Very Bad Wizards

You don't need to be a psychologist or a philosopher to enjoy a good, old-fashioned bitch-fest. In the first of a two-part episode (no single compact disc, 8-track, or LP could hold all our complaints), Tamler and David list two of the things that bug them about their respective fields. We take issue with bad writing, brain worship, meaningless questions, and psychologists' obsession with the number two. Enjoy and try not to hold it against us. Links Simpsons clip on philosophy majors [youtube.com] Peter Hacker on philosophy [leiterreports.typepad.com] Business-speak buzzwords [wikipedia.org] Dual process theory [wikipedia.org] Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman [amazon.com] Dual-Process Theories in Social Psychology [amazon.com] Gettier Problem [wikipedia.org] Seduced by the flickering lights of the brain by Paul Bloom [seedmagazine.com] Support Very Bad Wizards

In a break from tradition, we recorded a 25-minute episode on the morality of tattletaling, snitching, ratting, and whistleblowing. We discuss why these people seem especially despicable (except for maybe "Bubbles" from "The Wire" and the guy from "The Insider"), and David gets Tamler to agree that he'd never turn him into the police. We also puzzle over the existence of porn theaters, and the origins of the expression "flip a bitch." Links Stop Snitchin' campaign [wikipedia.org] Bubbles (character from "The Wire") [wikipedia.org] Time Magazine Persons of the Year: Whistleblowers [time.com] Ingram, G. P., & Bering, J. M. (2010). Children's tattling: The reporting of everyday norm violations in preschool settings. Child development, 81, 945-957. Obie Trice feat. Akon "Snitch" "Dry Snitching" [urbandictionary.com] Support Very Bad Wizards

Our classiest episode yet (OK, that's not saying much, but still...)--Psychologist Fiery Cushman joins us for a discussion about collective punishment and collective responsibility. We use Fiery's recent paper on the practice of "beaning" in baseball (punishing one player for a teammate's offense by throwing a 95 MPH fastball at the player's head) to illustrate the phenomenon. Is the "innocent" player being punished because he is somehow morally responsible for his teammate's offense? Or does deserve have nothing to do with it? Also in this episode: listener feedback (sort of, we're just psyched to have a Norwegian stand-up comic as a listener), and Fiery solves the 3,000 year-old problem of moral responsibility just so he can get out of Dave's hotel room. Links Fiery Cushman [brown.edu] Beanball [wikipedia.org] Hatfield-McCoy Blood Feud [wikipedia.org] Major League (1989) [imdb.com] Revenge: A story of hope, by Laura Blumenfeld Blood Revenge, by Christopher Boehm "The Two Faces of Revenge: Moral Responsibility and the Culture of Honor." T Sommers. "John Kruk and Desert." [Flickers of Freedom blog post] Support Very Bad Wizards

Dave and Tamler square off the role of the victim in criminal punishment and find little to agree about. Tamler defends the restorative justice approach, while Dave expresses skepticism about its value and worries it might even be damaging. Arguments ensue, but be sure to stick around for the third segment as it features an unusually focused and productive discussion--for them anyway. Also discussed: the best character on "The Wire," the startling specificity of KG's trash-talking, and a listener calls us out on not justifying the meaningfulness of life. Links Family Guy- Breaking Bad (and The Wire) [youtube.com] The Wire- Omar in court [youtube.com] Restorative Justice [wikipedia.org] Christie, N. (1977). Conflicts as Property. British Journal of Criminology Greg Ousley is sorry for killing his parents. Is that enough? [NY Times magazine] "The Caging of America" by Adam Gopnik. [New Yorker] "Can Forgiveness Play a Role in Criminal Justice?" [NY Times magazine] Support Very Bad Wizards

Yoel Inbar, social psychologist and film-minded thinker, joins to probe Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. They examine the brothel assault, the prostitutes’ quest for justice, and collective blame. Conversations cover Will Munny’s return to violence, myth versus reality in outlaw lore, and who the title might actually target.

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