Curt Jaimungal: Why Neil deGrasse Tyson Gets "Belief" Wrong
3/2/202617 min
Curt Jaimungal argues that astrophysicists like Neil deGrasse Tyson and spiritual gurus Deepak Chopra and Thomas Campbell can’t logically claim they don’t hold beliefs. This “Theories of Everything” with Curt Jaimungal episode uses analytic philosophy to show why belief’s vital for understanding physics and consciousness, countering what Thomas Campbell and NASA scientist Nathalie Cabrol say. As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe TIMESTAMPS: - 00:00 - The "No Belief" Fallacy - 03:00 - Faith vs. Propositional Belief - 04:57 - Implicit Bel...
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsCurt Jaimungal· Host0:00
When Neil deGrasse Tyson says that I don't believe anything- I know that you believe that there is fear-mongering over AI ... I, I don't believe anything. Um, it's not- don't say I believe anything. Your wincing is indeed justified. Now, it's not just the scientist. The insidious disdain for the usage of the word belief is echoed even here in this infamous Deepak Chopra exchange.
Deepak Chopra· Soundbite0:21
Now, you stated before that all belief is a coverup for insecurity, right?
Curt Jaimungal· Host0:27
Mm-hmm.
Deepak Chopra· Soundbite0:27
Do you believe that?
Curt Jaimungal· Host0:28
Yes.
Deepak Chopra· Soundbite0:29
Thank you.
Curt Jaimungal· Host0:30
[audience laughs] The statement that I don't believe anything is said so self-assuredly, so swiftly, so loudly, and with a tinge of condescension that you know something else is going on. It's a semaphore for, "Hey, look how enlightened I am. Aren't I so rational, unlike those poor, unsound religious folk?" So the phrase I don't have beliefs is either trivially true, which you can read as empty, it's semantically confused, which is equivocating between belief and faith, or it's completely demonstrably false. Now, let's work through this rigorously. In analytic epistemology, belief is a propositional attitude. It's a mental state with a proposition as its content, and then to believe X just means that you hold that proposition to be true. Now, it doesn't mean that I hold this proposition true to be true no matter what. It doesn't mean that you can't update your beliefs subject to new evidence.