Very Bad Wizards

Social psychologist Yoel Inbar joins Tamler and David to discuss Clint Eastwood's masterpiece of the Western genre, "Unforgiven." The discussion includes the nature of revenge, the requirements of justice, the rules of nicknaming, and who or what was being referred to as  "unforgiven" in the movie's title.LinksUnforgiven (1992): IMDB, Wikipedia PageIf you haven't seen "Unforgiven," don't worry : Story Spoilers Don't Spoil Stories Actor Saul Rubinek [wikipedia.org] Relevant Book about moral character by a couple of great social psychologists: Out of Character: Surprising Truths About the Liar, Cheat, Sinner (and Saint) Lurking in All of UsSpecial Guest: Yoel Inbar.Support Very Bad Wizards

Does life have meaning if there is no God? Why should I be a good person if there's no reward or punishment waiting for me in the afterlife? Why does religion seem to make people happier and healthier? Dave and Tamler heroically try to answer these questions without being stoned. Other topics include Dave's paralyzing fear of death, bad times on mopeds, and the pros and cons of naming your daughter Chlamydia. They almost get through the episode without having to censor something--but not quite.  LinksWoody Allen's "Love and Death" Paul Bloom- Does Religion Make You Nice? [Slate.com]Follow-up reading on religion and health (for the slightly academically inclined)- Powell, L. H., Shahabi, L., & Thoresen, C. E. (2003). Religion and spirituality: Linkages to physical health. American Psychologist, 58, 36.Pascal's Wager [wikipedia.org]Albert Camus [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]The Problem of Evil. [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]"Yes but subjectivity is objective."Collateral Support Very Bad Wizards

After discussing some listener feedback about the movie Swingers, Tamler and David talk about two classic experiments in social psychology: the Milgram Experiments and the Zimbardo Prison experiment.  They discuss the power of the situation, its influence on recent philosophy, and whether there is room given the evidence to believe in moral character and virtue. Also, Tamler admits to his former struggles with hard core street drugs, and Dave ponders which prison gang would be most accepting if he had to serve hard time.Links"Swingers," Directed by Jon Favreau [metacritic.com]The Milgram Experiment [Wikipedia.org]Video clip of a replication of the Milgram Experiment [youtube.com]The Stanford Prison Experiment [Wikipedia.org]Short video on Stanford Prison Experiment [youtube.com]Asch Conformity Experiment [youtube.com]Jon Doris "Lack of Character" [amazon.com]Support Very Bad Wizards

In a Very Special Episode of Very Bad Wizards, Dan Ariely joins David to chat about cheating, character, teling your significant other about kissing someone at a conference, and the importance of moral rules.  Tamler and David sandwich the chat with a discussion about the US Presidential election, the irony of moral psychologists making people do bad things, and end with a full-blown argument about what it means to say that something is morally wrong, and whether that's an interesting question. LinksBuffy/Angel Crossover Viewing GuideSir Ian McKellen on Ricky Gervais' "Extras"Eric Dondero's Democrat Boycott.Eric Dondero on who he would save: A family member who's a democrat or a republican child molester.  Dan Ariely's podcast--"Arming the Donkeys""The Honest Truth about Dishonesty" on Amazon.comTamler's favorite kind of epistemologyThe debate about moral wrongness that Tamler thinks is stupid and David finds intriguing. Special Guest: Dan Ariely.Support Very Bad Wizards

After a clip from The Third Man, Dave and Tamler continue their discussion from Episode 6 on Ted Bundy, utilitarians, and trolley problems. They also talk about Tamler’s TED talk envy, inappropriate acts with trees, and make a plea for more listener feedback. The second segment begins with the long-awaited return of the ‘eat the poo-poo’ clip, but this time in a somewhat relevant context. Dave and Tamler then discuss the role that emotions play in moral judgment and the role they should play. If we feel disgust at someone’s behavior,  does that mean the behavior is morally wrong? Tune in to find out…LinksThe Third Man Ferris Wheel Scene (maybe Dave will see this movie one day) Dave’s TEDx talk, bumped up to TED (129,000 views)Tamler’s TEDx talk, not as much bumping up.  (676 views) “Consequentialist are Psychopaths” The Splintered Mind  blog postEat the poo pooYuck by Dan Kelly"Grime and Punishment." Brief review of disgust and moral judgment from The Jury Expert by Yoel Inbar (the brains--and brawn--behind all the disgust work) and David P.Support Very Bad Wizards

Tamler contemplates ending it all because he can't get 'Call Me Maybe' out of his head, and Dave doesn't try to talk him out of it. This is followed by a discussion about drones, psychopaths, Canadians, Elle Fanning, horrible moral dilemmas, and the biggest rivalry in Ethics: utilitarians vs. Kantians.   Links"Why I Refuse to Vote for Barack Obama." by Conor Friedersdorf"Why I Refuse to Refuse to Vote for Obama" by Robert Wright.Dave's study "The Mismeasure of Morals"The write-up of Dave's study in The Economist: "Goodness Has Nothing to Do With It"Support Very Bad Wizards

Dave and Tamler continue their discussion about their favorite topic.  They talk about the evolutionary origins of retributive behavior, cross-cultural differences in revenge norms, and the proportionate punishment for someone who gives your wife a foot massage. They also play a clipfrom an interview they conducted in Nosara with local attorney Andres Gonzalez about the Costa Rican treatment of the criminals they call ‘pobrecitos.’Links“Would you give a man a foot massage?”  Robert Frank’s Passions Within Reason, one of the best books of the last 100 years.Tamler’s article “The Two Faces of Revenge” Dave’s post for the Harmony Blog: “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Become a Philosopher-in-Residence.”Support Very Bad Wizards

Dave allows Tamler to rant about Sam Harris’s strawman attacks on moral relativism before launching into discussion about revenge, justice, True Grit, and Michael Dukakis. Though they differ on many issues, Tamler and Dave agree that it’s hard to satirize a guy with shiny boots.  LinksSam Harris in the Huffington Post.“Brute force is better with Nazis.” The answer that launched a series of Bush presidencies.“This ain’t no coon hunt.”·Justice and Honor, Tamler’s Psychology Today blog post."Partial Desert" blog post at Flickers of Freedom.Support Very Bad Wizards

Tamler and Dave discuss recent work in philosophy and psychology about the differences in moral values and practices across cultures. We talk about the implications of moral diversity: does  it mean that we cannot criticize that practices of other cultures? How should we regard moral disagreement? Are there objective “truths” in ethics? Somehow we need to play clips from The Big Lebowski and Pulp Fiction in order to resolve these questions.Links"No Donnie, these men are nihilists, nothing to be afraid of."Interview with Jon Haidt."Pigs are filthy animals"Support Very Bad Wizards

Tamler and David discuss whether giving up our belief in free will makes us more likely to abandon our moral standards. Links“You Can’t Handle the Truth!” Jesse Bering “Scientists say free will probably doesn’t exist, but urge: “Don’t stop believing!”  Excellent accessible description of the Vohs and Schooler study that we discuss. Tamler’s blog post in Psychology Today criticizing the pessimistic views of Smilansky and Vohs and Schooler: "No Soul?  I can live with that.  No free will?  Aaahhhh!".  “Eat the poo-poo.”  “Like ice cream…”  Josh Knobe on free will and experimental philosophy.  Tamler's dialogue on some of the problems with current experimental work on free will: "Free Will and Experimental Philosophy: An Intervention."“I want him dead!  I want his family dead!”  Uhlmann, Zhu, Pizarro & Bloom  “Blood is Thicker: Moral Spillover Effects Based on Kinship” Support Very Bad Wizards

Dave and Tamler start out talking about the new wave of skepticism about free will and moral responsibility in the popular press from people like Sam Harris and Jerry Coyne.  Neuroscience figures heavily in their arguments, but Dave and Tamler agree that neuroscientific data adds little of substance to the case other than telling us what we already know: human beings are natural biological entities.  Dave also accuses Tamler of being a hipster philosopher for abandoning a view once it got popular. Next, we talk about what kind freedom we need to have in order to deserve blame and punishment. Do we need to create ourselves out of the swamps of nothingness? Dave comes out as a Star Trek nerd and asks whether we're all, in the end, like Data the android.  They also wonder whether a belief in free will is all that's keeping us from having sex with our dogs.  Finally,  Dave grills Tamler about his new book on the differences in attitudes about free will and moral responsibility across cultures. After seeing how long they've been carrying on, they then agree to talk about all the stuff they left out in the next episode.    LinksCoyne, J.  “Why You Don’t Really Have Free Will.”Sam Harris. “Free Will.”Eddy Nahmias.  "Is Neuroscience the Death of Free Will?"Galen Strawson "Luck Swallows Everything."Support Very Bad Wizards