This was Daniel’s final public appearance. Thank you for uploading this, Jordan.

Rest in peace 🕊 Dr. Daniel Dennett (1942-2024)

Mr Dennett, what a legend, you will be missed.

I just read that Dr. Dennett passed away. This conversation is an excellent final interview and conversation I'm very sad to learn of his passing. RIP

The value of watching two men with fundamentally different points of view of life having a conversation cannot be overstated. We get to watch it for free.

Rest easy, Dr. Dennett. A most brilliant thinker of our time.

Thank you for everything Dr. Daniel Dennett. You are one of my intellectual heroes.

Two distinguish gentleman having a civil conversation ... What a treat!!!

I deeply appreciate Dr. Dennett for coming on. Thank you both!

Always look forward to Mondays and Thursdays, when Dr Peterson's latest interviews come on here for a wider audience to enjoy. Who needs a television when you can find podcasts of this quality ? Thanks to Dr Peterson and his guest.

Every AD on these conversations is about GOLD.

Dan Dennett, who provoked me to rethink philosophy and evolution and forced me to challenge his ideas, passed away yesterday. There are not many philosophers that provoke you constantly despite not agreeing with them constantly. I'm so sorry I could not meet him three years ago talking with Dawkins (whom I disagree with even more, but started with memes) and Susan Blackmore, my mother in memetics. The discussion at Tufts was canceled due to Corona. What I can do besides mourning and wishing him all the best in the realm he did not believe in is to praise his latest discussion with Jordan Peterson. It is such an intellectual pleasure to listen to two great thinkers of our age who could not disagree more.

The moment when Jordan used the term "revelation" (at roughly 53 minutes into the video) he instantly, and maybe even subconsciously, had to clarify and rephrase because he could see that using that word had created a riff between he and Dr. Dennett. You could see it in Dr. Dennett's face. It was an on-the-spot demonstration of exactly the hypothetical he was talking about, how to reconcile a relationship that was falling into distrust. That was amazing. Did anybody else see that?

Rest in peace, Dr. Daniel Dennett.

I learned a great deal Daniel Dennet. He very ironically led me to faith through a process almost too complicated to describe here. If he were still alive to hear my explanation I would say that he didn't fail in any way, but he did expose me to even deeper questions. Skepticism is an extremely useful tool, but one shouldn't stop using it when they find an answer they like. I was searching for true justification for my atheism and what I ended up finding was God. Not by avoiding information, but by turning over absolutely every stone possible. I hope that it honors Dr. Dennet's memory and those who survive him that he challenged me to challenge myself and he gave me a great deal of tools that helped me to help myself and others. I honor his memory. But I would not mock him by praying for him. I suspect he has had all of the conversations he has needed to with God and himself even if he remained honestly unaware. Thank you Dr. Dennet and rest in peace.

Dr. Dennett was the most balanced of the horsemen, even if it didn't garner him as much fame for it. Firm but fair and not belittling.

This was an intense conversation. I am impressed with JBP’s courage to face counter arguments to his long-standing beliefs. Thanks for doing this!

Absolutely love and appreciate you having Daniel Dennett on the show. An all time favorite 😊

Rest in peace, Dan. Thank you for everything.

You cannot put a value on these enlightening talks. Thank you Jordan!

RIP Dr. Denett. You made a great positive impact on my life. The world is much more beatiful than superstitions.

Such a shame that this conversation will not be picked back up. Rest in Power Dr Dennett

RIP Daniel Dannett.

I've been privalaged to have been a subscriber to Petersons channel when it numbered in the thousands. Everytime I get a notification to watch a new video, I smile as I watch his followers grow monthly by the thousands. At almost 8 million subscribers and billions of views, it is nothing short of glorious that his philosophy is reaching a mass that so badly craves the guidance of such a warm father figure. Long may his audience grow and may his important message resound long after essence of this wonderful soul is called home🙏🏼

It's so cool that they agree on so much, even though one is "religious" and one is "atheistic". Really highlights Jordan Peterson's definition of being religious as something that you 'act out' instead of something you represent abstractly and linguistically.

My brother Pitin (childhood nickname) and I have been having deep religious and philosophical conversations along with a lot of childhood reminiscing. My brother is dying. The doctor gave him less than 30 days to live. Unless God has other plans that’s the prognosis. My brother is taking 750 mg hemorrhage meds, 250mg in the am and 250 in the pm. He had surgery last year and now there is nothing more the doctors can do for him. We are celebrating his life and I’m spending a lot of time with him before he enters hospice. Life is such a precious gift. My brother has lived a very adventurous life. He’s a phenomenal artist, sings like many angels, was a martial arts expert, and an ordained minister. Anyway, we are very close and it’s difficult losing my brother. He is ready to meet Almighty God. Thank you Jordan ✝️🙏🏻❤️😔

Thank you both. Thank you Jordan Peterson for helping society deeply even when its so difficult I think and helping society which is so badly needed with corrupt governments and corrupt institutions in the world.Thank you for all your work and thank you to your family and all who stand with you. God bless 💗

I don't know for the life of me where I would possibly get another UKposts channel with such quality conversations between people from different of such different perspectives. I am truly taking notes JP. I found Daniel Dennett to be truly insightful as always and it's a gift to be able to see it.

Hello everyone, good viewing🐼

I can not hear him talk about these topics enough in my lifetime! 🙏🙏

Rest in peace you legendary Man. RIP Daniel Dannett 😢

I love that after 7 years I can still hear stuff from Jordan that blows my mind. 40:45

RIP, Dan, Beautiful mind.

DANIEL DENNET, EL MAS GRANDE. TE VOY A EXTRAÑAR MUCHISIMO , INFINITAS GRACIAS POR TU CONTRIBUCION, INMENSA RACIONALIDAD, EMPATIA Y SENTIDO DEL HUMOR. UN GAME CHANGER UN ICONO

Rest in peace, Dan. Thanks for the lessons, and thank you, Jordan, for having Dan, one last time.

Dr. Peterson, you gave this conversation so much appropriateness. Dr. Dennett is a foundation stone of societal norms for the Four Horsemen. You treaded this territory cautiously and respectfully. As a former consumer of the Horsemen's every word, and someone who switched beliefs, I wanted full respect afforded to Dr. Dennett. Just like when Dr. Peterson speaks to Dr. Dawkins.

Keep it up Dr. Jordan!

Oh boy, DD and JBP. This should be interesting.

You will be dearly missed Dr. Dennett. Thank you for your brilliant mind.

Thanks for grappling with and acknowledging the sophistication of our ancestors and some of their insights and arguments. I pray we stay humble through all of our " progress" ❤

What an excellent conversation. Thank you for making it accessible for all of us!

Hey Dr Peterson. I hold you a man of great Honor, it is a honor for a man like me to be alive on this age witnessing your work and kind heart. YHWH bless you.

Whoa!! I came to the comments to find out if there was a forum for open discussion on these topics. I'm saddened to find Dr. Dennett is no longer with us. Thank you for your contributions, and I hope you've found all the answers needed to rest in peace.

As a close follower of Dennett's work, I don't know how I only just found out about his passing. His work on memetics, compatibilism and consciousness (obviously) have really enriched my thinking. RIP and thank you.

Thankyou for this. Always eye opening and Motivating learning for me with your conversations

I'm looking forward to this conversation.Thank you so much for putting it together. 2:44

I just finished watching this today. Dennett was a formidable thinker.

THOROUGHLY enjoyed this conversation. Thankyou 🙏🏼💫💞

Awesome Dannett is still kicking. Gonna enjoy this

I like how many things JP can say “I’ve been thinking about that for about 10 years…”. He truly has a marvelous mind.

Good evening Jordan and Daniel Exactly all of this. Truly grateful. 💜

Cant believe Dennett had to put up with this in his last days. Incredibly patient and great hearted man.

My man, I love you. I love the light you shed on this world. Much needed

I drop some version of this on a lot of Alan Watts videos, because the thought process (which hit me about a year ago now) feels great to write out each time, and it's pertinent here: because Peterson and Dennet are talking about emotions and free will. And because I’ve come to the realization that we’re not in conscious control - nothing is. It seems to me that it's easily provable once you've been walked through it, and it leads to the faith we all hear about, but which very few actually have. Basically, the secret is this: "We don't control our thoughts. We don't control our feelings." Alan Watts says it numerous times, and a look at one's own life and consciousness proves it to be true. Thoughts just pop into our minds. Desires (or distastes) just pop into our awareness. We learn, surely. But we're not in charge of when we learn. We don't go and rearrange our neurons to finally 'get it.' No, it just happens. Just like you can't force or trick yourself to love someone just by saying "I love you," nor can you have faith on purpose. Again - we don't choose thoughts, and even if we did, what would that be? Looking in a bag of thoughts and picking which one you wanted? Well, how would you know which one you wanted? By how they feel, or the presence of some other unchosen thought going "That's the one I want." Except we don't choose how we feel. We just feel. What does this mean? We're not in control. Of anything. Yes there are always options, and a wise person sees more options and longer-reaching implications. But no choice. Just the doing. "Neither fate nor free will," says Watts to Elliott Mintz on a great YT interview if you haven't heard it yet. Nothing is in control, because consciousness is the AWARENESS of will, not the choosing of it. So, perhaps we do have free will, but what that will is (your set of personal desires and personality characteristics) is not up to conscious awareness. You don't choose what you want. You just want it. And perhaps your desire palate changes over time - fair enough - but you don't choose to change. You just change. And so you can really let go, since what thought pops into your head next is truly not up to you, even if it's the most logical, useful, necessary thought. It's simply not up to you. I'm not saying things are chaos, or meaningless: no, you always feel something about life and its meaning at every moment. Some version (simplistic or nuanced) of "This is good," or "This won't do." You conscience is always there, too. Even if it's not always right, it's always there. So begone moral relativists and nihilists: you're STUCK WITH YOUR CONSCIENCE, in whatever form it is in that moment. So where does this leave us in our journey of letting go / satori / enlightenment? You're totally not in charge and thus it's not up to you IF you let go, so you can finally let go of worrying about letting go. And thus you start to let go. The second half of the trick is this: teach yourself to feel your body. Basically anxiety is an icky feeling in our bodies telling us we don't like XYZ. It's the feeling of "I can't take this anymore" that makes us lash out and act in ways we regret. But instead of masking it (with pleasure or drugs), or ignoring it (by clenching our muscles inside and soldiering on), there's a third option: teach yourself to feel, in every moment you can remember, the subtle vague feelings of fear that are somewhere in your body at nearly all times. They're little clenched muscles. Go feel them. Put your mind on them (around your heart, in your face, around your voice box, in your abdomen) whenever you feel anxious about anything. You're not admonishing yourself for having fear: rather, try something you haven't ever tried before: put your mind on the icky feeling of fear that's in a physical location in your body (tensed muscles and fascia) and hold it there. Over and over and over and over and over. Try. Hold it there. Watch as your muscles finally begin to relent (if only momentarily) just because you LOOKED at them long enough. Watch how you feel when you realize you’re able to hold in your mind that nagging discomfort that’s been there for a long time. Watch how you feel when your little muscles/pains finally do relent. In those moments of paying attention you start to handle situations with grace. No longer are you feeling like "I've had it up to here," because you're teaching yourself that yes, you CAN feel a much wider range of things than you thought. That's real courage. And all based on the final reminder that we're absolutely not in control. But we can learn. This version of you that arises in these moments that you remember: it’s as the Tao describes: “Kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king.” It’s a better version of you, in those moments. And so we simply keep positioning our brain to feel, and to hope we learn while knowing the learning isn't up to us. It's faith. It's why the entire Bible is full of stories about faith in God. It's why Jesus tells us not to worry, and not even to ask God for things since he knows what we need already. It's real faith. It's just sad that faith, to Christians, has become the fervent 'professing of belief,' rather than actually believing that you're not in control, and thus that, in some large way, God must have it covered. You don't have to feel the latter (that it's gonna be ok), but the more you realize you have zero control, the more the "it's gonna be ok" faith starts to bloom. You're not in control. But there's still meaning. Faith.

We must be grateful that we live in a world where we can listen to minds like this! Brings me to smile when I think of this while watching such conversations!

Loved this talk, but like all things, it must come to an end. Rest in Peace Dan Dennett 🕊️

In the debate, a pivotal moment unfolds around the 1:03:40 timestamp, marking what appears to be Dennett's tacit acknowledgment of defeat, as betrayed by his body language. Subsequently, the dialogue takes on a different tone. Peterson adopts the role of an analyst performing a post-mortem of the discussion, while Dennett seems to engage in an effort to reconstruct his stance, a dynamic that becomes particularly evident at 1:14:10. The debate centers on the role of religion in preserving fundamental truths and shaping culture within a dynamic landscape of varying truths, a concept Peterson advocates. He posits that society is underpinned by a robust core of enduring truths, supported by a more adaptable cultural framework, contributions to which Dennett also acknowledges. This is what religions points at according to Peterson 1:13:44. Dennett, on the other hand, argues against the necessity of religion in contemporary society, suggesting that secular ethics alone are sufficient. Peterson counters this by suggesting that secular ethics and the scientific community are part of a broader, religiously founded civilization that safeguards essential truths and adapts over time. Peterson's exceptional debating prowess is undeniable, giving him a significant edge in this discussion. His ability to deftly traverse both secular and religious domains contrasts sharply with Dennett's performance, which, possibly due to the limitations of the debate format, may not fully convey the breadth of his understanding. One could speculate that Dennett might present a more persuasive case in writing, where the constraints of real-time dialogue do not apply. However, whether such an argument would surpass or even match the coherence and appeal of Peterson's viewpoints remains a matter of skepticism for me. This debate highlights a stark disconnect in our modern world from the deep truths and beauty of religious teachings, as shown when Dennett seems surprised by Peterson's scriptural insights at the 39:00 mark. It also points to a failure in contemporary religion to pass on its ancient wisdom. Additionally, Dennett himself has expressed concerns over the dangers posed by advancements in science, like AI, critiquing the AI community in The Atlantic: "Many in the AI community these days are so eager to explore their new powers that they have lost track of their moral obligations." This raises a question: If Dennett believes secular ethics alone are adequate, he needs to explain why these ethics have not prevented, and perhaps have even contributed to, the very existential threats he identifies, despite the potential of science he critiques.

Jordan has evolved from arguing with people to maintaining an open conversation. Masterful communication skills. I’m taking notes

This was an awesome conversation, in my opinion.. I can't wait to watch these two masters continue.

Thanks for this enlightening conversation! It's fascinating to see how different individuals approach tasks and planning. Some seem to excel at critical thinking, mapping out multiple accomplishments before even starting, while others dive into one task at a time, driven by the need to avoid overwhelming options. It's a reminder that curiosity knows no bounds. Good show!

"Free will is an achievement, not a metaphysical endowment" - Dr. Dan Dennett Well, this is revolutionary to my mind

After so many struggles I now own a new house and my family is happy once again everything is finally falling into place!!

Absolutely loved this conversation, thank you so very much!

what he said about emotions being the control is something ive thought this entire time

It’s like time traveling and seeing how far we’ve come.

Love this conversation

Thank you, Dr. Dennett. Rest in peace.

It's hard to watch this now .. RIP Dennett .... what a great philosopher and thanks Jordan Peterson for this fantastic interview ... I always liked to see this side of Dennett more and no one like Jordan Peterson could bring it out.

Wow! I love the idea of the Egyptians putting "attention to error" on the most high. That explains so much about their culture and makes my mind spin with ideas about how much we are missing in translation.

What a great discussion. Jordan is always both professor and student simultaneously.

Jordan, these discussions are a much better format. I was in NYC Radio City for your talk. Little disappointing I give it a C+ and that’s because I like you.

Awesome! I've been waiting for a Peterson - Dennett conversation for years now. Thank you

It was a brilliant move by Jordan to question the failure of secular universities after Dennett got through claiming "we don't need religion any more our secular ways are good enough now and moral, etc..." who then had to also agree the universities have "gone off the rails".

Peterson is sharp. Great questions at the end.

This was the greatest covnersation I've seen on your podcast thus far Jordan .. absolutely magnificent

So respect these two speaking. I hope for more.

Finally more Dr. Dennett content! He's the brightest flame from the four horsemen, but the least visible!

RIP Daniel Dennett (1942-2024)

Dr. Dennet’s point of view becomes abundantly sympathetic when you realize that he was on his death bed. In this conversation he was not only having an exchange of ideas, but also coping with the reality of his death. What this man needed was not god, but medicine and a cure. His view is one that most of us will come to when meeting death.

Dennett seems to have have gotten a lot more humble and receptive over the years. Guess it's the wisdom of age making itself manifest.

A conversation with Hitchens would have been on a different level. However with Dennett, I didn't think this was going to take place, kudos to making this happen. Blessed for this high level intellectual talks.

I had kinda stopped watching this channel because of too many ads. The name Daniel Dennett brought back memories of my atheist podcast days 10+ years ago, so decided to give this one a shot. Brilliant and worth getting thru the commercials, which seem to be less than I remember. Thanks for putting this together. I may listen to this one a few times.

I really wish there would have been a second conversations 😔 May he rest in peace.

Really nice converstation between two people who has had a massive formative influence on my thinking.

I’m thoroughly enjoying this conversation. Thank you! ❤

Thanks for this conversation - Prayers for your family - Blessed Solemnity of the Annunciation - “Pascal’s Wager" is good to think about here. Blessings! 🙏

One of the best conversations I've seen from you yet! Thanks for your work, Jordan.

This was a fantastic discussion, thank you for this. Dennett is such a brilliant mind.

Rest In Peace, Dr. Dennett.

This is really good. Peterson at his best. Thank you both

This was the most exciting conversation! Thank you! Took me to new levels of thinking about consciousness. It was, to me, so poetic to think about how a human moves up in obtaining free will by learning to control our emotions and motivations! In today’s discussions with so many thinking we don’t have free will.

What an amazing conversation

1:19:55 the current production of moral excellence for the secular is secular humanism, however, it tends to value the collective over the individual and therefore makes terrible decisions based on some kind of calculus of “greater good”. THAT is the problem we face with secular backed morality, it has lost sight of the individual, and therefore justifies tyranny for some greater good. Thanks but I’ll stick with my individual freedoms.

rest in peace dan

I think Dennett makes a good case for secular ethics. The trick is getting everyone to agree on the same ethics.

This is one of the best interviews I've ever seen.

Thank you for this challenging talk. I always find it interesting how a religious people will often accept the thoughts of science, but yet scientific people don't often accept thoughts of the religious. Logically nether should be written out of any goodwill conversation on the basis of personal bias, yet sadly the "logical" often do. My bias I struggle with is that I think we are seeing the fruits of scientific goodwill alone of the experts in large metro areas and the education system. Even so, I would remind Dr. Dennett that the Universities where born from the Church and that AI was born from Science-one must logically look at the offspring of each parent on the whole and decide in which is more worthy of moral acceptance and practice.

I’ve been a fan of Jordan Peterson a long time. I’ve listened to hundreds of hours of his lectures and podcasts. One issue I have, as much as I enjoy hearing Jordan speak, he struggles with shutting his mouth many times with his guests. He always needs to interject long diatribes. I’d be interested in knowing the percentage of time he is talking versus active listening.

This was a very good episode. I'd love to see the continuation of this.

1:22:00 epic! straight out disarggement with what Jordan touted everywhere, that religion is no longer needed, I don't understand why Jordan stopped the conflicted by just going a base-level deeper! You really are the most powerful intellectual, Jordan!