On Sunday, 02 October 2011, 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.”
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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 segments of video to my YouTube channel later this week.
The Podcast
Listen Now
Duration: 1:08:49
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- Download the Enhanced M4A File (32.4 MB)
- Download the Standard MP3 File (31.6 MB)
Subscribe to the Feed
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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)
Like last week, I’ve been tending to Paul and programming the new web site for this webcast. Yesterday was also “Hay Day Chez Hsieh”!
Question 1: Fear of Death (2:43)
Should death be feared? Why or why not? Also, why do most people fear death? How can a person overcome that, if ever?
My Answer, In Brief: A person actually facing own death might reasonably fear the pain of dying or regret that his life will be cut short. However, others should not fear those possibilities just because they might happen someday, nor ever fear what would happen in the fantasy of an afterlife.
Question 2: Using the Do Not Call Registry (13:34)
Should the “Do Not Call” Registry exist? The National Do Not Call Registry was established in 2003, and it’s run by the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. Is this legitimate? Does a person have a right not to be called by solicitors and other unwanted persons? Given that there was no real attempt to come up with a private, market-based solution for the issue of unwanted solicitations, was this a legitimate case of “market failure”? Should advocates of free markets put themselves on the “Do Not Call” list and/or report violators thereof? Why shouldn’t a person just hang up?
My Answer, In Brief: Telemarketers do not have a right to use your telephones and telephone lines against your will. In a free society, private methods could and should be used to protect yourself against trespasses by telemarketers, but in the meantime, adding yourself to the government’s Do Not Call List is a legitimate way to announce that telemarketers are not welcome to call you.
Links:
- Wikipedia on National Do Not Call Registry
- The National Do Not Call Registry and its History
- The FTC’s Do Not Call List — What’s the point? by Bill Singer
Question 3: Genetic Influences on Thinking (33:46)
Do our genes affect our reasoning? Evolution makes fruit taste sweet and burning human flesh smell awful. Presumably, evolution can hard wire pleasures and pains because interaction with that thing has caused our ancestors to live longer or die earlier. Wouldn’t this same process make certain actions easier or more difficult, such as sacrificing yourself to save your child versus watching your child die? Couldn’t evolution affect that decision by making focus more difficult, so that a person is easier impelled by his immediate emotions?
My Answer, In Brief: While it’s easy and popular to appeal to genetics to explain human behavior, such explanations are almost always implausible on closer inspection.
Links:
- Wikipedia on Fixed Action Pattern and Prey Drive
- Question 2 on Evolutionary Psychology in NoodleCast #60
- Nathaniel Branden’s articles on free will, causality, and determinism in The Objectivist Newsletter and The Objectivist
- Dr. Harry Binswanger’s paper Volition as Cognitive Self-Regulation
Question 4: The Morality of Selling Your Body (46:09)
Is it moral to sell your body? Selling our bodies or certain parts of them are perfectly acceptable in our society, such as being an egg or sperm donor, being a pregnancy surrogate, or selling hair. But others are condemned, such as prostitution or selling organs. Where should the line be drawn? When is it moral to sell a part of oneself — and why?
My Answer, In Brief: There’s nothing wrong with “selling your body” per se, since all productive work involves the body. The moral questions with any and all work are primarily (1) Does it violate anyone’s rights? and (2) Will I be damaging or sacrificing myself, physically or psychologically, in the long term?
Links:
Rapid Fire Questions (57:18)
In this segment, I answered a variety of questions off-the-cuff. The questions were:
- How does your answer on genetic influences on thinking apply to homosexuality?
- What’s the difference between focus and concentration?
- Why should public employees to be represented by labor unions, if at all?
- Is having an emergency pack in case of a natural disaster/society collapsing irrational?
- How do you handle a spouse who insists upon taking the child to church when the spouse knows your opposition to religion?
Conclusion (1:07:50)
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!
