The YouTube channel Jubilee took six people — a mix of believers and non-believers — and asked them a variety of questions about life. Sometimes, like when they asked if the universe was created, there was only one person holding the belief. Other times, they formed a circle and talked about their differing views.
It’s either really interesting… or, as I saw it, utterly boring.
@Patrick what do you thinks makes PS different in this regard? Why does the exchange between believers and non-believers keep you coming back here?
I’m not @Patrick, but I think what Hemant Mehta’s problem with the video in question is:
I have a hard time getting value out of this. Everyone just smiles and nods. They share their own beliefs while rarely criticizing someone else’s
The title of the video is “Can Scientists and Religious Leaders See Eye to Eye?” yet the video never even tries to answer that. (I can help: The answer is no.) This could’ve been interesting if they gave the participants a chance to fight over the obvious controversies (like the existence of miracles or what constitutes evidence) but they purposely avoided all that.
His problem is that this video does not have any bite in their discussion: they are just people talking about safe, easy, non-controversial and non-confrontational topics. I did not read that he has problems with exchanges between believers and non-believers in general, but just these doughy, feel-good conversations that do not have any actual debates in them.
I suppose I agree with him on this too. Real dialogue benefits from politeness, but politeness is not the ultimate goal.