Very Bad Wizards

Latest Episodes:

Episode 78: Wizards Uprising Nov 24, 2015

Show notes

David and Tamler return to the minefield of campus politics and talk about recent events at Yale, Missouri, and Amherst. Are the protests are long overdue response to systematic oppression and prejudice? Or is this new generation of students coddled, hypersensitive, and hostile to free speech? A little bit of both? Can our hosts get through this episode without fighting?

Links

The New Intolerance of Student Activism by Conor Friedersdorf [theatlantic.com]
President Peter Salovey's statement to Yale community [news.yale.edu]
2015 University of Missouri Protests [wikipedia.org]
Amherst College Uprising (with list of demands) [amherstuprising.com]
Vlad Chituc (@vladchituc) [vladchituc.com]

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Episode 77: On the Moral Nature of Nazis, Jerks, and Ethicists (with Eric Schwitzgebel) Nov 09, 2015

Show notes

Special guest Eric Schwitzgebel joins David and Tamler to discuss the moral behavior (or lack thereof) of ethicists. Does moral reflection make us better people, or does it just give us better excuses to be immoral? Who's more right about human nature--Mencius or Xun Zi? What did Kant have against bastards and masturbating? Plus, we talk about jerks, robot cars, and killing baby Hitler. (Godwin's Law within 1:42--might be a new record for us).

Links

Eric Schwitzgebel publications. (Has links to all the discussed papers).
Why Self-Driving Cars Must be Programmed to Kill [technologyreview.com]
Bonnefon, J. F., Shariff, A., & Rahwan, I. (2015). Autonomous Vehicles Need Experimental Ethics: Are We Ready for Utilitarian Cars? [arxiv.org]
Mencius [wikipedia.org]
Xun Zi [wikipedia.org]
"The Philosophical Problem of Killing Baby Hitler." [vox.com]
Why it's Unethical to Go Back in Time and Kill Baby Hitler. [forbes.com]

Special Guest: Eric Schwitzgebel.

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Episode 76: Cha-Cha-changes Oct 26, 2015

Show notes

David and Tamler list three things they've changed their minds about in their careers. (This episode was recorded before Episode 75, but that one was way too long already.) What does Tamler think about X-phi these days? Has Dave lost his faith in the power of reason? What the hell is 'non-cognitivism'? Plus, Dave disagrees with John Hodgman about the metaphysical property of a hot dog. And a couple of listener shout-outs, including giving credit to a listener for giving us a topic idea we discussed without realizing she had suggested it in an email weeks ago.

Links

Ethical Expressivism (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Moral Anti-Realism (Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy)
John Hodgman on the hot dog/sandwich debate. (NY Times Mag)
"Perspectives on P.F. Strawson's "Freedom and Resentment." (Really good introduction by Michael McKenna and Paul Russell.)

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Episode 75: A Golden Shower of Guests Oct 06, 2015

Show notes

Dave and Tamler celebrate their 75th episode by welcoming six BFFs of the podcast and asking them to share the biggest thing they've changed their minds about in their professional careers. You'll hear Dan Ariely on our moral duty to take science into the real world, Laurie Santos on the the role of neuroscience in explaining psychological findings, Yoel Inbar on what it means to do good science as a psychologist, Eric Schwitzgebel on his metaphysical epiphany about materialism, Nina Strohminger on breaking-up with priming research, and Sam Harris on Artificial Intelligence and its perils, and his recently changed views about vegetarianism. (Sadly, we had a technical glitch with the audio when we recorded our most-frequent guest Paul Bloom, but we'll bring him on again soon.) Plus we play some hilarious mash-ups, raps, and voicemails sent in from listeners.

Links to info about our Guests

Listener-Created Music in this Episode

Special Guests: Dan Ariely, Eric Schwitzgebel, Laurie Santos, Nina Strohminger, Sam Harris, and Yoel Inbar.

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Episode 74: Lies, Damned Lies, and Ashley Madison Sep 16, 2015

Show notes

David and Tamler return after an end of summer hiatus to finally talk about the ethics of deception….eventually. But first they break down a recent article in the journal Science documenting an attempt to replicate 100 recent psychology experiments. What does it mean that just over 1/3 of the studies were successfully replicated? Is social psychology in crisis or is this just how science works? Will David somehow try to pin the blame on philosophers?

Plus--a brief and almost certainly regrettable foray into the Ashley Madison hack, the neuroscience of lying to your kids about Santa, and we announce a new way to contact us to help celebrate our 75th anniversary.

Links

Authors, Shitload of (2015) Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science, Science, 39.
The Bayesian Reproducibility Project post by Alexander Etz [alexanderetz.com]
Harris, S. (2013). Lying. Four Elephants Press. Buy on Amazon
Bok, S. (2011) Lying: Moral choice in public and private life. Vintage, 2011. Buy on Amazon
Santa on the Brain by Kelly Lambert [nytimes.com]
James Randi (aka "The Amazing Randi") [wikipedia.org]
An Honest Liar [anhonestliar.com] (Available on Netflix in the U.S.)
The Honest Truth about Dishonesty [amazon.com affiliate link]
(Dis)Honesty – The Truth About Lies [thedishonestyproject.com]
Exit Through the Gift Shop [wikipedia.org]
F for Fake [imdb.com]

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Episode 73: Authentic Apes and Infinite Torture Aug 12, 2015

Show notes

In what is possibly our most repugnant first segment ever, David and Tamler break down the ethics of zoophilia and investigate the true nature of consent. In the second segment we answer some listener emails and address our first question in our new capacity as International Ethics Experts.™ If your family is religious, how honest should you be with your children about your non-belief? Do the comforting aspects of religious belief outweigh the fears and anxieties? What's the deal with Christians and hell?

Plus, sex-ed from a female perspective, a brief nostalgic trip to The Electric Company, and David overcomes his horror of self-promotion to thank some people for praising the podcast.

Links

Top 25 Podcasts for Men [hiconsumption.com]
People Behind the Science podcast episode featuring David [peoplebehindthescience.com]
Radio Tatas! Episode 37: "In a Row?!?" (their review of VBW starts at around the 30:00 mark) [radiotatas.libsyn.com]
Cecil the Lion [wikipedia.org]
New York Court: Chimps Are Still Property, Not People [npr.org]
The Electric Company Intro [youtube.org]

Suggestions for our listeners for the next podcast episode:

Santa on the Brain by Kelly Lambert [nytimes.com]
James Randi (aka "The Amazing Randi") [wikipedia.org]
An Honest Liar [anhonestliar.com] (Available on Netflix in the U.S.)
The Honest Truth about Dishonesty [amazon.com affiliate link]
(Dis)Honesty – The Truth About Lies [thedishonestyproject.com]
F is for Fake [imdb.com]

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Episode 72: Tweenie Turing Tests, AI, and Ex Machina (with Joshua Weisberg) Jul 28, 2015

Show notes

It finally happened: David and Tamler welcome special guest Joshua Weisberg to the podcast to talk about Turing machines, Chinese Rooms, and AI. What does it mean for a machine to acquire intelligence? What is the proper test? How much processing power would it take? Do computers shed light on how human beings think? Why is John Searle trapped in a Chinese room, anyway? Plus, a spoiler-filled discussion (beginning at 58:20) of the recent movie Ex Machina. David tries to assert his feminist bonafides but Tamler takes Eva's side, proving once again that he is the real feminist. And we have a quick 5-minute discussion of Mr. Robot Episode 4 (beginning at 1:24) and respond to a couple of emails from the authors of the Inside Out article we discussed in our previous episode.

Links

Turing Test [wikipedia.org]
Chinese Room thought experiment [wikipedia.org]
Artificial Intelligence [wikipedia.org]
Weisberg, J. (2009). It stands to reason: Skynet and self-preservation. In Irwin, W., Brown, R., & Decker, K. S. (Eds.) Terminator and philosophy: I'll be back, therefore I am (Vol. 13). John Wiley & Sons.
Ex Machina [IMDB.com]

Special Guest: Josh Weisberg.

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Episode 71: The Murky Morals and Mysterious Metaphysics of "Mr. Robot" Jul 14, 2015

Show notes

David and Tamler go deep into the best TV show of the summer, "Mr. Robot. They talk about the moral ambiguity of its central character, the distorted vision of reality it portrays, and play a round of "Real or Not Real" with all the main characters. Plus, what the swooning critics ignore about Pixar's "Inside Out"--its irresponsible failure to reference the relevant literature in cognitive science and philosophy of mind.

Links

Two philosophers explain what Inside Out gets wrong about the mind [vox.com]

The James/Lange theory of emotion [wikipedia.org]

Mr. Robot [IMDB]

Unreliable Narrator [wikipedia.org]

Shoot the Dog Trope [tvtropes.org]

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Episode 70: Some Favorite Things Jun 29, 2015

Show notes

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, papers by Williams and movies from Sweden. Long graphic novels that celebrate being. These are a few of our favorite things. Dave and Tamler offer some moral psych-themed recommendations to help you get your summer off to a good start. Plus, is porn bad for you now that it doesn't come in brown paper packages tied up in string?

Links

Pornucopia by Maria Konnikova [aeon.com]
Maria Konnikova on Twitter [twitter.com]
Zhana Vrangolova [zhanavrangolova.com]

Books

Daytripper by Fabio Bá and Gabriel Moon [amazon.com affiliate link] [comixology link]
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro [amazon.com affiliate link]

Movies

Force Majeure [imdb.com]
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter [imdb.com]

Academic Papers

Kahane, G., Everett, J. A., Earp, B. D., Farias, M., & Savulescu, J. (2015). 'Utilitarian' judgments in sacrificial moral dilemmas do not reflect impartial concern for the greater good. Cognition, 134, 193-209.
Williams, B. A. O., & Moore, A. W. (2006). Philosophy as a humanistic discipline. Princeton University Press. [verybadwizards.com]

TV Shows

Mr. Robot [usa.com]
Louie [imdb.com]
Deadwood [imdb.com]
The Americans [imdb.com]
Sherlock [imdb.com]

Podcast (David's Extra)

Robot or Not? Podcast [incomparable.com]

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Episode 69: CHiPs on Our Shoulders (Lessons in Objectivity) Jun 17, 2015

Show notes

Dave and Tamler try to figure out what we talk about when we talk about objectivity. In past episodes we've claimed that logic and science (when it isn't fraudulent) are objective. Tamler has claimed repeatedly that "Louie" is an objectively better TV show than "Jessie." Dave is constantly claiming that Kant is objectively the best philosopher. But to be honest, we say these things without being exactly sure what we're saying. Today we try to be sure--only to get more confused.

Plus, we get into a big fight over trigger warnings, the Kipnis affair at Northwestern, and other related issues. (The infamous Episode 45 was an ecstasy-fueled love fest in comparison.) However, we have spared our listeners the drama, and have only included a few lowlights. If you listen closely, you can even hear Tamler apologize.

Links

Sexual Paranoia Strikes Academe by Laura Kipnis [chronicle.com]
Laura Kipnis Is Cleared of Wrongdoing in Title IX Complaints [chronicle.com]
Title IX [wikipedia.org]
For Tamler's views on the campus climate and the Kipnis fiasco, check out his comments on this post. [leiterreports.typepad.com]

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