The Influence of Emotional Decisions on Moral Reasoning

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George Bush and Willie Horton were involved in a destructive debate. Michael Dukakis portrayed a militaristic image. A white supremacist committed a horrifying act of violence. NPR reported that the perpetrator may face federal hate crime charges and the death penalty. This evoked conflicting emotions in the writer, who realized the contradiction in their own views on the death penalty. Jonathan Haidt's work at NYU highlights that our moral decisions are often driven by emotions rather than reason.

Meet Jared Diamond and Michael Shermer: https://skeptic.com/event

Robert Sapolsky is the author of A Primate’s Memoir, The Trouble with Testosterone, and Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. His most recent book, Behave, was a New York Times bestseller and named a best book of the year by the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. He is a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant.” His new book is Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will.

Shermer and Sapolsky discuss: free will, determinism, compatibilism, libertarian free will • Christian List’s 3 related capacities for free will • how what people believe about free will and determinism influences their behaviors • the three horsemen of determinism: (1) reductionism (2) predetermination; (3) epiphenomenalism • dualism • punishment • retributive vs. restorative justice •Is the self an illusion? • game theory evolution of punishment • luck • and meaning (or lack thereof).