#902 Joshua Knobe: How Morality Influences People's Philosophical and Scientific Intuitions

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Dr. Joshua Knobe is Professor of Philosophy, Linguistics and Psychology at Yale University. A lot of his recent research has been concerned with the impact of people’s moral judgments on their intuitions about questions that might initially appear to be entirely independent of morality (questions about intention, causation, etc.).

In this episode, we talk about topics in experimental philosophy. We discuss how experimental philosophy relates to science. We talk about the relationship between belief and knowledge. We discuss how norm violations interact with causal judgment. We talk about the “true self”, and how moral beliefs influence beliefs about the “true self”, and vice-versa. We discuss how people conceptualize happiness, and how they relate it to moral character. We talk about “folk morality”, and whether people tend to believe in objective moral truths. We discuss people’s philosophical intuitions, with a focus on free will, and how much they vary cross-culturally. We discuss what explains the different views of philosophers, and if they stem from individual differences in cognition. We talk about how moral judgments influence intuitions in folk psychology, and we discuss whether moral judgments influence the production of scientific knowledge. Finally, we discuss if the way people interact socially influences how they construe truth, and if political polarization changes our understanding of truth.

Time Links:
00:00 Intro
00:36 Experimental philosophy, and how it relates to science
07:59 The relationship between belief and knowledge
14:21 How norm violations interact with causal judgment
18:04 How people think about the “true self”
26:01 How moral beliefs influence beliefs about the “true self”, and vice-versa
29:53 Happiness, and how people relate it to moral character
33:47 “Folk morality”: do people tend to believe in objective moral truths?
39:51 How people conceptualize moral events
42:52 People’s philosophical intuitions on free will
57:44 Do people’s philosophical intuitions vary a lot cross-culturally?
1:01:05 What explains the different views of philosophers?
1:07:27 How moral judgments influence intuitions in folk psychology
1:10:13 Do moral judgments influence the production of scientific knowledge?
1:21:36 Can political polarization change our understanding of truth?
1:25:31 Follow Dr. Knobe’s work!
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Follow Dr. Knobe’s work:
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A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, JERRY MULLER, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, BERNARDO SEIXAS, OLAF ALEX, JONATHAN VISSER, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, JOHN CONNORS, FILIP FORS CONNOLLY, DAN DEMETRIOU, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, SIMON COLUMBUS, PHIL KAVANAGH, MIKKEL STORMYR, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, ALEXANDER DANNBAUER, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, DIEGO LONDOÑO CORREA, YANICK PUNTER, ADANER USMANI, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, NICK GOLDEN, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, EDWARD HALL, HEDIN BRØNNER, DOUGLAS FRY, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, MORTEN EIKELAND, DR BYRD, DANIEL FRIEDMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, PAUL-GEORGE ARNAUD, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, ROOFTOWEL, DIOGO COSTA, ANTON ERIKSSON, CHARLES MOREY, ALEX CHAU, AMAURI MARTÍNEZ, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, PEDRO BONILLA, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, STARRY, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, TOM ROTH, THERPMD, IGOR N, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, BARNABAS RADICS, MARK CAMPBELL, RICHARD BOWEN, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, CHRIS STORY, AND MANUEL OLIVEIRA!
A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, BENEDIKT MUELLER, VEGA GIDEY, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, ROBERT LEWIS, AND AL NICK ORTIZ!
AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER, SERGIU CODREANU, AND BOGDAN KANIVETS!

[aminam]

that deep feeling and thoughts since I was a little child that this planet of the apes! the mental capacity of the irrational apes, their psychological characteristics, …etc I always felt that I am stranger imprisoned on planet of the apes, I never shared the irrational apes anything, even their religions, I have noticed that there’s something dirty and malicious behind them since I was a little child. I have noticed that that there’s something so stupid that attracts the irrationals to each other (it’s irrationality itself), what a terrible punishment! the irrational apes are not humans, unbelievable! what a terrible punishment!

[aminam]

32:00 here he talks about personal identity, many people want to show that they are happy but deep inside (self concept) they are not, that’s about society and its temporary reflection on self concept, …etc

[donmacleod]

Fascinating results and discussion about how moral values interact with judgments on matters of fact, from 1:07:36

[aminam]

the process of generating personal identity and consciousness type one is very complex process (already mentioned in the past), but to concise: many factors affect the process of generating personal identity such as the inherited psychological characteristics from parents, the environment, culture, ….etc

[aminam]

The idea may not be clear: thoughts are the product of the thinking process carried out by the human self using the human brain, so what is the value of an irrational thief who steals the product of another person’s thinking process?! This means that he has no value at all, but what is really more strange is how they lost all human characteristics?! They cannot feel ashamed, like humans, of committing crimes against their miserable selves! It is clear that the environment in which they live has a major role and how they attract the other irrationals. They share something in common that attracts them to each other (something ugly and irrational).

[aminam]

They think that a researcher in the scientific field is like a factory worker! they enforce them to publish scientific research regularly within specific time periods! The real scientist sanctifies science, is dedicated to his work, and does not stop thinking, and the deterrent comes from deep within him, as he possesses human morals, values, and principles. Scientific mental work is more difficult and requires much greater effort and dedication.

[aminam]

25:00 what uses the brain to generate both consciousness type one and personal identity is self concept itself, even the perception process.
sometimes self concept overpass personal identity in some extreme emotional situations or real dangerous situations, ….etc
not only that, in severe emotional trauma self concept could partially disconnect personal identity (as long as humans awake then they have both personal identity and consciousness type one but there are levels) to avoid facing the hard trauma.

[aminam]

There is a dialogue takes place in humans’ brains between the self and personal identity, and consciousness of type one plays a role in this, but humans do not realize the mechanism and components of that dialogue that takes place in their brains.

[aminam]

This will help to understand why they cannot feel shame like humans: it is a result of the way their personal identities have been shaped (a polluted environment of corruption, fraud, deception, theft, and a total reliance on destructive, irrational meanness), which is part of the culture and environment, and both have a role. Important in the process of forming personal identity. that’s why they lost morals, values humanity and low mental capacity (that affects the mental capacity). morals and values are built-in characteristics but humans use personal identity during awake (they are irrational entities those who lost human characteristics unlike normal humans those who don’t have psychological and mental illnesses ), humans principles are based on built-in morals and values, they lost that because of the culture and environment.

[aminam]

30:00 For normal, rational humans, morality is a deterrent that prevents them from committing crimes or bad things (the effect of which is called remorse), and is essential to the survival of the human race. Of course, the issue is more complex than that because humans build principles and values ​​based on embedded morals and values, of course not always because humans do not realize what is happening in the first place (mind to maintain them).
Morals, values, principles based on that and minds to maintain them.

[aminam]

The way he speaks makes his words unclear. He also thinks he has discovered something new, but he has not. He complicates things! But he is better than others in terms of his passion for knowledge and self-reliance.

[aminam]

28:00 of course that is incorrect, because what they want to show to others can’t eliminate the other parts ! Humans judge the all of f the parts together (it’s possible that someone could do something very good that makes others forget or forgive the bad parts but in general it’s about the whole “something similar to balance “).

[aminam]

4:00 Morals do exist, they are essential built-in characteristics within humans, all humans regardless their ethnicity, colour, …. etc are identical but because of the factors that effect the generating of personal identity humans seem different (humans are irrational entities).

[aminam]

The ruling group does not necessarily represent society as a whole. For example, the dominant group may not represent the essence and culture of the society it rules.
The culture of the dominant group may be rejected by most of the society it rules and represents nothing but a curse on that society.
Not all presidents necessarily represent their people. They may just be a nightmare for them.

[aminam]

This is a real incident and there is no exaggeration and that might explain the reality of the matter: A few years ago I was writing my thoughts on one of the channels on YouTube, but I noticed that they were waiting for some time (from a few days to a few weeks and sometimes only a few hours depending on what I wrote) and then they deleted it. What I wrote in a systematic manner, even though it is pure scientific talk and does not conflict with any laws, rules, or public morals, when I asked them why you did that, their response was: It is not us who did it, but rather it is Google’s algorithms! Of course, I knew that this is not true, so I documented what I was writing and recorded that as well, and I noticed that they focused and paid great attention to what I was writing, but later I noticed that they began to take what I wrote as a reference and changed the way the videos were sequenced based on that, with the presence of sentences that served to suggest that they knew. What was written by human! (they intentionally manipulated some old videos in order to steal human thoughts that they deleted), and lately they have been using blunt theft and forgery without the ability to feel shame like humans.

[aminam]

50:00 They make ridiculous assumptions. For example, they say assume that you are a machine without a free will, and your path and reactions are pre-determined (this is what pre-determined universe means). Humans have a limited free will, and the limitation of that will does not eliminate its existence! There is no meaning or value to the existence of human beings without the existence of free will, even in a limited way. If you slap someone who believes in the pre-determined world, he will slap or sue you! Although that completely contradicts his belief in that pre-determined world.

[aminam]

24:20 they don’t differentiate between personal identity and the self for sure.

[aminam]

39:40 that’s completely wrong (irrational approach), they can’t differentiate between self concept and personal identity, …etc

[aminam]

39:00 This is an irrational explanation. Religious people believe that morality is inherent to them because belief in religions has a direct relationship to the human self (it targets the human self ) and non-believers differ because of personal identity, but both are irrational.

[aminam]

at the beginning each irrational thief thinks that he is the only thief who has found human thoughts! precious valuable human thoughts are free for all (the purpose of publishing them publicly is to pass them them to future generations “they are the exclusive properties of future generations of mankind only “), but I have noticed that some thieves have noticed that they all steal from the same source “human thoughts “, some of them cooperated later such as John Vervaeke, the thief Gregg Henriques the thief, and some others made kind of gangs to steal and pollute human thoughts such as Bernardo the thief, ….etc. I have noticed that they don’t possess human characteristics such as morals, values, principles based on that and minds to maintain them, that’s why they can’t feel shame like humans.
Can you imagine the amount of moral decline when two thieves cooperate in stealing and polluting the thoughts of others?! What is the value of someone who steals the product of the thought process of others?! Can they be classified as humans?!