Very Bad Wizards

David and Tamler lead off with a breakdown of the new commercial for “friend (not imaginary)” a new AI necklace that takes hikes with you, interrupts your favorite shows, and will be there for your first kiss. Then we talk about a new paper co-authored by VBW favorite Joe Henrich that challenges cognitive science for pretending to be universal without offering evidence. A good discussion punctuated by David’s new theory of the rise of the autism. (TLDL the nerds are having sex).  Friend Reveal Trailer [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Q1hoEhfk4] [youtube.com [https://youtube.com/]] Kroupin, I., Davis, H. E., & Henrich, J. (2024). Beyond Newton: Why assumptions of universality are critical to cognitive science, and how to finally move past them. [https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/sites/projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/culture_cognition_coevol_lab/files/beyond_newton.pdf] Psychological Review. [harvard.edu]

Cornell philosopher David Shoemaker joins us for a long winding journey up to the Overlook Hotel, a DEEP dive on Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. We tackle all the big questions - is the hotel truly haunted? What if anything does it symbolize? Why are there two Gradys and two sets of daughters?  How does the filmmaking – and the Steadicam in particular - amplify our sense of dread?  Does Jack shine too? How does he get out of the storage closet? Is Shelly Duval’s performance actually brilliant? What the fuck is up with Bill? Should the Overlook have included a land acknowledgment? And lots more. Come listen to us, forever and ever and ever…. David Shoemaker's website [https://sites.google.com/site/dshoemakr/home] [sites.google.com] Wisecracks by David Shoemaker [https://amzn.to/3Mpf7k4] [amazon.com afilliate link] Review of Wisecracks by Kieran Setiya [https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/05/david-shoemaker-wisecracks/678471/] [atlantic.com] The Shining [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shining_(film)] [wikipedia.org]

David and Tamler continue their discussion of Plato’s allegory of the cave. We talk about the connections with mystical traditions including Gnosticism, Sufism, and Buddhist paths to awakening. We also dig deeper into what Socrates calls ‘dialectic’ – what allows this method to journey towards the first principle (the Form of the Good) and then double back to justify the initial assumptions made at the start? And if only philosophers can embark on this journey, why does everyone think of them as useless and corrupt?  Plus we look at some research that attempts to provide empirical support for ‘terror management theory’ which makes us yearn for the unfalsifiability of Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death. Links Schimel, J., Hayes, J., Williams, T., & Jahrig, J. (2007). Is death really the worm at the core? Converging evidence that worldview threat increases death-thought accessibility. Journal of personality and social psychology, 92(5), 789. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jesse-Jahrig/publication/6346017_Is_Death_Really_the_Worm_at_the_Core_Converging_Evidence_That_Worldview_Threat_Increases_Death-Thought_Accessibility/links/0deec538761ba43e48000000/Is-Death-Really-the-Worm-at-the-Core-Converging-Evidence-That-Worldview-Threat-Increases-Death-Thought-Accessibility.pdf?_sg%5B0%5D=started_experiment_milestone&origin=journalDetail&_rtd=e30%3D] [researchgate.net] Many Labs 4: Failure to replicate Mortality Salience Effect With and Without Original Author Involvement  [https://online.ucpress.edu/collabra/article/8/1/35271/168050/Many-Labs-4-Failure-to-Replicate-Mortality][ucpress.edu] Neoplatonism [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism] [wikipedia.org] Neoplatonism and Gnosticism [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism_and_Gnosticism] [wikipedia.org] Plato's Unwritten Doctrines [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato%27s_unwritten_doctrines] [wikipedia.org]

Over the years we’ve referred repeatedly to Plato’s cave, Platonic forms, and phrases like “copies of copies” without ever really explaining what we mean by these things. So as part of a new mini-series we’re going dive deeper into Plato’s famous images of the cave, the sun, and the divided line from Republic Books 6 and 7. What are Plato’s forms and how do they fit into the overall structure of his most famous dialogue? How does the form of the good relate to the other forms? What are the mystical elements of the cave metaphor? (Note: this is part one of a two-part discussion). Plus, if we could go back in time and give one piece of professional advice to a younger version of ourselves, what would that be? Plato's allegory of the cave [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave] (this has a couple of useful illustrations) [wikipedia.org [https://wikipedia.org/]] Republic (Hackett Classics) translated by G.M.A. Grube [https://amzn.to/4bXIOmS] [amazon.com [https://amazon.com/] affiliate link] (you can get full text PDF files of Plato's Republic for free all over the internet, but this is the version we're using) Let us know where we should hold our 300th episode listener meet-up [https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/V3Z3LM8] [surveymonkey.com [https://surveymonkey.com/]]

David and Tamler conclude their discussion of Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death. We talk about Becker’s philosophy of science (does he have one?), his sweeping explanations for strongman leaders, neuroses, mental illness, sexual fetishes, and the refreshing absence of an answer or resolution to the existential paradox at the heart of being human. Plus, a special Pod Save the Wizards intro - we have a political gabfest about Biden, the infamous debate, Kamala Harris, and more… The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker [https://amzn.to/4bhbRl2] [amazon.com affiliate link] The Denial of Death [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Denial_of_Death] [wikipedia.org] Let us know where we should hold our 300th episode listener meet-up [https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/V3Z3LM8] [surveymonkey.com]