Very Bad Wizards

It’s a Borges bonanza! David and Tamler dive into two stories: “Emma Zunz” and “Borges and I.” The first seems like a straightforward daughter revenge story (Tamler’s favorite genre), but Borges being Borges there are layers of doubt and fuzziness about what exactly is going on. “Borges and I” may be less than a page, but it has us questioning our identity, the relationship between private and public selves, and what happens to when you release a work out into the world. Plus, back to social psychology. Are you a picky eater? Then people think you suck at sex. We are not sure who is recording this podcast. Sponsored By: GiveWell: We love this sponsor, and are proud of the support our listeners have shown! If you are a listener and want to make your charitable contributions as effective as possible, please check out Givewell.org. New donors will have their donation matched up to $1,000 before the end of June (or as long as matching funds last). Just go to givewell.org/verybadwizards and pick PODCAST and Very Bad Wizards at checkout. Make sure they know that you heard about GiveWell from Very Bad Wizards to get your donation matched! Promo Code: Very Bad Wizards BetterHelp: You deserve to be happy. BetterHelp online counseling is there for you. Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment. Our listeners get 10% off the first month by visiting Betterhelp.com/vbw. Promo Code: VBW Support Very Bad Wizards Links: People who are willing to try new foods are perceived as more desirable and less sexually restricted Bradshaw, H. K., Mengelkoch, S., Espinosa, M., Darrell, A., & Hill, S. E. (2021). You are what you (are willing to) eat: Willingness to try new foods impacts perceptions of sexual unrestrictedness and desirability. Personality and Individual Differences, 182, 111082. — You are what you (are willing to) eat: Willingness to try new foods impacts perceptions of sexual unrestrictedness and desirability Emma Zunz by Jorge Luis Borges Borges and I by Jorge Luis Borges

David and Tamler go deep on Michael Haneke’s unnerving psychological thriller Caché. An upper middle class French intellectual couple receives mysterious videotapes of the exterior of their house, forcing them to confront their past and present. Can we run from our history? Or will it always find a way to break through? And who’s sending the tapes? Plus, VBW does conceptual analysis - what does it mean to be “corny”? Sponsored By: BetterHelp: You deserve to be happy. BetterHelp online counseling is there for you. Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment. Our listeners get 10% off the first month by visiting Betterhelp.com/vbw. Promo Code: VBW Support Very Bad Wizards Links: Caché (film) - Wikipedia Watch Cache (Hidden) | Prime Video

David and Tamler hit the books and cram for their beloved Patreon listener-selected episode – this time on Thomas Kuhn’s “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.” David thinks Kuhn is a great sociologist of science but recoils at the relativistic tenor of the final chapters. Tamler loves anything that makes David recoil. Plus, should we give more weight to the advice of people on their deathbed? Or should we nod politely and get back to working for that promotion… Sponsored By: A Slight Change of Plans Podcast: There are few things in life that are as complex and messy—and potentially magical—as change. On A Slight Change of Plans, you’ll hear intimate conversations that give an unvarnished look into how people navigate changes of all kinds and use that change to ultimately grow GiveWell: We love this sponsor, and are proud of the support our listeners have shown! If you are a listener and want to make your charitable contributions as effective as possible, please check out Givewell.org. New donors will have their donation matched up to $1,000 before the end of June (or as long as matching funds last). Just go to givewell.org/verybadwizards and pick PODCAST and Very Bad Wizards at checkout. Make sure they know that you heard about GiveWell from Very Bad Wizards to get your donation matched! Promo Code: Very Bad Wizards BetterHelp: You deserve to be happy. BetterHelp online counseling is there for you. Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment. Our listeners get 10% off the first month by visiting Betterhelp.com/vbw. Promo Code: VBW Support Very Bad Wizards Links: Why is the deathbed perspective considered so valuable? | Aeon Essays — reasons The Splintered Mind: On the Epistemic Status of Deathbed Regrets The Structure of Scientific Revolutions - Wikipedia The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn [amazon.com affiliate link] What Thomas Kuhn Really Thought about Scientific "Truth" - Scientific American Blog Network The Ashtray Has Landed: The Case of Morris v. Kuhn

We’ve promised you for years that we would do an episode on apologies and never got to it until today. So we both want to say from the bottom of our hearts: we’re sorry. We recognize we’ve let so many of our listeners down, and we feel just awful if you were offended by the delay. We hope this episode will be just one small step towards regaining your trust. Plus, of all the evo-psych articles in the world, this one might be the evo-psychiest: “Oral Sex as Infidelity Detection.” Sponsored By: BetterHelp: You deserve to be happy. BetterHelp online counseling is there for you. Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment. Our listeners get 10% off the first month by visiting Betterhelp.com/vbw. Promo Code: VBW Support Very Bad Wizards Links: Pham, M. N., & Shackelford, T. K. (2013). Oral sex as infidelity-detection. Personality and Individual Differences, 54(6), 792-795. — From the abstract: "The infidelity-detection hypothesis for oral sex proposes that men perform oral sex to gather information about their partner’s recent sexual history." Clearer Thinking | How to apologise Schumann, K., & Dragotta, A. (2020). Is moral redemption possible? The effectiveness of public apologies for sexual misconduct. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 90, 104002. Ohtsubo, Y., & Watanabe, E. (2009). Do sincere apologies need to be costly? Test of a costly signaling model of apology. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30(2), 114-123. I Was Wrong: The Meanings of Apologies by Nick Smith :: SSRN Dan Harmon Apologizes for Sexually Harassing Megan Ganz | Time

David and Tamler argue about the philosopher L.A. Paul’s ideas on “transformative experiences” – big life decisions that will change you and your values so much that our normal decision-making models break down. Tamler is fully on board and hopeful for philosophy, but David sees Paul’s view as a threat to his precious rationality. Plus, we tackle the greatest existential threat to human civilization in history: critical race theory. Why are people on all sides so intent on misunderstanding it? Sponsored By: Wine.com: Wine.com is an American wine online retailer that offers the largest selection of wines in the world. Wine.com sells over 2 million bottles per year, with a stock of more than 17,000 different bottles of wine, shipping throughout the United States. Sign up now, and as a listener of very bad wizards, get $50 off your first order! Promo Code: badwizards NordVPN: Keep your internet connection safe, and enjoy streaming services when you travel abroad with NordVPN! NordVPN is the best VPN if you’re looking for peace of mind when you use public Wi-Fi, access personal and work accounts on the road, or want to keep your browsing history to yourself. Go to Nordvpn.com/vbw or use coupon VBW to get your discount. Promo Code: VBW BetterHelp: You deserve to be happy. BetterHelp online counseling is there for you. Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment. Our listeners get 10% off the first month by visiting Betterhelp.com/vbw. Promo Code: VBW Support Very Bad Wizards Links: [Essay] History As End, By Matthew Karp | Harper's Magazine On Having Whiteness by Donald Moss Sean Wilentz: A Matter of Facts - The Atlantic The Vampire Problem: A Brilliant Thought Experiment Illustrating the Paradox of Transformative Experience – Brain Pickings Paul, L. A. (2015). Précis of" Transformative Experience". Transformative Experience by L.A. Paul [amazon.com affiliate link]

Tamler welcomes social psychologist David Pizarro of Cornell University to the podcast to talk about his recent article (along with Raj Anderson, Shaun Nichols, and Rachana Kamtekar) on “false-positive emotions.” When agents commit accidental harms, we typically tell them they shouldn’t feel too guilty, it’s not their fault, it was out of their control, and so forth. At the same time, we don’t want them to let themselves off the hook right away either. They shouldn’t feel guilty, but also they…should. What’s behind these mixed messages and attitudes? Are we looking for information about their character? What kind? Plus, a new algorithm can predict someone’s political orientation with 72% accuracy based on one profile photo (either from Facebook or a dating app). Is Big Brother around the corner? Sponsored By: Wine.com: Wine.com is an American wine online retailer that offers the largest selection of wines in the world. Wine.com sells over 2 million bottles per year, with a stock of more than 17,000 different bottles of wine, shipping throughout the United States. Sign up now, and as a listener of very bad wizards, get $50 off your first order! Promo Code: badwizards GiveWell: We love this sponsor, and are proud of the support our listeners have shown! If you are a listener and want to make your charitable contributions as effective as possible, please check out Givewell.org. New donors will have their donation matched up to $1,000 before the end of June (or as long as matching funds last). Just go to givewell.org/verybadwizards and pick PODCAST and Very Bad Wizards at checkout. Make sure they know that you heard about GiveWell from Very Bad Wizards to get your donation matched! Promo Code: Very Bad Wizards BetterHelp: You deserve to be happy. BetterHelp online counseling is there for you. Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment. Our listeners get 10% off the first month by visiting Betterhelp.com/vbw. Promo Code: VBW Support Very Bad Wizards Links: Facial recognition technology can expose political orientation from naturalistic facial images | Scientific Reports 'I was shocked it was so easy': ​meet the professor who says facial recognition ​​can tell if you're gay | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian One of the most famous campus outrage incidents was badly misreported - Vox “False positive” emotions, responsibility, and moral character - ScienceDirect

Multi-award winning sci-fi author Ted Chiang joins the discussion on the post-apocalyptic game SOMA, exploring personal identity, consciousness without a body, and the ethics of thought experiments. Plus, evo-psych study on bullshitting, wine.com promo, and NordVPN benefits.

Canada’s leading Russian literature scholar Yoel Inbar joins to make sense of Gogol’s 1836 short story “The Nose.” They explore the absurdity and themes of neuroticism and rank obsession in the story. They also discuss the power of rumors and the acceptance of absurd situations. Plus, they analyze the protagonist’s relationship with his nose and the role of professional success.

"Sometimes I think of my death," Akira Kurosawa said, "I think of ceasing to be...and it is from these thoughts that Ikiru came.” David and Tamler explore what it means to truly live in Kurosawa’s 1952 masterpiece about a bureaucrat in postwar Japan who learns that he will die from stomach cancer within six months. Plus a new study provides evidence for what every pet owner knows: dogs get jealous. And a shocking revelation about Harvard legends Kohlberg, Rawls, and Nozick. Sponsored By: BetterHelp: You deserve to be happy. BetterHelp online counseling is there for you. Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment. Our listeners get 10% off the first month by visiting Betterhelp.com/vbw. Promo Code: VBW Support Very Bad Wizards Links: Ikiru - Wikipedia Dogs Mentally Represent Jealousy-Inducing Social Interactions - Amalia P. M. Bastos, Patrick D. Neilands, Rebecca S. Hassall, Byung C. Lim, Alex H. Taylor, 2021

Journalist, podcaster, and rapper Jesse Singal joins us to talk about his new book The Quick Fix, positive psychology (scam?), cancel culture in the media and academia (overblown?), Substack incentives, and lots more. Plus David and Tamler argue about the epistemology of ghosts. Special Guest: Jesse Singal. Sponsored By: BetterHelp: You deserve to be happy. BetterHelp online counseling is there for you. Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment. Our listeners get 10% off the first month by visiting Betterhelp.com/vbw. Promo Code: VBW Support Very Bad Wizards Links: Break Music The Quick Fix by Jesse Singal Blocked and Reported (with Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal)