logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2021
16m 58s

Why there's no such thing as objective r...

TED
About this episode
In the grand scheme of history, modern reality is a bizarre exception when compared to the worlds of ancient, precolonial and Indigenous civilizations, where myths ruled and gods roamed, says historian Greg Anderson. So why do Westerners today think they're right about reality and everybody else is wrong? Anderson tears into the fabric of objective reality to reveal the many universes that lie beyond -- and encourages a healthy reimagining of what other possible ways of being human could look like.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
How to raise confident kids in an age of anxiety | Lenore Skenazy
The secret to reducing childhood anxiety is actually quite simple: just let kids do more stuff on their own, says Lenore Skenazy, cofounder and president of Let Grow, an organization dedicated to normalizing childhood independence. In conversation with TED’s Whitney Pennington Ro ... Show More
43m 37s
Yesterday
The hidden cost of buying gold | Claudia Vega
Gold may glitter, but the hidden cost of mining it is devastating. Amazon researcher and TED Fellow Claudia Vega exposes how mercury pollution from artisanal gold mining poisons local communities and destroys rainforests — and shows why protecting the planet is far more valuable ... Show More
33m 25s
Oct 9
How we’re turning pollution into toys, toothpaste and more | Xu Hao
It took alcohol 200 years to go from scientific discovery to industrial revolution, but tech innovator Xu Hao says we can’t afford to wait that long to tackle the climate crisis. He explores why most climate solutions are still stuck in labs — despite breakthrough science that ca ... Show More
14m 22s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2021
DAWN OF EVERYTHING: The True History of Humanity
What if everything we think we know about the history of our species is wrong? That’s the provocative question at the heart of a new book by today’s guest, David Wengrow. Hailed as fascinating, brilliant, and potentially revolutionary, “The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Hu ... Show More
1h 20m
May 2021
Do we really experience reality? | Graham Harman, Donald Hoffman & Mazviita Chirimuuta
Is your experience of this episode even real? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesWe are working toward a true account of the universe, and the world we see around us is an accurate picture of reality. Or so most of us believe. At th ... Show More
41m 3s
Nov 2020
EP 3: Why do we believe lies?
Honesty is a core value in most cultures. But humanity has always been obsessed with untruths, from little white lies to vast conspiracy theories. Bill and Rashida are joined by Sapiens author and historian Yuval Noah Harari to talk about why we’re so willing to believe falsehood ... Show More
45m 29s
Aug 2019
78. Dr. Donald Hoffman — The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth From Our Eyes
In his new book, The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth From Our Eyes, the U.C. Irvine cognitive scientist Dr. Donald Hoffman challenges the leading scientific theories that claim that our senses report back objective reality. How can it be possible that the world ... Show More
1h 44m
Oct 2023
#68 — Reality and the Imagination
Sam Harris speaks with Yuval Noah Harari about meditation, the need for stories, the power of technology to erase the boundary between fact and fiction, wealth inequality, the problem of finding meaning in a world without work, religion as a virtual reality game, the difference b ... Show More
1h 12m
Sep 2023
#68 — Reality and the Imagination
Sam Harris speaks with Yuval Noah Harari about meditation, the need for stories, the power of technology to erase the boundary between fact and fiction, wealth inequality, the problem of finding meaning in a world without work, religion as a virtual reality game, the difference b ... Show More
38m 47s
Dec 2023
Editing Reality (2023)
We live in divided times, when the answer to the question 'what is reality?' depends on who you ask. Almost all the information we take in is to some extent edited and curated, and the line between entertainment and reality has become increasingly blurred. Nowhere is that more ob ... Show More
52m 20s
Mar 2018
The Other Real World
Reality TV may be popular around the world, but it's also roundly mocked as formulaic and contrived. So, can that kind of fragile fantasy world meaningfully influence reality? We look at the goals and impact of a UN-backed reality show called "Inspire Somalia," that attempted to ... Show More
48m 13s
Dec 2021
237. David Wengrow on The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike — either free and equal innocents, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could be achieved only by sacrificing those original freedoms or, alternatively, by taming our baser instincts. D ... Show More
1h 33m
Jun 2023
Is Reality Real?
Philosophers have been wondering whether we experience reality as it is for millennia now. They’ve pretty much settled on no, no we don’t. Now science has taken up the investigation and it’s proving the philosophers correct. So what is reality then?See omnystudio.com/listener for ... Show More
43m 4s