Very Bad Wizards

Latest Episodes:

Episode 58: Do the Right Thing (with Yoel Inbar) Dec 02, 2014

Show notes

Film critic, VBW regular, and social psychologist Yoel Inbar joins David and Tamler to talk about Spike Lee's controversial 1989 film, Do the Right Thing, a movie about a day in the life of a small Brooklyn community on the hottest day of summer, and how the day's events lead to a race riot. Which characters in the film deserve our sympathy? (Maybe all of them?) Who was Spike Lee criticizing with his depiction of the characters in this community? Why did Mookie start the riot at Sal's? Was his action justified? Was starting the riot the "Right Thing" that Spike Lee was referring to in the title? Twenty five years after its release, how much have things changed? [Please note: we recorded this episode before the Ferguson verdict, which is why--despite some parallels--we don't refer to the verdict or the aftermath.]

Links

Do the Right Thing [imdb.com]
Do the Right Thing Scene: Insults [youtube.com]
Do the Right Thing Scene: RIP Boom Box [youtube.com]
Do the Right Thing Scene: Just Off the Boat [youtube.com]
When Spike Lee Became Scary by Jason Bailey [atlantic.com]
The Boondocks [wikipedia.org]
Uncle Remus [wikipedia.org]
Lyrics to Black Korea by Ice Cube [rapgenius.com]
Do the Right Thing and Night of the Hunter Side by Side [youtube.com]
The movie ends with the following two quotes:

Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys a community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I think there are plenty of good people in America, but there are also plenty of bad people in America and the bad ones are the ones who seem to have all the power and be in these positions to block things that you and I need. Because this is the situation, you and I have to preserve the right to do what is necessary to bring an end to that situation, and it doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don't even call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence.

- Malcolm X

Special Guest: Yoel Inbar.

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Episode 57: Free Willie Nov 18, 2014

Show notes

David and Tamler talk about a new study that links your belief in free will to the fullness of your bladder. How do our bodily states influence our metaphysical commitments? What's the best way to measure beliefs about free will? Can you get your prostate checked without having someone stick something in your private areas? Plus, an exclusive look at the shocking truth about social psychology experiments.

Links

The Philosophical Implications of the Urge to Urinate by Dan Ladkin, Scientific American
Ent, M. R., & Baumeister, R. F. (2014). Embodied free will beliefs: Some effects of physical states on metaphysical opinions. Consciousness and Cognition, 27, 147-154.
Free Will and Determinism Scale (Rakos, Laurene, Skala, & Slane, 2008, Behavior and Social Issues).

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Episode 56: Moral Heroes and Drunk Utilitarians Nov 03, 2014

Show notes

Following up their discussion of moral villains, Dave and Tamler argue about what makes a moral hero. Tamler defends Sharon Krause's view that honor values can motivate heroic behavior. Dave accuses Tamler of being inconsistent (nothing wrong with that) and slightly Kantian (NOOOOOO!!!). In the final segment, we're back on the same page fawning over Susan Wolf's paper "Moral Saints." Plus, are drunks more likely to be utilitarians? And why does Dave hate Temple Grandin?

Links

The Cold Logic of Drunk People by Emma Green [theatlantic.com]
Duke, A. A., & Bègue, L. (2015). The drunk utilitarian: Blood alcohol concentration predicts utilitarian responses in moral dilemmas. Cognition, 134, 121-127. [sciencedirect.com]
Wolf, S. (1982). Moral saints. The Journal of Philosophy, 419-439. [verybadwizards.com]
Krause, S. R. (2002). Honor and democratic reform (Ch. 5) [verybadwizards.com]. In Liberalism with honor [amazon.com affiliate link]. Harvard University Press.

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Episode 55: Rooting for Evil (With Paul Bloom) Oct 21, 2014

Show notes

Paul Bloom joins us to talk all things villainous -why we sometimes root for the bad guys, why we admire them even when we don't, why they are much more compelling than some of our heroes. Then more evidence that we're really a movie podcast at heart: we list our top 5 villains and antiheroes from TV and film. Plus, more on the benefits of religious rituals and how to make a sitcom about Himmler.

Our Top 5 Villains

Paul Bloom

Todd Alquist (Breaking Bad)
Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother)
The Joker (The Dark Knight)
Bridgette Gregory (The Last Seduction)
Agent Smith (The Matrix)

Tamler Sommers

Daniel Plainview (There Will be Blood)/Tony Montana (Scarface)
Willie (Bad Santa)
Tommy (Goodfellas)
Alonzo Harris (Training Day)
Go-Go (Kill Bill Vol. 1)

David Pizarro

Tom (Tom & Jerry)
Keyser Soze (The Usual Suspects)
Vic Mackey (The Shield)
Harry Lime (The Third Man)
Hal 9000 (2001 A Space Odyssey)

Clips:

"You need people like me. The bad guy."

"I'm sorry Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that." From 2001: A Space Odyssey [youtube]

"Come on Mr Ed. Let's see it." From The Last Seduction [youtube]

"A good narcotics agents loves his narcotics." From Training Day. [youtube]

"I loved a woman who wasn't clean." "Mrs. Santa?" "No, her sister." From Bad Santa [youtube]

"He showed these men of will what will really was." From The Usual Suspects. [youtube]

"Funny how?" From Goodfellas [youtube]

Special Guest: Paul Bloom.

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Episode 54: Pooping on Ecstasy (Pain, Pleasure, and the Ethics of Breeding) Sep 24, 2014

Show notes

Tamler and David get bullied into talking about "anti-natalism," (the view that it is unethical to bring a being into existence), and to defend our ethical position as "breeders." Well, one of us defends it, at least. The other one? Well, you'll have to judge for yourself... Along the way we discuss how much pleasure you would need to equal the pain and suffering you've experienced, the joy of pooping (especially while on E), and Tamler explains why he calls David a Kantian, and why he thinks it's such an insult. For those who have missed the arguing, it's back on this one.

Links

Anti-Natalism [wikipedia.org]
Ecclesiastes 4:2-3 [usccb.org]: And those now dead, I declared more fortunate in death than are the living to be still alive. And better off than both is the yet unborn, who has not seen the wicked work that is done under the sun.
"No Life is Good" David Benatar. [Philosopher's Magazine]
Don't Have Any Children, by David Benatar [moreintelligentlife.com]
David Benatar Radio Interview (MP3) on 702.co.za
Every Conceivable Harm: A Further Defence of Anti-Natalism by David Benatar [squarespace.com]
Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C., & Vohs, K. D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good. Review of general psychology, 5(4), 323. [Thanks to listener Brian Erb]

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Episode 53: The Psychology People Love to Hate (Evolutionary Psychology Pt.1) Sep 08, 2014

Show notes

Dave and Tamler take a shot at answering the question: what is an evolutionary psychologist? Is it just a psychologist who believes in evolution? (No.) Is it a psychologist who embraces a computational, modular theory of the mind? (No. Well, maybe…we're not sure.) Are they psychologists who are part of a cult that fanatically endorse evolutionary explanations for every aspect of human judgment and behavior? (No! Well, most of them aren't, anyway.) So what are they? And why do they generate so much hostility?

Plus, we go back to Genesis (the real story of how we evolved) to offer another thought experiment: what is it like to be Adam and Eve before eating the forbidden fruit? What is it like not to know good and evil? And we give our aspiring playwright listeners a perfect idea for a one-act play: Abraham and Isaac walking down the mountain after the aborted sacrifice.

Links

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil [wikipedia.org]
The Leviathan [wikipedia.org]
E.O. Wilson [wikipedia.org]
Sociobiology [wikipedia.org]
Burke, D. (2014). Why isn't everyone an evolutionary psychologist? Evolutionary Psychology and Neuroscience, 5, 910.
Making birds gay with science!: Adkins-Regan, E. (2011). Neuroendocrine contributions to sexual partner preference in birds. Frontiers in neuroendocrinology, 32(2), 155-163.
Just-so stories [wikipedia.org]
Waist-hip ratio [wikipedia.org]
"A natural history of rape: Biological bases of sexual coercion" by Thornhill and Palmer [wikipedia.org]
Buss, D. M., Larsen, R. J., Westen, D., & Semmelroth, J. (1992). Sex differences in jealousy: Evolution, physiology, and psychology. Psychological science, 3, 251-255.
Satoshi Kanazawa [wikipedia.org]

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Episode 52: Thought Experiments (Huh!) What Are They Good For? (Part 2) Aug 25, 2014

Show notes

Experience Machines, Chinese Rooms, Original Positions, and Ice Buckets. ("I don't know what you have in mind for this evening Homer, but count me out!") Dave and Tamler continue their discussion on thought experiments--how they can be effective, the difference between their use in philosophy and psychology, and how they can spin out of control like deadly viruses and become the disease they were trying to cure. Plus, do our motives matter when it comes to raising money for charity?

Links

Chinese Room thought experiment [wikipedia.org]
Turing Test [wikipedia.org]
Ice bucket challenge [alsa.org]
Weird Al Yankovic does the Ice Bucket Challenge [youtube.com]
Flight of the Conchords "Pro-Aids" [youtube.com]
Rawls' Original Position [plato.stanford.edu]
The Veil of Ignorance [wikipedia.org]
Press Your Luck "No Whammies!" [youtube.com]
Behaviorism [wikipedia.org]
Logical positivism [wikipedia.org]

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Episode 51: Zombies, Trolleys, and Galileo's Balls Aug 12, 2014

Show notes

Episode Audio

Dave and Tamler talk about the value and purposes of thought experiments in philosophy and science. Does the trolley problem tell us more about moral psychology than how people make judgments in trolley problems? Can an imagined scenario about two balls refute an almost two thousand year old theory of falling objects? When young virgin Dave learned all the physical facts about sex, did he learn anything new when it finally happened? All this and more in Part One of our two part episode on this topic.

Links

The experience machine [wikipedia.org]
Mary the color scientist [wikipedia.org]
Zombies [wikipedia.org]
Qualia [wikipedia.org]
The Violinist from "A defense of Abortion" [wikipedia.org]
The Ship of Theseus [wikipedia.org]
Newcomb's Paradox [wikipedia.org]
Ring of Gyges [wikipedia.org]
Peter Singer's thought experiment [wikipedia.org]
Veil of Ignorance [wikipedia.org]
Galileo's Balls [philosophical-investigations.org]
Tamler's Zombie Paper

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Episode 50: Keeping it Unreal Jul 15, 2014

Show notes

Dude, do you ever think about how, like, we could be all be in the Matrix? Seriously, no no, dude, I'm being serious. It's like, none of this might be real, you know?

Actually we don't know. We honestly can't believe we made it to 50 episodes, so we must be brains in a vat. But we play along and celebrate with...a movie episode! We list our five favorite films about the subjective or questionable nature of reality. Our only rule: we couldn't choose The Matrix. Listen to this episode--your Mom says it's psychologically taut.

Links

Kramer, A. D., Guillory, J. E., & Hancock, J. T. (2014). Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Rashomon (David) [imdb.com]
Exit Through the Gift Shop (Tamler and David) [imdb.com]
Banksy on "Life Remote Control" (clip, youtube.com)
- Paul Bloom on art and forgery [ted.com]
Spirited Away (Tamler) [imdb.com]
My Neighbor Totoro (David) [imdb.com]
- Mr. Snuffleupagus [wikipedia.org]
Adaptation (Tamler) [imdb.com]
Donnie Darko (David) [imdb.com]
Stories we Tell (Tamler) [imdb.com]
Waking Life (David) [imdb.com]
- Robert Solomon [wikipedia.org]
Mulholland Drive (Tamler) [imdb.com]

Tamler's Honorable Mentions

Primer
Dark City
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Memento
The Truman Show
Rosemary's Baby
The Shining
Purple Rose of Cairo
The Conversation
Shutter Island

Some SPOILER ALERT Links

Tim Minchin summarizes Donnie Darko in song [youtube.com]
Everything you were afraid to ask about Mulholland Drive by Bill Wyman, Max Garrone, and Andy Klein [salon.com]

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Episode 49: Psychopaths and Contrastivizzzzzzzz (With Walter Sinnott-Armstrong) Jun 23, 2014

Show notes

Special guest Walter Sinnott-Armstrong joins the podcast to explain how his theory which desperately needs a new name ("contrastivism") can dissolve most of the fundamental problems and paradoxes in philosophy. We also talk about psychopaths--what they are and what we can do about them. But first we read and respond to an angry piece of fan mail (ok, maybe 'fan' is not the right word) from Sam Harris, trashing us--mostly Tamler--for our comments on VBW 45 about the new atheists.

Links