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The Moral Landscape
How Science Can Determine Human Values
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Narrated by:
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Sam Harris
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Written by:
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Sam Harris
About this listen
Sam Harris’s first book, The End of Faith, ignited a worldwide debate about the validity of religion. In the aftermath, Harris discovered that most people—from religious fundamentalists to nonbelieving scientists—agree on one point: science has nothing to say on the subject of human values. Indeed, our failure to address questions of meaning and morality through science has now become the most common justification for religious faith. It is also the primary reason why so many secularists and religious moderates feel obligated to "respect" the hardened superstitions of their more devout neighbors.
In this explosive new book, Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a "moral landscape". Because there are definite facts to be known about where we fall on this landscape, Harris foresees a time when science will no longer limit itself to merely describing what people do in the name of "morality"; in principle, science should be able to tell us what we ought to do to live the best lives possible.
Bringing a fresh perspective to age-old questions of right and wrong and good and evil, Harris demonstrates that we already know enough about the human brain and its relationship to events in the world to say that there are right and wrong answers to the most pressing questions of human life. Because such answers exist, moral relativism is simply false—and comes at increasing cost to humanity. And the intrusions of religion into the sphere of human values can be finally repelled: for just as there is no such thing as Christian physics or Muslim algebra, there can be no Christian or Muslim morality.
©2010 Sam Harris (P)2010 Simon & Schuster, Inc.You may also enjoy...
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The End of Faith
- Written by: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Brian Emerson
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Here is an impassioned plea for reason in a world divided by faith. This important and timely work delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes.
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Audiobook narration is so bad that I can’t even listen
- By Gunnar Nelson on 2021-04-12
Written by: Sam Harris
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Free Will
- Written by: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 1 hr and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion.
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expected more
- By Bill on 2023-01-21
Written by: Sam Harris
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Making Sense
- Conversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity
- Written by: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris, David Chalmers, David Deutsch, and others
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Sam Harris—neuroscientist, philosopher, and bestselling author—has been exploring some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events on his podcast, Making Sense. For Harris, honest conversation, no matter how difficult or controversial, represents the only path to moral and intellectual progress. This audiobook includes talks with Daniel Kahneman, Timothy Snyder, Nick Bostrom, and Glen Loury, on topics that range from the nature of consciousness and free will, to politics and extremism, to living ethically.
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Great Guests from the Podcast
- By Dad, fitness enthusiast, digital media guy on 2022-07-13
Written by: Sam Harris
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Waking Up
- A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
- Written by: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From multiple New York Times best-selling author, neuroscientist, and "new atheist" Sam Harris, Waking Up is for the 30 percent of Americans who follow no religion, but who suspect that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history could not have all been epileptics, schizophrenics, or frauds.
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life changing
- By srwatson on 2018-06-26
Written by: Sam Harris
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Lying
- Written by: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
As it was in Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and Othello, so it is in life. Most forms of private vice and public evil are kindled and sustained by lies. Acts of adultery and other personal betrayals, financial fraud, government corruption - even murder and genocide - generally require an additional moral defect: a willingness to lie. In Lying, bestselling author and neuroscientist Sam Harris argues that we can radically simplify our lives and improve society by merely telling the truth in situations where others often lie.
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Sam does an amazing job of explaining lies.
- By Doug Chumley on 2019-06-21
Written by: Sam Harris
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Islam and the Future of Tolerance
- A Dialogue
- Written by: Maajid Nawaz, Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris, Maajid Nawaz
- Length: 3 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In this short book, Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz invite you to join an urgently needed conversation: Is Islam a religion of peace or war? Is it amenable to reform? Why do so many Muslims seem drawn to extremism? What do words like Islamism, jihadism, and fundamentalism mean in today's world? Remarkable for the breadth and depth of its analysis, this dialogue between a famous atheist and a former radical is all the more startling for its decorum. Harris and Nawaz have produced something genuinely new: they engage one of the most polarizing issues of our time - fearlessly and fully - and actually make progress.
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Must read for all Muslims
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-02-11
Written by: Maajid Nawaz, and others
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The End of Faith
- Written by: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Brian Emerson
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is an impassioned plea for reason in a world divided by faith. This important and timely work delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes.
-
-
Audiobook narration is so bad that I can’t even listen
- By Gunnar Nelson on 2021-04-12
Written by: Sam Harris
-
Free Will
- Written by: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 1 hr and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion.
-
-
expected more
- By Bill on 2023-01-21
Written by: Sam Harris
-
Making Sense
- Conversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity
- Written by: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris, David Chalmers, David Deutsch, and others
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam Harris—neuroscientist, philosopher, and bestselling author—has been exploring some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events on his podcast, Making Sense. For Harris, honest conversation, no matter how difficult or controversial, represents the only path to moral and intellectual progress. This audiobook includes talks with Daniel Kahneman, Timothy Snyder, Nick Bostrom, and Glen Loury, on topics that range from the nature of consciousness and free will, to politics and extremism, to living ethically.
-
-
Great Guests from the Podcast
- By Dad, fitness enthusiast, digital media guy on 2022-07-13
Written by: Sam Harris
-
Waking Up
- A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
- Written by: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From multiple New York Times best-selling author, neuroscientist, and "new atheist" Sam Harris, Waking Up is for the 30 percent of Americans who follow no religion, but who suspect that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history could not have all been epileptics, schizophrenics, or frauds.
-
-
life changing
- By srwatson on 2018-06-26
Written by: Sam Harris
-
Lying
- Written by: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As it was in Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and Othello, so it is in life. Most forms of private vice and public evil are kindled and sustained by lies. Acts of adultery and other personal betrayals, financial fraud, government corruption - even murder and genocide - generally require an additional moral defect: a willingness to lie. In Lying, bestselling author and neuroscientist Sam Harris argues that we can radically simplify our lives and improve society by merely telling the truth in situations where others often lie.
-
-
Sam does an amazing job of explaining lies.
- By Doug Chumley on 2019-06-21
Written by: Sam Harris
-
Islam and the Future of Tolerance
- A Dialogue
- Written by: Maajid Nawaz, Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris, Maajid Nawaz
- Length: 3 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this short book, Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz invite you to join an urgently needed conversation: Is Islam a religion of peace or war? Is it amenable to reform? Why do so many Muslims seem drawn to extremism? What do words like Islamism, jihadism, and fundamentalism mean in today's world? Remarkable for the breadth and depth of its analysis, this dialogue between a famous atheist and a former radical is all the more startling for its decorum. Harris and Nawaz have produced something genuinely new: they engage one of the most polarizing issues of our time - fearlessly and fully - and actually make progress.
-
-
Must read for all Muslims
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-02-11
Written by: Maajid Nawaz, and others
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Letter to a Christian Nation
- Written by: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Jordan Bridges
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
"Forty-four percent of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next 50 years," writes Sam Harris. "Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this...should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency."
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I expected more from him.
- By Igortskii on 2019-02-14
Written by: Sam Harris
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The Four Horsemen
- The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution
- Written by: Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and others
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett, Sam Harris, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 2007, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett filmed a landmark discussion about modern atheism. The video went viral. Now, the transcript of their conversation is illuminated by new essays from three of the original participants and an introduction by Stephen Fry.
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Just watch it on YouTube.
- By James Cooper on 2019-06-22
Written by: Christopher Hitchens, and others
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Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- Written by: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
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A Perspective Changing Book
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-10-26
Written by: Robert M. Sapolsky
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Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens
- Written by: Christopher Hitchens
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 28 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The first new collection of essays by Christopher Hitchens since 2004, Arguably offers an indispensable key to understanding the passionate and skeptical spirit of one of our most dazzling writers, widely admired for the clarity of his style, a result of his disciplined and candid thinking. Topics range from ruminations on why Charles Dickens was among the best of writers and the worst of men to the enduring legacies of Thomas Jefferson and George Orwell.
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Read anything written by Christopher Hitchens
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-09-19
Written by: Christopher Hitchens
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On Having No Head
- Written by: Douglas Edison Harding
- Narrated by: Richard Lang
- Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
'Reason and imagination and all mental chatter died down... I forgot my name, my humanness, my thingness, all that could be called me or mine. Past and future dropped away... Lighter than air, clearer than glass, altogether released from myself, I was nowhere around.' Thus Douglas Harding describes his first experience of headlessness, or no self. First published in 1961, this is a classic work which conveys the experience that mystics of all times have tried to put words to.
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Too poetic
- By Gustavo Faria on 2023-06-30
Written by: Douglas Edison Harding
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Reasons and Persons
- Written by: Derek Parfit
- Narrated by: Peter Batchelor
- Length: 29 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Challenging, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity, Parfit claims that we have a false view about our own nature. It is often rational to act against our own best interests, he argues, and most of us have moral views that are self-defeating. We often act wrongly, although we know there will be no one with serious grounds for complaint, and when we consider future generations it is very hard to avoid conclusions that most of us will find very disturbing.
Written by: Derek Parfit
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The Selfish Gene
- Written by: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands to rethink their beliefs about life.
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Life changing book
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-07-25
Written by: Richard Dawkins
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The Greatest Show on Earth
- The Evidence for Evolution
- Written by: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Greatest Show on Earth is a stunning counterattack on advocates of "Intelligent Design," explaining the evidence for evolution while exposing the absurdities of the creationist "argument". Dawkins sifts through rich layers of scientific evidence: from living examples of natural selection to clues in the fossil record; from natural clocks that mark the vast epochs wherein evolution ran its course to the intricacies of developing embryos; from plate tectonics to molecular genetics.
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Outstanding Book
- By Barry Mc donnell on 2024-10-24
Written by: Richard Dawkins
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Rationality
- What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters
- Written by: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the 21st century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding - and at the same time appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that developed vaccines for COVID-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, medical quackery, and conspiracy theorizing? Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are an irrational species - cavemen out of time saddled with biases, fallacies, and illusions.
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Dull and Underwhelming .
- By Kindle Customer on 2021-10-21
Written by: Steven Pinker
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Christianity Made Me Talk Like an Idiot
- Written by: Seth Andrews
- Narrated by: Seth Andrews
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Seth Andrews wasn't an idiot during his 30 years as an evangelical Christian. He wasn't unintelligent, nor did his IQ shift when he ultimately left religion entirely. He considered himself thoughtful, moral, reasonable, and at least as smart as the average person. In other words, he wasn't an idiot. Yet strangely, he often sounded like one.
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Enjoyed this!
- By MNY on 2024-04-25
Written by: Seth Andrews
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How the Mind Works
- Written by: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 26 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In this delightful, acclaimed bestseller, one of the world’s leading cognitive scientists tackles the workings of the human mind. What makes us rational—and why are we so often irrational? How do we see in three dimensions? What makes us happy, afraid, angry, disgusted, or sexually aroused? Why do we fall in love? And how do we grapple with the imponderables of morality, religion, and consciousness?
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great, but slow at times
- By ben kuzmich on 2018-07-07
Written by: Steven Pinker
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The Better Angels of Our Nature
- Why Violence Has Declined
- Written by: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 36 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence.
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Better read than listened to
- By Mike Reiter on 2018-01-02
Written by: Steven Pinker
What the critics say
What listeners say about The Moral Landscape
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Akhil
- 2018-08-04
A structured argument in defining morality
Sam Harris's arguments are well laid out and a product of extensive research, strongly recommended
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- Billy Jim
- 2022-01-19
Powerful Stuff Here
It's not often that someone can present a new and bold idea I don't agree with, convince me and then do it again multiple times. Sam Harris has changed my world view.
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- Xzavier
- 2020-01-10
A must read pillar for a modern intelligent person
A must read pillar for any modern intelligent person. If this was taught to young adults the world would be a better place.
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- Anonymous User
- 2018-08-28
The Moral Landscape sits astride an optimistic future of moral discourse
Profound, necessary, and carefully argued, The Moral Landscape systematically dismantles moral relativism and its pervasive place in present moral discourse. Harris pulls no punches in framing the necessity of a values-based conversation on a civilizational scale routed in a scientific understanding of what is possible for human experience. If you were not convinced by this breathtakingly written and well-substantiated argument, it must simply be the case that you were paying attention.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2021-04-28
Fantastic book.
I really enjoyed listening to this book, it gets you thinking about life and the way you conduct yourself. And just seeing the world through a new lense.
Compared to Sam's other books, I appreciate that he read it himself since the previous narrator didn't do it justice and seemed like he disagreed with what he was reading in the book.
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- Peter
- 2023-03-15
Sam Harris kills it, as usual
Incredibly well reasoned and very thorough arguments. This is a masterclass in thinking from first principles.
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- Rich Marriott
- 2023-04-12
First Two Chapters are amazing
If you are already atheist the railing against religion in this book is very repetitive. The philosophy component of this book is very enlightening and a Sam Harris does a great job of justifying a traditionally extreme view of morality.
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- Ian
- 2019-12-17
eye opening
Thank you so much Sam for your ideas and your voice, perfect combination for intellectual ideas and the voiced opinion. Again thank you.
Ian Shannon
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- Tristan Haak
- 2020-07-07
Sam Harris is a Timeless Intellectual
Sam Harris is one of thr greatest thinkers of our time. Hes concise, specific, illuminating and extremely articulate. The Moral Landscape clearly shows a correlation between the scientific method and our understanding and use of morality.
This is a must read for all atheists and anyone who cares about the word 'morality'.
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- Dallas
- 2023-03-03
The best of the best
This is the best of Sam Harris I’ve listened to yet. Thought provoking. Highly recommend
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