Sometimes, even the lion is appalled at you:
May 312012
The Daily Show on Personhood
May 312012
The Daily Show mocks the “personhood” movement:
| The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Bro-Choice | ||||
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“Can I be tried for past crimes? Because, I have to tell you, I’m like Sperm Hitler.”
May 312012
On Wednesday’s episode of Philosophy in Action Radio, I discussed “Meeting New People” with listeners. The podcast of that episode is now available for streaming or downloading.
Remember, you can automatically download podcasts of Philosophy in Action Radio by subscribing to Philosophy in Action’s Podcast RSS Feed:
- Enhanced M4A Feed: Subscribe via iTunes or another podcast player
- Standard MP3 Feed: Subscribe via iTunes or another podcast player
Podcast: Meeting New People
What are the best ways to seek out promising prospects for friendship or romance? What can you do to make yourself a better prospect to others?
Listen or Download:
- Duration: 33:17
- Download: Standard MP3 File (7.6 MB)
- Tags: Communication, Community, Dating, Friendship, Relationships, Romance
Topics:
- My podcast on finding prospects for romance and friendship
- Five tips for meeting new people
- Asking an interesting person for a second meeting
- Finding better people in college
- Overcoming (hatred of) small talk
- Finding a non-religious community for the family
Links:
- Podcast on Finding Good Prospects for Romance and Friendship, 90 minutes, on sale for $25
Remember the Tip Jar!
The mission of Philosophy in Action is to spread rational principles for real life… far and wide. That’s why the vast majority of my work is available to anyone, free of charge. I love doing the radio show, but each episode requires an investment of time, effort, and money to produce. So if you enjoy and value that work of mine, please contribute to the tip jar. I suggest $5 per episode or $20 per month, but any amount is appreciated. In return, contributors can request that I answer questions from the queue pronto, and regular contributors enjoy free access to premium content and other goodies.
About Philosophy in Action Radio
Philosophy in Action Radio focuses on the application of rational principles to the challenges of real life. It broadcasts live on most Sunday mornings and many Thursday evenings over the internet. For information on upcoming shows, visit the Episodes on Tap. For podcasts of past shows, visit the Show Archives.
On Sunday’s episode of Philosophy in Action Radio, William E. Perry and I answered questions on disclosing atheism to babysitters, outing yourself to bigots, spousal sabotage, skipping advertisements, and more. The podcast of that episode is now available for streaming or downloading.
You can automatically download podcasts of Philosophy in Action Radio by subscribing to Philosophy in Action’s Podcast RSS Feed:
- Enhanced M4A Feed: Subscribe via iTunes or another podcast player
- Standard MP3 Feed: Subscribe via iTunes or another podcast player
Whole Podcast: 27 May 2012
Listen or Download:
- Duration: 1:02:49
- Download: Enhanced M4A File (15.2 MB)
- Download: Standard MP3 File (14.4 MB)
Remember the Tip Jar!
The mission of Philosophy in Action is to spread rational principles for real life… far and wide. That’s why the vast majority of my work is available to anyone, free of charge. I love doing the radio show, but each episode requires an investment of time, effort, and money to produce. So if you enjoy and value that work of mine, please contribute to the tip jar. I suggest $5 per episode or $20 per month, but any amount is appreciated. In return, contributors can request that I answer questions from the queue pronto, and regular contributors enjoy free access to premium content and other goodies.
Podcast Segments: 27 May 2012
You can download or listen to my answers to individual questions from this episode below.
Introduction
My News of the Week: I’m broadcasting live from the awesomeness that is ATLOSCon 2012!
Question 1: Disclosing Atheism to Babysitters
Question: Should I mention we are atheists when interviewing babysitters? I am looking for a babysitter. The question is: How do I handle the fact that many of the candidates will be very very strong Christians? Should I bring up the fact we are atheists right away or would that be creating an issue when there could be none? I definitely have to set some boundaries like “No praying with my children,” but what is the appropriate way to handle it?My Answer, In Brief: If you don’t want a conflict between your babysitter and your children over religion and other sensitive matters, you should talk to him or her in advance about it in a friendly, easygoing way.
Listen or Download:
- Start Time: 2:38
- Duration: 7:03
- Download: MP3 Segment
- Tags: Business, Children, Communication, Ethics, Honesty, Integrity, Parenting, Religion
To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.
Question 2: Outing Yourself to Bigots
Question: Am I obliged to disclose that I am gay if I know that the person then wouldn’t wish to do business with me? Let’s say that I have a job that I enjoy, but I find out that my boss does not like gay people and would refuse to hire or would fire anyone that she knew was gay. Somehow, she doesn’t know that I am, in fact, gay. Should I tell her knowing that she would want to fire me – a decision that I think is wrong, but nonetheless something she should be free to do? Assume that in every other regard I enjoy my work and job, and sharing her discriminatory view is by no means a requirement for my work.My Answer, In Brief: You’re not under any obligation to out yourself to bigots, including at work. However, closets are uncomfortable places to live, and you should do what’s needed to solve this problem as soon as possible.
Listen or Download:
- Start Time: 9:41
- Duration: 11:24
- Download: MP3 Segment
- Tags: Business, Communication, Ethics, Honesty, Integrity, LGBT, Privacy, Rationality, Religion, Work
To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.
Question 3: Spousal Sabotage
Question: How can I stop my spouse from sabotaging my self-improvement? Over the course of my 15 years of marriage, I’d gained over 100 pounds. After feeling disgusted with myself for too long, I decided to change my habits. So I switched to a paleo-type diet and started lifting weights. So far, I’ve lost 40 pounds, as well as shed some health problems. My husband still eats what he pleases, and I don’t pester him about that, although he needs to eat better too. However, he’s constantly attempting to undermine my efforts – for example, by bringing home and encouraging me to eat doughnuts. I want him to celebrate and support my new-found success, but he seems to want me to be fat, unhealthy, and miserable. What should I do?My Answer, In Brief: Your husband sounds like he has some serious psychological problems that need to be addressed, whether by you two together or perhaps with a psychologist. Ultimately, you need to act for your own good, even if that requires divorce.
Listen or Download:
- Start Time: 21:05
- Duration: 10:22
- Download: MP3 Segment
- Tags: Communication, Diet, Ethics, Food, Habits, Health, Marriage, Nutrition, Paleo, Psychology
Links:
- Philosophy in Action: Unforgivable Acts
To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.
Question 4: Skipping Advertisements
Question: Is it wrong to skip over advertisements? Many people use plug-ins that block advertisements on web sites, and many more people skip advertisements on television by recording shows with a DVR. Is this moral? Is it a failure to act as a trader?My Answer, In Brief: You’re not under any obligation to consume advertising, even if that’s the means of supporting some free offering to you.
Listen or Download:
- Start Time: 31:27
- Duration: 15:55
- Download: MP3 Segment
- Tags: Business, Ethics, Internet, Justice
Links:
- Philosophy in Action: The Morality of Free Riding
To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.
Rapid Fire Questions
Questions:
- What do you say to a speaker at a conference if he asks you what you thought of his presentation and you really didn’t like it?
- Should you attend a conference if you have major philosophical problems with a speaker or several speakers?
- Cloth diapers or throw-away diapers – does it matter?
- Should a person rely on local health inspection signs, such as the A, B, C system that some cities use?
- Why do you think that so many Christians of every generation believe that the Rapture will happen in their lifetimes?
Listen or Download:
- Start Time: 47:22
- Duration: 14:05
- Download: MP3 Segment
To comment on these questions or my answers, visit its comment thread.
Conclusion
Be sure to check out the topics scheduled for upcoming episodes! Don’t forget to submit and vote on questions for future episodes too!
- Start Time: 1:01:27
About Philosophy in Action Radio
Philosophy in Action Radio focuses on the application of rational principles to the challenges of real life. It broadcasts live on most Sunday mornings and many Thursday evenings over the internet. For information on upcoming shows, visit the Episodes on Tap. For podcasts of past shows, visit the Show Archives.
May 302012
“The Hokey Pokey,” as if written by William Shakespeare:
O proud left foot, that ventures quick within Then soon upon a backward journey lithe. Anon, once more the gesture, then begin: Command sinistral pedestal to writhe. Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke, A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl. To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke. Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl. The Hoke, the poke — banish now thy doubt Verily, I say, ’tis what it’s all about.
I couldn’t find a proper source for this bit of awesome, but it’s often attributed to Jeff Brechlin. If anyone knows more, I’d love to hear it in the comments!
May 292012
Dan Savage has taken a lot of heat for these critical comments on the Bible, but dammit, he’s right! Just as modern Christians ignore the Bible’s teachings on shellfish, masturbation, and slavery, they should ignore the Bible’s teachings on homosexuality.
(This post is not any kind of general endorsement of Dan Savage.)
May 282012
This BBC News story — The terrible price of a Korean defection — tells the chilling tale of Oh Kil-nam, a Marxist professor who defected from South Korea to North Korea with his family in 1985. Yes, you read that right: he defected to North Korea. Here’s an excerpt:
His wife Shin Suk-ja was horrified by the idea of going to the North and opposed it from the start. “Do you know what kind of place it is?” she asked. “You have not even been there once. How can you make such a reckless decision?”
But Oh replied that the Northerners were Koreans too – they “cannot be that brutal”, he told her.
So at the end of November 1985, Oh, his wife and two young daughters travelled via East Berlin and Moscow to Pyongyang.
When they arrived at Pyongyang airport, Oh began to see he had made a mistake in coming. Communist party officials and children clutching flowers were there to meet them. But despite the cold of a North Korean December, the children were not wearing socks and their traditional clothes were so thin that they shivered. “When I saw this I was really surprised and my wife even started to cry.”
Oh Kil-nam was able to escape, but as of his last contact with his wife and daughters in 1991, they were in a labor camp. They’re probably dead now — or so I hope, based on what I’ve read of North Korea’s labor camps.
At the end of the article, Oh Kil-nam says:
I hope there will come a day when I can meet my family again, hug them and embrace them, and cry tears of happiness. If it does happen it will be the happiest day of my life.
The man couldn’t possible deserve that, not in a million years. The evil that he did to his family is simply overwhelming: he delivered his reluctant family into the hands of the world’s most brutal dictatorship. He could never make amends for that. He could never earn forgiveness. He could never be redeemed. No suffering that he could endure in this life could possibly compensate for what he did to his family.
A person can overcome most moral wrongs… but some evils are just too heinous for that.
Activism Recap
May 272012
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM (Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine):
- 22 May 2012: Hsieh PJM OpEd: Dr. Orwell Will See You Now by Paul Hsieh
- 23 May 2012: Quick Links: Canada, Nanny State, MLR by Paul Hsieh
- 23 May 2012: Catron: Catholic Institutions Revolt Against HHS by Paul Hsieh
- 24 May 2012: Scherz and Armstrong: There Will Never Be Another Mayo Clinic by Paul Hsieh
- 25 May 2012: Quick Links: Stossel, Wolf, Pharma Cronyism by Paul Hsieh
- 23 May 2012: Weekly Quote by Kelly McNulty Valenzuela
- 22 May 2012: How To Have Perfect Teeth and Healthy Gums By Saturating Your Mouth With Lots Of Sugar Every Day AFTER Lazily Brushing For Just 2 Minutes In The Morning by David Lewis
- 25 May 2012: Question of the Week: Bitter Greens by Diana Hsieh
- 25 May 2012: The Paleo Rodeo #112 by Diana Hsieh
- 26 May 2012: Philosophy Weekend: Q&A Radio Preview by Diana Hsieh
- 27 May 2012: Hsieh PJM OpEd: Dr. Orwell Will See You Now by Paul Hsieh
Open Thread #344
May 272012
For anyone wishing to ask a question, make a observation, or share a link with other NoodleFood readers, I hereby open up the comments on this post to any respectable topic. As always, please refrain from posting inappropriate comments such as personal attacks, pornographic material, copyrighted material, and commercial solicitations.
NoodleFood’s Open Threads feature creative commons photographs from Flickr that I find interesting. I hope that you enjoy them!
May 252012
- Relax Bottle/Time Out Timer: I’m not a fan of time outs, but this glitter bottle looks pretty cool, including as a way to help upset kids cool down.
- Does God Help Those Who Help Themselves?: Uh, no.
- Creative Dad Takes Crazy Photos Of Daughters: What an awesome project for a father to do with his daughters!
- Cop Kicks Pregnant Woman In Stomach, Dept. Says He Was Within Policy: Just another isolated incident… except for his arm-twisting of a 53-year old grandmother wanting to check on her grandkids and his shooting of a chained-up dog at the wrong address. Oh, and the woman was 9 months pregnant.
- Craigslist Ad: Pet Cat for Hire: I’m seriously thinking about hiring this guy, rather than getting a third cat.
- Down With Training Wheels: Why training wheels are the wrong way to teach kids to ride a bike.
- Tired Of Traffic? A New DOT Report Urges Drivers: ‘Honk’: More excellent ideas from The Onion!
- Apple ‘fixes’ Siri, no longer recommends Lumia 900 as “best cell phone ever”: The seriously irate comments on this article just kill me.
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