Rationally Speaking #143 - Scott Aaronson on "The theorem that proves rationalists can't disagree"
Can rational people disagree? This episode of Rationally Speaking features guest Scott Aaronson. Scott is a professor of computer science at MIT and has written about "Aumann's Agreement Theorem," whi...
20 Sep 201551min
Rationally Speaking #142 - Paul Bloom on "The case against empathy"
"I'm writing a book on empathy," psychologist Paul Bloom tells people. They respond warmly, until he follows up with, "I'm against it." On this episode of Rationally Speaking, Julia and Paul discuss w...
6 Sep 201552min
Rationally Speaking #141 - Dan Sperber on "The Argumentative Theory of reason"
The traditional story about reason is that it evolved to help humans see the world more clearly and (thereby) make better decisions. But on that view, some mysteries remain: why is the human brain so ...
23 Aug 201556min
Rationally Speaking #140 - Kenny Easwaran on "Newcomb's Paradox and the tragedy of rationality"
This episode of Rationally Speaking features philosopher Kenny Easwaran, who delves into the notorious "Newcomb's Paradox" -- the puzzle about which it was once said, "To almost everyone it is perfect...
9 Aug 201554min
Rationally Speaking #139 - Eric Schwitzgebel on "Moral hypocrisy: why doesn't knowing about ethics make people more ethical?"
You might expect that professional ethicists -- people whose job it is to determine which behaviors are ethical and why -- would behave more ethically than other people. You'd be wrong! This episode f...
26 Jul 201548min
Rationally Speaking #138 - Ian Morris on, "Why the West rules -- for now"
For several centuries, historians have tried to answer the question: "Why is Western Europe (and later, North America) the dominant world power?" Past explanations cited culture, or "great men" who in...
12 Jul 201554min
Rationally Speaking #137 - Marc Lipsitch on, "Should scientists try to create dangerous viruses?"
A controversial field of research is "gain-of-function," in which scientists take a virus (like a strain of flu) and attempt to make it more dangerous, for example by making it transmissible in mammal...
28 Jun 201544min
Rationally Speaking #136 - David Roodman on Why Microfinance Won't Cure Global Poverty
Can we pull the world's poor out of poverty by giving them access to financial services? This episode features a conversation with economist David Roodman, formerly a fellow at the Center for Global D...
15 Jun 201542min
