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. Links Unforgiven (1992): IMDB, Wikipedia Page If 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 Us Special 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.   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

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.  Links Buffy/Angel Crossover Viewing Guide Sir 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.com Tamler's favorite kind of epistemology The 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… Links The 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 post Eat the poo poo Yuck 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.   Links Sam 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

Exploring the implications of moral diversity across cultures and the possibility of criticizing other practices. Examining the concept of objective truths in ethics. Discussion on the connection between film appreciation and objective truth. Debunking misconceptions about moral relativism and cultural differences. Debate on the moral permissibility of actions and the footbridge problem. Examining the relationship between descriptive and normative claims in morality. Exploring the concept of broad criteria in beer evaluation and its relation to differing perspectives on ethics.

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