I’m all verklempt…

Last updated on: June 20, 2013 at 5:19 pm By Leah Libresco

The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,Video Archive And I really appreciated Alyssa Rosenberg’s response to the video: [I]n eulogizing his mother on-air, Colbert, acting as himself rather than as his persona, subverted the genre he deconstructs for a living in a different way. Lorna Colbert deserves to be known, he argued, not because she was ludicrous, or a spectacle, or died in some horrendous way, but because she was loving, and decent, and enthusiastic... Read more

How much should you trust your empathy?

Last updated on: June 19, 2013 at 12:51 pm By Leah Libresco

Recently, in The New Yorker, psychologist Paul Bloom took a shot at the idea that empathy is a necessary component of moral judgement or behavior. In fact, the stirrings of our conscience, he says, can often lead us astray. We tend to be more moved by the small problems near us than big problems far away. It’s hard to fire off mirror neurons if other people’s norms and culture are different enough from yours that you can’t read their expressions... Read more

Learning by Perturbation

Last updated on: June 18, 2013 at 12:57 pm By Leah Libresco

Last week, I wrote two blog posts about the danger of breaking promises and the downside of comforting yourself for doing necessary evils. Both posts were written from a pretty Lawful (in the DnD sense) point of view, so I wanted to make sure I mixed in some other perspectives. After the news broke about the NSA wiretapping, Moxie Marlinspike wrote an essay explaining why “We Should All Have Something to Hide” and thus are all threatened by increased surveillance.... Read more

The Ideological Turing Test — Freud Edition

Last updated on: June 17, 2013 at 6:00 pm By Leah Libresco

Well, the commenters — and arguably culture in general — seemed particularly interested what Freud termed the two essential drives: Sex and Death. Thus, the two questions in this year’s Turing Test will be focused on: Polyamory – Is there any reason that marriage (civil and or sacramental) should be limited to the union of two persons? If your answer depends on religious revelation, could people outside your tradition reasonably disagree, or does your argument depend on truths that almost everyone... Read more

The day I went to work with my dad, dressed as my dad

Last updated on: June 16, 2013 at 12:31 pm By Leah Libresco

I love my professor parents, from whom I have inherited many wonderfully things — both genetically and environmentally. And I caught on early to how good I had it, as this conversation from when I was four or so shows: Me: Daddy, you have a big nose. Me: When I grow up, I want a big nose, too. Mom: (sotto voce) You may just get your wish. Read more

My Week at Rationalist Summer Camp [Sequence Index]

Last updated on: June 15, 2013 at 12:39 pm By Leah Libresco

After spending a week at geek summer camp (not that one!) in July 2012, I never got around to assembling the index post for all the blogging I did in response to the workshop. But, at least I’m just sneaking in ahead of this year’s workshop. I still think the best summary of CFAR’s workshops is the one I posted last year: This is the kind of summer camp where, before you go, they send you and two close friends a... Read more

7 Quick Takes (6/14/13)

Last updated on: June 14, 2013 at 4:06 am By Leah Libresco

— 1 — Since I’ve had two posts this week (and two more scheduled for next week) on oath-keeping and rule-breaking, I have the perfect excuse to include the Tony Awards performance from Catch Me If You Can: Norman Leo Butz in “Breakin’ All the Rules” — 2 — Father’s Day is coming up this Sunday, so, if you’re planning to join me in giving the gift of stealth compliments to your friends’ fathers, you’ll need to set aside time, ASAP. I’m... Read more

A Dicey Way Out of Dilemmas

Last updated on: June 13, 2013 at 6:31 pm By Leah Libresco

In response to yesterday’s post on breaking promises, KristeninDallas made an alternate suggestion: I’m not saying he should keep his promise, but I am saying he should feel at least a little bad about breaking it. We seem to have this need to rationalize everything and figure out the best choice and then pat ourselves on the back/ let ourselves off the hook when we make it. When we’re choosing between two clear goods, the pat is well earned. But... Read more

A terrible consequence of consequentialism

Last updated on: June 12, 2013 at 3:41 pm By Leah Libresco

A few weeks ago, in The New York Times Magazine, the Ethicist column gave some terribly unethical advice. A doctor wrote in with this dilemma: Years ago, I saw a young patient with headaches, who disclosed — reluctantly — that he had committed a serious crime and that somebody else took the fall for it. I believe he was telling me the truth (his headaches soon resolved after the confession). Before his admission, I assured him that whatever he told me... Read more

Sex Ed is Obviously Meant to Teach…

Last updated on: June 8, 2013 at 12:40 pm By Leah Libresco

Last Friday, I was on Sheila Liaugminas’s Relevant Radio show (“A Closer Look”) with a couple other bloggers from the Catholic channel here (Calah Alexander, Sam Rocha, Betty Duffy). We all sat down for a roundtable on sex-ed (the mp3 can be found here). The format was a little unconventional. Instead of Sunday-morning-political-show-style crosstalk, where all the participants speak in dialogue (frequently overlapping dialogue) and question or build on the previous speaker’s comments, Sheila’s show had each person speak uninterrupted... Read more

Who alone went up the mountain with Moses to meet God?