Since then he seems to have built and sustained a career saying the same kinds of things as he was saying back then, focusing on anti-religion, reductionist materialism and genetic determinism. And yes he also espouses the benefits of meditation and psychedelics, and makes a solid income selling his meditation app, but he still dismisses the experiences and benefits of these practices as ultimately materialist phenomena.
I understand this worldview very well and have spent much of my life embracing it.
But whereas Harris has found the answers provided by this worldview to be satisfactory in answering his own questions (and sustaining his career), I've had cause to explore much further, and have found many other fascinating ideas and practices, many of which are more interesting and explanatory to me these days.
My suggestion is that if you're interested in Sam Harris's ideas but are also interested to explore other ideas around the similar topics, look up such people as Iain McGilchrist, Bernardo Kastrup, Rupert Sheldrake, John Vervaeke, Terrence McKenna and others linked to them.
Samuel Harris sounds a lot more formal so as the child gets older and if they go into law or something they’ll have a respectable sounding yet common name, easy to understand and spell.
It’s a relatively short name which, as someone with a similarly short name can tell you, is a small yet frequent convenience.
I’m assuming you’re asking about naming your child. But this name could also work pretty well for a pet. Sam Harris the goldfish, or Sam Harris the dog, sounds great.
I say go for it!