Sam Harris

And if you were gonna form a strong opinion that was this counter to the expert you have in front of you, it's gonna be by deference to some other expert who you've brought in or who you've heard about or whose work you've read or whatever.

But there's a paradox to how we value authority in science that most people don't understand.

And I think we should at some point unravel that because it's the basis...

for a lot of public confusion, and frankly, it's the basis for a lot of criticism I've received on these topics, where people think that I'm against free speech, or I'm an establishment shill, or it's like I just think I'm a credentialist, I just think people with PhDs from Ivy League universities should run everything.

It's not true, but there's a lot to cut through to get to daylight there because people are very confused about how we value authority in the service of rationality generally.

once-in-a-generation horrible figure, once-in-a-generation narcissist.

No, I don't think he's a truly scary, sinister, Putin-like or Hitler, much less Hitler-like figure, not at all.

I mean, he's not ideological.

He doesn't care about anything beyond himself.

So it's not...

No, no, he's much less scary than any really scary totalitarian, right?

I mean, and he's- He's more brave in your world than 1984?

This is what Eric Weinstein never stops badgering me about, but he's still wrong, Eric.

My analogy for Trump was that he's an evil Chauncey Gardner.

I don't know if you remember the book or the film, Being There.

with Peter Sellers.

But, you know, Peter Sellers is this gardener who really doesn't know anything, but he gets recognized as this wise man and gets promoted to immense power in Washington because he's speaking in these kind of, in a semblance of wisdom, he's got these very simple aphorisms or what seem to be aphorisms.

He's just talking, all he cares about is gardening.

He's just talking about his garden all the time.

But, you know, he'll say something, but yeah, you know, in the spring, you know, the new shoots will bloom.