We discuss the biggest questions: "what's real?", "who matters?" and "how to make a better world?" with scientists, celebrities, activists, writers and philosophers. The Sentientism worldview is "evidence, reason and compassion for all sentient beings." It's a simple, yet radical, philosophy that's grounded in reality (naturalistic epistemology) and has compassion for all sentient beings (mostly human and non-human animals). Naturalism & sentiocentrism combined.
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcast | Website | Spotify | RSS
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.
Nandita is the ED of Population Balance which works to address the impacts of human overpopulation & overconsumption on the planet, people & animals. As faculty with the Institute for Humane Education, Nandita teaches a course “Pronatalism & Overpopulation” about …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 30 November 2021
Tom Cledwyn describes himself as the “chief emailer” at Drop Dead Generous (he’s actually the co-founder). Inspired by Chris Anderson’s (of TED) book, “Infectious Generosity”, Tom and his co-founder John Sweeney set up DDG as an experiment in sparking creative, …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 21 September 2025
Jack Waverley is a senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Manchester. He uses marketing and consumer research to protect and promote the interests of all animals, including humans. Jack teaches on a range of BSc and MSc courses …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 6 September 2025
