463: Solutions to all of Your Moral Dilemmas | Michael Schur

10% Happier with Dan Harris

10% Media, LLC

Dan Harris, Health & Fitness, Mindfulness, Dharma, Mental Health, Meditation

4.6 • 12.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 June 2022

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Life is filled with all kinds of moral dilemmas— from the mundane to the momentous. Should I lie and tell my friend that I like her ugly shirt? Can I still enjoy great art if it was created by terrible people? How much money should I give to charity? Ultimately, does anything we do even matter?

In today’s conversation, television writer and producer, Michael Schur helps us to navigate our moral dilemmas and answer some of these difficult questions.

Schur is best known for creating and co-creating such shows as Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, and Rutherford Falls. Additionally, he has worked on shows like The Office, Master of null, The Comeback, and Hacks. He is also the Author of How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question.

In this episode we talk about:

What got him started on the road to reading philosophy and studying ethics
The so-called “trolley problem”
Trusting your gut
Natural states of virtue
The evolutionary advantages of virtue
And how white lies can be beneficial in a complicated and messy society

This interview was recorded in person at the TED conference in April of 2022, where both Michael Schur and Dan Harris spoke.

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/michael-schur-463

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the 10% happier podcast.
0:06.3	I'm Dan Harris.
0:11.1	Hey gang, as you know, life is filled with all kinds of moral dilemmas from the mundane
0:16.0	to the genuinely momentous.
0:18.9	Should I lie and tell my friend I like her ugly shirt?
0:21.7	Do I have to return my shopping cart to the shopping cart rack thingy?
0:26.4	Can I enjoy great art if it was created by terrible people?
0:29.7	But I treat myself to a new iPhone when there are children going hungry around the world.
0:34.2	How much money should I give to charity?
0:36.6	Why bother being good at all when there are no consequences often for being bad?
0:41.2	And ultimately, does anything we do even matter?
0:44.6	Today, we're going to get answers from an unlikely source.
0:48.0	Michael Schurr is a television writer and producer who is perhaps best known for creating
0:52.8	and co-creating such shows as Parks and Recreation, a personal favorite of mine.
0:57.0	Brooklyn 9.9, the good place and Rutherford Falls.
1:00.2	Additionally, he has worked on shows such as The Office, Master of None, The Comeback, and
1:05.9	Hacks, another personal favorite.
1:08.8	He is also the author of How to Be Perfect, the correct answer to every moral question,
1:13.8	which is a phenomenal title.
1:15.9	Turns out he has a long-standing interest in moral philosophy, somewhat of an auto-diedact.
1:21.7	And he has turned this interest into a TV show before The Good Place, which has a huge
1:26.9	cult following.
	...

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