Very Bad Wizards2 Elo 2022

Episode 242: Losing My Religion

David and Tamler find themselves unable to attach rational meaning to a single act in their entire lives. Let's say we publish more articles and books. What then? What about our kids? They're going off to college. Why? What for? We think about the future of the podcast. Let's say we get bought out by Spotify and become more famous than Joe Rogan, Dolly Parton, and even Yoel Inbar -- more famous than all the podcasters in the world. So what?

And we can find absolutely no reply.

Plus, we take a test to determine whether we can we tell an AI apart from an analytic philosopher. When should we start getting scared of what AIs are gonna do to us, or what we're doing to them?

*Note: the main segment is on the first half of Tolstoy's great memoir "A Confession," but you don't need to be familiar with the text to appreciate the discussion for this one.

Jaksot(358)

The Lotus Eaters Episode 11: Cleaning House

Tamler and David discuss books 20, 21, & 22 of The Odyssey. Beginning with omens and portents and ending with merciless slaughter (with a bow contest in between), we finally see Odysseus' plans for re...

8 Loka 1h 6min

Episode 342: A Boy's Best Friend (Hitchcock's "Psycho")

David and Tamler steal some of Laurie Santos' podcast money (she'll never miss it), drive to LA, and pull over in the rain to spend the night in the Bates Motel. That lanky young man in the office see...

6 Loka 1h 53min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 10: Like-Minded [unlocked]

Tamler and Dave devote a full episode to Book 19 of The Odyssey. In what is one of the most emotionally intense chapters of the story so far, Odysseus continues his Cretan lies, has a long tête-à-tête...

1 Loka 1h 3min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 9: An Ode to Argos [unlocked]

Tamler and David discuss The Odyssey books 17 & 18, in which Telemachus and Odysseus, back at home, continue their deception and put everyone to the test. Everyone except for Argos, that is, because A...

24 Syys 49min

Episode 341: Psychology Ranked (With Paul Bloom)

David and Tamler welcome Paul Bloom back to the show for a definitive ranking of classic psychology experiments. Will the shocking results of the Milgram studies earn him a posthumous 'S' ranking? How...

22 Syys 1h 37min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 8: Home and Homelessness [unlocked]

In this episode, Tamler and David discuss The Odyssey Books 15 & 16, in which father and son (and father figure and son) are reunited, and in which the Odysseus and Telemachus start planning their rev...

17 Syys 1h 2min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 7: Lying Odysseus [unlocked]

Tamler and David discuss Books 13 & 14 of The Odyssey. Odysseus finally makes it to Ithaca and meets up with Athena, gets a disguise, and has a chat with his most loyal slave Eumaeus.

10 Syys 55min

Episode 340: The Sublime Folly of Hope

Why do baseball players have so many superstitious rituals compared to athletes in other sports? How does this relate to the magic rituals of the Trobriand Islanders of Melanesia? We dive into Bronisł...

8 Syys 1h 15min