The Joker and the Nihilistic Villain

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

The Joker is obviously the best example of that. Tom Cruise in collateral As the assassin, this hit man that's driving around Did you see collateral, by the way? Yeah, it's really good It's underrated. There is something scary about someone who doesn't believe I don't know if it's just an empirical question Why is it that so many people react with such people often remark Like, could we have an atheist president? The Joker vacillates sometimes between being a pure psychopath and just a nihilist.

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.

Links

Woody 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