logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2013
1h 23m

Episode 24: The Perils of Empathy (with ...

Tamler Sommers & David Pizarro
About this episode

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 (coming in November) Just Babies: The Origin of Good and Evil ,  racist babies, and how 80s sitcoms changed the world.  In the first segment, Dave and Tamler face the music and try to respond to a listener's criticisms of their episode on slurs and offensiveness (Episode 22) .  

Links

 

Special Guest: Paul Bloom.

Support Very Bad Wizards

Up next
Jun 30
Episode 336: The Wright Stuff
The great Robert Wright returns to the podcast to talk about his new book The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. We debate the magnitude of AI's potential impact, the natural selection analogy Bob presses in the book, and a whole lot more. Plus, a ... Show More
1h 30m
Jun 16
Episode 334: Let's Get Metaphysical
What are the legitimate ways to inquire about the nature of the universe? We have science, metaphysics, phenomenological inquiry, but what about mystical and meditative practices? David and Tamler talk about a paper that argues for allowing mystical insight into our broader searc ... Show More
1h 20m
May 26
Episode 333: P-hacking the Mind
David and Tamler do another tier ranking--this time on philosophical thought experiments, so as not to further alienate our chemistry-adjacent listeners. We hit most of the big ones: Pascal's wager, Pascal's mugging, Mary the color scientist, the Ring of Gyges, Jarvis Thomson's v ... Show More
54m 27s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2015
#14 — The Virtues of Cold Blood
Sam Harris speaks with psychologist Paul Bloom about the limitations of empathy as a guide to moral reasoning. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe. 
42m 23s
Jan 2024
Are Babies Racist? Is Empathy Bad for Society? And More with Dr. Paul Bloom
In this episode we start with a dive into evolutionary psychology and how biases have been programmed into you by millions of years of evolution, look at why our guest condemns the concept of Empathy, how the science demonstrates that empathy has no correlation with doing good in ... Show More
43m 51s
Apr 2020
#198 — A Conversation with Paul Bloom
Sam Harris and Paul Bloom discuss the false tradeoff between the economy and public health, putting a price on human life, framing effects for moral questions, how Covid-19 may change human behavior, "turn-key totalitarianism," the future of education, the long term psychological ... Show More
58m 50s
Mar 2020
#192 — A Conversation with Paul Bloom
Sam Harris and Paul Bloom speak about the psychology of adapting to the coronavirus pandemic, the disastrous analogy between coronavirus and flu, the political siloing of information, true and false concerns over "panic," pressuring China to close down their live animal markets, ... Show More
37m 34s
Jan 2020
#183 — A Conversation with Paul Bloom
Sam Harris and Paul Bloom discuss topics in the news including the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. They also explore the paradoxes of moral responsibility. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samha ... Show More
27m 32s
Apr 2022
Care and Feeding | Slate's parenting show - The ‘Mind Your ‘P’s and ‘V’s’ Edition
On this episode: Jamilah, Zak, and Elizabeth tackle body boundaries. Our listener has two little kids who are pretty comfortable doing things like sharing a bath or getting changed in the same vicinity. But something happened the other morning that has her worried. How can she te ... Show More
23m 24s
Mar 2020
The Limits Of Empathy
In matters of race and justice, empathy is often held up as a goal unto itself. But what comes after understanding? In this episode, we're teaming up with Radio Diaries to look at the career of a white writer who put herself in someone else's skin — by disguising herself as a bla ... Show More
35m 43s