too😭

but the way Sam is describing an asshole...thats pretty much a narcissist @@ikik3406

🏆

INDEED.

Nice poem, I can't place the author. Could you tell me? I would like to read it in full, thanks.

I wrote it specifically about Trump

I kept it short. That's all there is.

@@ryanbooth2666very well written nice work

@@ryanbooth2666 FYI Clinton was a far worse president & human being but the Left always looks the other way when it's one of their own.

So many in our society have fallen victim to praising the asshole. It does speak to who they are. And they don't seem to care. As said elsewhere, "cruelty is the point". It's sad to witness the crumbling of society. Yet the proponents of social media never mention the dark side of inflicting hate behind the digital curtain.

​@@davidsalo8397quit crying Notice how society is falling with Atheïsm on the rise😂 No correlation

Same. In a bizarre sort of way Donald Trump probably saved my life: tuning in to his repulsive narcissistic qualities actually made me realize there was a person in my midst who shared a lot of those same qualities and that realization shocked me into ending that non-relationship before it very likely would have destroyed me, as it did his previous wife. Life is strange.

Ah but, what about Boris Johnson, the King of the World?

Great comment. You really have me for for thought. . I've learned so much about how to recognize narcissists from observing Trump. I didn't realize how many people I know that are narcissistic.

Trump represents where I end. It is often said "The world is a mirror". We see what we like and dislike about ourselves reflected back through the actions of others. An avatar of personality like Trump shows me what I am not, but he also represents what a lot of people feel. Trump and others like him remind me how I never want to be: egotistic, childish, selfish behavior, full of hatred, racist to the core, seeking power regardless of how it affects others. He also reminds me how I strive to be the opposite: kind, compassionate, own my mistakes, inclusive of others regardless of differences, even his. The motivation for power is an energy that has alluded me, so I can't speak on what that motivation is or feels like. Perhaps that hunger for power is what causes these personality traits to intensify, similar to symptoms of a disease. Those people seeking power over others feel like a different species to me at this point.

Did you ever realize how many public figures, politicians are narcissists? Look around at global leaders. Trump is in his element.

Greatest thinkers of our time MY FUCKING GOD THIS IS SAD😂

Great idea

And also a video about Muslims leaving Islam because of it's fallacies.

Islam is superior in its nature bro, this is why its gathering a lot of attraction lately

​@@Dakapponit's not superior, its barbaric and since social media is making people more and more hollow and apathetic from inside, islam seems to appeal to them more and more.

@@Dakappon That's certainly not true and very arrogant to think that. Clearly I can tell you probably have a deficit in your education just by making that remark. Therefore let me ask you some logical questions about your belief system: If you were born into a strict different religious family would you still hold the same beliefs? How do you know the God you are believing in is the right one and all the other religious divinities are wrong? If God is omnipotent, why do children get born only to suffer and die at an early age, of which is unattached to free will? If there is a god why did he/she create the dinosaurs and then destroy them, did he/she make a mistake? If you can answer these questions appropriately, I may be able to have an intellectual conversation with you...

Clever people can cover a multitude of issues….he’s not a one trick pony!

Sam has opinions on more than one subject? Truly mysterious

😂😂😂😂

Absolutely true.. hate when heroes are revealed as zeroes

Maybe I've found the first non-politically motivated criticism. I'm asking people because I'm curious: Do you dislike Sam Harris and also condemn Donald Trump as fundamentally negative influence in the world? I can't find people who dislike both and it makes me suspect that a lot of the negativity is politically motivated.

assholery...assholism ..assholedom

Yeah he gave ukrain starlink free and at the most crucial time

Also, 4. There's the important issue of how all this began and the patriarchal nepotism (ie. the boys club) that has caused the proliferation of promoting assholes, narcissists, and sociopaths into power over the last 250 years, culminating in the 1980s to the pinnacle of assholery, hence the environment that produced Trump and Musk et al.

Asshole and politeness are not two ends of a spectrum, so your comment is gibberish.

@@Kwistenbiebel200 Over your head. Do you not understand what a "spectrum" is? Let me help you out. Southern racists are the most polite people you'll ever meet -- bless their bigoted hearts. But they are assholes. I'll take a impolite person who works to help others over a polite r-dneck anyday. Ps Trump is the worst combination: Both vulgar/boorish (impolite) and an asshole.

​@@Kwistenbiebel200 How so?

Like. Sam Harris

I think you mean, "couldn't agree *more"*

Big time. I'd say 10 would make a dent!

Apart from if you’re a Palestinian

Have you paid attention to how Elon makes horrible statements or supports wrong-headed opinions and never issues a mea culpa? The dude that attacked Pelosi's husband for instance. He is 100% on target to point out that Elon now considers himself beyond feeling shame b/c he has millions saying "YES You are RIGHT! Don't listen to the woke cucks" ...

agreed

Elon lost the plot when he started calling for Fauci to be imprisoned. He's a crackpot partisan hack

But he didn't have the balls to mention his name.

@@tcorourke2007 Yes he did.

Ha ha.... Sam Harris has reclaimed his own Ass-hole-hood.

Sam has a chronic habit to associate with the worst people, whom he then calls friends. 🙈 his otherwise mostly keen insight, seems to be curiously impaired in this regard..

I'm curious. I have never seen anyone criticise Sam Harris who also condemns Trump as a fundamentally negative influence in the world. Do you agree that Trump is terrible and are able to express that? I'm just interested to see if there is anyone who dislikes both Sam and Trump as it seems like there is a political motivation for practically all of the negative comments.

​@@horsebatteryI don't like Trump. In both the 2016 and 2020 elections he said basically either I win or you cheated. While the votes were being counted for the 2020 election, he said that he won and that they should stop counting ballots. Imo he should no longer be eligible to run for government office after saying that. He crossed the line into dictator territory. Saying the vote shouldn't be counted is a direct threat to democracy. Shameful . I used to like Sam. Now I don't like him because he cancels friends who he doesn't agree with despite saying he likes to have conversations about difficult subjects. His take on the hunter Biden laptop was ridiculous. His argument that if covid was worse, if the vaccines were perfect, then how stupid would RFK and Brett Weinstein look was maybe the dumbest argument I've ever heard.

@@horsebattery It's not political, it's a moral difference. I don't see a problem with someone being "too honest" the way Trump is, but when Sam says, that Trump winning is something that has to be stopped at the cost of democracy, then I am seriously vorried.

Trump is a threat to democracy. He claimed election fraud and continued to claim it despite losing dozens of legal challenges. His fraudulent claims were subject to the most rigorous epistemological tests, findings indicated he was factually incorrect, and he continued to maintain his lies. That is the opposite of honest.. That is an obvious power-hungry liar lying obviously. Anyone who continues to support that individual has lost all credibility. But that's not what I am searching for. I know Sam's detractors are overwhelmingly Trump supporters. I'm looking for people who have other reasons. They seem to be few and far between.

@@horsebattery I agree with Sam 100% about Trump and I used to have a very high opinion of Sam. But not anymore. So there you have it.

the intelligence of supporting a literal oldf olks home patient destroying the world and escalating towards nuclear war, over thebest presiden in modern history because the guy was mean on twitter

We live in an age where "polite" people want to give puberty blockers to pre-teens, and "polite" people have made once beautiful cities into unlivable, dirty, crime-infested zoos, but Trump? You're despicable. Sam is despicable.

Ahhh yes, accuse someone of the nonsense term "TDS" instead of any actual introspection

Yes... look closely at 'brings you back in'... that's what toxic narcissists do

Can’t imagine being slow enough to actually believe this. That would mean nobody can call out anybody for anything. Children that have been abused know *exactly* what an abuser looks like, and yet by your “logic” only another abuser can know what another abuser looks like? Only liars can detect liars? Only pedos can detect pedos? Did I have to become a teacher to know that my teachers were teachers? When Sam said assholes have a perfect retort to any and all appeals to moral highground, he was talking about you

Saying a-hole does it for you?

Well said. Sometimes good people get caught up in assholeism too

Yes, it is highly partisan. We are still in an echo chamber, and the lack of critique or introspection is no different here than in the echo chambers being condemned.

“Psychopaths also exist in addition to assholes” very insightful analysis

Yeah, that's what arrogance does. He has bad TDS.

Nailed it.

I'm not sure which instances you are referring to, but in this specific episode there is no "argument" to be made, in the sense that there's no opposing thesis to argue against. Here, he is simply articulating his definition of what constitutes an "asshole", what are their defining characteristics, observing how certain influential public figures in our society fit that characterisation, and opining on how they are able to appeal to and capture a wide audience.

​@@sennsita01 It's a general pattern of his. I started noticing it a while ago, but kind of accepted it before he went off the rails. I've been following Sam peripherally for some twenty years now. He still speaks with the certainty of someone who thinks he's the only adult in the room, even though pretty much every intellectual is just... flabbergasted with him at this point. Some find it funny, but I gotta say... I'm frustrated. I'm not partisan, I'm not even American, I'm just disappointed that the man has lost all rationality and integrity. Those used to be his trademarks. He's nothing now.

That's because stands on nothing and goes where the wind blows

No one is better than you, bro!

Just play it at 0.75 speed

lol@@pluto9000

haha@@pluto9000

Choosers and beggars…

Yes. They are doing it to “own” you. The rush comes from that power. It’s bullying.

Except is Musk really an A-hole?

@@queerasaclockworkorangehor1776 Definitely yes, I liked him before he bought twitter but since then he's become a right wing q-anon grifter. Which sucks cause he Tesla and Space X are great.

Sam Harris should point fingers. He said Hunter Biden could have corpses of dead children in his basement and he wouldn't care.

@@omnigladius999 what q anon viewpoints does he have? taking the side against this sen il old folks home patient destroying the country and escalating towards nuclear war?

or perhaps it was thinking it was outrageous that 52 deep state actors signed onto a letter they knew was false, because the feds had full access to the laptop, and orchestrated a censoring that then proved to had changed the course of an electio? the bar of what it takes to be a q person keeps being lowered@@omnigladius999

@@saviormoney. in god's name, give us a break will ya.

@@saviormoney.oh look, another “asshole” who admires other assholes 😂

@@saviormoney.also, I like how people like you never have the balls to write your own comments on videos like these… you can only manage to respond to others comments with knee jerk contrarianism, without any thoughts of your own.