Devon (https://sentientism.info/sentientist-..., Carol (https://sentientism.info/sentientist-...) and Maja (https://sentientism.info/sentientist-...) are psychology researchers from the University of Stirling. Carol is a lecturer, Devon is a teaching assistant and Maja is a research assistant. Devon is also a researcher, writer and animal advocate with Surge and (Earthling) Ed Winters.

In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The audio is on our Podcast: https://apple.co/391khQO & https://open.spotify.com/show/3c9OG5M....

00:00 Clips!
01:09 Welcome
03:25 Devon, Maja and Carol Introductions
- Psychology (human-animal interactions, clinical health) and animal advocacy
- Their papers on the paradoxes and dissonances of vegetarianism and pescetarianism
- Quantitative research: "science doesn't have to be about numbers... if we want to understand people... we need to do that with words... listen to their experiences... their own narratives... we all have positionality."
- "Science teaching so often is based entirely in pseudo-objectivity... subjectivity can be really powerful."
06:53 What's Real?
Carol:
- Growing up in a #presbyterian family. Attending Sunday school. Exploring celtic / pagan mythology and spirituality.
- Reading the Bible "a really beautiful book... but how can the old testament... be real?" Dad's response: "a way that people used to understand the world around them... in the absense of other explanations"
- Belief in the supernatural? "I'd be really hesitant to say that we have all the answers... consciousness... I want to believe that there's a ghost in the machine although I know there isn't"
- Celtic confluence of the ephemeral and the tangible "intertwined together... I very much believe in the concrete real but also I like to think there's things we don't know and we don't understand yet."
- "Maybe it's just... physical energy... but I like to think there's something beyond us... hope there's some other... maybe there's some hope that they could come and help us get everything right."
Devon:
- "It's really complex being a human sometimes."
- #catholic family and school "very strict catholic teaching"
- "Religion never really resonated with me"
- "The teacher was telling us that animals don't have souls... That was the moment that I realised that I really do have these strong views."
- "I had a dog at the time... she was just as full and complex of a being as I was."
- Moving away from religion to "do my own thing"
- "I'm pretty terrified of death"
- Focusing on morality "That's my thing - rather than anything outside of the realm of what we can see and how we can treat other people"
- JW: Psychological motivations for religious belief: fear of uncertainty, fear of death, a hope that god has a plan
- "I got to learn more and more about the Catholic church and realise how much I disagree with it"
Maja:
- Growing up in Germany, then moving to Scotland
- "It was rare... to meet someone who wasn't christened"
- Protestant primary, Catholic high school (with nuns) & summer camps
- At 11-12 "I wanted to be religious... I saw how much strength & purpose religious people could get... a beautiful & admirable thing"
- "I tried reading the Bible. I tried praying... It just didn't feel authentic to me."
- Vegetarian at 11-12 "The whole thing about being a devoted Christian but eating animals - that didn't sit right with me"
- At 13: "I proudly declared to my religion teacher who was a priest that I was an #atheist."
- "Since then... my brain works very logically... more the naturalistic kind of person... I'm not trying to be arrogant - this is just my worldview"
All:
- JW: If we take a relativistic, social constructivist approach to epistemology how can we resist misinformation, disinformation, conspiracism, wellness scams...
- The "fish paper"... exploring how people perceive the fishes they consume
- "Our participants actually admit to fallacies in their thinking... they admit that some of the beliefs that they hold are more so that they want to believe this... they are aware that... fish can perceive pain."
47:55 What and Who Matters?
01:12:05 A Better World?
01:37:15 Follow!
Carol: https://x.com/DrCarolJasper,   / veganfoodtrainer  
Maja: https://x.com/maja_cullen_
Devon: https://x.com/devonmdocherty,   / devon-docherty-7a7803230  ,   / earthlinged   ‪@ed.winters‬

& much more... (sentientism.info for full notes) #sentientism
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