Sam Harris (author) - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Harris grew up in a secular home in Los Angeles, with a Jewish mother and Quaker father who rarely discussed religion, although it was always a subject which had interested him. Harris has at times been reluctant to discuss personal details such as where he lives, where he grew up, or what his parents do professionally, citing security concerns. In 1986, as a young student at Stanford University, Harris experimented with the drug ecstasy, and has spoken about the powerful insights he felt psychologically. Harris was a devout student of martial arts in his teens and early twenties, and he taught classes in college. After a hiatus of more than twenty years, he began practicing two martial arts with Rory Miller and other self-defense experts.

Harris found himself interested in spiritual and philosophical questions when he was at Stanford University and the notion that he might be able to achieve spiritual insights without the help of drugs. After leaving Stanford in the course of his sophomore year as an English major, he traveled to Asia, where he studied meditation with Hindu and Buddhist teachers, including Dilgo Khyentse. Eleven years later, in 1997, he returned to Stanford University, going on to complete a BA degree in philosophy in 2000. Harris began writing his first book, The End of Faith, immediately after the September 11 attacks.

In 2009, Harris earned a PhD degree in cognitive neuroscience at University of California, Los Angeles, using functional magnetic resonance imaging to conduct research into the neural basis of belief, disbelief, and uncertainty.

Harris married his wife Annaka Harris in 2004, and they have a daughter. Annaka is Co-Founder of Project Reason and an editor of nonfiction and scientific books.