Sentientism

Peter Singer is often referred to as the “world’s most influential living philosopher.” He is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics, approaching the subject from a secular, naturalistic, utilitarian perspective. He wrote the books "Animal Liberation", Why Vegan? and "Animal Liberation Now!" (launched on the same day as this episode! - speaking tour here), in which he argues against speciesism and for a shift to plant-based food systems and veganism. He also wrote the essay "Famine, Affluence, and Morality" and the books "The Life You Can Save" & "The Most Good You Can Do" which argue for effective altruism - using evidence & reasoning to do the most good we can for all sentient beings both human and not. In 2004 Peter was recognised as the Australian Humanist of the Year by the Council of Australian Humanist Societies. In 2005, the Sydney Morning Herald placed him among Australia's ten most influential public intellectuals. Singer is a cofounder of Animals Australia & the founder of The Life You Can Save.In 2021 he received the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture. Peter donated the $1 million prize money to the most effective organizations working to assist people in extreme poverty and to reduce the suffering of animals in factory farms. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome - Animal Liberation Now! - why now? - Sentientism's links to ancient naturalistic, sentiocentric themes of thought & Peter's work - Sentientism's 1) naturalism, 2) sentiocentrism & ethical pluralism, 3) implications of not needlessly harming or killing - "What needlessly killing amounts to... is a question... that could have a lot of discussion" - "In terms of what really matters in itself I agree that Sentientism is the right view" - The challenges of the words speciesism & sentientism - too many syllables! - Peter's entry on our "I'm a Sentientist" wall 06:12 What's Real? - Non-religious Jewish parents "they came to Australia as refugees from the Nazis, leaving Austria" - Mother "a fervent agnostic... there isn't reason to believe in a god or a supernatural being or life after death" - "In some parts of the United States it's almost necessary to belong to a religion to have a community" - Rabbi cousin in Mobile, Alabama "When I say god I mean whatever it is in the universe that is a force for good... (e.g. some human beings)" - "I kind of thought of them as fairy stories" - Childhood meeting with Catholic kids "don't ask him any more questions - he'll only blacken his soul & go to hell... I wasn't in the least frightened" - Negative aspects of religions: Religious wars & "very often a conservative force against what I see as progressive reforms" - "If there were no religious teachings against #abortion I don't think the US would be divided over the issue" - Why religious organisations get social licence to continue #sexism , #homophobia , #transphobia - "[Religious] teachings about sex which have been a very negative influence... making people feel guilty" - Previous guest Lisa Kemmerer 26:25 What Matters? 38:58 Who Matters? 01:10:05 How Can We Make A Better Future? ...and much more. Full show notes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentientism.info⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentientism.info⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠"I'm a Sentientist" wall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this simple form⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here on FaceBook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Come join us there!

Michael is head of philosophy at the University of Liverpool. His current work spans transhumanism, death & meaning. He has written a vast range of topics, including on whether non-human animals can have meaningful lives & "What It Is Like to Be a Bot". He says of his work: "As a philosopher, I am a generalist, which is a nice way of saying that I have done many different things & I am not really an expert on anything in particular." In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:42 Michael's Intro - What it means to be human, to live a good life, a meaningful life - Transhumanism & human enhancement - Meaning & life & death - When dealing with foundational, broad questions: "It is very difficult to be precise... I hardly ever feel that 'now I've got it'" 06:06 What's Real? - "It's much easier to point at something & disuss whether that is real" - "If you can name something then in some sense it must be real" - Raised #Christian & sent to Sunday school & Bible classes & regular confessions to the village priest - "I sort of believed there was a god when I was little" - A god watching me "a means of controlling me... Big Brother in heaven... it was just oppressive... a punishing god, a critical god" - "I didn't feel the presence... I just believed that there was something because I was told there was something" - "Very quickly I dropped my religious beliefs... as soon as I started to think for myself I became an #atheist" - "It just faded away... it was always superficial" - "Some people take me for a Christian because I share some of the intuitions religious believers have" - "I'm not entirely comfortable with calling myself a naturalist although I don't believe in anything supernatural" - "Naturalism is also very programmatic & ideological" - "There are a lot of things in this world that we cannot understand...& some naturalists are very confident that we can understand everything & that's there's no mystery... there is a lot of mystery." - Max More's #transhumanism ... pits science vs. religion - Origins of the universe & life & consciousness "we don't know!" Science might figure it out - it might not - "... whatever there is is part of nature" - Over-confidence vs. humility - The subjective & the objective - Plato & Parmenides: "being is more real than becoming"... "but we live in a world of becoming... how can that be less real?" - The "normative use of reality"... to "declare something else as not real... a term to deny something else its reality" - The denial of animal suffering "not so common any more" & the #cartesian model - "If you see an animal in pain you know it is in pain... it takes a lot of willful blindness not to acknowledge..." - "One of the reasons... why animals could not possibly feel any pain... because it would then be far too horrible how we treat animals... god wouldn't allow it!" - "If we assume the world is good & we see all the apparent suffering... then it cannot be... A moral reason behind denying the suffering of animals" - JW "An echo of a religious mode of thought that's then re-built in a humanist mode of thought" - "If we have evolved naturally... there's no reason to assume our brains are capable of understanding the universe... what possible use can it have?" - "A naturalistic perspective should actually teach us humility" 29:03 What Matters? ...and much more. Full show notes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentientism.info⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentientism.info⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠"I'm a Sentientist" wall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this simple form⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here on FaceBook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Come join us there!

Elan is a cultural anthropologist focusing on human-animal interactions, environmental justice, and food politics. He is assistant professor of the practice in environmental studies and coordinator of the animal studies minor at Wesleyan University. He is the author of the Gregory Bateson Prize winning book: "Saving Animals: Multispecies Ecologies of Rescue and Care". He also contributed a chapter called "The Empty Promises of Cultured Meat" to the book "The Good it Promises, the Harm It Does: Critical Essays on Effective Altruism". In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is ⁠⁠⁠⁠here on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:25 Elan's Intro - Cultural anthropology and teaching animal studies "my favourite thing to teach!" - Appearing on Knowing Animals & Our Hen House - Working with Kathryn Gillespie 02:42 What's Real? - Raised mostly #secular - Dad believed in #reincarnation - At 12yrs old becoming aware of major religions & thinking "probably none of them are right" - "Materialist with a small 'm', empiricist with a small 'e'" - "Probably when we die, we die... that just makes our lives more poignant & important" - Being given a bible stories book by a #jehovahswitness "this god person is really cruel... like a villain" - "Reassuring in a humbling kind of way... I'm a tiny part of this vast universe... we're no less important for that" - "Mildly #agnostic... I know that I don't know" - Not spiritual but "a certain sense of wonder" - An #ayahuasca retreat. Most others talked of "spiritual" experiences. "I felt pretty in touch with the particles of the universe... I don't have any anthropomorphic encounters to explain I just felt deeply in touch with creation and appreciative that I'm a part of it... that went down like a lead balloon." - Ego dissolution... "the seed of #sentience ... that I share... with other animals" 17:00 What Matters? - #comics : "#spiderman was my favourite super-hero... with great power comes great responsibility" (vs. #judgedredd and "law and order" :) ) - "We have an obligation to help each other when we can" - Fairness: "Some people's extra benefit isn't really worth anybody else's suffering" - "I don't have a #utilitarianism perspective of maximising pleasure... but for each individual who experiences the world they deserve to have minimal suffering & maximal enjoyment of life" - Understanding bad actions that may be a response to trauma or desperation - not bad ethics - "An openness to understanding what might be motivating people even in conflicts" - Neil Levy: "Why bad beliefs happen to good people" - Peter Singer - Ethical pluralism: #care/#virtue/#deontological/relational ethics as long as all sentient beings get to count "that's exactly right" - #elonmusk & the ethics of self-driving cars "it's deeply flawed if you can take individual lives & throw them away without their consent because you think it will actually benefit more people in the long run" - #consequentialism - Risks of utilitarianism: aggregating, offsetting, replacement, maximisation, ends justifying means, epistemic / ethical uncertainty & risk 26:21 Who Matters? - Beyond #anthropocentrism - Growing up "having relationships with members of other species" 49:43 How To Make a Better Future? ...and much more. Full show notes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentientism.info⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentientism.info⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠"I'm a Sentientist" wall⁠⁠⁠⁠ via ⁠⁠⁠⁠this simple form⁠⁠⁠⁠. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is ⁠⁠⁠⁠here on FaceBook⁠⁠⁠⁠. Come join us there!

Ashley is Director of Outreach for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). She has led a broad range of PETA’s campaigns and has been interviewed about her work to promote animal rights by the LA Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and in many other publications. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is ⁠⁠⁠here on YouTube⁠⁠⁠. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:33 Ashley Intro - 16 years at #PETA: public campaigns, celebrities... "enjoying every minute of it" 03:18 What Matters - #ChristianScience "there was never a divide... this is science & this is god... a lot of spirituality" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Science (see risks re: prayer vs. medicine) - Father "a non-practising Catholic... not a religious person but was very supportive of... that part of my mother's life" - Personal relationship with god "connect directly with this spiritual part of your life" - More a spiritual, all-pervasive god than a "judgemental, human figure" - Rejecting "we judge everything based on a human worldview" - Universally accessible rather than in/out-group based - "Not telling you what to do" - Religious vs. scientific views of reality "It never occurred to me that those things could be incompatible" - Spiritual rather than literal interpretation of the #bible - "#spiritually I really still do identify with these ideas & these values" - "Macro spiritual concepts of love... that bring us out of what's right in front of us" - "Isn't so much of science trying to go bigger & deeper" - Science that we don't yet understand that can sometimes be anticipated by mystical/spiritual thinking - Ontological (what's real?) & epistemological (how should we work it out?) naturalism - Risks of wishful thinking - #faith vs. #naturalism "I'm the latter... the evidence" - Is there evidence that would lead you to reject Christian Science? "it's more of a spiritual practice" - "#spirituality ... it is a scientific pursuit... our ideas of science are too limited" - Risks of dogma / harmful & discriminatory ethics in religious/supernatural worldviews - "If you have an ethical question about the world you should be going back & working it out with these spiritual tools" - Growing up in #losangeles - One 8th grade term in a Southern #Baptist school "pamphlets in the office that told you why every other religion in the world was wrong & sinful - mine was in there" - "You're going to hell!" - "I was constantly being told 'be quiet, sit down, stop asking questions'... I remember the word 'obey' was used a lot"... "I didn't get it... why can't you answer these questions?" - The #trauma caused by religious beliefs (e.g. threat of hell) - Secularism & kids learning about multilple worldviews 41:08 What Matters? - "My parents really laid the foundation... for my sense of ethics... each coming from their own respective backgrounds... two extremely ethical, thoughtful, kind, intelligent people." - You don't need an old book to be a good person... universal goods - "Goodness is something more primal than that [#divinecommandtheory]" 45:30 Who Matters? - "I grew up in an animal loving household... unquestionably family members" - The family dog: "She loved me and I loved her" - "There was never any idea that these weren't individuals" 01:16:33 How Can We Make A Better Future? ...and much more. Full show notes at ⁠⁠⁠Sentientism.info⁠⁠⁠. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at ⁠⁠⁠Sentientism.info⁠⁠⁠. Join our ⁠⁠⁠"I'm a Sentientist" wall⁠⁠⁠ via ⁠⁠⁠this simple form⁠⁠⁠. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is ⁠⁠⁠here on FaceBook⁠⁠⁠. Come join us there!

This episode is a bonus cross post of my conversation with Nick Pendergrast⁠⁠ and Adam Cardilini on their 3CR Freedom of Species podcast about conspiracism, misinformation and disinformation in the vegan and animal advocacy movements and how to communicate effectively with those caught up in them. Of course, we also talk about Sentientism⁠⁠'s commitment to naturalistic epistemology via "evidence and reason". You can subscribe to 3CR's ⁠⁠Freedom of Species wherever you listen. ⁠3CR is a community radio station based in Melbourne⁠⁠, Australia. Nick, Adam and the other co-hosts have a fascinating range of guests, conversations and also music with a message. Both Adam and Nick have been guests on Sentientism too - have a listen to episode 106 and ⁠episode 88⁠⁠ if you'd like to hear their thoughts about what's real, who matters and how can we make a better world. You might also want to check episode 55 with Christopher Sebastian and episode 92 with Lee McIntyre as we discuss their research and writing here. Here is Christopher's Euronews piece about "What do veganism and conspiracy theories have in common?" Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at ⁠Sentientism.info⁠. Join our ⁠"I'm a Sentientist" wall⁠ via ⁠this simple form⁠. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is ⁠here on FaceBook⁠. Come join us there!

Jay Shapiro is an award winning filmmaker, writer, & podcaster. He directed the film Islam & the Future of Tolerance, based around a post 9/11 conversation between Sam Harris & Maajid Nawaz. He produces and creates a wide range of content, writes on his "What Jay Thinks" blog & hosts the Dilemma podcast - I had the pleasure of being his guest for a Dilemma hangout about Sentientism back in 2020. He loves thoughtful deep dives into philosophy, psychology, & political analysis. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is ⁠⁠here on YouTube⁠⁠. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:54 Jay Intro - The Essential #samharris series - Documentary & narrative film-making - "I really want to understand ideas... and transmit those to an audience... even if I totally disagree with the idea" 03:16 What's Real? - Growing up in a secular #Jewish household - "Post-holocaust American judaism is it's own brand... a very ethical & political tribe more than a religious one" - "Never again becomes the holiest prayer" - Psychologist dad, guidance counsellor mum - "I'm a boring naturalist but... I love analogies for what it feels like to exist" - Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five "Oh... This is what I like" - An over-active imagination as a kid... "my scientists", The Truman Show, solipsism, Philip K Dick & #scifi - #Meditation, #psychedelics, religious experiences... "scrambles the dials" - Donald Hoffman's "The Case Against Reality" - How evolution shapes our construction of experiences of reality - Psychedelics help us "catch it in the act" of reality construction - "There's much more out there" e.g. non-human sentient experiences - "It reminds you of the expansiveness of reality rather than show you a new one" - The National High School Ethics Bowl - Anil Seth's "How your brain hallucinates reality" @TED - Annika Harris's exploration of consciousness theories re: "The Hard Question" - "Reality is awesome enough - who needs magic" (I mis-spoke!) - Epistemological tests?: atheism, veganism, spherical earth... - Writing about Sam Harris, not for him - Object-oriented ontology - #psychology "I don't think we're the rational animal... we're the rationalising animal" - How people respond to #cognitivedissonance (Leon Festinger) "they really don't like it" - Criticising #consequentialism "you can justify anything... wait long enough and the consequences will work out... where do you stop the clock... too easy to find an out" - #Virtueethics "Secular virtue" (vs. religious views of virtue) - What happens after noticing the cognitive dissonance. More about psychology & values more than epistemology? - Coping mechanisms. Consequentialism, capitalism, economics... give people outs to "quiet these voices in their heads" - Neil Levy "people are more rational than you think" https://youtu.be/Tp40ga1cXEc - Qanon, Goop products... everyone selects evidence/sources to suit themselves - Believing unfounded things can be a "rational" response to existential crises / the discomfort of cognitive dissonance 37:45 What Matters? - "There is no grounding (to ethics)" - David Hume's "unbreachable" is-ought chasm - "If you hate Sam (Harris) I think you'll like a lot of what I do there" (the Foundations of Morality episode of The Essential Sam Harris - There is a relationship between is and ought but "It's up to us to define that relationship" 58:50 Who Matters? 01:50:49 How Can We Make A Better Future? ...and much more. Full show notes at ⁠⁠Sentientism.info⁠⁠. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at ⁠⁠Sentientism.info⁠⁠. Join our ⁠⁠"I'm a Sentientist" wall⁠⁠ via ⁠⁠this simple form⁠⁠. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is ⁠⁠here on FaceBook⁠⁠. Come join us there!

Dhruv is a PhD student at the Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge. He has interests in psychology, philosophy and animal advocacy. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is ⁠here on YouTube⁠. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:33 Dhruv Intro 02:25 What's Real? - Born in India, moving to Scotland "A mix of two cultures" - Hindu temple at home, outside was "classic western materialism, science..." - @OfficialDerrenBrown 's "Tricks of the Mind". Magic, charlatanism, #homeopathy , #religion, #GMO scepticism (e.g. Golden Rice) - Reading Michael Shermer's "Why People Believe Weird Things" at 12 yrs old - Finding school academically easy but socially hard "immigrant children willl know... feeling like half and half and the halves don't really mix" - Culturally universal values: "There was this value of transcendence that was just missing... it would be really nice if god was real... I switched back and forth" - Celebrating #diwali when visiting India "I could see the appeal... but I couldn't see any reason or logic" - "It's not like the western materialists have any really great answers on how to live..." - Experiencing clinical #depression at Cambridge University - Discovering #stoicism & #nietzsche "a very positive nihilism" - The @philosophizethispodcast and @theschooloflifetv "self-directed, exploratory learning" - Existentialism "I couldn't really follow the continental philosophers". Camus' "The Plague" made more sense during #covid19 - A personal situation "which just did not seem amenable to being logiced out of" - A talk by @akalamusic - Going back to Indian religion & philosophy "there might be something here" - Reading the #mahabharata to understand the context for the #bhagavadgita - #arjuna , #krishna roles & responsibilities "why should I act if the fruits of my acts are not my own?" - Encountering #buddhism Graham Priest's "Paraconsistent logics" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Priest - 2 weeks at a Buddhist monastery in Scotland "everyone had their own story... so much suffering... worse than mine" - Values of patience, generosity, loving - Practising #meditation & #mindfulness - "Let me just try things that seem to work" - The wisdom of hunter-gatherer cultures - Not dismissing or reifying any culture - "I accidentally moved to New Zealand" - Going #vegan (after growing up #vegetarian ) mainly for environmental reasons - Trying vegan pizza "this is fine" - @SimonAmstellNumb 's #Carnage documentary https://youtu.be/6dXG0_yr7HE - @ed.winters Watching #EarthlingEd - Ethical & epistemological journeys developing in parallel - Meeting an activist community - Reading Peter Singer's "The Life You Can Save" and #effectivealtruism - Sam Harris' "Waking Up" - Identity & Derek Parfit - Physicist Carlo Rovelli's "The Order of Time" & intepretations of quantum physics - "I have 4 extremely diverse points of view pointing to this very strange thing about notions of identity... the Buddha takes things one step further... his is one of the reasons you're upset" - "Being troubled by open metaphysical questions is not because you don't have an answer... it's because you expect the answer" - A local #yoga group - "I stopped being bothered by these big existential questions" - Exploring from the outside & the inside (e.g. via meditation) - Cravings & suffering Also what matters, who matters, how we can make a better future... ...and much more. Full show notes at ⁠Sentientism.info⁠. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at ⁠Sentientism.info⁠. Join our ⁠"I'm a Sentientist" wall⁠ via ⁠this simple form⁠. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is ⁠here on FaceBook⁠. Come join us there!

This episode is a bonus cross-post of my conversation about "Why is it so hard to talk about meat?", and of course Sentientism, with Jenny Splitter for her FutureFeed substack - make sure you go and subscribe! Jenny is managing Editor for Sentient Media. She is an award-winning journalist and contributor to outlets like Vox, Everyday Health, Popular Mechanics, The Guardian and others. She’s one of the founding members of, and a contributor to SciMoms. I was also lucky to have Jenny as my guest on Sentientism episode 64. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what (and who) matters?” Sentientism answers those questions with a commitment to "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." Find out more at ⁠Sentientism.info⁠. Join our ⁠"I'm a Sentientist" wall⁠ via ⁠this simple form⁠. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is ⁠here on FaceBook⁠. Come join us there!

Andrew is Professor of Animal Welfare & Ethics & Founding Director of the University of Winchester Centre for Animal Welfare. He also holds many other academic and veterinary positions. Ever since helping launch Australia’s campaign against the live sheep trade to the Middle East in the early 1990s, he has advocated on behalf of animals. For nearly a decade prior to 2012 he practiced veterinary medicine, mostly around London. In 2013 – 2014 he directed the Clinical Skills Laboratory and taught animal ethics, welfare, veterinary practice management and surgical and medical skills at one of the world’s largest veterinary schools in the Caribbean. Andrew's books include The Routledge Handbook of Animal Welfare (2023) and The Costs and Benefits of Animal Experiments (2011). He has published widely for both public and academic audiences including papers in New Scientist, the British Medical Journal USA and PLoS One. Andrew has been honoured with 14 awards for his research, his advocacy and for his teaching. sustainablepetfood.info - includes details of all the research discussed. andrewknight.info In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:33 Andrew's Intro 03:57 What's Real? - Questioning his life after being unlucky in love - Following the tradition of "gurus going to mountain tops"... hiking up a mountain & fasting - A beautiful mountain view at dawn... "Please god - if there's anything out there - let me know now!" - "The sun came up... I got my answer clear as day... there was absolutely nothing... I had to go back down the mountain... carry on and do the best I could... without any advice or clues from above... that's been my guiding inspiration since... what are we going to do with this opportunity?..." - "I was very pleased because I could finally eat some food" :) - Australia's secularism - Veterinary education focused on science & evidence. 11:11 What Matters? - "Try to do the most good you can and the least harm that you can."... without letting that turn you into a grim and uninspiring person - Enjoying your life & not burning out (tough for caring professions & activists) - "Don't forget to look after ourselves" - "That's why it's [doing good, avoiding harm] such a good baseline principle... It's a simple clear message... something we can all aspire to" 15:32 Who Matters? 29:46 How Can We Make a Better Future? ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

Katherine is chief of Science Advancement and Outreach (SAO) at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). SAO aims to change the paradigm of biomedical research by promoting the development & implementation of cutting-edge strategies in biomedical research & training & eliminating the use of animals in experimentation. Katherine earned her bachelor’s degrees in biology psychology from Syracuse University and her Ph.D. in experimental psychology and cognitive science from the University of California–San Diego. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, she went on to become a research fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health, where she stayed for eight years. Over the course of her research career, she studied the neural correlates of linguistic, spatial, & memory processes, working with children with early focal brain injury, adults & children with schizophrenia, and individuals with Williams syndrome and related genetic disorders. Katherine has more than 20 years of experience conducting brain and neuroimaging research with humans and is an expert at experimental design and data analysis. She has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and has presented her findings at national and international industry conferences. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:29 Katherine's Intro - from neuroscience and the NIH to PETA - "About half of biomedical research... involves very invasive procedures with animals" - "It became clear to me that that assumption... that the harms we were doing were justifiable... fell apart... the harms were much greater than I realised but also... there's a lot of species differences that make data from these labs difficult to translate into benefits for humans." - "Then the question becomes... well what are we doing?" - "Trying to make sure people realise how sentient these animals really are... they have their own needs & wants & desires" - Previous episodes with Ingrid Newkirk https://youtu.be/M7Ac2Ba2jbM & Aysha Akhtar https://youtu.be/EZ_gh0ldzpo 04:55 What's Real? - "Religious but not deeply religious" parents - Anglican, episcopalian Christians - "It never really took" - Not needing external reasons for "wanting to cause as little harm as possible and to live in harmony with the world around us" - Learning about animals through science "started to change the way I viewed them" 24:54 What & Who Matters? 46:49 How Can We Make a Better Future? ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

Ziya is a television presenter, producer, author and board member. She was the co-host of Discovery Channel’s long-running primetime science magazine, Daily Planet. In 2019 she wrote the book “The Reality Bubble“. Ziya serves on the boards of a range of NGOs and charities, including PEN Canada, We Animals Media and WWF International. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:46 Ziya's Intro  - Science broadcasting  @discoverycanada   - Author of "The Reality Bubble" exposing human blind-spots - NGO board roles including  @WeAnimalsMedia  (animal photojournalism led by Jo-Anne McArthur) - Tweeting about earthlings: https://twitter.com/ziyatong 03:32: What's Real? - "Being a bi-racial person gives you a sort of split view... Chinese... Eastern European" - Communism & capitalism, eastern & western - "I never really... took one true dogmatic reality" - "I consistently shed layers of what I previously thought of as reality" - Yoda: "You must unlearn what you have learned" - A science journalist career "naturalistic in one sense" - "With science you can reveal a lot... the whole book [The Reality Bubble] is about that... but it always puts a lens between you and the subject" - Black holes & mites on our eyelashes - "The humanities are much more subjective" - Polymaths spanning humanities & the sciences "that blend is what's interesting to me" - "Indigenous perspectives... have so much to share with us about how we perceive reality" - Swimming sea wolves in British Columbia "new to science - but indigenous peoples had known about these wolves for their entire histories" - The Consilience Model: Science and indigenous perspectives "Two eyed seeing" - Plant medicines like #ayahuasca "which open up an entirely new door to reality" - "I don't believe reality stands on firm ground... I'm happy to run around the ice flow as it shifts... reality should never be solid" - Science & indigenous perspectives "are both based on observation" - "To a neutrino this mug wouldn't be here at all" - "We have to question our every-day common sense notions of reality" - Humilty & error-correction - Risks of dogma within science "we looked at animals as if they were machines" - Brought up Roman #catholic , dabbled with #buddhism  / #sufiism  - Rumi: "There's a hundred ways to kiss the ground" - #Vipassna #meditation  - a 10 day silent retreat "you are really guided by yourself" - Feeding ants & saving an ant "I promised not to kill anything" as part of the 10 Buddhist precepts ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

Michael is a law professor and scholar of U.S. constitutional law. He is the Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law at Cornell Law School. In addition to constitutional law, Michael has taught courses in civil procedure and federal courts. He has written/co-written/edited six books, including Beating Hearts: Abortion and Animal Rights (co-written with his wife, Sherry Colb), as well as scores of law review articles about American constitutional law. He is also a columnist for Verdict. Michael is a former law clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Michael has appeared in American news media as a legal expert and has been interviewed by and/or quoted in, for example, The New York Times, CNN, National Public Radio and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (another suspected sentientist). In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 02:02 Michael's Intro - Studying physics, then the law - Clerking then legal scholarship - Blogging @ Dorf On Law - #vegan since 2006 - Animal work in partnership with Mike's wife, Sherry Kolb "we agreed on nearly everything, but not quite everything" 04:44 What's Real? - Growing up in New York, raised #jewish "but mostly culturally" - "My father never went to synagogue unless it was somebody's wedding... he was not at all religious but he was the most ethical person I knew" - "Religion is not necessary and certainly... not sufficient to make someone an ethical person" - "That personal aspect... overshadowed anything I was being taught" - Dad's library: "the answers that the religious folks were giving to deep philosophical questions... barely scratched the surface... whereas if I went into my dad's study... Bertrand Russell's "History of Western Philosophy"... Lao Tse..." - Teaching: "what I really value is engagement with hard questions" - "The sorts of answers that religion gives stop asking the questions just when they become interesting... god made the world... god thus commanded it... it leaves lots of further questions unasked" - "Nearly all of the spiritual or supernatural beliefs I've encountered, whether religious or otherwise, strike me as ridiculous" - "If that happens [god appearing] then I'll adjust my views... but that will be in response to evidence... that itself would be a kind of naturalism." ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

Katie is a theoretical cosmologist who holds the Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication at Perimeter Institute. Her academic research investigates dark matter, vacuum decay and the epoch of reionisation. Katie is also a popular science communicator who participates in social media and regularly writes for Scientific American, Slate, Sky & Telescope, Time and Cosmos. She is the author of the book “The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)” In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:58 Katie's Intro - #cosmology  & #astrophysics  - "The study of the universe from beginning to end from the smallest to the largest scales"  - #darkmatter, the beginning of the universe & the end of the universe - Research & public engagement 03:33 What's Real? - Growing up going to church & youth group & #bible study - United Church of Christ... liberal & open-minded #socialjustice #lgbtq rights - Useful guidelines for life but "I never really understood how faith works... believing things without evidence" - Exploring different religious traditions e.g. #judaism "attending church on Sunday mornings and synagogue on Friday nights" - "I always wanted to believe something... there's a fundamental urge most humans have to connect with the divine... #spirituality of some kind... the problem was I didn't believe in anything" - Connecting with religious songs, prayer, rituals about forgiveness & bettering yourself...  - Being told "just believe"... "I don't know how to do that!" - "I believe things if I see evidence for them... if I have some reason" - A scientifically curious kid - "The way I relate to the world... is through evidence" - "I don't fundamentally grasp the concept of choosing your perceptions... choosing your beliefs. I don't think I can do that" - Ontological & epistemological naturalism - "I haven't had a spiritual experience... I assume I would write it off as something explainable through psychology and physics... but I can't say for certain" - Enrolling in a #theology seminary school after graduating in physics: "wanting to understand religion... why people believe in things... I dropped out after 6 months" - "I've done everything... went to every service... went to seminary... I did all the things and still god has not appeared to me in any way... I was a little bit jealous... that certainty, that feeling of peace... you are loved by the most powerful being in the cosmos... that sounds really cool... sign me up" - "I could follow all the rules... I couldn't believe" ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

Neil is a professor of philosophy with research interests spanning philosophy of mind, psychology, free will, moral responsibility, epistemology & applied ethics. He is Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics & professor of philosophy at Macquarie University, Sydney. From 2010, he was head of neuroethics at the Florey Institutes of Neuroscience in Melbourne. He has written many papers & books, including “Bad Beliefs: Why They Happen to Good People“. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome - Is Neil a #Sentientist ? 02:05 Neil's Intro - Perpetual winters between Oxford & Sydney - Philsophy of applied ethics, free will, epistemology - Neil's episode on #DecodingTheGurus re: intellectual virtue signalling 03:55 What's Real? - Brought up #jewish "very much a cultural thing... synagogue twice a year" in #southafrica Africa - Jewish Saturday school - Moving to #Australia & attending religious school - At 11-12 "This doesn't make much sense to me - this god business. I've been a convinced #atheist ever since" - "Being religious can be perfectly reasonable" - Subjective rationality "how well are you processing your evidence given where you are?" - "People are much more rational than we think... even #QAnon supporters... they're completely wrong... but if they believe what they're saying... they're rational given where they start" - #Trolling & #bullshit - "We've got lots of evidence people don't believe what they're saying" - #Determinism & #freewill & "the epistemic condition on responsibility"... "nobody does have that kind of control over their beliefs... they've done the best they can with the evidence available to them" - "Criticism comes cheap... so does praise" - "Luck explains so much" constitutive & present luck - "It gives us more to do... of the sort of things philosophers aren't good at" - Teaching critical thinking, logic, fallacies "people get better... but they don't get better at using it outside the classroom" - "In the classroom I give you evidence... they stipulate it... you just accept it"... "But in the real world you're faced with the continual problem... should I trust the evidence?" - A key reason people don't update beliefs given new evidence is because "they just don't trust the evidence in the first place... and you can formally model why they shouldn't... given what they already believe" - The "capital punishment views" experiment - "If somebody shows me a prima facie plausible study showing that... all dogs have 5 legs... I'm going to think... that it's bullshit" - Bayesianism - Gullibility, dogmatism, #skepticism - #QAnon , #Antivaxx , #homeopathy ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

Crystal is a veterinary practitioner, a journalist and an activist. She is the co-founder of Our Honor, a charity aiming to create an organized network of veterinary professionals who are able to challenge unethical institutionalised systems and amplify the voices of those who have been marginalised. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome - "I'd love for these sorts of conversations to be had in #veterinary schools" - "Should all vets maybe adopt a #Sentientism philosophy?" 03:21 Crystal's Intro - "A veterinarian who kind of recently joined the animal rights movement" - "This movement has kind of taken over my whole life" - Full-time veterinary practice & founding Our Honor - Empowering vets to "speak their conscience & confront systems of violence" - Countering bullying & retaliation - Compassionate Bay working on Californian legislation - The California fur ban & global impact - "It's quite astonishing - the resistance in the veterinary community to animal rights" - The founding of veterinary practice in animal exploitation - "They actively keep out anybody with an animal rights agenda from entering the profession" 06:36 What's Real? - Growing up in an agnostic family on a farm - Celebrating Christmas - "What are you, Christian or Jewish?... like those were the only two options" - Asking what happens when chicks die... "their soul goes to heaven" - Young people's encounters with death "shocking & terrifying" "but I don't have that same sense of trauma from it... they're being released from this faulty body" - "I have a very scientific mindset" - Reading the Bible... being fascinated - Arguing about organ donation - Weddings: "the wife had to obey & submit... that didn't seem like something I could jump on board with" -  @ellendegeneres  #ellendegeneres coming out & being attacked by religious homophobes - Religion: maintaining hierarchy & power structures vs. people treating each other better - "What if agnostics & atheists organised themselves - would they end up trying to oppress others?" - "There are some big unanswered questions... why am I here... where does consciousness come from? Once you die, lights out... really?" - "...consciousness is a supernatural thing? I don't know" - Ontological & methodological / epistemological #naturalism  - "All models are wrong but some are useful" - Sentience vs. consciousness - Panpsychism & Luke Roelofs episode... ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

Eva is the operations lead for the startup non-profit Pax Fauna. Pax Fauna exists to design a more effective social movement for animal freedom in the U.S. Eva has been organizing in the animal freedom movement since 2015 when she started working with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) in Chicago, where she focused on building community, writing protest music, and compiling the movements’ songs into an online songbook used by advocates around the world. She started working full time as DxE’s legal coordinator in 2018, managing the organization’s many legal cases, organizing trainings, and orchestrating large artistic demonstrations. Building on a background in Kingian nonviolence, Eva is a dedicated student of #nonviolentcommunication and is committed to bringing NVC’s repertoire of creative problem-solving tools to the work of building a better culture in the animal movement. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:39 Eva's Intro 02:48 What's Real? - "Growing up I definitely loved the supernatural... ghosts... god... mystical things" - Raised #episcopalian, baptised, church "I remember really enjoying that" - Considering confirmation but "starting to feel a little bit sceptical" - 5th grade: Debating people online about religion - "A sudden realisation... I don't actually believe all of this" - Looking for purpose - Identifying as an #atheist & focusing on the harms of religion (unaccepting, destructive, family rejections) - "I still don't believe in anything that can't be falsified" - "I'm really connected to the needs that can be met by religion..." working in an end of life hospice - "My own spirituality... characterised by #nonviolence" a Kingian perspective, nonviolent communication - Meeting the needs (community, morality)... without the supernatural - Valuing acceptance & care for others led to hostility vs. some religious ethics - #yoga & #meditation then finding "a more secular form of meditation" - Using supernaturalism as a metaphor - Naturalistic "spirituality"... "a felt sense of purpose" 13:20 What Matters? - Non-violence: Getting away from black & white "right and wrong" thinking to "thinking about needs" - Finding creative alternatives to meeting needs without violence - Needs & strategies to meet them - More fundamental needs: safety, sustenance, freedom from suffering - #maslow 's hierarchy, Scott Barry Kaufman's sailboat @ThePsychologyPodcast   - Protective use of force. Justifiable force. "Nonviolence is definitely not #pacifism " - Mourning unmet needs ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

Between 1999 and 2014, Bel was Style Editor for Metro. The fall of Rana Plaza in 2013 forced a re-assessment; today, she is a writer, speaker and activist with a focus on animal rights, the climate emergency and the toxic fashion system. Bel has taken part in and moderated numerous panels for brands and organisations and has been interviewed about her work in activism, alternative systems in fashion and culture change. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:48 Bel's Intro - Journalism, fashion editor, social & animal justice activism - "The world of fashion sucks you in" - Co-founding The Islington Climate Centre & running The Empathy Project 04:19 What's Real? - (I mis-spoke & asked "what matters?" - sorry!) - Growing up in #hongkong ... rich, vibrant, urban - "Really loving animals" first companion animal at 3 "they were these beautiful things" - Stray animals & wet markets "but no one talked about it" - Food "a very big deal in that culture"... valuing the exotic e.g. suckling pig / turtle soup - "At least they were honest... there was no pretense at compassion" - "I tucked in because everyone else tucked in" - "I held this love of animals whilst eating them for a very long time" - Growing up "broadly agnostic" with a Jewish father & a mother who moved through various religions - Saying the Lord's Prayer every morning at school - "I just couldn't correlate why there were so many sad things happening & god didn't seem to be very active in sorting it out" - Coming to #spirituality through "the extent of the suffering... abuse... cruelty"... "I could not rationalise it" - "I'm going to drive my love to them through thought & visualisation & #meditation " - "My god is the natural world" - "Animals are the sentient representations of nature" - "I do like to get my hands in the soil" 19:34 What Matters? - "Religions are man made constructions... constructed in times long gone... by powerful men... You cannot not question them." - Suffering as central to understanding good & bad 23:46 Who Matters? - "Even as we talk most people will think we're talking just about humans" - Moral philosophy's focus on humans - The rationalisations that support animal exploitation "I had an innocent idea of what authority does" - "I would volunteer in animal shelters then go home and have a meat dinner" - A journalist trip where they helped a sheep get free from barbed wire then "had lamb for dinner" - "My awakening... was my encounter with the #Yulin dog meat festival... I started to question the nature of humanity" ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

This episode is a bonus cross post of my conversation about Sentientism with Nathan and Todd on their Beyond Atheism podcast. Beyond Atheism moves beyond questions of gods' existence to ask "what's next in a godless world?" If that question interests you make sure you go and subscribe. Many thanks to Todd and Nathan for inviting me. I think they're on their way to Sentientism… In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what (and who) matters?” Sentientism answers those questions with a commitment to "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." Find out more at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

Paige is Communications Director for the streaming platform UnchainedTV. After initially going vegan “for the environment” Jane became an ethical vegan after attending her first vigil with LA Animal Save. Paige later became a Contributor for JaneUnchained News where she reported on vigils, PETA protests, VegFests, book launches, Cubes of Truth & vegan conferences. Paige then became Booker for LunchBreakLIVE, a daily cooking show & Senior Booker for JaneUnChained News. Now, as UnchainedTV Comms Director & co-producer/co-host of the Plant Based In the ‘Burbs show, Paige brings inspiration, humor & humbleness to the kitchen, showing simple swap outs & easy recipes to inspire people to bring more plants on their plates. She also works with Gwenna Hunter who launched the first vegan food bank in Southern California. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 02:00 Paige's Intro 05:09 What's Real? - Paradigm shifts & language - Cultural differences re: dog & horse meat & values - Living on a cattle ranch w/grandparents "hard work & love" - California to Tennessee & back - "I'm more #spiritual than religious" - Agreed meanings of "humane" "so that humans can feel comfortable eating these animals" - "A lot of systems are breaking down" some in a good way, some not so good - #COP27 #greenwashing  - The Farm Bill, animal agriculture subsidies, lobbying - How bad ethics & bad epistemology feed each other - A sunday school teacher aunt - Corporal punishment "for me there was a Bible & a ruler" - "Pretty much buying into the American way... & #christianity " - A spiritual workshop - #thesecret & Michael Beckwith & the Agape International Spiritual Centre "A Baptist/Buddhist experience... this really fits my heart... commonality & peace" - #transcendence & interconnectedness in both naturalistic & spiritual ways of thinking - JW: Risks in spiritual movements that focus on "#manifesting your own future... so if bad things happen to you it's your fault" & high control & dangerous leaders & coercion - "If we take personal responsibility we can socially change... stop blaming others" - "Everything that has ever happened to me I take full responsibility for... even child abuse." - "A brother who took his life at 19"... "losing both parents to brain injury" - "I'd rather be empowered" - Risks of victim-blaming, even when the victim is ourselves - "There are situations where there are victims, perpetrators... (JW) & systemic influences we have very little control over" - Children working in US slaughterhouses - "Work towards justice for others" ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

Lori is Executive Director of The Kimmela Center and Founder & President of The Whale Sanctuary Project. She is a neuroscientist and expert in animal behavior and intelligence, formerly on the faculty of Emory University where she was also a faculty member at the Emory Center for Ethics. She is internationally known for her work on the evolution of the brain and intelligence in dolphins and whales and marine mammal welfare in captivity, as well as cognition in farmed animals through The Someone Project. In 2001 Lori co-authored a ground-breaking study with Diana Reiss offering the first conclusive evidence for mirror self-recognition in bottlenose dolphins, after which she decided against conducting further research with animals held captive in zoos and aquariums. Lori has published over 130 peer-reviewed scientific papers, book chapters, and magazine articles on marine mammal biology and cognition, comparative brain anatomy, self-awareness in nonhuman animals, human-nonhuman animal relationships, and the evolution of intelligence. Lori has appeared in several films and television programs, including Blackfish; Unlocking the Cage; Long Gone Wild and the upcoming documentary about Corky, the orca held captive by SeaWorld since 1969. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome - Guest links e.g. Kathy Hessler https://youtu.be/R5eZebUAsQg 01:52 Lori's Intro - A central question: "What is it like to be another animal?" - "I ran into ethical issues that shaped how I conducted my career" - Science then science-based advocacy "it's all based on facts" 04:12 What's Real? - Raised Roman #Catholic as an Italian American in Brooklyn NY "Church on Sunday" - "I started to question the whole proposition... that there's some sort of a god" - Heaven, hell, sin "It's not light hearted... it's dark" - Becoming a recovering Catholic - "If there is a god, it's on vacation" & the #problemofevil  - Becoming #atheist "that's what I am today... I don't see any reason to propose that there's anything supernatural out there" - #agnostic "what does that even mean?... I'm atheist in the same way that I don't think that there are purple dinosaurs walking around in my room & talking to me... I'm not agnostic about that." - "I didn't ever draw my ethics from religion" - Catholic "#ethics but from a very weird point of view" - The psychological needs motivating religious belief - Teenage dabbling in #pseudoscience 20:45 What and Who Matters? A Better Future! ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!