008. Nudges - The Hidden Influencers

Nudges - The Hidden Influencers

In this episode, Ezechiel and Andy discuss nudges, hidden, often subconscious forces that try to steer our decisions. What really are nudges? What is the relationship of nudges to freedom of choice and human autonomy? Are nudges making us unable to navigate our own decisions?

Join us for an hour-long dose of your Daily Philosophy and explore with us the philosophical issues surrounding human decision-making.

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Music: Nightlife by Michael Kobrin, from: https://pixabay.com/music.

00:00:20 What are nudges?
00:05:28 Soft and hard nudges
00:07:25 Are nudges good for us?
00:11:01 Individual vs population-level nudges
00:12:14 The idea of a general “good”
00:13:14 Resisting nudges
00:14:40 Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
00:16:42 Manipulation in supermarkets
00:17:21 Product design as a nudge
00:20:53 Greenwashing
00:22:58 Do we know what is “good”?
00:24:49 Libertarian paternalism
00:27:27 Nudges help us make rational choices
00:28:50 Democratic regulation of nudges
00:32:25 Is there a right to make bad decisions?
00:32:40 Moral atrophy
00:35:05 Deterrence as nudging
00:36:25 Libertarian paternalism’s “third way”
00:37:15 Paternalism
00:38:37 Rational decision-making
00:40:22 Are we ever free from nudges?
00:42:37 Better alternatives to nudging?
00:43:15 Nudges don’t address the root problem
00:45:35 Structural changes instead of nudges?
00:46:44 Are prohibitions desirable?
00:48:52 Are we rational enough?
00:49:22 Human ethology, Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989)
00:52:28 Is the right choice always rational?
00:57:16 Immanuel Kant, Enlightenment
00:58:49 Visit us at daily-philosophy.com!

Philosophers and theories mentioned:

00:14:40 Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
00:24:49 Libertarian paternalism
00:36:25 Libertarian paternalism’s “third way”
00:37:15 Paternalism
00:49:22 Human ethology, Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989)
00:57:16 Immanuel Kant, Enlightenment

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