Penn Jillette on Placebo Prayer: Should Atheists Talk to God? | Big Think

Penn Jillette on Placebo Prayer: Should Atheists Talk to God?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Right before he goes to sleep every night, staunch atheist Penn Jillette does something surprising. He says a little prayer – sort of. It’s called ‘Penn’s Guilt Round Up’ and it’s where he reflects on all the things throughout the day that he regrets, or wonders if he should have done and how they affected people. Then he moves on to thinking about what he wants in life and how he can get there. Before he made 100 pounds disappear from around his middle (hey presto!), he used to think, frustrated and longingly, about having the discipline to lose weight, to tell that slice(s) of pizza to talk to the hand because the face (with glowing skin and no chin) ain’t listening.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PENN JILLETTE:
Penn Jillette is a cultural phenomenon as a solo personality and as half of the world-famous Emmy Award­-winning magic duo Penn & Teller. His solo exposure is enormous: from Howard Stern to Glenn Beck to the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. He has appeared on Dancing with the Stars, MTV Cribs, and Chelsea Lately and hosted the NBC game show Identity. As part of Penn & Teller, he has appeared more than twenty times on David Letterman, as well as on several other TV shows, from The Simpsons and Friends to Top Chef and The View. He co-hosts the controversial series Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, which has been nominated for sixteen Emmy Awards. He is currently co host of the Discovery Channel's Penn & Teller Tell a Lie and the author of God, No! and Presto!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIPT:
Penn Jillette: I very rarely look in this kind of proximity when I’m not sexting. If you want to know how to be a good leader watch Donald Trump and don’t’ do that. Don’t do any of that. I realized recently that I do something very close to prayer. And I don’t want to show any disrespect to people by using the word prayer because I know from my friends who are religious that prayer has a supernatural element, that people are actually connecting to a higher power. And I don’t want to show disrespect to that. But I also want to make a little bit of an argument. Sam Harris makes his argument for atheist meditation. I want to make a little bit of an argument for atheist prayer. I do something before I go to sleep at night called Penn’s guild roundup. And Penn’s guild roundup is I go through conversations that I’ve had like tonight before I go to bed I’ll think should I really have made that sexting joke when I was at the Big Think. Should I really have done that? Did that make people uncomfortable. Is that a line. And I’ll run through how I could have done that better.
I say that with no joke. I’ll actually do that. And I run through conversations I’ve had and things I’ve done. One that comes up every night was, you know, should I treat Teller better? And the answer is always no. But I do reflect about it. I do think about it. I also try to think of what I want and how I can get there. Now I’m very fortunate because when I go to my desires they’re not very often material desires because my family is well cared for. I’ve been very lucky and I’ve done well. But I think about – I used to think about my weight and one of the things I used to – and I’m very hesitant to use the word because I don’t want to show disrespect for those who think it really is supernatural. But I would pray to be able to control the watts of my diet. Wouldn’t that be great? And I try to run through how to do that and I do believe with God there’s a lot of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I’m not referring to baptism there. I’m referring to the fact that so much of the social and personal elements of religion are really good. I would say maybe more than good, maybe very close to necessary.
Try to find ways for people to get together and help each other and be in celebration and all over this country now. When I first started talking openly about atheism the country was set at about .8 percent for atheism - .8. Less than one percent. And now some polls are giving you over 20 percent. I don’t think that people are being created as atheists. I think they’re just simply coming out of the closet and we have to show a great deal of gratitude to the religious people in the U.S. for being more tolerant of atheists so they do dare to come out. But I’m watching now a lot of my friends struggle with how to get that community in their life. And every community in thi...

[daithiocinnsealach]

"Placebos work even when you know they're placebos." This is so true. I used to have a guy tell me to look in the mirror each morning and tell myself I am a winner, I am successful and so on. That seemed so fake. I wasn't going to tell myself lies. Yet at the very lowest point of my life when it seemed I had lost everything I just started telling myself stuff like this. Out of desperation. And instantly, Instantly, it worked. I told myself I need to heal (emotionally) and immediately I felt the knot in my stomach start to dissipate. Then I started telling myself that I have personal worth. That I am strong. That I am not a victim. That I still have life left in me. That I forgive. That I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. Etc. And over the space of mere weeks I noticed a massive improvement in my mood and my outlook on life. I still have periods of depression, but they are less aggressive in nature and don't last as long. If there are any young people reading this who are struggling please do this now rather than waiting 20 years.

[jacqueline]

I already do this intense self reflection, it's called having an anxiety disorder.. "Should I have made this joke" "what do they think about me" etc.

[SuviTuuliAllan]

I don't pray to a supernatural being but I do sometimes break the 4th wall.

[WhtetstoneFlunky]

As an outspoken atheist, I know that there are a lot of good things come from religion. Jillette hit on most of them; a sense of community, and a means of speaking to one's inner self. The other side of the coin is that there are many bad things about religion. One of them that is seemingly harmless but what nevertheless bothers me is that religious belief is either an ignorance to facts, or it is an act of denial, or it is simply self-delusion. Religion is an ignorance to facts for anyone who does not realize that religious tales are by definition, mythology. Religious belief is an act of denial when the facts are known but simply ignored. Religion is self-delusion when the facts are known but are dismissed by the person's flawed reasoning. Of course other problems of religions are such things as bigotry, oppression, and a rejection of scientific findings. As an atheist, I meditate, talk to myself, sometimes critically, when alone, and I am socially active. That covers most of the positives of religious beliefs but yet it allows me to sleep in on Sunday mornings, and save time bowing in prayer.

[SLITTHROAT]

Should I treat Teller better? No. XD

[hectorrosales]

On my stressful days I often recite- I am one with the force, the force is with me. Obviously, I not a believer but I find it calming and it gets me through the tough times.

[gekkanshounen]

Penn is always a pleasure to listen to

[SnoozeTheRecluse]

I self-reflect because I have anxiety and it reminds me of all dumb or potentially dumb things I have done today, yesterday, and beyond. Lol

[Zhalfrin]

Penn, the more I learn about you and hear you speak, the way you conduct yourself, etc. the more I love/admire you. Such a great individual that I hope to meet one day.

[Blarghwaugh]

Mr. Jillette, I salute you for showing signs of wisdom.  It is good to see a balanced perspective from someone who clearly stands on one side of an issue.

[chrisose]

In my experience as a Christian prayer as little to do with self reflection. From apologizing for being a sinner to asking 'god' to do something for you to just reciting a form prayer taught to you, there is seldom any thought that resembles "what can I do better?" or "how can I help myself?"

[STCWGaming]

Interesting, self reflection can both humble a person and give them confidence in what they choose (or will choose) to do.

[franklinnash]

The only god I pray too is the 'God of Easy Bowel Movements"

[easybubbles]

I'm an atheist. I was taken to a hospital the morning after swallowing a lot of pills in a suicide attempt. After being there for three days on IV drip and asking when could I leave, I was told that they needed to wait for some results because it was likely that I had done some irreparable damage to my kidneys. I was in shock. I felt at loss and helpless and I "prayed" even though I knew there was no higher power. The results came negative, but I feel that praying helped me deal with the situation at that moment.

[keriezy]

As an atheist I catch myself "hoping" instead of praying. But yes placebo prayer is real.

[Illkilla]

Penn is such a well traveled intelligent person. Love hearing him talk about this

[yay-cat]

well they say the secret to happiness is practicing gratitude

I like mulling things over and reflecting but making a conscious effort to “count my blessings” has reduced anxiety and given me clarity on a lot of things and I totally recommend it

oh yeah also if you’re an atheist in a new city looking for a community - join a running club - even if you just end up walking the occasional 5km and handing out some juice on race day. Maximum supportive and friendly environment

[johnking]

I talk to myself every day. I don't talk to any "God", that would be stupid, but I do think things over in my head during the course of the day, and sometimes when I am alone, or going for a walk, I will talk quietly about things frustrating me, worrying me etc. It helps me release stress, and enables me to think more clearly. Shame most religious people do not do that, and instead they mutter Hail Marys or bible verses, and not talk to themselves rather.

[MrBlaq]

I'm an atheist and I call BS. Penn took 7 minutes to tell us that he had no self discipline.

You don't need to "pray" for self discipline. Start with baby steps, but maintain consistency.

[saerain]

A little confused by the whole thing right from the premise. How exactly does the "reflection and the community" of religiosity differ, in a positive way, from the reflection and the community we're prone to normally?