It’s time for Sam Harris to Clean House
Let me begin by saying that I’m a Sam Harris fan. I think he’s a sensible centre we desperately need in a time when we’re at a risk of being torn asunder by the titanic longitudinal forces of the left and the right. His injection of relentless rationalism serves as ballast to our increasingly “I just feel that…” culture in which emotions trump reason. His strident anti-partisan stance on issues and his tendency to take nothing at face value should earn him the title of warrior of reason.
Yet a quick survey of his Sam Harris & The Future of Reason facebook page shows that the most vocal of his fan base are far from rational actors. Instead post after post contain the most the heinous conspiracy nutterism inclined to label anything from climate change to gun debate as a globalist conspiracy.
Every corner of the internet has a troll infestation to varying degrees but within Sam Harris’ facebook page the issue is endemic. The most recent slew of anti-Greta Thunberg posts have betrayed a significant proportion of Sam Harris’ followers as unthinking reactionary troglodytes willing to deny climate change out of hand (yes, Thunberg is a puppet of globalists) - and willing to make the most profane ad hominem attacks on a person whose mission is backed by the overwhelming majority of the scientific community.
It raises the question of to what extent a public intellectual is responsible for the misreadings of their work. Longer and longer “housekeeping” introductions at the beginning of Harris’ podcast try to set the record straight. Harris himself has admitted they are very dull. They frequently descend into “he said she said” recitations of allegations, or an extended catalogue of qualifications about a previous episode.
You can appreciate the bind that Harris is in - on one hand he relies on his fanbase to keep making a living off his work and remain unconstrained by corporate sponsorship. On the other, in the polarised mess that is social media in 2019, a rational discourse is vulnerable to any sort of political hijacking, deliberate misreadings or intentional obtuseness without a guarantee that engaging the source would result in a beneficial or meaningful resolution.
By and large this is an issue across social media yet Harris’ basis in rationalism should transcend and render irrational, politically motivated or disingenuous posts irrelevant and dangerous. The opportunity for reasoned good faith debate has been sabotaged by ignorant political trolls with their volume turned up. So much for the ability of social media to police itself - the virtual town square is the cesspit we all thought it was.
Yet one person is capable of cleaning house - Sam Harris himself. Although you can infer the principles that motivate the man - reason above all - it would be valuable to the quality of the discourse held in his name if he were to publish a set of principles and their implications. Perhaps an apolitical document of ideals like questioning everything, demanding claims to be based on firm evidence, a denial of every shade of prejudice and a categorical support of good faith expression and debate. These could be a good place to start.
Such an apolitical manifesto would reattach the engine to the rails and restore the dignity and meaning to a school of thought that we need now more than ever.