Jordan Peterson debates atheist Susan Blackmore who says life is meaningless

 
In this clip Jordan B Peterson debates atheist Susan Blackmore on whether life has meaning.
 
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[PremierUnbelievable]

Hey folks. We held back an exclusive clip of JBP and Blackmore debating whether atheists can believe in free will. If you want it then sign up at www.thebigconversation.show

[onesimusthings]

It’s a curious thing to listen to people have a meaningful conversation about meaninglessness.

[Alexkearney]

JP's face and posture scream "I'm not intellectually challenged by this argument at all."

[jimh]

Susan Blackmore is quite brave to openly allow her beliefs to be critiqued. I respectfully disagree with her, but we so desperately need honest open dialog. I wish her happiness and hope she is well.

[filipeporto]

“Then you should listen to the body and stop listening to the thing that’s criticizing it.” That words just blew my mind.

[miavatarful]

Is it meaningful to write meaningful books about meaninglessness?

[ispankmyself]

Nice to see a conversation where one party isn’t immediately totally butthurt because their viewpoint is challenged.

[rasztyscompany]

Whoever is right, I do appreciate that the discussion remains civil. Especially on her part since Jordan in proposing a counter argument to her thesis.

[TheEllaTB]

He's spot on! It cannot be a "tragedy" if it is meaningless.
And as a person who has struggled with severe depression, I know what it means to truly believe something is meaningless, and believe me when you truly believe life meaningless, getting up to go to the bathroom is hard.
She absolutely believes life is meaningful!

[HallofFamerMichael]

She inadvertantly confirmed the point C. S. Lewis made when he said, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

[GabrielMartinez-sdpc]

She tried to tell him that life is meaningless by giving arguments that she has meaning in what she does…

[tapiohakola]

It would be great if Jordan Peterson and Richard Dawkins would have this kind a debate

[elielsolis]

As a person who suffer from depression, anxiety and autoimmune problems.. I can tell you that finding meaning in everything I do is something very important for my life that’s has kept me going. If I was to think like that lady here says, I would have be a goner a long time ago. It’s in the face of adversity and suffering that we need to have the courage and faith to keep living. Because even in the darkest moments in life, being able to see the light up ahead is so meaningful. There are good moments even in the midst of suffering. And like someone said “we live by faith not by sight”…that is so true, because even our minds and feelings can play tricks on you.

[hyaphire]

1:03
This woman doesn't seem to know what depression and nihilism do to people. I spent years telling myself that everything was pointless and meaningless.
Rather than feel freed by it, I was crushed beneath the emptiness of it all. I wouldn't shower or shave. I would eat barely enough to keep hunger pains from becoming too noticeable. I decided my job added more misery than necessary to my already pointless life, so I quit. Subsisted on donating plasma and charity from my family, worrying them to no end about me. My childhood dream of being a writer became a painful lie I couldn't bear thinking about. Suicidal thoughts were common, the only thing pulling the gun away from my head was fear of the unknown. From my perspective at the time, death could only bring nonexistence or torment, neither of which were better than laying in bed or playing video games all day.

It wasn't until I rejected nihilism and turned to romanticism that my life started to really improve. Every day, I choose to see the meaning in living.

[BonesTheCat]

Weird life philosophy. It's almost like she thinks her critical mind is in conflict with her person and she's just along for the ride because she can't transplant outta there. Everything she does has meaning (career, students, family) and is constructed by her, but thinks she isn't in control of it. She could just sit in her favourite chair and wait to die. But she doesn't. Because she has meaning, in spite of herself.

[jarrettjb]

“The atheist types act out a religious structure and criticize it.” -JP
So true. Humans can’t get away from acting out meaning because it’s wired in us.

[ScholteimReinbachIII]

The last line was killer: "The atheist types act out a religious structure and then criticize it."

[nvk]

Scrolling down the comments is meaningless!

[giuseppetota]

Just the fact that we discuss the meaning of life, means it has a meaning.

[JaredSmithTheIntern]

I may be one of the only people here who sincerely loves and respects the work of both of these thinkers. For those not familiar with Dr. Blackmore, her work on culture and memes is absolute vital to understanding civilization. Jordan Peterson has been a keystone figure to my understanding of the world as well. I’d have paid good money to have been in that room for that discussion.