Very Bad Wizards

Episode 209: Basic Instincts (with Paul Bloom)

March 23rd, 2021  |  1 hr 36 mins

dawkins, empiricism, instinct, mediation, nativism, orgasm, paul bloom, william james

VBW favorite Paul Bloom joins us to talk about William James’ account of instinct and its parallels to the nativism/empiricism debates in developmental psychology today. Also discussed: Richard Dawkins trolling philosophy, the ghost in Tamler’s kitchen, and why William James’ 130 year-old writings make psychologists sad about the present state of their field. PLUS - do you wish you were closer to your non-romantic partners?  Well, strap on your gloves, grab a washcloth, it’s time for exactly 15 minutes of orgasmic meditation.

Note: we had to use backup audio for Tamler and Paul in the second segment. The sound quality isn't as good as normal, sorry about that.

Episode 150: Paul Bloom Insisted That We Talk About Sex Robots

October 23rd, 2018  |  1 hr 26 mins

hoaxes, paul bloom, perverse desires, podcasting, sex robots

What better way to celebrate our 150th episode than to bring back our favorite guest – Paul Bloom! We riff on a series of topics: the new “grievance studies” hoax, sex robot brothels, perverse desires, and perverse beliefs. Then we get a little navel gazey (OK maybe more than a little) and talk about podcasting as a form of media and discussion, good teaching, and what we’ve learned about our listeners and ourselves. (Note: the audio may sound a little echoey towards the end because of how far we’ve crawled up our own asses.) This was a fun one, enjoy!

Episode 130: Dehumanization and Disintegration (with Paul Bloom)

December 26th, 2017  |  1 hr 32 mins

dehumanization, empathy, paul bloom, star trek transporters

In this Very Special Boxing Day edition of the podcast, Tamler and David welcome back honorary Third Wizard Paul Bloom to discuss his latest article in the New Yorker about dehumanization and cruelty. Is it really the case that we dehumanize in order to harm others? Or does most violence actually require us to view others as fundamentally human, agentic, and capable of true suffering? But first, we discuss the stages of Star Trek transporter cognition, whether Paul and David are closet-dualists, and whether the process of choosing a Dalai Lama suffers from p-hacking concerns. (And between segments we give our brief, spoiler-free thoughts on Season 3 of Mr. Robot). Happy Chanukah, Kwanzaa, New Year, and Merry Christmas to all!

Episode 104: Smelling Salts for Morality: Our Top 3 Movies About Empathy (with Paul Bloom)

December 13th, 2016  |  1 hr 33 mins

empathy, movies, paul bloom

Paul Bloom joins Tamler and David to discuss their picks for the top three movies about empathy.

Episode 96: Memory and Meaning in "Memento" (with Paul Bloom)

August 16th, 2016  |  1 hr 26 mins

Paul Bloom joins us to discuss Christopher Nolan's "Memento."

Episode 85: A Zoo with Only One Animal (with Paul Bloom)

March 11th, 2016  |  1 hr 9 mins

Philosophers can be funny and funny movies can be philosophical. David and Tamler welcome frequent VBW guest and arch-enemy of empathy Paul Bloom to discuss their five favorite comic films with philosophical/psychological themes.

Episode 55: Rooting for Evil (With Paul Bloom)

October 20th, 2014  |  1 hr 18 mins

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.

Episode 42: Reason, Responsibility, and Roombas (With Paul Bloom)

March 3rd, 2014  |  1 hr 7 mins

Can a fully determined creature deliberate? How big a role does conscious reasoning play in moral judgment and everyday life? Are we responsible for our thoughts and actions? Paul Bloom rejoins us against his better judgment to discuss his book "Just Babies" and his recent article in "The Atlantic" that set the internet on the fire

Episode 24: The Perils of Empathy (with Paul Bloom)

June 10th, 2013  |  1 hr 23 mins

Paul Bloom joins us in the second segment for a lively discussion about the value of  empathy as a guide our moral decisions. And in our first scoop, we talk about Paul's new book "Just Babies: The Origin of Good and Evil,"racist babies, and how 80s sitcoms changed the world.