See show #197
Audio for part two HERE!
Show 186a: Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior
Audio here!
Humanism requires unselfish behavior and human cooperation for it to relevant to the future of human society. It has become popular – perhaps as a backlash to the 1960s liberal strides – to think of humans as selfish, greedy and uber-competitive… A Hobbesian take on human nature which has been promoted to justify dangerous economic systems such as capitalism, as well as authoritarian fascist states such as the Bush Administration has been taking us toward.
Some scientists such as Richard Dawkins, Robert Trivers and Stephen Pinker, while not backing the latter, have backed the former, and now claim that science backs such draconian perceptions of our basic nature.
Others haven’t made such claims.
Continue reading “Show 186a: Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior”
Show 178: The Fallacy of Moderation or Why Liberals seem so Stupid
1-Hour Special!
Audio 1 here!
Audio 2 here!
The effective alternative to policies which are based on misanthropic assumptions of people’s inherent laziness, greed, selfishness, and antisocial nature are policies which are radically different than the “moderate” ineffectual policies which most liberal-minded people support. If we are going to be successful at becoming the kind of free, egalitarian, open, tolerant, inclusive, creative, inventive, dynamic and forward looking culture which we want our society to be, we will need to base our policies on a very different understanding of the human experience.
Join our discussion about how things might look if our understanding of the world was based on naturalism and humanism. We’ll be taking your calls throughout the hour!
Show 175: Harold Barclay; Anthropologist
Harold Barclay discusses his book People without Government: An Anthropology of Anarchy
Audio here!
Over the last three weeks, Equal Time for Freethought has asked scientists basic questions about human nature.
Is it within human nature to be aggressive, or is aggression the result of environmental circumstances?
Is war inevitable because humans have a natural tendency to inter-societal violence, or is there something unique in modern culture which brings out the soldier in many of us, particularly our males?
What if peace was closer to the “natural state” of human nature, and we have lived though an aberration of violence over the last few centuries?
Show 174a: “The Science of Peace”
Audio here!
First of Three Parts!
Is it within human nature to be aggressive, or is aggression the result of environmental circumstances? Is war inevitable because humans have a natural tendency to inter-societal violence, or is there something unique in modern culture which brings out the soldier in many of us, particularly our males?
What if Hobbes got it wrong?
What if women were in charge instead of men?
What if peace was closer to the “natural state” of human nature, and we have lived though an aberration of violence over the last few centuries?
And if cooperation and beneficence is prevalent in Homo Sapien Sapiens, how can we cultivate the human potential for peace … particularly when many people, even some scientists, are so pessimistic about our fate?
On Sunday, July 30th; Sunday, August 6th; & Sunday, August 13th, we will be talking with anthropologist Douglas Fry, author of Beyond War: The Human Potential for Peace, and biologist Judith Hand, author of Women, Power, and the Science of Peace. Humanity’s history is not so “primitive” as some might argue, and our present day situation may not be as dire as it sometimes seems.