Sam Harris#Podcast

Samuel Benjamin Harris was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 9, 1967.Current Biography, January 2012, Vol. 73, Issue 1, p. 37{{cite magazine|title=Playboy Interview: Sam Harris |magazine=Playboy |date=Winter 2019 |volume=66 |issue=1 |page=44 |url=https://archive.org/details/Playboy_USA_Winter_2019/page/n45/mode/2up}} He is the son of the late actor Berkeley Harris, who appeared mainly in Western films, and television writer and producer Susan Harris (née Spivak), who created Soap and The Golden Girls, among other series.{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/10/20/girls-series-is-solid-gold-for-harris/ |title='Girls' Series is solid gold for Harris |work=Chicago Tribune TV Week |date=October 20, 1985 |access-date=September 18, 2013 |author=Anderson, Jon}} His father, born in North Carolina, came from a Quaker background, and his mother is Jewish.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/belief/articles/qa-sam-harris |title=Q&A: Sam Harris |first=David |last=Samuels |author-link=David Samuels (writer)|magazine=Tablet |date=2012-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127023653/https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/belief/articles/qa-sam-harris |archive-date=2023-01-27 |url-status=live |access-date=2014-10-06}} He was raised by his mother following his parents' divorce when he was age two.{{cite web |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/item/im-not-the-sexist-pig-youre-looking-for |title=I'm Not the Sexist Pig You're Looking For |website=www.samharris.org |access-date=2016-04-23 |date=2014-09-15 |archive-date=2016-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418202514/https://www.samharris.org/blog/item/im-not-the-sexist-pig-youre-looking-for |last1=Harris |first1=Sam }} Harris has stated that his upbringing was entirely secular and that his parents rarely discussed religion, though he also stated that he was not raised as an atheist.[https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2007/01/05/january-5-2007-sam-harris-extended-interview/3736/ Sam Harris – Extended Interview]; PBS: Religion & Ethics Newsweekly; January 5, 2007

While his original major was in English, Harris became interested in philosophical questions while at Stanford University after an experience with MDMA.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWEbGsXTWR0&t=7m36s "Sam Harris."] (2008). The Science Studio. Science Network. October 3, 2008. [http://thesciencenetwork.org/media/videos/295/Transcript.pdf Transcript.]{{cite web |last=Harris |first=Sam |title=MDMA Caution with Sam Harris |via=YouTube |date=June 28, 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgUd0Xv5skk}}{{Citation |via=YouTube |website=Cogent Canine |title=First Time Sam Harris Took E |date=2017-12-06 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFyg4blzlDM |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602232651/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFyg4blzlDM&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=2020-06-02 |access-date=December 8, 2017}} The experience interested him in the idea he might be able to achieve spiritual insights without the use of drugs. Leaving Stanford in his second year, a quarter after his psychoactive experience, he visited India and Nepal, where he studied meditation with teachers of Buddhist and Hindu religions,{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Lisa |author-link=Lisa Miller (psychologist)|year=2010 |url=http://europe.newsweek.com/rationalist-sam-harris-believes-god-73859?rm=eu |title=Sam Harris Believes in God |work=Newsweek}} including Dilgo Khyentse.{{cite web |url=http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/science-on-the-brink-of-death |title=Science on the Brink of Death |date=2012-11-11 |access-date=2012-11-14 |author=Harris, Sam |archive-date=2017-09-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909005157/http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/science-on-the-brink-of-death }} For a few weeks in the early 1990s, he was a volunteer guard in the security detail of the Dalai Lama.{{Cite news |last=Morrison |first=Patt |author-link=Patt Morrison|date=24 September 2014 |title=No God? No problem, says god-free thinker Sam Harris |url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-morrison-sam-harris-spirituality-without-religion-20140924-column.html |access-date=2023-05-04 |work=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US|department=[Opinion]}}{{Cite news |last=Segal |first=David |author-link=David Segal (reporter)|date=October 26, 2006 |title=Atheist Evangelist |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/25/AR2006102501998_pf.html

|access-date=2023-05-04 |issn=0190-8286}} [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2006/10/26/atheist-evangelist-span-classbankheadin-his-bully-pulpit-sam-harris-devoutly-believes-that-religion-is-the-root-of-all-evilspan/a82d61ff-28c0-4f22-af83-4e714f10c4c8/ Alternative link]

In 1997, after eleven years overseas, Harris returned to Stanford, completing a B.A. degree in philosophy in 2000.{{cite magazine|title=The Iconoclast: Sam Harris wants believers to stop believing |first=Lewis I. |last=Rice |date=2005 |magazine=Stanford Magazine |publisher=Stanford Alumni Association |url=http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2005/julaug/show/books.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091016012306/http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2005/julaug/show/books.html |archive-date=2009-10-16}}{{cite web |url=http://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/scientists/harris/ |title=Sam Harris |website=The Information Philosopher |access-date=April 30, 2016}} Harris began writing his first book, The End of Faith, immediately after the September 11 attacks.

He received a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience in 2009 from the University of California, Los Angeles,{{Cite magazine |last=Greenberg |first=Brad A. |title=Making Belief |magazine=UCLA Magazine |date=April 1, 2008 |access-date=October 28, 2009 |url=http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/depts/quicktakes/making-belief/}}{{Cite news |last=Healy |first=Melissa |title=Religion: The heart believes what it will, but the brain behaves the same either way |work=Los Angeles Times |date=September 30, 2009 |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/09/religion-the-heart-believes-what-it-will-but-the-brain-behaves-the-same-either-way.html |access-date=October 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140124025949/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/09/religion-the-heart-believes-what-it-will-but-the-brain-behaves-the-same-either-way.html |archive-date=January 24, 2014}} using functional magnetic resonance imaging to conduct research into the neural basis of belief, disbelief, and uncertainty. His thesis was titled The Moral Landscape: How Science Could Determine Human Values. His advisor was Mark S. Cohen.{{cite thesis |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/366925574/ |id={{ProQuest|366925574 }}|title=The Moral Landscape: How Science Could Determine Human Values |publisher=UCLA |type=PhD dissertation |date=2009 |access-date=June 5, 2014 |last=Harris|first=Sam|isbn=978-1-124-01190-5}}

Harris's writing concerns philosophy, neuroscience, and criticism of religion. He came to prominence for his criticism of religion (Islam in particular) and he is described as one of the Four Horsemen of Atheism, along with Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett.{{cite news|last1=Bowles|first1=Nellie |author-link=Nellie Bowles|date=December 14, 2018|title=Patreon Bars Anti-Feminist for Racist Speech, Inciting Revolt|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/24/technology/patreon-hate-speech-bans.html|access-date=30 August 2019|quote=On Dec. 6, Patreon kicked the anti-feminist polemic Carl Benjamin, who works under the name Sargon of Akkad, off its site for using racist language on YouTube. That same week, it removed the right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos a day after he opened an account.{{pb}}"The moves prompted a revolt. Mr. Harris, citing worries about censorship, announced that he would leave Patreon.{{nbsp}}...{{pb}}[...]{{pb}}"...{{nbsp}}Mr. Harris, who gathered his fan base as a pugnacious atheist and fierce critic of Islam{{nbsp}}...|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224213124/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/24/technology/patreon-hate-speech-bans.html |archive-date=24 December 2018}} He has written for publications such as The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Economist, The Times (of London), The Boston Globe, and The Atlantic.{{cite web |title=Sam Harris |url=https://www.edge.org/memberbio/sam_harris |website=Edge.org |access-date=August 26, 2018}} Five of Harris's books have been New York Times bestsellers, and his writing has been translated into over 20 languages. The End of Faith (2004) remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 33 weeks.{{Cite magazine |last1=Van Biema |first1=David |title=What Your Brain Looks Like on Faith |magazine=Time |url=http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1694723,00.html |access-date=August 16, 2018|date=2007-12-14}}

In September 2013, Harris began releasing the Waking Up podcast (since re-titled Making Sense). Episodes vary in length but often last over two hours.{{cite news |last1=Davies |first1=Hannah J |last2=Verdier |first2=Hannah |last3=Sanderson |first3=Max |title=The con woman who scammed New York's elite – podcasts of the week |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jan/03/fake-heiress-anna-delvey-david-baddiel-podcasts-of-the-week |access-date=22 June 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=3 January 2020}} Releases do not follow a regular schedule.

The podcast focuses on a wide array of topics related to science and spirituality, including philosophy, religion, morality, free will, neuroscience, meditation, psychedelics and artificial intelligence. Harris has interviewed a wide range of guests, including scientists, philosophers, spiritual teachers, and authors. Guests have included Jordan Peterson, Dan Dennett, Janna Levin, Peter Singer, and David Chalmers.{{cite web |date=September 13, 2022 |title=Waking Up with Sam Harris |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/296-repairing-our-country/id733163012?i=1000579369510 |access-date=September 13, 2022 |website=iTunes – Podcasts |quote=I have been, traditionally, a liberal. I have never voted republican{{nbsp}}... certainly not for president.}}{{cite news |last=Weiss |first=Bari |author-link=Bari Weiss |date=May 8, 2018 |title=Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/opinion/intellectual-dark-web.html |access-date=May 8, 2018}}{{cite news |last1=Anthony |first1=Andrew |author-link1=Andrew Anthony |title=Sam Harris, the new atheist with a spiritual side |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/16/sam-harris-interview-new-atheism-four-horsemen-faith-science-religion-rationalism |access-date=22 June 2020|language=en-GB |work=The Observer |date=16 February 2019}}{{cite magazine |last1=Turkheimer |first1=Eric |author-link1=Eric Turkheimer |last2=Harden |first2=Kathryn Paige |author2-link=Kathryn Paige Harden |last3=Nisbett |first3=Richard E. |author-link3=Richard E. Nisbett |date=18 May 2017 |title=Charles Murray is once again peddling junk science about race and IQ |magazine=Vox |url=https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/5/18/15655638/charles-murray-race-iq-sam-harris-science-free-speech |access-date=16 October 2018}}

In September 2018, Harris released a meditation course app, Waking Up with Sam Harris. The app provides daily meditations; long guided meditations; daily "Moments" (brief meditations and reminders); conversations with thought leaders in psychology, meditation, philosophy, psychedelics, and other disciplines; a selection of lessons on various topics, such as Mind & Emotion, Free Will, and Doing Good; and more. Users of the app are introduced to several types of meditation, such as mindfulness meditation, vipassanā-style meditation, loving-kindness meditation, and Dzogchen.{{cite magazine |last1=Freeland |first1=Ben |title=Sam Harris' Waking Up App, Reviewed |url=https://medium.com/@benfreeland/sam-harris-waking-up-app-reviewed-1d50e259e93d |magazine=Medium |access-date=30 May 2019 |date=29 March 2019}}

In September 2020, Harris announced his commitment to donate at least 10% of Waking Up's profits to highly effective charities,{{cite web | url=https://dynamic.wakingup.com/course/658 | title=Waking Up Turns 2 | access-date=September 28, 2020 | archive-date=January 18, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118033319/https://dynamic.wakingup.com/course/658 }} thus becoming the first company to sign the Giving What We Can pledge for companies.{{Cite web|title=Members|url=https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/about-us/members/|access-date=2020-09-25|website=www.givingwhatwecan.org}} The pledge was retroactive, taking into account the profits since the day the app launched two years previously.

{{Atheism sidebar}}

Harris is generally a critic of religion, and is considered a leading figure in the New Atheist movement. Harris is particularly opposed to what he refers to as dogmatic belief, and says that "Pretending to know things one doesn't know is a betrayal of science – and yet it is the lifeblood of religion."{{Cite web|title=Meme #8|url=https://samharris.org/meme-8/|date=2017-05-03|website=Sam Harris|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-01}} While purportedly opposed to religion in general and their belief systems, Harris believes that all religions are not created equal. Often invoking the non-violent nature of Jainism{{cite web |date=September 6, 2019 |title=Sam Harris Compares Islam with Jainism and Tells Which one of Them is the Religion of Peace |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRZrXM8J3wc |work=Jains Today| access-date=July 2, 2024|quote=Jainism is a religion of peace}} to contrast with Islam,{{Cite magazine |last=Don |first=Katherine |date=2010-10-17 |title='The Moral Landscape': Why science should shape morality |url=https://www.salon.com/2010/10/17/sam_harris_interview/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |magazine=Salon.com |language=en}} Harris argues that the differences in religious doctrines and scriptures are the main indicators of a religion's value.{{cite web |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/item/response-to-controversy |title=Response to Controversy |last=Harris |first=Sam |date=June 21, 2014 |access-date=October 23, 2016 |archive-date=October 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024151823/https://www.samharris.org/blog/item/response-to-controversy }}{{cite magazine |date=September 1, 2006 |title=The Temple of Reason Sam Harris On How Religion Puts The World At Risk| quote=Jainism is the best example that I know of [a peaceful religion].{{nbsp}}... Nonviolence is its core doctrine |magazine=Sun Magazine| access-date=July 2, 2024

|url=https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/22970-the-temple-of-reason}}

In September 2006 Harris debated Robert Wright on the rationality of religious belief.September 22, 2006 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dwD6XQ9Tsw] (a 90-minute debate). In 2007, he engaged in a lengthy debate with conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan on the Internet forum Beliefnet.Harris, Sam; Sullivan, Andrew (January 16, 2007). [http://www.beliefnet.com/story/209/story_20904.html "Is Religion 'Built Upon Lies'?"] Beliefnet. In April 2007, Harris debated with evangelical pastor Rick Warren for Newsweek magazine.Harris, Sam; Warren, Rick (April 8, 2007). [http://www.newsweek.com/newsweek-poll-90-believe-god-97611 "Newsweek Poll: 90% Believe in God"]. Newsweek. Harris debated with Rabbi David Wolpe in 2007.{{cite news |last1=Padilla |first1=Steve |author1-link=Steve Padilla |date=29 December 2007 |title=Rabbi, atheist debate with passion, humor |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-dec-29-me-beliefs29-story.html |access-date=20 June 2020 |agency=Los Angeles Times}} In 2010, Harris joined Michael Shermer to debate with Deepak Chopra and Jean Houston on the future of God in a debate hosted by ABC News Nightline.{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Dan |author1-link=Dan Harris (journalist) |last2=Brown |first2=Ely |date=22 March 2010 |title='Nightline' 'Face-Off': Does God Have a Future? |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaceOff/nightline-face-off-god-future/story?id=10170505 |access-date=20 June 2020 |agency=ABC News}} Harris debated with Christian philosopher William Lane Craig in April 2011 on whether there can be an objective morality without God.{{cite news |author-last=Schneider |author-first=Nathan |author-link=Nathan Schneider |date=July 1, 2013 |title=The New Theist |url=http://chronicle.com/article/The-New-Theist/140019/ |work=The Chronicle of Higher Education}} In June and July 2018, he met with Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson for a series of debates on religion, particularly the relationship between religious values and scientific fact in defining truth.{{Cite web |last=Ruffolo |first=Michael |date=June 26, 2018 |title=Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson waste a lot of time, then talk about God for 20 minutes |url=https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/06/26/analysis/sam-harris-and-jordan-peterson-waste-lot-time-then-talk-about-god-20-minutes |access-date=April 23, 2019 |work=National Observer}}{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Murray (author)|date=September 16, 2018 |title=Arena talks in Dublin and London with Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris and Douglas Murray |url=https://spectator.us/jordan-peterson-sam-harris-douglas-murray/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423002900/https://spectator.us/jordan-peterson-sam-harris-douglas-murray/ |archive-date=April 23, 2019 |access-date=April 23, 2019 |work=The Spectator USA}} Harris has debated with the scholar Reza Aslan.{{cite thesis |last1=Jennek |first1=Rafal |date=2017 |title=Sam Harris on Religion in Peace and Conflict |url=https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1110381/FULLTEXT01.pdf |access-date=20 June 2020 |publisher=Department of Theology, Uppsala University}}

In 2006, Harris described Islam as "all fringe and no center",{{Cite web|title=The Reality of Islam|url=https://samharris.org/the-reality-of-islam/|date=2006-02-08|website=Sam Harris|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-30}} and wrote in The End of Faith that "the doctrine of Islam{{nbsp}}... represents a unique danger to all of us", arguing that the war on terror is really a war against Islam.{{Cite book|last=Adams|first=Alex|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XR9qDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA29|page=29|title=Political Torture in Popular Culture: The Role of Representations in the Post-9/11 Torture Debate |year=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-28939-5|language=en}} In 2007, Harris in the famous "Four Horsemen" debate asked fellow atheists, Hitchens, Dawkins, and Dennett, "Do you feel there's any burden we have, as critics of religion, to be evenhanded in our criticism of religion, or is it fair to notice that there's a spectrum of religious ideas and commitments and Islam is on one end of it and the Amish and the Jains and others are on another end, and there are real differences here that we have to take seriously."{{Cite web |title=The Four Horsemen by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett: 9780525511953 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/586726/the-four-horsemen-by-christopher-hitchens-richard-dawkins-sam-harris-and-daniel-dennett/ |access-date=2024-09-14 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}} In 2014, Harris said he considers Islam to be "especially belligerent and inimical to the norms of civil discourse", as it involves what Harris considers to be "bad ideas, held for bad reasons, leading to bad behavior." In 2015 Harris and secular Islamic activist Maajid Nawaz cowrote Islam and the Future of Tolerance.{{cite book |title=Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QgGnCgAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-08870-2 |first1=Sam |last1=Harris |first2=Nawaz |last2=Maajid |access-date=14 December 2020 |archive-date=7 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507174420/https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam_and_the_Future_of_Tolerance.html?id=QgGnCgAAQBAJ |url-status=live}} In this book, Harris argues that the word Islamophobia is a "pernicious meme", a label which prevents discussion about the threat of Islam. Harris has been described in 2020 by Jonathan Matusitz, Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida, as "a champion of the counter-jihad left".{{Cite book|last=Matusitz|first=Jonathan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nx__DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1988|page=1988|title=Communication in Global Jihad|year=2020|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-000-22435-1|language=en}}

Harris is also critical of the Christian right in politics in the United States, blaming them for the political focus on "pseudo-problems like gay marriage".{{cite news |last1=Mohler |first1=R. Albert Jr.|author1-link=Albert Mohler |title=The End of Faith – Secularism with the Gloves Off |url=http://www.christianpost.com/article/20040819/6130.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629202825/http://www.christianpost.com/article/20040819/6130.htm |archive-date=29 June 2012 |access-date=19 February 2019 |work=The Christian Post |date=19 August 2004}} He is also critical of liberal Christianity{{snd}}as represented, for instance, by the theology of Paul Tillich{{snd}}which he argues claims to base its beliefs on the Bible despite actually being influenced by secular modernity. He further states that in so doing liberal Christianity provides rhetorical cover to fundamentalists.

Harris emphasizes that all religions are not the same and that if any religion can be considered a "religion of peace", it is not Islam, but rather Jainism, which emerged in India around the same time as Buddhism, and has non-violence as its core doctrine. He underscores that to be a practicing Jain, one has to be a vegetarian and a pacifist, while the Jain monks even wear masks in order to avoid breathing in any living thing. But, he points out that even the Jain religion has its problems, as Jains believe certain things based on insufficient evidence, which leads to some religious dogmas.

Harris has often noted some positive aspects of Buddhist thought, especially in relation to meditation, such as Buddhism's emphasis that one's behavior and intentions impact the mind, and in order to achieve happiness, one needs to strive towards "overcoming fear and hatred" while "maximizing love and compassion". In 2019, while discussing his book Waking Up: Searching for Spirituality Without Religion, Harris noted that the West could learn a lot from the East about the traditions of meditation found in Hinduism and Buddhism, though he considers that meditation can be practiced without any traditional religious beliefs.{{cite magazine |date=December 6, 2014 |title=Mindfulness' 'truthiness' problem: Sam Harris, science and the truth about Buddhist tradition |last1=Purser |first1=Ronald |last2=Cooper |first2=Andrew | url=https://www.salon.com/2014/12/06/mindfulness_truthiness_problem_sam_harris_science_and_the_truth_about_buddhist_tradition/|magazine=Salon| access-date=July 2, 2024 }}

Harris holds that there is "nothing irrational about seeking the states of mind that lie at the core of many religions. Compassion, awe, devotion, and feelings of oneness are surely among the most valuable experiences a person can have", saying:{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Sam |title=God's Dupes |url=https://samharris.org/gods-dupes/ |website=SamHarris.org |access-date=10 April 2021 |date=15 March 2007}}

{{Blockquote

| text =Everything of value that people get from religion can be had more honestly, without presuming anything on insufficient evidence. The rest is self-deception, set to music.

| author = Sam Harris (15 March 2007)

| source = SamHarris.org}}

Harris rejects the dichotomy between spirituality and rationality, favoring a middle path that preserves spirituality and science but does not involve religion.{{cite web|last1=Clothier|first1=Peter |author1-link=Peter Clothier|title=Waking Up, by Sam Harris: A Book Review|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/waking-up-by-sam-harris-a_b_8079028.html|work=Huffington Post|access-date=October 1, 2017|date=September 2, 2016}} He writes that spirituality should be understood in light of scientific disciplines like neuroscience and psychology. Science, he contends, can show how to maximize human well-being, but may fail to answer certain questions about the nature of being, answers to some of which he says are discoverable directly through our experience. His conception of spirituality does not involve a belief in any god.{{cite magazine|last1=Smith|first1=Holly|title=Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion|url=http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/executive-director-at-the-common-good|magazine=Washington Independent Review of Books|access-date=October 2, 2017|date=September 17, 2014}}

In Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion (2014), Harris describes his experience with Dzogchen, a Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice, and recommends it to his readers. He writes that the purpose of spirituality (as he defines it – he concedes that the term's uses are diverse and sometimes indefensible) is to become aware that our sense of self is illusory, and says this realization brings both happiness and insight into the nature of consciousness, mirroring core Buddhist beliefs.{{cite journal |title=Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion |journal=Kirkus Reviews |date=August 29, 2014 |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sam-harris/waking-up-guide-to-spirituality/ |access-date=August 12, 2016}} This process of realization, he argues, is based on experience and is not contingent on faith.

{{Blockquote

| text = When you learn how to meditate, you recognize that there is another possibility, which is to be vividly aware of your experience in each moment in a way that frees you from routine misery.

| author = Sam Harris (February 2019)

| source = The Guardian}}

{{See also|Science of morality}}

Harris considers that the well-being of conscious creatures forms the basis of morality. In The Moral Landscape, he argues that science can in principle answer moral questions and help maximize well-being.

Harris rejects the moral authority of religion, and points to what he sees as failures or misplaced priorities, for example saying that "The Catholic Church is more concerned about preventing contraception than preventing child rape".

Harris also criticizes cultural and moral relativism, arguing that it prevents people from making objective moral judgments about practices that clearly harm human well-being, such as female genital mutilation. Harris contends that we can make scientifically based claims about the negative impacts of such practices on human welfare, and that withholding judgment in these cases is tantamount to claiming complete ignorance about what contributes to human well-being.

{{See also|Neuroscience of free will}}

Harris says that the idea of free will "cannot be mapped on to any conceivable reality" and is incoherent.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.philosophynews.com/post/2012/05/15/An-Analysis-of-Sam-Harris-Free-Will.aspx|title=An Analysis of Sam Harris' Free Will|author=Paul Pardi|magazine=Philosophy News|date=May 15, 2012|access-date=April 17, 2016}} Harris writes in Free Will that neuroscience "reveals you to be a biochemical puppet".{{cite web |author-last=Nahmias |author-first=Eddy |date=August 13, 2012 |url=https://www.bigquestionsonline.com/content/does-contemporary-neuroscience-support-or-challenge-reality-free-will |title=Does Contemporary Neuroscience Support or Challenge the Reality of Free Will? |website=Big Questions Online}}

Philosopher Daniel Dennett argued that Harris's book Free Will successfully refuted the common understanding of free will, but that he failed to respond adequately to the compatibilist understanding of free will. Dennett said the book was valuable because it expressed the views of many eminent scientists, but that it nonetheless contained a "veritable museum of mistakes" and that "Harris and others need to do their homework if they want to engage with the best thought on the topic."{{cite journal |last1=Dennett |first1=Daniel |date=2017 |title=Reflections on Sam Harris' Free Will |journal=Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=214–230 |doi=10.4453/rifp.2017.0018 |issn=2039-4667}}

Harris is particularly concerned with existential risks from artificial general intelligence, a topic he has discussed in depth in several episodes of his podcast.{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Sam |date=2015 |title=Can We Avoid a Digital Apocalypse? |url=https://www.edge.org/response-detail/26177 |access-date=14 June 2019 |website=Edge.org}}{{Cite web |date=March 7, 2023 |title=#312 – The Trouble with AI |url=https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/312-the-trouble-with-ai |access-date=2023-08-12 |website=Sam Harris}}{{Cite web |date=February 6, 2018 |title=#116 – AI: Racing Toward the Brink |url=https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/116-ai-racing-toward-brink |access-date=2023-08-12 |website=Sam Harris}}{{Cite web |title=Sam Harris {{!}} #385 - AI Utopia |url=https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/385-ai-utopia |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=Sam Harris}}{{Cite web |title=Sam Harris {{!}} #332 - Can We Contain Artificial Intelligence? |url=https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/332-can-we-contain-artificial-intelligence |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=Sam Harris}} In a 2016 TED talk, he argued that it will be a major threat in the future, and criticized the lack of human interest on the subject.{{cite web |last1=Davey |first1=Tucker |date=October 7, 2016 |title=Sam Harris TED Talk: Can We Build AI Without Losing Control Over It? |url=https://futureoflife.org/2016/10/07/sam-harris-ted-talk/?cn-reloaded=1 |access-date=14 June 2019 |website=Future of Life Institute}} He said that artificial superintelligence will inevitably be developed if three assumptions hold true: intelligence is a product of information processing in physical systems, humans will continue to improve intelligent machines, and human intelligence is far from the peak of possible intelligence. He described making artificial superintelligence safe as "one of the greatest challenges our species will ever face", indicating that it would warrant immediate consideration.

Harris describes himself as a liberal, even though he criticizes some aspects of both right and left. He is a registered Democrat{{cite episode |series=The David Pakman Show|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCKKCglmQAw| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/PCKKCglmQAw| archive-date=2021-10-30|title=Sam Harris: Trump, Reparations, Manifestos, Fox News|date=September 9, 2019|access-date=November 21, 2019 |time=03:50 |quote=I'm a registered Democrat}}{{cbignore}} and has never voted Republican in presidential elections. He supports same-sex marriage and decriminalizing drugs.

Harris frequently criticized George W. Bush over his support for intelligent design and his coziness with Christianity.{{Cite web |last=comerj |date=2007-01-05 |title=January 5, 2007 ~ Sam Harris Extended Interview {{!}} January 5, 2007 {{!}} Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2007/01/05/january-5-2007-sam-harris-extended-interview/3736/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Sam Harris {{!}} Home of the Making Sense Podcast |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-politics-of-ignorance |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Sam Harris}}

In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times in 2006, Harris said that he supported most of the criticism against the Bush administration's war in Iraq, and all criticism of fiscal policy and the administration's treatment of science. Harris also said that liberalism has grown "dangerously out of touch with the realities of our world" regarding threats posed by Islamic fundamentalism.Harris, Sam (September 18, 2006). [https://web.archive.org/web/20061101084519/http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-harris18sep18%2C0%2C1897169.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail "Head-in-the-Sand Liberals: Western civilization really is at risk from Muslim extremists."] Los Angeles Times. Archived at the Wayback Machine. Harris criticized the Bush administration for its use of torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay, but also argued that there can be a rational case for torture in rare circumstances.{{Cite web |date=2005-10-17 |title=In Defense of Torture |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/in-defense-of-torture_b_8993 |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Sam Harris {{!}} Home of the Making Sense Podcast |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/in-defense-of-torture |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Sam Harris}}

Harris opposes religious claims to Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. Nonetheless, Harris has said that due to the hostility towards Jews, if there is one religious group which needs protections in the form of a state, it is Jews and the state of Israel.{{Cite web |date=July 27, 2014 |title=#2 — Why Don't I Criticize Israel? |url=https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/why-dont-i-criticize-israel |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Sam Harris}}{{Cite magazine |author=Salon Staff |date=2014-07-28 |title=Sam Harris: Why don't I criticize Israel? |url=https://www.salon.com/2014/07/28/sam_harris_why_dont_i_criticize_israel/ |access-date=2023-04-13 |magazine=Salon |language=en}}

Harris has criticized both Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hamas for committing war crimes in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He said in 2014 that he believes Israel genuinely wants peace and that its neighbors are more devoted to the destruction of Israel. Harris has also said that Hamas is more guilty than the IDF with regard to war crimes citing Hamas' use of human shields and genocidal rhetoric towards the Jews. He names these as reasons that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas.{{Cite web |date=August 12, 2014 |title=Making Sense of Gaza {{!}} A Conversation Between Sam Harris and Andrew Sullivan |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/making-sense-of-gaza |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Sam Harris}}

During the Gaza war that began in October 2023, Harris expressed support for Israel and rejected arguments that Israel provoked Hamas by building Israeli settlements in the West Bank, arguing that Gaza had not been occupied since 2005. He also condemned the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which led to the war.{{Cite web |title=The Sin of Moral Equivalence |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-sin-of-moral-equivalence |access-date=2023-11-04 |website=Sam Harris}} He described his July 2, 2024 interview with a former Knesset member as discussing "the bias against Israel at the United Nations, the nature of double standards, the precedent set by Israel in its conduct in the war in Gaza, the shapeshifting quality of antisemitism, anti-Zionism as the newest strain of Jew hatred, the 'Zionism is racism' resolution at the UN, the lie that Israel is an apartheid state, the notion that Israel is perpetrating a 'genocide' against the Palestinians, the Marxist oppressed-oppressor narrative, the false moral equivalence between the atrocities committed by Hamas and the deaths of noncombatants in Gaza ...."{{Citation |title=#373 — Anti-Zionism Is Antisemitism |date=2024-07-02 |url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/2pwwYIJMld83HuoFIL9q3Q?si=ec6d864f97ce4330&nd=1&dlsi=320d37149caf4cf4 |access-date=2025-01-04 |language=en}}

In the 2008 United States presidential election, he supported the candidacy of Barack Obama and opposed Republican John McCain's candidacy.{{Cite web |title=What Barack Obama Could Not (and Should Not) Say |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/what-barack-obama-could-not-and-should-not-say |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=Sam Harris}}{{Cite news |date=2008-03-21 |title=What Barack Obama Could Not (and Should Not) Say |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-barack-obama-could-n_b_92771 |access-date=2023-04-12 |work=HuffPost |language=en}} During the 2016 United States presidential election, Harris supported Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Party presidential primaries against Bernie Sanders,{{cite web |date=18 February 2016 |title=Sam Harris Q&A: 'Why I'm Voting For Hillary Clinton' |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZG0IRzmF7M |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/WZG0IRzmF7M |archive-date=2021-10-30 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} and despite calling her "a terribly flawed candidate for the presidency", he favored her in the general election and came out strongly in opposition to Donald Trump's candidacy.Harris, Sam. [https://www.samharris.org/blog/item/trump-in-exile2 Trump in Exile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212091113/https://www.samharris.org/blog/item/trump-in-exile2|date=February 12, 2017}}. samharris.org, October 13, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2017 Harris has criticized Trump for lying, stating in 2018 that Trump "has assaulted truth more than anyone in human history".

In the 2020 United States presidential election, Harris supported Andrew Yang in the Democratic primaries.{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Sam |date=2020-11-06 |title=I sure hope Andrew Yang has a significant job in D.C. next year... |url=https://twitter.com/samharrisorg/status/1324540436329885698 |access-date=2021-05-21 |website=Twitter |language=en}} Harris also introduced Yang to podcaster Joe Rogan.{{Cite news |last=Weiss |first=Bari |date=2020-01-31 |title=Opinion {{!}} Did I Just Get Yanged? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/opinion/sunday/andrew-yang-2020.html |access-date=2021-01-05 |issn=0362-4331}} After the 2020 election, he said that he did not care what was on Hunter Biden's laptop, telling the Triggernometry podcast that "Hunter Biden literally could have had the corpses of children in his basement{{snd}}I would not have cared",{{Cite news |last=Chung |first=Frank |date=19 August 2022 |title=Author Sam Harris says he wouldn't care if Hunter Biden had 'corpses of children in his basement' |work=News.com.au |url=https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/author-sam-harris-says-he-wouldnt-care-if-hunter-biden-had-corpses-of-children-in-his-basement/news-story/99e322c554106a777740b211bbe1e3a2}} arguing more broadly that both Trump and Biden had been in the public eye for decades, and that Biden would have had to have engaged in an extraordinarily large scale of mendacity to come even close to the level of scandal Trump is known to have engaged in.

In the 2024 United States presidential election, Harris endorsed Kamala Harris. Just a few days before the elections, he joined in a debate on the Honestly podcast where he argued in favor of supporting Kamala Harris, while Ben Shapiro presented the case for Donald Trump.{{Cite web |date=2024-10-29 |title=Trump or Kamala? Ben Shapiro and Sam Harris Debate. |url=https://www.thefp.com/p/trump-or-kamala-ben-shapiro-and-sam-850 |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=The Free Press |language=en}} After Kamala Harris lost the election, he blamed Democrats for their embrace of identity politics, gender identity,{{Cite web |title=A Democratic Reckoning on “Gender Identity”? |url=https://www.city-journal.org/article/a-democratic-reckoning-on-gender-identity |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=City Journal |language=en}} and the Biden administration for poor handling of immigration at the southern border.{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Sam |date=2024-11-11 |title=The Reckoning |url=https://samharris.substack.com/p/the-reckoning |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=Sam Harris}}

Harris supports raising taxes on the wealthy and reducing government spending, and has criticized billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett for paying relatively little in tax. He has proposed taxing 10% for estates worth above 10 million dollars, taxing 50% for estates worth over a billion dollars, and then using the money to fund an infrastructure bank.

He has accused conservatives of perceiving raising taxes as a form of theft or punishment, and of believing that by being rich they create value for others.{{Cite news |date=2006-11-01 |title=Head-in-the-Sand Liberals |work=Los Angeles Times |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-harris18sep18,0,1897169.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail |access-date=2023-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061101084519/http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-harris18sep18,0,1897169.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail |archive-date=November 1, 2006 }} He has described this view as ludicrous, saying that "markets aren't perfectly reflective of the value of goods and services, and many wealthy people don't create much in the way of value for others. In fact, as our recent financial crisis has shown, it is possible for a few people to become extraordinarily rich by wrecking the global economy".{{Cite web |title= How Rich is Too Rich? |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/how-rich-is-too-rich |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=Sam Harris |date=August 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125163738/https://www.samharris.org/blog/how-rich-is-too-rich |archive-date=November 25, 2021 |url-status=live}}

Harris owns guns and wrote in 2015 that he understood people's hostility towards gun culture in the United States and the political influence of the National Rifle Association of America. However, he argued that there is a rational case for gun ownership due to the fact that the police cannot always be relied on and that guns are a good alternative.{{Cite news|title=Why I own guns |url=https://theweek.com/articles/468420/why-guns |access-date=2022-05-31 |work=The Week |language=en-US |date=January 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514023734/https://theweek.com/articles/468420/why-guns |archive-date=May 14, 2015 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=The Riddle of the Gun |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-riddle-of-the-gun |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=Sam Harris |date=2013-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126024809/https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-riddle-of-the-gun |archive-date=2021-11-26 |url-status=live}}

Harris has stated that he disagrees with proposals by liberals and gun control advocates for restricting guns, such as the assault weapons ban, since more gun crimes are committed with handguns than the semi-automatic weapons which the ban would target. Harris has also said that the left-wing media gets many things wrong about guns. He has, however, offered support for certain regulations on gun ownership, such as mandatory training, licensure, and background checks before a gun can be legally purchased.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he criticized commentators for pushing views on COVID-19 that he considered to be "patently insane". Harris accused these commentators of believing that COVID-19 policies were a way of implementing social control and to crackdown on people's freedom politically.{{Cite magazine |date=2021-12-15 |title=Sam Harris Blasts Podcasters Pushing Covid Conspiracies |url=https://www.mediaite.com/podcasts/patently-insane-sam-harris-blasts-fellow-podcasters-pushing-covid-conspiracy-theories/ |access-date=2023-03-14 |magazine=Mediaite |language=en}} Harris has feuded with Bret Weinstein over his views on COVID-19.{{Cite news |title=I tried to talk about the hard issues America faces. Then the social media storm erupted. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2023/02/02/podcast-debut-launched-social-media-storm-covid-elon-musk/11118952002/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |work=USA TODAY |language=en-US}} In 2023, he said that if COVID-19 had killed more children, there would be no patience for vaccine skepticism.{{Cite news |last=Silverstein |first=Joe |date=2023-01-16 |title=Podcaster Sam Harris: If COVID killed more children there'd be 'no f---ing patience' for vaccine skeptics |url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/podcaster-sam-harris-covid-killed-children-f-ing-patience-vaccine-skeptics |access-date=2023-03-14 |work=Fox News |language=en-US}}

In March 2023, he hosted Matt Ridley and Alina Chan on his podcast to discuss the origins of COVID-19 and the potential that the COVID-19 virus was made in a lab.{{Cite web |url=https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/311-did-sars-co-v-2-escape-from-a-lab |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=www.samharris.org|title=Sam Harris | #311 – Did SARS-CoV-2 Escape from a Lab? }}{{Cite news |last=Salzberg |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Salzberg|title=The Scientific Error That Might Have Caused The Covid-19 Pandemic |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2023/02/27/the-scientific-error-that-might-have-caused-the-covid-19-pandemic/ |access-date=2023-03-23 |work=Forbes |language=en}}

Harris has been described, alongside others such as Joe Rogan, Bret Weinstein, and Jordan Peterson, as a member of the intellectual dark web, a group that opposes political correctness and identity politics.{{Cite news |date=2020-01-31 |title=Opinion {{!}} Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/opinion/intellectual-dark-web.html |access-date=2022-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131000213/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/opinion/intellectual-dark-web.html |archive-date=January 31, 2020 |last1=Weiss |first1=Bari |last2=Winter |first2=Damon}} New York Times book reviewer Bari Weiss described the group as "a collection of iconoclastic thinkers, academic renegades and media personalities who are having a rolling conversation – on podcasts, YouTube and Twitter, and in sold-out auditoriums – that sound unlike anything else happening, at least publicly, in the culture right now."

In November 2020, Harris stated that he does not identify as a part of that group. In 2021 Harris stated that he had "turn[ed] in [his] imaginary membership card to this imaginary organization".{{Cite web |last=Wakeling |first=Adam |date=2021-07-01 |title=What Happened to the Intellectual Dark Web?|url=https://www.realclearpolicy.com/2021/07/01/what_happened_to_the_intellectual_dark_web_783679.html |access-date=2022-05-08 |website=RealClearPolicy |language=en}} In 2023 during an interview with The Daily Beast, Harris explained that he had broken away from the intellectual dark web due to disagreements with Bret Weinstein, and Maajid Nawaz's "obsession" with COVID-19 conspiracy theories and criticism of COVID-19 policies. He also described becoming disenchanted with Dave Rubin for having been captured by his audience and said "Rubin became far more cynical than I would have thought possible. And it's very depressing. He was a friend, he's not a friend anymore".{{Cite news |last=Fisher |first=Anthony L. |date=2023-01-19 |title=The Intellectual Dark Web's Descent Into Paranoia and Trumpism |language=en |work=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/intellectual-dark-webs-descent-into-paranoia-and-trumpism |access-date=2023-10-31}}

{{Criticism section|date=November 2023}}

In April 2017, Harris hosted the social scientist Charles Murray on his podcast, discussing topics including the heritability of IQ and race and intelligence.{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Sam |date=27 March 2018 |title=Ezra Klein: Editor-at-Large |url=https://samharris.org/ezra-klein-editor-chief/ |access-date=16 October 2018 |website=SamHarris.org}} Harris stated the invitation was out of indignation at a violent protest against Murray at Middlebury College the month before and not out of particular interest in the material at hand. The podcast episode garnered significant criticism, most notably from Vox{{cite news |last1=Klein |first1=Ezra |author-link=Ezra Klein |date=27 March 2018 |title=Sam Harris, Charles Murray, and the allure of race science |work=Vox |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/27/15695060/sam-harris-charles-murray-race-iq-forbidden-knowledge-podcast-bell-curve |access-date=16 October 2018}} and Slate.{{cite news |last1=Saletan |first1=William |author-link=William Saletan |date=27 April 2018 |title=Stop Talking About Race and IQ |agency=Slate |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/04/stop-talking-about-race-and-iq-take-it-from-someone-who-did.html |access-date=17 October 2018}} In the Vox article, scientists, including Eric Turkheimer, Kathryn Paige Harden, and Richard E. Nisbett, accused Harris of participating in "pseudoscientific racialist speculation" and peddling "junk science". Harris and Murray were defended by commentators Andrew Sullivan{{cite magazine |last1=Sullivan |first1=Andrew |author-link1=Andrew Sullivan |date=30 March 2018 |title=Denying Genetics Isn't Shutting Down Racism, It's Fueling It |magazine=New York – Intelligencer |url=http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/03/denying-genetics-isnt-shutting-down-racism-its-fueling-it.html |access-date=17 October 2018}} and Kyle Smith.{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Kyle |author1-link=Kyle Smith (critic) |date=20 April 2018 |title=Ezra Klein's Intellectual Demagoguery |work=National Review |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/04/ezra-klein-vox-accuses-sam-harris-of-racism/ |access-date=11 August 2020}} Harris and Vox editor-at-large Ezra Klein later discussed the affair in a podcast interview in which Klein accused Harris of "thinking tribally" and Harris accused the Vox article of leading people to think he was racist.{{cite magazine |last1=Klein |first1=Ezra |date=9 April 2018 |title=The Sam Harris debate |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/4/9/17210248/sam-harris-ezra-klein-charles-murray-transcript-podcast |access-date=30 August 2019 |magazine=Vox}}{{cite magazine |last1=Wright |first1=Robert |author1-link=Robert Wright (journalist) |date=17 May 2018 |title=Sam Harris and the Myth of Perfectly Rational Thought |url=https://www.wired.com/story/sam-harris-and-the-myth-of-perfectly-rational-thought/ |magazine=Wired |access-date=30 August 2019}}

Harris has been accused of Islamophobia by linguist and political commentator Noam Chomsky.{{cite news|date=25 January 2016|title=Noam Chomsky tells 'UpFront' he would "absolutely" vote for Hillary Clinton|work=Al Jazeera|url=https://network.aljazeera.net/pressroom/noam-chomsky-tells-%E2%80%98upfront%E2%80%99-he-would-%E2%80%9Cabsolutely%E2%80%9D-vote-hillary-clinton|access-date=30 July 2020}} After Harris and Chomsky exchanged a series of emails on terrorism and U.S. foreign policy in 2015, Chomsky said Harris had not prepared adequately for the exchange and that this revealed his work as unserious.{{Cite magazine|date=2015-05-08|title=Scoring the Noam Chomsky/Sam Harris debate: How the professor knocked out the atheist |url=https://www.salon.com/2015/05/07/scoring_the_noam_chomskysam_harris_debate_how_the_professor_knocked_out_the_atheist/|access-date=2020-07-24|magazine=Salon|language=en}} In a 2016 interview with Al Jazeera English{{'s}} UpFront, Chomsky further criticized Harris, saying he "specializes in hysterical, slanderous charges against people he doesn't like." Other writers and political commentators including Glenn Greenwald,{{Cite web |title=Sam Harris {{!}} Home of the Making Sense Podcast |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/dear-fellow-liberal2 |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Sam Harris}} Reza Aslan,{{Cite web |title=Sam Harris {{!}} Home of the Making Sense Podcast |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/on-the-mechanics-of-defamation |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Sam Harris}} Chris Hedges, and Nathan J. Robinson have also accused Harris of Islamophobia and/or bigotry.{{Cite web |last=Wilder |first=Charly |date=2008-03-13 |title=I don't believe in atheists |url=https://www.salon.com/2008/03/13/chris_hedges/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Salon |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Sam |date=2011-07-27 |title=Sam Harris Responds to Chris Hedges' 'Fundamentalism Kills' Column |url=https://www.truthdig.com/articles/sam-harris-responds-to-chris-hedges-fundamentalism-kills-column/ |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=Truthdig |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=July 26, 2011 |title=Dear Angry Lunatic: A Response to Chris Hedges |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/response-to-chris-hedges |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=Sam Harris}}{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=Nathan J. |date=2022-07-27 |title=Why We Still Need Atheism |url=https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2022/07/why-we-still-need-atheism |access-date=2025-05-12 |work=Current Affairs |language=en |issn=2471-2647}} Hedges and Robinson have also criticized Harris for discussing in an excerpt from The End of Faith the possibility of a nuclear first strike against an Islamist regime that would have acquired long-range nuclear weapons and that would be undeterred by the threat of mutual destruction due to beliefs in jihad and martyrdom.{{Cite news |last1=Massey |first1=Eli |last2=Robinson |first2=Nathan J. |author2-link=Nathan J. Robinson |date=2018-10-12 |title=Being Mr. Reasonable |url=https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2018/10/being-mr-reasonable |access-date=2023-04-24 |work=Current Affairs |language=en |issn=2471-2647}}{{Cite web |title=Sam Harris {{!}} Home of the Making Sense Podcast |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/response-to-chris-hedges |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=Sam Harris}}{{Cite magazine |last=Wilder |first=Charly |date=2008-03-13 |title=I don't believe in atheists |url=https://www.salon.com/2008/03/13/chris_hedges/ |access-date=2024-08-05 |magazine=Salon |language=en}}

Harris has countered that his views on this and other topics are frequently misrepresented by "unethical critics" who "deliberately" take his words out of context. He has also criticized the validity of the term "Islamophobia".Taylor, Jerome (April 12, 2013). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/atheists-richard-dawkins-christopher-hitchens-and-sam-harris-face-islamophobia-backlash-8570580.html "Atheists Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris face Islamophobia backlash"]. The Independent. "My criticism of Islam is a criticism of beliefs and their consequences, but my fellow liberals reflexively view it as an expression of intolerance toward people",{{citation|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=Can Liberalism Be Saved From Itself?|date=2014-10-07|url=http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/can-liberalism-be-saved-from-itself|year=2014b |website=Sam Harris |access-date=December 26, 2014|archive-date=December 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226050007/http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/can-liberalism-be-saved-from-itself}} he wrote following a disagreement with actor Ben Affleck in October 2014 on the show Real Time with Bill Maher. Affleck had described Harris's and host Bill Maher's views on Muslims as "gross" and "racist", and Harris's statement that "Islam is the mother lode of bad ideas" as an "ugly thing to say". Affleck also compared Harris's and Maher's rhetoric to that of people who use antisemitic canards or define African Americans in terms of intraracial crime.{{cite news|last1=Child|first1=Ben|date=7 October 2014|title=Ben Affleck: Sam Harris and Bill Maher 'racist' and 'gross' in views of Islam|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/06/ben-affleck-bill-maher-sam-harris-islam-racist|access-date=30 August 2019}} Several conservative American media pundits in turn criticized Affleck and praised Harris and Maher for broaching the topic, saying that discussing it had become taboo.{{cite magazine|last1=Bond|first1=Paul|date=8 October 2014|title=Ben Affleck Targeted by Conservatives After Islamism Spat With Bill Maher|url=https://hollywoodreporter.com/news/ben-affleck-targeted-by-conservatives-739408|access-date=3 April 2021|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}}

Harris's dialogue on Islam with Maajid Nawaz received a combination of positive reviews{{cite news|author-first=Brian |author-last=Stewart|date=October 7, 2015|title=A Liberal Atheist and a Liberal Muslim Discuss the Problems of Contemporary Islam|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/425169/sam-harris-maajid-nawaz-islam-book?target=author&tid=5037|work=National Review}}{{cite news|title=Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-674-08870-2|access-date=24 October 2020|work=Publishers Weekly|date=October 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Sonenshine|first1=Tara|author1-link=Tara Sonenshine|title=Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue|url=https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/islam-and|access-date=24 October 2020|work=New York Journal of Books}} and mixed reviews.{{cite web|title=Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sam-harris/islam-and-the-future-of-tolerance/|access-date=24 October 2020|work=Kirkus Reviews}}{{cite web|last=Manji|first=Irshad|author-link=Irshad Manji|date=3 November 2015|title='Islam and the Future of Tolerance' and 'Not in God's Name'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/books/review/islam-and-the-future-of-tolerance-and-not-in-gods-name.html|access-date=13 August 2016|work=The New York Times}} Irshad Manji wrote: "Their back-and-forth clarifies multiple confusions that plague the public conversation about Islam." Of Harris specifically, she said "[he] is right that liberals must end their silence about the religious motives behind much Islamist terror. At the same time, he ought to call out another double standard that feeds the liberal reflex to excuse Islamists: Atheists do not make nearly enough noise about hatred toward Muslims."

Harris opposed Executive Order 13769, which limited the entry of refugees from Muslim-majority countries to the United States, stating that it was "unethical with regard to the plight of refugees...and bound to be ineffective in stopping the spread of Islamism."{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Sam |date=January 29, 2017 |title=A Few Thoughts On The Muslim Ban |url=https://www.samharris.org/blog/a-few-thoughts-on-the-muslim-ban |access-date=August 15, 2024 |website=Sam Harris.org}}

Hatewatch staff at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) wrote that members of the "skeptics" movement, of which Harris is "one of the most public faces", help to "channel people into the alt-right".{{cite web |last1=Hatewatch Staff |date=19 April 2018 |title=McInnes, Molyneux, and 4chan: Investigating pathways to the alt-right |url=https://www.splcenter.org/20180419/mcinnes-molyneux-and-4chan-investigating-pathways-alt-right |access-date=1 September 2019 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center}} Bari Weiss wrote that the SPLC had misrepresented Harris's views.

Harris's first two books, in which he lays out his criticisms of religion, received negative reviews from Christian scholars.{{cite magazine |author-first=Matthew |author-last=Simpson |date=2005 |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/books/features/bookwk/050404.html |title=Unbelievable: Religion is really, really bad for you |magazine=Christianity Today}}{{cite magazine|first=Michael |last=Novak |author-link=Michael Novak|date= March 19, 2007 |url= http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/national-review-lonely-atheists-of-the-global-village/ |magazine=National Review |title=Lonely Atheists of the Global Village |via= Sam Harris |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516021022/http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/national-review-lonely-atheists-of-the-global-village/ |archive-date=May 16, 2013 |id=[Book reviews: Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam Harris; Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, by Daniel C. Dennett; and The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins.] }} [https://www.aei.org/articles/lonely-atheists-of-the-global-village/ Via – American Enterprise Institute AEI] {{webarchive|date=February 27, 2020 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227120645/https://www.aei.org/articles/lonely-atheists-of-the-global-village/}} From secular sources, the books received a mixture of negative reviews{{Cite journal |last=Saxton |first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Saxton |date=October 2006 |title=The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason |journal=Science & Society |volume=70 |issue=4 |pages=572–574 |doi=10.1521/siso.2006.70.4.572 |issn=0036-8237}}{{cite journal |author-last=Flynn |author-first=Thomas W.|author-link=Thomas W. Flynn |date=2005 |title=Glimpses of Nirvana |journal=Free Inquiry |volume=25 |number=2 |issn=0272-0701}}{{cite magazine |author-first=David |author-last=Boulton |date=2005 |url=https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/855/faith-kills |title=Faith Kills|issn=0306-512X|magazine=New Humanist |volume=120 |number=2}} and positive reviews.{{cite news |author-link=Stephanie Merritt |author-last=Merritt |author-first=Stephanie |date=February 6, 2005 |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1406746,00.html |title=Faith no more |newspaper=The Observer |issn=0029-7712}}{{cite web |last=Hari |first=Johann |author-link=Johann Hari |date=February 11, 2005 |title=BOOKS: The sea of faith and violence |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books-the-sea-of-faith-and-violence-1530032.html |access-date=February 3, 2022 |work=The Independent}}{{cite web |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Dawkins |date=August 4, 2005 |title=Coming Out Against Religious Mania |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-dawkins/coming-out-against-religi_b_5137.html |access-date=February 3, 2022 |work=The Huffington Post}}{{Cite news |last=Pinker |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Pinker |date=June 1, 2008 |title=Survey: Truth to Power |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/books/review/Survey-t.html |access-date=March 10, 2014}} In his review of The End of Faith, American historian Alexander Saxton criticized what he called Harris's "vitriolic and selective polemic against Islam", (emphasis in original) which he said "obscure[s] the obvious reality that the invasion of Iraq and the War against Terror are driven by religious irrationalities, cultivated and conceded to, at high policy levels in the U.S., and which are at least comparable to the irrationality of Islamic crusaders and Jihadists." By contrast, Stephanie Merritt wrote of the same book that Harris's "central argument in The End of Faith is sound: religion is the only area of human knowledge in which it is still acceptable to hold beliefs dating from antiquity and a modern society should subject those beliefs to the same principles that govern scientific, medical or geographical inquiry – particularly if they are inherently hostile to those with different ideas." Harris's first book, The End of Faith (2004), won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction.PEN American Center, 2005. "[http://www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/836 The PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060521025523/http://www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/836 |date=May 21, 2006}}."

Harris's next two books, which discuss philosophical issues relating to ethics and free will, received several negative academic reviews.[http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Reviews-Essays/The-Moral-Landscape/ba-p/3477T. Jollimore, Barnes & Noble Review], Oct. 22, 2010.{{cite web |last=Appiah |first=Kwame Anthony |author-link=Kwame Anthony Appiah |date=October 1, 2010 |title=Science Knows Best |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/books/review/Appiah-t.html |access-date=February 3, 2022 |work=The New York Times}}{{cite web |last=Atran |first=Atran |author-link=Scott Atran |date=23 February 2011 |title=Sam Harris's Guide to Nearly Everything |url=http://nationalinterest.org/bookreview/sam-harriss-guide-nearly-everything-4893?page=show |access-date=24 September 2011 |work=The National Interest |archive-date=October 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020132226/http://nationalinterest.org/bookreview/sam-harriss-guide-nearly-everything-4893?page=show }}{{Cite web |last=Malik |first=Kenan |author-link=Kenan Malik |title=Test-tube truths |url=https://newhumanist.org.uk/2538/test-tube-truths |access-date=2020-07-24 |website=newhumanist.org.uk |date=April 14, 2011 |language=en-GB}}{{cite magazine |date=2014-05-26 |title=Is Sam Harris Right About Free Will?: A Book Review |url=https://cct.biola.edu/sam-harris-free-will-book-review/ |access-date=2020-08-06 |publisher=Biola University Center for Christian Thought |magazine=The Table}}{{cite journal |last=Dennett |first=Daniel |title=Reflections on Sam Harris' Free Will |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/DENROS-7 |journal=Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia |volume=8 |issue=3 |date=2017 |pages=214–230 |doi=10.4453/rifp.2017.0018 |doi-access=free |access-date=2020-08-06}} In his review of The Moral Landscape, neuroscientist Kenan Malik criticized Harris for not engaging adequately with philosophical literature: "Imagine a sociologist who wrote about evolutionary theory without discussing the work of Darwin, Fisher, Mayr, Hamilton, Trivers or Dawkins on the grounds that he did not come to his conclusions by reading about biology and because discussing concepts such as 'adaptation', 'speciation', 'homology', 'phylogenetics' or 'kin selection' would 'increase the amount of boredom in the universe'. How seriously would we, and should we, take his argument?" On the other hand, The Moral Landscape received a largely positive review from psychologists James Diller and Andrew Nuzzolilli.{{cite journal |last1=Diller |first1=J. W. |last2=Nuzzolilli |first2=A. E. |year=2012 |title=The Science of Values: The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris |journal=The Behavior Analyst |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=265–273 |doi=10.1007/BF03392286 |pmc=3501430}} Additionally, Free Will received a mixed academic review from philosopher Paul Pardi, who said that while it suffers from some conceptual confusions and that the core argument is a bit too "breezy", it serves as a "good primer on key ideas in physicalist theories of freedom and the will".{{cite magazine |last=Pardi |first=Paul |date=2012-05-15 |title=An Analysis of Sam Harris's Free Will |url=http://www.philosophynews.com/post/2012/05/15/An-Analysis-of-Sam-Harris-Free-Will.aspx |access-date=2020-08-06 |magazine=Philosophy News}}

Harris's book on spirituality and meditation received mainly positive reviews{{cite web |last=Bruni |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Bruni |date=August 30, 2014 |title=Between Godliness and Godlessness |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/opinion/sunday/frank-bruni-between-godliness-and-godlessness.html |access-date=October 18, 2015 |work=The New York Times}}{{cite web |last=Cave |first=Stephen |date=October 31, 2014 |title=Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, by Sam Harris |url=https://www.ft.com/content/1d3edaaa-5df4-11e4-b7a2-00144feabdc0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211231204/https://www.ft.com/content/1d3edaaa-5df4-11e4-b7a2-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=December 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=August 12, 2016 |work=Financial Times }} as well as some mixed reviews.{{cite magazine |last=Quirk |first=Trevor |date=September 10, 2014 |title=I Thought I Hated the New Atheists. Then I Read Sam Harris's New Book. |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/119397/sam-harriss-waking-review |magazine=The New Republic |access-date=August 12, 2016}} It was praised by Frank Bruni, for example, who described it as "so entirely of this moment, so keenly in touch with the growing number of Americans who are willing to say that they do not find the succor they crave, or a truth that makes sense to them, in organized religion."

In 2018, Robert Wright, a visiting professor of science and religion at Union Theological Seminary, published an article in Wired criticizing Harris, whom he described as "annoying" and "deluded". Wright wrote that Harris, despite claiming to be a champion of rationality, ignored his own cognitive biases and engaged in faulty and inconsistent arguments in his book The End of Faith. He wrote that "the famous proponent of New Atheism is on a crusade against tribalism but seems oblivious to his own version of it." Wright wrote that these biases are rooted in natural selection and impact everyone, but that they can be mitigated when acknowledged.

The UK Business Insider included Harris's podcast in their list of "8 podcasts that will change how you think about human behavior" in 2017,{{cite web |title=8 podcasts that will change how you think about human behavior |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/podcasts-change-how-you-understand-human-behavior-2017-1 |access-date=April 23, 2017 |work=Business Insider}} and PC Magazine included it in their list of "The Best Podcasts of 2018".{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Ben |date=27 September 2018 |title=The Best Podcasts of 2018 |agency=PC Magazine |url=https://me.pcmag.com/cast/11729/the-best-podcasts-of-2018 |access-date=11 August 2020}} In January 2020, Max Sanderson included Harris's podcast as a "Producer pick" in a "podcasts of the week" section for The Guardian. The Waking Up podcast won the 2017 Webby Award for "People's Voice" in the category "Science & Education" under "Podcasts & Digital Audio".{{cite web|title=The 2017 Webby Awards for the best science and education podcasts|url=http://webbyawards.com/winners/2017/podcasts-digital-audio/general-podcasts/science-education/|website=The Webby Awards|access-date=April 26, 2017}}

Harris was included on a list of the "100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People 2019" in the Watkins Review, a publication of Watkins Books, a London esoterica bookshop.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.watkinsmagazine.com/watkins-spiritual-100-list-for-2019|title=Watkins' Spiritual 100 List for 2019|date=April 2019|magazine=Watkins Magazine|access-date=7 May 2019}}

In 2004, Harris married Annaka Harris (née Gorton), an author and editor of nonfiction and scientific books, after engaging in a common interest about the nature of consciousness.{{Cite web |title=Project Reason Trustees / Advisory Board |url=https://www.project-reason.org/about/individual_member/2819/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20140112053144/http://www.project-reason.org/about/individual_member/2819/ |archive-date=2014-01-12 |website=www.project-reason.org}} They have two daughters{{sfn|Harris|2014a|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dmhNAgAAQBAJ&q=sam+harris+emma+and+violet&pg=PP6 p. 6]: "Dedication: For Annaka, Emma, and Violet"}}{{cite web |last=Harris |first=Sam |title=Drugs and the Meaning of Life |website=Sam Harris |date=July 4, 2011 |url=http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/drugs-and-the-meaning-of-life |access-date=November 5, 2014 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924093857/http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/drugs-and-the-meaning-of-life/ }} and live in Los Angeles.{{Cite news|date=2019-02-16|title=Sam Harris, the new atheist with a spiritual side|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/16/sam-harris-interview-new-atheism-four-horsemen-faith-science-religion-rationalism|access-date=2021-02-12|work=The Guardian|language=en}}

In September 2020, Harris became a member of Giving What We Can, an effective altruism organization whose members pledge to give at least 10% of their income to effective charities, both as an individual and as a company with Waking Up.

Harris practices Brazilian jiu-jitsu.{{sfn|Harris|2012}}{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/05/the-atheist-who-strangled-me/309292/ |title=The Atheist Who Strangled Me |work=The Atlantic |date=April 24, 2013 |access-date=August 11, 2014 |author-last=Wood |author-first=Graeme |author-link=Graeme Wood (journalist)}}

{{Refbegin|55em|indent=yes}}

• {{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|isbn=0-393-03515-8|oclc=62265386|year=2004|title-link=The End of Faith}}
• {{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=Letter to a Christian Nation|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.|oclc=70158553|isbn=0-307-26577-3|year= 2006|title-link=Letter to a Christian Nation}}
• {{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-1-4391-7121-9|oclc=535493357|year=2010|title-link=The Moral Landscape}}
• {{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=Lying|publisher=Four Elephants Press|year=2011|isbn=978-1-940051-00-0|title-link=Lying (Harris book)}}
• {{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=Free Will|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-1-4516-8340-0|year=2012|title-link=Free Will (book)}}
• {{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion|year=2014a|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-4516-3601-7|title-link=Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion}}
• {{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Sam|last2=Nawaz|first2=Maajid|author-link2=Maajid Nawaz|title=Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue|year=2015|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-08870-2|title-link=Islam and the Future of Tolerance}}
• {{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Sam|last2=Dawkins|first2=Richard|author-link2=Richard Dawkins|last3=Dennett|first3=Daniel|author-link3=Daniel Dennett|last4=Hitchens|first4=Christopher|author-link4=Christopher Hitchens|title=The Four Horsemen: The Discussion that Sparked an Atheist Revolution|publisher=Bantam Press|isbn=978-0-593-08039-9|year=2019}}
• {{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=Making Sense: Conversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity|publisher=Ecco|isbn=978-0-06-285778-1|year=2020}}

{{Refend}}

{{Refbegin|55em|indent=yes}}

• Amila, D. & Shapiro, J. (2018). Islam and the Future of Tolerance. United States: The Orchard.{{Cite web|url=http://www.islamandthefutureoftolerance.com/|title=Islam and the Future of Tolerance|website=Islam and the Future of Tolerance|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-26}}

{{Refend}}

{{Refbegin|55em|indent=yes}}

• {{Cite journal | last1 = Harris | first1 = S. | last2 = Sheth | first2 = S. A. | last3 = Cohen | first3 = M. S. |author-link3=Mark S. Cohen| doi = 10.1002/ana.21301 | title = Functional neuroimaging of belief, disbelief, and uncertainty | journal = Annals of Neurology | volume = 63 | issue = 2 | pages = 141–147 | date = 27 February 2008| pmid = 18072236| s2cid = 17335600}}
• {{Cite journal | last1 = Harris | first1 = S. | last2 = Kaplan | first2 = J. T. | last3 = Curiel | first3 = A. | last4 = Bookheimer | first4 = S. Y. |author4-link=Susan Bookheimer| last5 = Iacoboni | first5 = M. | last6 = Cohen | first6 = M. S. | editor1-last = Sporns | editor1-first = Olaf |editor1-link=Olaf Sporns | title = The Neural Correlates of Religious and Nonreligious Belief | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0007272 | journal = PLOS One | volume = 4 | issue = 10 | pages = e7272 | date = 1 October 2009 | pmid =19794914| pmc = 2748718| bibcode = 2009PLoSO...4.7272H | doi-access = free}}
• {{Cite journal | last1=Douglas | first1=P. K. | last2 = Harris | first2 = S. | last3 = Yuille | first3 = A. |author4-link=Alan Yuille | last4 = Cohen | first4 = M. S. | title = Performance comparison of machine learning algorithms and number of independent components used in fMRI decoding of belief vs. disbelief. | doi = 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.11.002 | journal = NeuroImage | volume = 56 | issue = 2 | pages = 544–553 | date = 15 May 2011 | pmid = 21073969 | pmc = 3099263}}
• {{Cite journal|title=Neural correlates of maintaining one's political beliefs in the face of counterevidence|date=23 December 2016|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=6|page=39589|doi=10.1038/srep39589|pmid=28008965|pmc=5180221|last1=Kaplan|first1=Jonas T.|last2=Gimbel|first2=Sarah I.|last3=Harris|first3=Sam|bibcode=2016NatSR...639589K}}
• {{cite journal | last1=Seitz | first1=Benjamin M. | last2=Aktipis | first2=Athena |author2-link=Athena Aktipis| last3=Buss | first3=David M. |author3-link=David M. Buss | last4=Alcock | first4=Joe | last5=Bloom | first5=Paul |author5-link=Paul Bloom (psychologist) | last6=Gelfand | first6=Michele |author6-link=Michele Gelfand| last7=Harris | first7=Sam | last8=Lieberman | first8=Debra | last9=Horowitz | first9=Barbara N. |author9-link=Barbara N. Horowitz| last10=Pinker | first10=Steven |author10-link=Steven Pinker| last11=Wilson | first11=David Sloan |author11-link=David Sloan Wilson | last12=Haselton | first12=Martie G. |author12-link=Martie Haselton | title=The pandemic exposes human nature: 10 evolutionary insights | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume=117 | issue=45 | date=2020-11-10 | issn=0027-8424 | pmid=33093198 | pmc=7668083 | doi=10.1073/pnas.2009787117 | pages=27767–27776| doi-access=free | bibcode=2020PNAS..11727767S }}

{{Refend}}

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

{{reflist|group=SH}}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Sam Harris}}

{{Wikiquote|Sam Harris}}

• {{Official website|http://www.samharris.org}}
• {{TED speaker}}
• {{IMDb name|1890405}}
• {{Library resources by |viaf=97888651 |label=Sam Harris}}

{{Sam Harris|state=expanded}}

{{Existential risk from artificial intelligence}}

{{New Atheism}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Sam}}

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