Do You Believe That Someone Likes You?

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I think that actually there are cases in which having fear that you will fail does the better motivation motivational work. I was constantly thinking when James was saying, giving that example of if you don't believe that someone likes you, then you're missing out on reaping the benefits of having a relationship with them. Because otherwise, you know, you could say, they don't know that they like me yet, but I'm going to kidnap them, put it in my basement. And then let's say she gets Stockholm syndrome and try to like you. There's something fucked up about that.

David and Tamler argue about William James' classic essay "The Will to Believe." What's more important - avoiding falsehood or discovering truth? When (if ever) is it rational to believe anything without enough evidence? What about beliefs that we can't be agnostic about? Are there hypotheses that we have to believe in order for them to come true? Does James successfully demonstrate that faith can be rational?

Plus, a philosopher at Apple who's not allowed to talk to the media - what are they hiding? And why are academics constantly telling students that academia is a nightmare?

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