Daniel Breyer
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Explore the concept of ignorance through the writings of two Indian philosophers who lived centuries apart, Shankara and Ramanuja. Is ignorance a lack of knowledge, or is it wrong knowledge? Learn why some modern philosophers describe ignorance as a complex social phenomenon with the potential to bring out the dark side of our nature-and what we can do to counteract it.
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Who are we in the worst of our dreams? Explore why Freud believed our dreams reveal important aspects of ourselves. Learn how Augustine coped when he dreamed of actions that went against his most profound beliefs. Even when we have no idea how to interpret a particularly disturbing dream, it still becomes an opportunity for learning about ourselves.
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Most of us have done something "bad" or immoral in our lives, although we wouldn't consider ourselves evil. But where exactly is that line? What does it take for us to label a person evil? By considering four models of evil (the Evildoer, Dispositional, Affect, and Moral Monster models) you'll begin to develop your own views of when an individual is, and is not, evil.
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
How can we find internal tranquility and remain peaceful in the midst of such a troubled world? Brain science has discovered that we mirror the behavior of others, and anger can beget anger. But kindness can beget kindness, too. Explore some Christian and Buddhist guidelines for confronting the dark side of human nature without spiraling into the darkness of violence, rage, and fear.
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
We are all going to die. How do we respond to that knowledge? Learn why the Roman philosopher Lucretius believed that our fear of death drives us to act against our best interests. And why the Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi wondered if our negative view of death even makes sense. Either way, fearing death seems to be part of what it means to be human.
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
When we hold two contradictory thoughts in our minds at the same time, have we become liars, lying to ourselves about something we know cannot be true? Or are we just harmless wishful thinkers? Is self-deception an adaptation that has given us an evolutionary advantage? Learn what you can do to try to avoid deceiving yourself about your own life.
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Are our darkest thoughts and desires simply a fundamental part of our human nature? Why can't we seem to suppress or eradicate them? In this episode, explore potential answers to these fascinating questions with help from 6th-century Tianti Buddhist philosophers and modern-day evolutionary psychologists.
48) Understanding the Dark Side of Human Nature: Episode 19,Victim Blaming and the Just-World Hypothesis
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
In the Old Testament Book of Job, his friends blamed Job for the tragedies that befell him. After all, if the world is a fair and just place, then victims always get what they deserve, right? Explore whether or not we can eliminate victim blaming while maintaining that the world is, in the end, a fair and just place.
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Turn to the 2,000-year-old Hindu Bhagavad Gita to study the roles played by our desires and expectations, and why we are so often disappointed in our lives. But how could we live without desire and expectations? One path provided by the Gita, being so absorbed in an activity that we lose our sense of self, leads to the experience we know of today as "flow."
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