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.
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Victoria (https://www.victorialynn.me/ & https://twitter.com/incertaspecie) is an actress, film producer, writer, voiceover artist and animal activist. She has appeared in Netflix’s “Haunted”, the Comedy Central show “Nathan for You”, in various theatre productions & in the video game “Kingdom Come: Delieverance”. Victoria is an animal rights activist. She co-founded the production company Quantum Kitten. Look out for Victoria’s new Cosmic Creature app (https://www.victoria-hogan.com/cosmic-creature.
In these 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 (subscribe!) https://youtu.be/VKhii84yh5E.
We discuss:
– Victoria’s life in the performing arts & animal activism
– Holding the concept of reality lightly
– Our own experience as central to our reality
– We’re not fully conscious of much that we do
– Growing up Christian. Believing in god, praying
– Ditching religion at 10-11 yrs
– Being an angry, anti-Christian atheist in early teens
– Rejecting the homophobia & freedom restrictions of Christianity
– Exploring spirituality, Wicca, Buddhism, Hinduism and holding them all as loosely true or real
– Re-visiting some Christian concepts and finding it less troubling, while still rejecting where it conflicts with equality
– The risks of solipsism. Giving up on knowing
– Being sceptical even of our own perceptions and rationality
– Can people have separate personal “truths” and still understand each other and collaborate?
– The path from formal religion to “angry atheism” to a broader spirituality or a more humble naturalism
– Is there “A divine source we are working our way towards”?
– Does a broader spirituality warp compassionate ethics less than the idea of god as a being?
– The role of intuition
– “Most people I encounter are kind”
– The bizarre admission of: “Without religion – what’s stopping us from looting and murdering?”
– “Is religion really all that keeps you from murdering?”
– How much wrong comes from ignorance rather than intention (e.g. animal farming)
– Most religious people are more compassionate than their gods or religious books. Which is why most don’t follow the books
– Maybe religion doesn’t influence ethics that much for good or ill
– Grounding morality in the experiences of others (or something else)?
– Having a very intense, ineffable psychedelic experience using DMT: The universe is relatively indifferent. Nature is sometimes cruel and sometimes kind. The universe values creation (e.g. having a child). The universe wants to exist. Suffering leads to destruction. Nurturing leads to life, flourishing and new creation
– And more (see Sentientism.info for full show notes)
Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at https://sentientism.info/.
Join our “wall” https://sentientism.info/wall/ using this form: https://sentientism.info/im-a-sentientist.
Everyone interested, Sentientist or not, is welcome to join our groups. Our main one is on FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/groups/sentientism.
Thanks, Graham for the post-production: https://twitter.com/cgbessellieu.
Julie is an author, artist and animal activist. In these 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 …continue
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Raffael Fasel is University Assistant Professor in Public Law at the Cambridge Law Faculty and Fellow of Jesus College. He specialises in public law, with a particular interest in constitutional theory, human rights law, and animal rights law. Raffael is …continue
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Isabella La Rocca Gonzalez is an artist, writer, photographer, teacher and activist. She describes her work as “part of a long tradition in art and photography: to bring to light and find beauty in the hidden, unconscious, or disregarded. As …continue
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