Very Bad Wizards

David and Tamler dive into Plato's Euthyphro, part of our intermittent Back 2 Basics series. A young cocksure priest, confident in his holiness, bumps into Socrates on his way to court to prosecute his father for a wrongful death. After a few rounds with Socrates on the nature of piety, he becomes a little less sure of himself.  We talk about Plato's decision to set the dialogue in the days before Socrates' own trial, the famous Euthyphro dilemma, the seemingly little progress that's made in defining piety, and much more. Plus Oliver Sacks wrote books where the truth seemed stranger than fiction, but how much of what he wrote was really true? Oliver Sacks Put Himself Into His Case Studies. What Was the Cost? by Rachel Aviv [newyorker.com] Plato's Euthyphro [wikipedia.org] We are teaming up with givedirectly, and a whole bunch of podcasters to help families in Rwanda. While match funds last, your donation will be 1.5x matched, meaning every $100 donation will turn into $150 for families in need. Go to givedirectly.org/wizards if you find it in your heart to give a donation.

Transcribed - Published: 23 December 2025

David and Tamler return to William James' monumental "Principles of Psychology", this time wading through his famous chapter "The Stream of Thought." We talk about his rejection of empiricist theories of consciousness in favor of a view that consciousness is a continuous stream of thoughts, sensations, and emotions without any elements (atoms) that repeat or appear in other people's streams. We talk about how vividly James captures certain features of consciousness, like trying to recall a forgotten name, or the ways that the subjective per of two people differ radically in the same environment. And we debate the merits of James' methodology as well as his universalist ambitions. Plus, we discuss one of the early to mid-2000s papers, how seeing Batman on a subway makes you more altruistic because – wait, hold on, what, this study is from 2025??  Pagnini, F., Grosso, F., Cavalera, C., Poletti, V., Minazzi, G. A., Missoni, A., ... & Bertolotti, M. (2025). Unexpected events and prosocial behavior: the Batman effect. npj Mental Health Research, 4(1), 57. James, W. (1890). The principles of psychology. Chapter 9: "The Stream of Thought" [free access to fulltext via psychclassics.yorku.ca] We are teaming up with givedirectly, and a whole bunch of podcasters to help families in Rwanda. While match funds last, your donation will be 1.5x matched, meaning every $100 donation will turn into $150 for families in need. Go to givedirectly.org/wizards if you find it in your heart to give a donation. 

Transcribed - Published: 9 December 2025

David and Tamler begin their long journey home to Homer's Odyssey, the tale of king Odysseus' 10 year journey home after the Trojan war (maybe the greatest story ever told). We dive into the first two books, which focus on Odysseus' 20-year-old son Telemachus, the swarm of suitors who have descended on Odysseus' house during his long absence in the hopes of marrying his clever and beautiful wife Penelope, and the goddess Athena, whose plan to get Odysseus home to Ithaca is finally set into motion. (Much more to come on this monumental work for our beloved Patreon supporters).  Plus for all you Homer haters, David makes Tamler blind rank a list of (pre-1950) philosophers. The Odyssey [wikipedia.org] The Odyssey (transl. by Emily Wilson) [amazon.org affiliate link]  

Transcribed - Published: 25 November 2025

David and Tamler return to one of their favorites, Frans Kafka, this time on his beautiful and distressing short story "The Hunger Artist," a story that brims with metaphorical possibilities but also implores us to accept it on its own mysterious terms. Plus gooning. The Goon Squad by Daniel Kolitz [harpers.org] "Gooning" definition [urbandictionary.com] A Hunger Artist [wikipedia.org] A Hunger Artist (full text) [kafka-online.info]  

Transcribed - Published: 11 November 2025

David and Tamler transfer their libidinal energy to Freud's 1917 article "Mourning and Melancholia," in which he tries to understand what's going on with depression, attempts to distinguish it from normal grief, and arrives at some ideas that laid the groundwork for his later theory of normal human development. Plus, another blind ranking segment--this time Tamler gives David a list of rappers to rank blindly. Finally, in between segments we make an announcement about the topic of our next bonus series (it's gonna be epic).  Freud's "Mourning and Melancholia" [wikipedia.org]  Link to PDF [sas.upenn.edu] The Odyssey (translated by Emily Wilson) [amazon.com affiliate link]

Transcribed - Published: 28 October 2025

David and Tamler share some brief thoughts about Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest masterpiece One Battle After Another before going deep on his most underrated movie Inherent Vice. We explore the many connections between the two movies - Pynchon adaptations, shadowy forces, snitches who abandon their families, the blend of comedy and political fatalism, and the intrinsic and external forces that threaten relationships and resistance to power.  [Note: some spoilers to OBAA in the opening segment but we note where they begin, and of course full spoilers to Inherent Vice.] A really fun discussion about maybe the best filmmaker working today.   One Battle After Another [wikipedia.org] Inherent Vice [wikipedia.org]

Transcribed - Published: 14 October 2025

What is the psychology of shame? Is the experience of shame a human universal? How can we investigate the nature of shame across cultures? David and Tamler dive into Richard Shweder’s “Towards a Deep Cultural Psychology of Shame.” We talk about the methodological challenges of studying shame in other contexts and languages, the virtues of ethnographic approaches, studying literature, and more. Plus, bloody hell are the Brits starting queues at pubs? Bollocks! Queueing in pubs disgraces Britain by Will Dunn [newstatesmen.com] Shweder, R. A. (2003). Toward a deep cultural psychology of shame. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 70(4), 1100-1129. [muse.jhu.edu]

Transcribed - Published: 30 September 2025

David and Tamler go big game hunting and explore their first Hemingway short story "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." We dig into his characteristic themes of courage, cowardice, shifting power dynamics in marriages, and what it truly means to live a happy life. Plus, neuroscience may be complex, but can these AI generated neuroscience jokes tickle David's funny bone? And a super timely discussion of an urgent issue: The Cracker Barrel logo. Cracker Barrel Redesign Controversy [apnews.com] 200+ Neuroscience Jokes to Tickle Your Brain and Boost Your Mood [punsify.com] The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Ernest Hemingway [wikipedia.org]

Transcribed - Published: 16 September 2025

David and Tamler tackle the topic chosen by our beloved Patreon supporters in the first VBW madness tournament – Schopenhauer. We discuss his essays "On the Sufferings of the World" and "The Vanity of Existence," their strikingly modern perspectives on human life and behavior and the influences Schopenhauer took from Eastern thought. Plus, David has Tamler do a blind ranking of movie directors.  Arthur Schopenhauer [plato.stanford.edu] Arther Schopenhauer [iep.utm.edu] The Essays of Schopenhauer: Studies in Pessimism [full-text from gutenberg.org]

Transcribed - Published: 2 September 2025

David and Tamler go long on McDonagh’s 2008 masterpiece "In Bruges." We talk about the terrific performances and all the weighty themes - sin, guilt, redemption, honor, language, and very inappropriate jokes. Plus philosophers talk about “sex within the discipline” and Tamler can’t handle it. To Philosophers of Easy Virtue by Alex Rails [dailynous.com] In Bruges (2008) [wikipedia.org]

Transcribed - Published: 12 August 2025

David and Tamler try to wrap their heads around the metaphysics of past and future via the Borges essay(s) “A New Refutation of Time.” What does it mean to be a time skeptic or a time realist for that matter? If you’re a Berkeleyan idealist and Humean skeptic about the self, do you have to deny succession and simultaneity? The world, unfortunately, is real; and we, unfortunately, are Very Bad Wizards.  Plus for centuries philosophers insisted that you couldn’t measure qualia, but then scientists just went ahead and… measured it!   Scientists Measure Qualia for First Time-It Was Thought To Be Impossible [youtube.com] Kawakita, G., Zeleznikow-Johnston, A., Takeda, K., Tsuchiya, N., & Oizumi, M. (2025). Is my “red” your “red”?: Evaluating structural correspondences between color similarity judgments using unsupervised alignment. iScience, 28(3). A New Refutation of Time [wikipedia.org] A New Refutation of Time by Jorge Luis Borges [pdf from gwern.net] 

Transcribed - Published: 29 July 2025

David and Tamler return to David Hume’s somewhat slippery brand of skepticism, this time focusing Chapter 12 of his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Plus speaking of things to be skeptical about, we dive into a recent paper called “Your Brain on ChatGPT” – does neuroscience show that LLM users incur a “cognitive debt”? MIT study shows ChatGPT reshapes student brain function and reduces creativity when used from the start [edtechinnovationhub.com] Your brain on ChatGPT [arxiv.org] People are suffering... [linkedin.com] David Hume's "An Enquiry Concerning Hunan Understanding" [wikipedia.org] Hume's Enquiry Section 12: Of the Academical or Sceptical Philosophy [davidhume.org] 

Transcribed - Published: 15 July 2025

David and Tamler screw their courage to the sticking place and talk about their first Shakespeare play – The Tragedy of Macbeth. Plus we select 16 topics for our first VBW topic tournament suggested and voted by our beloved Patreon patrons.

Transcribed - Published: 1 July 2025

David and Tamler screw their courage to the sticking place and talk about their first Shakespeare play – The Tragedy of Macbeth. Plus we select 16 topics for our first VBW topic tournament suggested and voted by our beloved Patreon patrons.

Published: 1 July 2025

David and Tamler try to wrap their heads around the predictive processing theory of the mind and brain function and talk about a paper that applies the framework to meditation practices. But first a new Psychological Science article expresses skepticism about the existence of people who have no inner voice. So is David a new kind of human or is he just making up this condition to get attention? Assistant Editor’s note: When Tamler says he doesn’t talk to his dog “weirdly often,” he is lying.   Lind, A. (2024). Are There Really People With No Inner Voice? Commentary on Nedergaard and Lupyan (2024). Psychological Science, 09567976251335583. Laukkonen, R. E., & Slagter, H. A. (2021). From many to (n) one: Meditation and the plasticity of the predictive mind. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 128, 199-217.

Transcribed - Published: 10 June 2025

David and Tamler heed the call to journey into the realm of Joseph Campbell. What are the unifying elements shared by myths and religions across time and culture? Does myth give us a portal into the hidden cosmic forces of the universe? Can it take us into depths of our unconscious and the nature of our own being? What is the legacy of Campbell’s thought today? Plus, three brave scholars of fascism at Yale flee the country to form in a center of resistance at…The University of Toronto. We’re Experts in Fascism. We’re Leaving the U.S. | NYT Opinion [youtube.com] Joseph Campbell [wikipedia.org] The Hero with a Thousand Faces [wikipedia.org] The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell [amazon.com affiliate link]

Transcribed - Published: 27 May 2025

We kick off our Bonus "Noir Summer" series with Robert Aldrich's "Kiss Me Deadly" (1956). While the rest of the bonus series will be for Patreon subscribers only, the first is free to all. 

Transcribed - Published: 20 May 2025

We kick off our Bonus "Noir Summer" series with Robert Aldrich's "Kiss Me Deadly" (1956). While the rest of the bonus series will be for Patreon subscribers only, the first is free to all. 

Published: 20 May 2025

David and Tamler return to their happy place and talk about two pieces by JL Borges – the story “Shakespeare’s Memory” and the [essay/story/poem/literary sketch??] “Everything and Nothing.”  What would it mean to have the memory of a supreme artist like Shakespeare? Would it help us understand his work, or how he was able to produce masterpiece after masterpiece What does it mean to have our own memories? How does all this connect to our sense of self? Plus cancel culture comes to Cornell, but don’t worry it’s about that one thing it's fine to cancel people over. Cornell President's NYT Op-Ed March 31, 2025  "Universities like the one I run aren't afraid to let people argue" Kehlani speaks out after Cornell cancels her Slope Day appearance over 'hateful views' [cnycentral.com] Cornell Musicians Oppose Kehlani’s Cancellation [cornellsun.com] Shakespeare's Memory by Jorge Luis Borges [wikipedia.org] Everything and Nothing by Jorge Luis Borges [dilipsimeon.blogspot.com]

Transcribed - Published: 6 May 2025

David and Tamler return to their happy place and talk about two pieces by JL Borges – the story "Shakespeare's Memory" and the [essay/story/poem/literary sketch??] "Everything and Nothing."  What would it mean to have the memory of a supreme artist like Shakespeare? Would it help us understand his work, or how he was able to produce masterpiece after masterpiece What does it mean to have our own memories? How does all this connect to our sense of self? Plus cancel culture comes to Cornell, but don't worry it's about that one thing it's fine to cancel people over. Cornell President's NYT Op-Ed March 31, 2025  "Universities like the one I run aren't afraid to let people argue" Kehlani speaks out after Cornell cancels her Slope Day appearance over 'hateful views' [cnycentral.com] Cornell Musicians Oppose Kehlani's Cancellation [cornellsun.com] Shakespeare's Memory by Jorge Luis Borges [wikipedia.org] Everything and Nothing by Jorge Luis Borges [dilipsimeon.blogspot.com]

Published: 6 May 2025

David and Tamler talk about two famous puzzles that for different reasons have bedeviled the rationalist community – The Monty Hall Problem and Newcomb’s “paradox.” Why is it so hard for people to see that a 66% chance of winning a car is better than a 33% chance? Why do famous mathematicians struggle with this problem? And David and Tamler split on the Newcomb case – can you guess which one of us is the one boxer? Plus since we’re basically a TV recap podcast now, some thoughts on White Lotus Season 3.  The White Lotus [imdb.com] Monty Hall Problem [wikipedia.org] Numberphile on the Monty Hall Problem [youtube.com] Newcomb's "Paradox" [wikipedia.org] Nozick, R. (1969). Newcomb’s problem and two principles of choice. In Essays in honor of carl g. hempel: A tribute on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday (pp. 114-146). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Transcribed - Published: 22 April 2025

David and Tamler talk about two famous puzzles that for different reasons have bedeviled the rationalist community – The Monty Hall Problem and Newcomb's "paradox." Why is it so hard for people to see that a 66% chance of winning a car is better than a 33% chance? Why do famous mathematicians struggle with this problem? And David and Tamler split on the Newcomb case – can you guess which one of us is the one boxer? Plus since we're basically a TV recap podcast now, some thoughts on White Lotus Season 3.  The White Lotus [imdb.com] Monty Hall Problem [wikipedia.org] Numberphile on the Monty Hall Problem [youtube.com] Newcomb's "Paradox" [wikipedia.org] Nozick, R. (1969). Newcomb's problem and two principles of choice. In Essays in honor of carl g. hempel: A tribute on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday (pp. 114-146). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Published: 22 April 2025

David and Tamler welcome Barry Lam back to the show. In the first segment we violate one of our own rules by talking about his new book "Fewer Rules, Better People", a full frontal attack on David’s strict Kantian worldview. Then we dive DEEP into David Lynch’s first movie, "Eraserhead," and eventually arrive at a few coherent interpretations of Lynch’s “most spiritual film." Barry Lam [ucr.edu] Fewer Rules, Better People: The Case for Discretion by Barry Lam [amazon.com affiliate link] Eraserhead [wikipedia.org] David Lynch BAFTA interview (Origin of "Eraserhead is my most spiritual film" quote) [youtube.com]

Transcribed - Published: 8 April 2025

David and Tamler welcome Barry Lam back to the show. In the first segment we violate one of our own rules by talking about his new book "Fewer Rules, Better People", a full frontal attack on David's strict Kantian worldview. Then we dive DEEP into David Lynch's first movie, "Eraserhead," and eventually arrive at a few coherent interpretations of Lynch's "most spiritual film." Barry Lam [ucr.edu] Fewer Rules, Better People: The Case for Discretion by Barry Lam [amazon.com affiliate link] Eraserhead [wikipedia.org] David Lynch BAFTA interview (Origin of "Eraserhead is my most spiritual film" quote) [youtube.com]

Published: 8 April 2025

VBW favorite Paul Bloom joins us to break down the Severance season finale and season 2 in general. We all agree that it’s a much-needed return to form and debate some of the choices and questions the episode raises. Plus, an evolutionary account of the ‘ick’  and the adaptive trait of graceful ping-pong ball chasing.  Collisson, B., Saunders, E., & Yin, C. (2025). The ick: Disgust sensitivity, narcissism, and perfectionism in mate choice thresholds. Personality and Individual Differences, 238, 113086. Very Bad Wizards Episode 236: Your Outie is Skilled at Lovemaking (with Paul Bloom) Paul's Substack Newsletter "Small Potatoes"

Transcribed - Published: 25 March 2025

What has four thumbs and can effortlessly glide from the a priori to the a posteriori in a single episode? These guys. In the first segment we tackle a brand new paper called "Being Exalted: an A Priori Argument for the Trinity." That's right, the Holy Trinity arrived at through reason alone. Then in the main segment we talk about Richard Feynman's classic 1974 Caltech commencement address "Cargo Cult Science." Does Feynman's metaphor suggest that whole paradigms might be systematically misguided? Or is he just admonishing social scientists to maintain their integrity and use more rigorous methods? As you might imagine, a fight almost breaks out in this one.  Moore, H. J. (2025). Being Exalted: An A Priori Argument for the Trinity. Sophia, 1-23. [link.springer.com] Cargo Cult Science by Richard Feynman [caltech.edu] Interrogating the "cargo cult science" metaphor by Andrew Gelman and Megan Higgs [columbia.edu]

Published: 11 March 2025

What has four thumbs and can effortlessly glide from the a priori to the a posteriori in a single episode? These guys. In the first segment we tackle a brand new paper called “Being Exalted: an A Priori Argument for the Trinity.” That’s right, the Holy Trinity arrived at through reason alone. Then in the main segment we talk about Richard Feynman’s classic 1974 Caltech commencement address “Cargo Cult Science.” Does Feynman’s metaphor suggest that whole paradigms might be systematically misguided? Or is he just admonishing social scientists to maintain their integrity and use more rigorous methods? As you might imagine, a fight almost breaks out in this one.  Moore, H. J. (2025). Being Exalted: An A Priori Argument for the Trinity. Sophia, 1-23. [link.springer.com] Cargo Cult Science by Richard Feynman [caltech.edu] Interrogating the “cargo cult science” metaphor by Andrew Gelman and Megan Higgs [columbia.edu]

Transcribed - Published: 11 March 2025

Everyone knows Tamler hates numbers but he’s not the only one who worries about them. We talk about the philosopher C. Thi Nguyen’s excellent paper “Value Capture” which examines how the ever-increasing presence of metrics, data, indicators, rankings, and other forms quantification shape our values as individuals and institutions. Plus, VBW Does Conceptual Analysis – we’re on to the ‘S’ words now: smug.  Nguyen, C. T. (2024). Value capture. J. Ethics & Soc. Phil., 27, 469.

Transcribed - Published: 25 February 2025

What makes something weird? What makes something eerie? David and Tamler wander into Mark Fisher’s The Weird and the Eerie to learn more about these concepts. How does weird art expand our imagination of what’s possible? Why does the feeling of eeriness dissolve when we get an explanation for what we see? What draws us to phenomena that evoke these unsettling feelings?   Plus – DeepSeek has Silicon Valley shitting themselves but how does it really stack up against good old American AI? The Weird and the Eerie by Mark Fisher [amazon.com affiliate link]

Transcribed - Published: 11 February 2025

It’s Back 2 Basics: Psychology edition! Do coins look bigger to poor people? Do hills look steeper to people wearing heavy backpacks? What’s the difference between perception and attention, or perception and judgment? David and Tamler discuss the long standing debate over whether our beliefs, desires, and past experience can penetrate our vision and change our visual perception. Plus some thoughts on the passing of Tamler’s favorite artist David Lynch. Firestone, C., & Scholl, B. J. (2016).  Cognition does not affect perception: Evaluating the evidence for “top-down” effects. Behavioral and brain sciences, 39, e229. Cognitive Penetration and the Epistemology of Perception by Nico Silins  Bruner, J. S., & Goodman, C. C. (1947). Value and need as organizing factors in perception. The journal of abnormal and social psychology, 42(1), 33. Fodor, Jerry A. "Precis of the modularity of mind." Behavioral and brain sciences 8.1 (1985): 1-5.

Transcribed - Published: 28 January 2025

David and Tamler celebrate their 300th episode with a deep dive into the movie that inspired the podcast’s title. Why is "The Wizard of Oz" the most influential American movie of all time? How does it dig deep into our collective psyches? What makes the effects so timeless and effective? And what’s the actual moral of the story? Plus we crawl up our own asses and talk about what we’re proud of from last year, excited for in 2025, and the ways the podcast has changed since episode 1. The Wizard of Oz (1939)[wikipedia.org] Roger Ebert's review of The Wizard of Oz [rogerebert.com] The Wizard of Oz as allegory for atheism [forgetfulfilmcritic.com] Technicolor [wikipedia.org] A Very Bad Wizard: Morality Behind the Curtain by Tamler Sommers [amazon.com affiliate link]

Transcribed - Published: 14 January 2025

David and Tamler talk wrap up the new year talking about intellectual virtues and Rachel Fraser’s excellent essay “Against Humility.” What is intellectual humility exactly and do we need it for knowledge and understanding? Does the value of humility depend on the person or the circumstances? Are there contexts where intellectual arrogance is the epistemic virtue? We arrive at the definitive answers to these questions and anyone who disagrees with us is a stupid idiot. Plus in the second segment we present THE AMBIES (..the ambies), the final episode of "The Ambulators," our episode by episode breakdown of David Milch’s Deadwood. It’s a clip-filled awards ceremony to celebrate what might be the great TV series of all time. Highlights include Best Quote, Best Scene, Best Character (other than Al), Best Slur, Best Antisemitic slur, and lots more. "Why intellectual humility isn't always a virtue" by Rachel Fraser [aeon.co] Deadwood (TV Series) [wikipedia.org]

Transcribed - Published: 24 December 2024

Why do we punish people? How did our punishment practices evolve and what is their primary function? David and Tamler talk about a new paper that examines punitive justice in three small-scale societies - the Kiowa equestrian foragers in late 19th century North America, Mentawai horticulturalists in Indonesia, and Nuer pastoralists. The authors challenge the dominant view of punishment as a means of norm enforcement arguing instead that its main function is reconciliation, restoring cooperative relationships, and preventing further violence. Get ready for runaway pigs, peace pipes, wife stealing, banana stealing, black magic, leopard-skin chiefs, and David maybe finally coming around restorative justice. Plus we choose from a long list of fantastic topic suggestions from our beloved Patreon supporters and narrow down to six finalists for the listener selected episode. Fitouchi, L., & Singh, M. (2023). Punitive justice serves to restore reciprocal cooperation in three small-scale societies. Evolution and Human Behavior, 44(5), 502-514. Third-party punishment [wikipedia.org]

Transcribed - Published: 10 December 2024

David and Tamler face off with the Misfit in Flannery O’Connor’s classic short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” We sort through the biblical allusions, dark comedy, nihilism, and the possibility of grace or rebirth (but whose)? Plus why do motorists dehumanize cyclists? Is it the helmets? Sounds like a job for the insect-based "Ascent of Man" scale. Limb, M., & Collyer, S. (2023). The effect of safety attire on perceptions of cyclist dehumanisation. Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour, 95, 494-509. "A Good Man is Hard to Find (short story)" [wikipedia.org] A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor [amazon.com affiliate link] (note: you can google for a .pdf of the story and you'll find some links floating around!)

Transcribed - Published: 26 November 2024

David and Tamler face off with the Misfit in Flannery O'Connor's classic short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find." We sort through the biblical allusions, dark comedy, nihilism, and the possibility of grace or rebirth (but whose?). Plus why do motorists dehumanize cyclists? Is it the helmets? Sounds like a job for the insect-based "Ascent of Man" scale. Limb, M., & Collyer, S. (2023). The effect of safety attire on perceptions of cyclist dehumanisation. Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour, 95, 494-509. "A Good Man is Hard to Find (short story)" [wikipedia.org] A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor [amazon.com affiliate link] (note: you can google for a .pdf of the story and you'll find some links floating around!)

Published: 26 November 2024

David and Tamler share a few brief thoughts on the election and then raise some questions about Tucker Carlson being attacked by a demon as he slept in the woods with his wife and four dogs (still don’t believe in ghosts, people?). In the main segment we talk about one of the most popular measures in social psychology – the cognitive reflection test (CRT). Originally designed to identify differences in people’s ability to employ reflection (system 2) to override their initial intuition (system 1), this three-item measure has mushroomed into its own industry with researchers linking CRT scores to job performance, religious belief, conspiracy theorizing and more. But what psychological attribute is this test supposed to measure exactly, and how can we determine its validity? And has the dual process system 1/system 2 framework outlived its usefulness?  Tucker Carlson was totally mauled by a demon and not scratched by his dogs [youtube.com] Frederick, S. (2005). Cognitive reflection and decision making. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(4), 25-42. Blacksmith, N., Yang, Y., Ruark, G., & Behrend, T. (2018, July). A Validity Analysis of the Cognitive Reflection Test Using an Item-Response-Tree Model. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2018, No. 1, p. 18090). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management. Erceg, N., Galić, Z., & Ružojčić, M. (2020). A reflection on cognitive reflection–testing convergent/divergent validity of two measures of cognitive reflection. Judgment and Decision making, 15(5), 741-755. Meyer, A., & Frederick, S. (2023). The formation and revision of intuitions. Cognition, 240, 105380.

Transcribed - Published: 12 November 2024

David and Tamler hop into their Scooby Van and drive into Tobe Hooper’s mad and macabre horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.  How does this endlessly imitated movie still have the power to scare the shit out of people fifty years after its release? We talk about the sounds, smells, heat, and sweat (but not so much the blood) that pour out of the screen. And we dare to ask the question: are the Sawyers – a family of craftsmen and artists, committed to sustainability and fine dining – actually the victims here? Plus we take and fail a test to see if we can identify fake Republicans and Democrats.  Hart, M., & Nazarian, N. (2024) Season's mis-greetings: why timing matters in global academia. Nature. Both Democrats and Republicans can pass the Ideological Turing Test [experimental-history.com] The Ideological Turing Test [ituringtest.com] The Texas Chain Saw Massacre [wikipedia.org]  

Transcribed - Published: 29 October 2024

David and Tamler hop into their Scooby Van and drive into Tobe Hooper's mad and macabre horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.  How does this endlessly imitated movie still have the power to scare the shit out of people fifty years after its release? We talk about the sounds, smells, heat, and sweat (but not so much the blood) that pour out of the screen. And we dare to ask the question: are the Sawyers – a family of craftsmen and artists, committed to sustainability and fine dining – actually the victims here? Plus we take and fail a test to see if we can identify fake Republicans and Democrats.  Hart, M., & Nazarian, N. (2024) Season's mis-greetings: why timing matters in global academia. Nature. Both Democrats and Republicans can pass the Ideological Turing Test [experimental-history.com] The Ideological Turing Test [ituringtest.com] The Texas Chain Saw Massacre [wikipedia.org]  

Published: 29 October 2024

CD Broad called induction “the glory of science and the scandal of philosophy.” As a matter of habit, we’re all confident that the sun will rise tomorrow morning and that we can predict where the planets and stars will be tomorrow night. But what’s the rational justification for beliefs like this? According David Hume, there is none. Deductive justifications can’t give you new information about the world, and inductive justifications are circular, they beg the question. David and Tamler dive into the notorious problem of induction and some (failed?) attempts to offer a resolution. Plus, an article about toddlers and small children who seem to remember their past lives – what should we make of these reports? And is "remembering a past life" and "being possessed by the ghost of that person" a distinction without a difference? The Children Who Remember Past Lives [washington post.com] Ian Stevenson - criticisms [wikipedia.org] The Problem of Induction [plato.stanford.edu] Salmon, W. C. (1978). Unfinished business: The problem of induction. Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition, 33(1), 1-19.  

Transcribed - Published: 8 October 2024

CD Broad called induction "the glory of science and the scandal of philosophy." As a matter of habit, we're all confident that the sun will rise tomorrow morning and that we can predict where the planets and stars will be tomorrow night. But what's the rational justification for beliefs like this? According David Hume, there is none. Deductive justifications can't give you new information about the world, and inductive justifications are circular, they beg the question. David and Tamler dive into the notorious problem of induction and some (failed?) attempts to offer a resolution. Plus, an article about toddlers and small children who seem to remember their past lives – what should we make of these reports? And is "remembering a past life" and "being possessed by the ghost of that person" a distinction without a difference? The Children Who Remember Past Lives [washington post.com] Ian Stevenson - criticisms [wikipedia.org] The Problem of Induction [plato.stanford.edu] Salmon, W. C. (1978). Unfinished business: The problem of induction. Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition, 33(1), 1-19.  

Published: 8 October 2024

David and Tamler crawl up a riverbank, kiss the mud, and dream a discussion of Borges’ “The Circular Ruins.” We sort through various interpretations and allusions, the story as a metaphor for artistic creation, gnostic cosmology, solipsism, eternal recursion, and the unstable boundary between reality and illusion. How does Borges fit all of this and much more in a 5 page story? Plus, Scientific American endorses Kamala Harris – is that a big deal? We look at a study purporting to show that Nature’s Biden endorsement eroded trust in science among Trump supporters. Political endorsement by Nature and trust in scientific expertise during COVID-19 [nature.com] The Circular Ruins by Jorge Luis Borges [wikipedia.org]

Transcribed - Published: 24 September 2024

David and Tamler crawl up a riverbank, kiss the mud, and dream a discussion of Borges' "The Circular Ruins." We sort through various interpretations and allusions, the story as a metaphor for artistic creation, gnostic cosmology, solipsism, eternal recursion, and the unstable boundary between reality and illusion. How does Borges fit all of this and much more in a 5 page story? Plus, Scientific American endorses Kamala Harris – is that a big deal? We look at a study purporting to show that Nature's Biden endorsement eroded trust in science among Trump supporters. Political endorsement by Nature and trust in scientific expertise during COVID-19 [nature.com] The Circular Ruins by Jorge Luis Borges [wikipedia.org]  

Published: 24 September 2024

David and Tamler lead off with a breakdown of the new commercial for “friend (not imaginary)” a new AI necklace that takes hikes with you, interrupts your favorite shows, and will be there for your first kiss. Then we talk about a new paper co-authored by VBW favorite Joe Henrich that challenges cognitive science for pretending to be universal without offering evidence. A good discussion punctuated by David’s new theory of the rise of the autism. (TLDL the nerds are having sex). Friend Reveal Trailer [youtube.com] Kroupin, I., Davis, H. E., & Henrich, J. (2024). Beyond Newton: Why assumptions of universality are critical to cognitive science, and how to finally move past them. Psychological Review. [harvard.edu]

Transcribed - Published: 10 September 2024

Cornell philosopher David Shoemaker joins us for a long winding journey up to the Overlook Hotel, a DEEP dive on Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. We tackle all the big questions - is the hotel truly haunted? What if anything does it symbolize? Why are there two Gradys and two sets of daughters? How does the filmmaking – and the Steadicam in particular - amplify our sense of dread? Does Jack shine too? How does he get out of the storage closet? Is Shelly Duval’s performance actually brilliant? What the fuck is up with Bill? Should the Overlook have included a land acknowledgment? And lots more. Come listen to us, forever and ever and ever…. David Shoemaker's website [sites.google.com] Wisecracks by David Shoemaker [amazon.com afilliate link] Review of Wisecracks by Kieran Setiya [atlantic.com] The Shining [wikipedia.org]

Transcribed - Published: 27 August 2024

David and Tamler continue their discussion of Plato’s allegory of the cave. We talk about the connections with mystical traditions including Gnosticism, Sufism, and Buddhist paths to awakening. We also dig deeper into what Socrates calls ‘dialectic’ – what allows this method to journey towards the first principle (the Form of the Good) and then double back to justify the initial assumptions made at the start? And if only philosophers can embark on this journey, why does everyone think of them as useless and corrupt? Plus we look at some research that attempts to provide empirical support for ‘terror management theory’ which makes us yearn for the unfalsifiability of Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death. Links Schimel, J., Hayes, J., Williams, T., & Jahrig, J. (2007). Is death really the worm at the core? Converging evidence that worldview threat increases death-thought accessibility. Journal of personality and social psychology, 92(5), 789. [researchgate.net] Many Labs 4: Failure to replicate Mortality Salience Effect With and Without Original Author Involvement [ucpress.edu] Neoplatonism [wikipedia.org] Neoplatonism and Gnosticism [wikipedia.org] Plato's Unwritten Doctrines [wikipedia.org]

Transcribed - Published: 6 August 2024

David and Tamler continue their discussion of Plato's allegory of the cave. We talk about the connections with mystical traditions including Gnosticism, Sufism, and Buddhist paths to awakening. We also dig deeper into what Socrates calls 'dialectic' – what allows this method to journey towards the first principle (the Form of the Good) and then double back to justify the initial assumptions made at the start? And if only philosophers can embark on this journey, why does everyone think of them as useless and corrupt?  Plus we look at some research that attempts to provide empirical support for 'terror management theory' which makes us yearn for the unfalsifiability of Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death. Links Schimel, J., Hayes, J., Williams, T., & Jahrig, J. (2007). Is death really the worm at the core? Converging evidence that worldview threat increases death-thought accessibility. Journal of personality and social psychology, 92(5), 789. [researchgate.net] Many Labs 4: Failure to replicate Mortality Salience Effect With and Without Original Author Involvement [ucpress.edu] Neoplatonism [wikipedia.org] Neoplatonism and Gnosticism [wikipedia.org] Plato's Unwritten Doctrines [wikipedia.org]

Published: 6 August 2024

Over the years we've referred repeatedly to Plato's cave, Platonic forms, and phrases like "copies of copies" without ever really explaining what we mean by these things. So as part of a new mini-series we're going dive deeper into Plato's famous images of the cave, the sun, and the divided line from Republic Books 6 and 7. What are Plato's forms and how do they fit into the overall structure of his most famous dialogue? How does the form of the good relate to the other forms? What are the mystical elements of the cave metaphor? (Note: this is part one of a two-part discussion). Plus, if we could go back in time and give one piece of professional advice to a younger version of ourselves, what would that be? Plato's allegory of the cave (this has a couple of useful illustrations) [wikipedia.org] Republic (Hackett Classics) translated by G.M.A. Grube [amazon.com affiliate link] (you can get full text PDF files of Plato's Republic for free all over the internet, but this is the version we're using) Let us know where we should hold our 300th episode listener meet-up [surveymonkey.com]

Published: 23 July 2024

Over the years we’ve referred repeatedly to Plato’s cave, Platonic forms, and phrases like “copies of copies” without ever really explaining what we mean by these things. So as part of a new mini-series we’re going dive deeper into Plato’s famous images of the cave, the sun, and the divided line from Republic Books 6 and 7. What are Plato’s forms and how do they fit into the overall structure of his most famous dialogue? How does the form of the good relate to the other forms? What are the mystical elements of the cave metaphor? (Note: this is part one of a two-part discussion). Plus, if we could go back in time and give one piece of professional advice to a younger version of ourselves, what would that be? Plato's allegory of the cave (this has a couple of useful illustrations) [wikipedia.org] Republic (Hackett Classics) translated by G.M.A. Grube [amazon.com affiliate link] (you can get full text PDF files of Plato's Republic for free all over the internet, but this is the version we're using) Let us know where we should hold our 300th episode listener meet-up [surveymonkey.com]

Transcribed - Published: 23 July 2024

David and Tamler conclude their discussion of Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death. We talk about Becker’s philosophy of science (does he have one?), his sweeping explanations for strongman leaders, neuroses, mental illness, sexual fetishes, and the refreshing absence of an answer or resolution to the existential paradox at the heart of being human. Plus, a special Pod Save the Wizards intro - we have a political gabfest about Biden, the infamous debate, Kamala Harris, and more… The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker [amazon.com affiliate link] The Denial of Death [wikipedia.org] Let us know where we should hold our 300th episode listener meet-up [surveymonkey.com]

Transcribed - Published: 9 July 2024

David faces his greatest fear as he and Tamler dive into Ernest Becker’s 1973 Pulitzer Prize winner The Denial of Death. Blending existentialist ideas within a psychoanalytic framework, Becker argues that the ultimate source of human motivation is not the repression of sexual drives (as Freud thought) but our terror of death and the yearning for an immortality we can never possess. This episode focuses on Part One of Becker’s book, and we’ll conclude the discussion in the next episode. Plus are gun owners really dissatisfied with their penis size? We look at the numbers. Hill, T. D., Zeng, L., Burdette, A. M., Dowd-Arrow, B., Bartkowski, J. P., & Ellison, C. G. (2024). Size matters? Penis dissatisfaction and gun ownership in America. American journal of men's health, 18(3), 15579883241255830. The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker [amazon.com affiliate link] The Denial of Death [wikipedia.org] Let us know where we should hold our 300th episode listener meet-up [surveymonkey.com]

Transcribed - Published: 25 June 2024