Friday, August 12, 2011

Video Response to Philosophy Bites Paul Russell on David Hume's Treatise

To listen to the podcast I'm discussing you can download the mp3 here.

My feeble thoughts on Philosophy Bites podcast on David Hume's Treatise. Paul Russell presents an "irreligious view" on David Hume's writing of "A Treatise of Human Nature". David Hume is well known for his views on skepticism. His additional works attempt to provide a "naturalistic" view on morality. The paradox is how do you reconcile applying the scientific method (empirical evidence) to morality when you are so skeptical of the very evidence you have? Paul Russell argues that an alternative view that is often overlooked is Hume's disdain for Christianity as an influential force in his writings.

Video Response to TEDTalk by Bill Ford on "A Future Beyond Traffic Gridlock"

To listen to the podcast I'm discussing you can download the mp3 here.

My thoughts on Bill Ford's TEDTalk on a future beyond traffic gridlock. Flying cars are a pipe dream so smart cars are the next best thing. You think Atlanta traffic is bad and your 2 hour commute each day is bad? In China the average daily commute is 5 hours! It's only going to get worse unless we come up with some innovative solutions and Ford is certainly trying to do their part.

Video Response to Freakonomic's "The Church of Scionology"

To listen to the podcast I'm discussing you can download the mp3 here.

My thoughts on Feakonomics podcast on "scionology", apparently another name for nepotism (hiring family members over others into a business). The "Carnegie Conjecture" proposes that this is a bad idea. Despite our best well meaning for passing on security and a legacy to our relatives it turns out they tend to do a crappy job. This is due to the fact that behavior seems to be only 50% genetic so they tend to lack the same drive, charisma, and vision as the predecessors (as demonstrated by Budwiser). This isn't always true though, as demonstrated by Yuengling.

Video Response to Common Sense with Dan Carlin's "Looking for a Left Hook" podcast

To listen to the podcast I'm discussing you can download the mp3 here.

My thoughts on Dan Carlin's Common Sense podcast on bringing back jobs to the US. Why is it we allow American corporations to off shore labor under conditions we would never allow here in the US? Because we don't like "those" jobs and we like cheap stuff. Ending trade agreements would certainly bring back jobs but would "cheaper" jobs raise income in the middle class? Where have all the "good" jobs gone?