I received this most fabulous message a few days ago… and I couldn’t resist sharing it with you. Plus, it raises some serious points about my approach that I discuss below too.
SO! I quit listening to P/A a few months ago because (hear me out) – I started noticing that I agreed with *everything* that was coming out of your lovely face. I started growing a little worried that I was getting super lazy and losing (or worse, ignoring) the whole critical thinking thing.
Naturally, being a mad social scientist, I decided to test the theory. I followed the questions for a few weeks and jotted down what I thought the correct responses should be, and for the past few days I’ve been listening to podcasts at work (productivity soared). So guess what! My worryworting was totally unjustified. I got the gist of plenty of the questions spot on, although with a miserable fraction of the detail you provided. I’m so damn proud.
Anyhoo, the shamefully unreciprocated consumption of your podcasts on my part is over. As soon as Dwolla verifies my bank account the donations should be coming in biweekly. I adore your work, and not just because it gives me some vain sense of self-righteousness. That’s just a perk.
If you’re ever back home in Maryland and would like me to donate some steak and bacon, just drop me a line, chica!
The style of this email put me into fabulous fits of giggles, but I very much enjoyed its serious point too.
If you’re a fellow Objectivist, the basic answers to the questions I answer on Sunday’s Philosophy in Action Radio aren’t terribly difficult. In most cases, I know that basic answer when I choose the questions, and I bet many of you do too. If my goal were just to inform listeners — Objectivist or not — of the right answer, I’d answer six questions in fifteen minutes… and then shoot myself in the head.
Instead, the goal of the show is to work through the actual thinking required to answer such questions — meaning, to develop and apply relevant principles, to test those principles via real-world examples, to consider objections, and so on. That’s why the show consistently runs over an hour each week. It’s also why preparation for each show usually requires thinking through the issues involved, then some reading and research, then discussion with Greg, Tammy, and Paul, then more in-depth thinking, then hours of writing and organizing those thoughts.
By taking that approach, I’m able to explain my reasons for my answer in sufficient depth that people can (and do) change their minds — rationally, not rationalistically or dogmatically. Moreover, I’m teaching them — implicitly and explicitly — the principles and tools they need to think through new issues on their own in a rational way.
I’m very pleased — and proud — to be doing that. I’m also so grateful that so many others see the value in my approach, particularly when they help spread the word about the show and support it financially. That means the world to me.
