In today’s episode, I speak with Anthony Magnabosco. Anthony is a skeptic and atheist from San Antonio, Texas who has been practicing and promoting Street Epistemology since 2013. Anthony has had several hundred chats (many of them on camera and uploaded to his YouTube channel) on a variety of claims including Gods, ghosts, karma, law of attraction, and a variety of social and political topics. He is also a Founder and the current Executive Director of the new nonprofit organization called Street Epistemology International. Anthony has given dozens of talks and workshops on Street Epistemology at conferences and events domestically and internationally. We spend our time in this episode discussing Street Epistemology, which is essentially a form of dialogue that involves asking questions to better understand the foundations on which a belief is built. It’s all about better understanding a person’s belief. This is contrast to a debate, where each person presents an argument to support their point. In this conversation, we discuss what SE is, some basic tips for using it properly and the ethics of the approach. We talk about doubt and ask whether it should be avoided or embraced, the difficulties people face in having conversations today and much more. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube.
**This episode was recorded on January 23, 2021**
ANTHONY MAGNABOSCO
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCocP40a_UvRkUAPLD5ezLIQ
Twitter: https://twitter.com/magnabosco
OTHER RESOURCES
SE Discord: https://discord.gg/sKap3zM
SE Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/StreetEpistemology/
SE Playlist: https://tinyurl.com/SELatestReleases
https://streetepistemology.com
Interview on UnityNow! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FKFxtcxu3A&t=1202s
“Gender is Binary” talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbNlZEKkBRc&t=309s
“A Manual for Creating Atheists” by Peter Boghossian: https://amzn.to/3sc7DF1
“How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide” by Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay: https://amzn.to/3dr9TUS
theEWpodcast
https://ericwhte.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericwhte
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eric.whte/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw27qaF6r_XdQrzREV21QSA
Newsletter: https://ericwhte.com/newsletter/
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Welcome
2:55 Introducing Anthony Magnabosco and Street Epistemology
8:12 Gender Is Binary
12:00 The benefits of seeing SE in action on video
18:11 Can SE be a back and forth?
24:21 Has Anthony revised his beliefs as a result of an SE conversation?
28:09 Why did Anthony start filming his interactions?
33:52 How can people self-evaluate their progress without recording it?
44:46 Preconceived notions about your interlocutor
47:32 Staying calm in potentially heated conversations
50:37 Dealing with trigger points
56:35 How to start an SE dialogue
1:04:24 Doubt
1:17:40 Joe Rogan
1:21:22 Closing remarks
