On Sunday, I hosted another episode of my live Rationally Selfish Webcast, where I answered questions from viewers on practical ethics and the principles of living well. The live webcasts are held every Sunday at 8 am PT / 9 am MT / 10 am CT / 11 am ET. The webcast consists of me broadcasting on video, Greg Perkins of Objectivist Answers on audio, and the audience in a text chat.
As usual, an audio recording of Sunday’s live webcast is now available as a NoodleCast podcast. To get these podcasts automatically, you can subscribe to the feed in iTunes — just choose either the enhanced M4A format or the standard MP3 format. They’re the same content, but the M4A format breaks each question into its own “chapter.”
While the Rationally Selfish Webcast (and Podcast) is available to anyone free of charge, it’s not free for us to produce. It requires time, effort, and expense. So if you enjoy it, please contribute to our tip jar. We suggest $5 per episode or $20 per month, but any amount is appreciated.
If you prefer to send a check, please write “RS Webcast” in the memo field and send it to “Diana Hsieh; P.O. Box 851; Sedalia, CO 80135.”
Whether you contribute or not, please do submit and vote on questions on the widget on the page for the Rationally Selfish Webcast — or via Idea Informer.
The Video
The full video for the webcast is only available to live attendees. Now, you can listen and/or download the audio podcast. However, I’ll post my favorite segment or two of video to my YouTube channel later this week.
The Podcast
Listen Now
Duration: 1:05:40
Download the Episode
- Download the Enhanced M4A File (31.0 MB)
- Download the Standard MP3 File (30.1 MB)
Subscribe to the Feed
- Subscribe to the Enhanced M4A Feed in iTunes or in your RSS reader
- Subscribe to the Standard MP3 Feed in iTunes or in your RSS reader
In This Episode
The following segments are marked as chapters in the M4A version of the podcast. Thanks to Tammy Perkins for helping compile the show notes!
Introduction (0:00)
Current Projects:
- I’ve been working on programming for this webcast, as well as my updates to Explore Atlas Shrugged.
Question 1: The Effects of Immortality on Ethics (2:49)
If science can someday secure immortality, would that affect a person’s values and morals? Imagine that scientists discover how to keep our bodies forever young, that all diseases were prevented or cured by nanotechnology, and that we could withstand massive amounts of physical force, virtually all extremes of temperature, and all forms of radiation due to robotic and genetic enhancements. Imagine, in short, that a person could only die by being sucked into a black hole, but that would never happen because we know where all of them are and could easily avoid them. Would this change anything fundamental about human life, particularly about ethics? Given that the Objectivist ethics is founded on the conditionality of life, would and should virtually immortal people still pursue their happiness and other values? Would ethics have to be redefined or put on a new foundation?
My Answer, In Brief: Be realistic in thinking about ethics! Even if scientists conquer aging and other common causes of death, life will still require the dogged pursuit of rationally selfish values — and the result of failure is death.
Links:
- No One Lives Forever by Ari Armstrong
- Leonard Peikoff on the prospect of human immortality
Question 2: The Morality of Hiring Illegal Immigrants (14:14)
Is it immoral to hire illegal immigrants? While laws restricting immigration seem terribly irrational — both in terms of intent and effects — they are still technically the law. Illegal immigrants often make themselves available for day-to-day work, and hiring them for a day has an almost zero chance of legal punishment for myself for having hired them. Is it moral to disobey an irrational law if I’m unlikely to be punished for it?
My Answer, In Brief: Laws restricting immigration are destructive, irrational, and unworthy of respect. Illegal immigrants and their employers are victims of unjust laws, not criminals.
Links:
Question 3: The Reasons for Carrying a Concealed Weapon (23:29)
Why would an ordinary person wish to carry a gun? In your July 3rd webcast, you mentioned that you have a concealed carry permit. Why? Even if a person should be allowed to carry a firearm, shouldn’t we rely on the experts — namely the police — to protect us from criminals?
My Answer, In Brief: To carry a concealed firearm is not just practical, but moral too. Every person ought take responsibility for his own life, including defending it when threatened by a criminal.
Links:
- A Nation of Cowards by Jeff Snyder
- Ethics from the Barrel of a Gun by Eric Raymond
Question 4: Explaining Egoism to Others (34:35)
Why should I be an egoist? How do you explain that in layman’s terms to someone in your life?
My Answer, In Brief: When explaining to someone why you’re an egoist — or what that means — draw on your own personal experience to make your answers clear and meaningful.
Rapid Fire Questions (47:43)
In this segment, I answered a variety of questions off-the-cuff. The questions were:
- What’s your preferred firearm — and is that what you carry?
- What do you think of the new atheists like Richard Dawkins?
- How do you respond when people say that they’re going to pray for you?
- How do you respond when people ask you to pray for them?
- What do you do when you’re eating dinner with people who pray before eating?
- Shouldn’t an egoist want other people to be altruists?
Conclusion (1:04:25)
Comments or questions? Contact us!
- Diana Hsieh: DianaHsieh.com: diana@RationallySelfish.com
- Greg Perkins: Objectivist Answers: greg@eCosmos.com
If you enjoyed this episode, please don’t forget to contribute to our tip jar! Also, remember to submit and vote on questions in the the ongoing question queue!
