Is There a Risk That Advice Makes People Feel Bad?

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There's some evidence that people who know just a little about financial literacy do worse than people who know nothing at all. Do you think there's a risk that people just feel inadequate, that they know somewhat what's the right thing to do? They ask you, you confirm their intuition, and then they're like, oh, my goodness. I already knew i'm not up to that, but now society is really tae me,. And they just go away feeling bad.

Born to a Ghanaian father and British mother, Kwame Anthony Appiah grew up splitting time between both countries — and lecturing in many more — before eventually settling in America, where he now teaches philosophy at New York University. This, along with a family scattered across half-a-dozen countries, establishes him as a true cosmopolitan, a label Appiah readily accepts. Yet he insists it is nonetheless possible to be a cosmopolitan patriot, rooted in a place, while having obligations and interests that transcend one’s national identity.

He joins Tyler to discuss this worldly perspective and more, including whether Africa will secularize, Ghanian fallibilism, teaching Jodie Foster, whether museums should repatriate collections, Karl Popper, Lee Kuan Yew, which country has the best jollof rice, the value of writing an ethical advice column, E.T. Mensah, Paul Simon, the experience of reading 173 novels to judge the Man Booker prize, and what he’s learned farming sheep in New Jersey.

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Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded June 12th, 2019 Other ways to connect

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