Podcast Notes Key Takeaways

• “Reputation is what strangers think of you and character is what your friends know you are”
• “You can make a joke about race without being racist”
• “A camel is a horse designed by a committee”
  • In other words, too many opinions will result in a bad outcome
• Comedians say bad things that they don’t mean and get in trouble while world leaders say bad things they do mean and get away with it
  • More often than not, a comedian’s joke isn’t his real opinion and is very often an exaggeration of a belief
• “People don’t like their beliefs being made fun of so they try to give their beliefs humans rights”
  • The freedom to express ideas is more important than the freedom of not being offended by speech
• Media is supported by ads, ads want clicks, clicks come from outrage, so therefore – the media’s goal has shifted to create as much outrage as possible
• Just as journalists should be able to write about anything they want, comedians should be able to do the same and tell jokes about anything they please
• Whenever you need to put things into perspective, remember – YOU ARE GOING TO DIE
  • Our time here is finite, spend it wisely

Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.org



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In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Ricky Gervais. They discuss fame, the effect of social media, the changing state of comedy, offensive jokes, Louis CK, political hypocrisy, Brexit and Trump, the state of journalism, and other topics.

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