Freedomain with Stefan Molyneux | Podcasts 2500-2999

Question 1: [1:48] - What do you say to the notion that no word has a single element that is consistently present throughout all its uses, or more precisely that a word’s correct use does not come from some generalized element(s)? The alternative being what Ludwig Wittgenstein called “family resemblance” where different uses of a word share some things in common, but not any particular thing being common to all.

Question 2: [1:16:08] - I am really confused about one aspect of your “End Selfishness Now” video, and I think many of your loyal listeners may be as well. Ayn Rand's explanation of "selfishness" as a virtue is a concept that really motivated me to work harder and take pride in everything I do. I feel less shame, and have gained an enormous confidence boost from that very concept. Isn't being selfish a good thing?

Question 3: [1:46:42] - How is "I did the best I could with the knowledge I had" not a valid excuse?

On Thursday October 1st, 2015, 26-year-old Chris Mercer-Harper entered Umpqua Community College in Oregon - wearing body armor and armed with five handguns and an assault rifle - and murdered nine people in cold blood, leaving at least nine more injured and destroying the lives of countless families.

Following the shooting Barack Obama and the political establishment wasted little time in calling for increased gun control - willfully unaware that these gun free zones are a magnet for violence regardless of weapon availability. Stefan Molyneux is pissed off – and breaks down the facts while deconstructing the usual media narrative and focusing a spotlight on the true root of this problem.

Question 1: [1:25] - Most of the time it feels like thinking, but if I'm really honest, most of what I say 'I think' is some combination of other thinkers that I've read or listened to or watched. Maybe this is normal but a problem arises when two different people, whose opinions I value, come to conflicting conclusions. This painfully reveals to me how much of a hidden desire that I have for someone to just 'believe in.' Why is thinking for myself so hard?

Question 2: [31:24] - Do the ongoing Gene Wars (see the r/K Selection presentations for more on this) invalidate the Non-Aggression Principle? The Non-Aggression Principle doesn't work if it's not universal and it's not universal because there are sub species of humans in heavy opposition. We are not all the same so why should the rules be extended across gene sets?

Recently Pope Francis visited the United States and some of his statements were a bit - interesting. In light of Pope Francis leaving his gold throne in Vatican City to lecture Congress and the American people about income inequality - we present to you the debut edition of: Who said it? Pope Francis or Karl Marx? Can you tell the difference between the leader of the Catholic Church and the revolutionary socialist philosopher?

Freedomain Radio is 100% funded by viewers like you. Please support the show by signing up for a monthly subscription or making a one time donation at: http://www.fdrurl.com/donate

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You’ve heard that our addiction to fossil fuels is destroying our planet and our lives. Yet by many measures, human well-being has been getting better and better. Alex Epstein (author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels) explains why humanity’s use of fossil fuels is actually a healthy, moral choice.

Alex Epstein is the President and Founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, the author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels and an expert on energy and industrial policy. Center for Industrial Progress is a for-profit think-tank seeking to bring about a new industrial revolution. For more from Alex and CIP, please check out: industrialprogress.com and alexepstein.com

To purchase The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels and get source notes, go to: moralcaseforfossilfuels.com or http://www.fdrurl.com/alex-epstein

Destroying the world is actually lot easier than you might think – you will have to be patient, of course, but remember this: evil delayed is evil denied, and it is well worth the wait.

To destroy the world, you need to do three things – first: break the bond between husband and wife – second: break the bond between parent and child – and third: convince the population that they are helpless.

Freedomain Radio is 100% funded by viewers like you. Please support the show by signing up for a monthly subscription or making a one time donation at: http://www.fdrurl.com/donate

Question 1: [1:30] - What are your thoughts on law of attraction? Do you believe in it - why or why not? What do you think is the limit of what man can achieve by simply thinking and working towards an ideal? In other words, how far do you think one can go using law of attraction?

Question 2: [1:01:43] - A discussion about escaping a toxic romantic relationship, the value of the Real Time Relationships approach, finding somebody you want to spend the rest of your life with and dangerous red flags to look out for in the dating world.

Did you know that it has now been eight consecutive years without a formal United States federal budget. That means we’ve had eight consecutive years of debt ceiling increases, continued threats of government shut-downs and the back-and-forth blame resolutions to fund government.

As the stock markets all around the world are simultaneously crashing and warning signs continue to mount - Stefan Molyneux describes the latest news on the road to economic collapse.

Question 1: [1:52] - The novel 1984 by George Orwell describes a dystopian future and is often compared to our current society. How does our understanding of this novel and outlook change when we look at them through the lens of r/K selection theory?

Question 2: [49:44] - What do you think the advantages and disadvantages are of having more than two parents involved in the raising of a child? Can quality and quantity exist together in the realm of love? Can you explain why you think that people who are K selected are, by definition, monogamous?

Question 3: 2:20:08 - If one is trying to spread the philosophy in order to change the world, at what point should one stop using the vestiges of the old system to do so? Does using those institutions – road, taxpayer funded schools, unemployment insurance - make ones message ineffective?

One of the great “gotchas” of history is currently sprinting through our collective consciousness with regards to the migrant crisis in the European Union, and it goes something like this:

“The migrant crisis is payback for Western destabilization of Middle Eastern governments – if you don't want these refugees, you shouldn't have bombed their countries – Karma is a bitch, so suck it up!”

This is an emotionally compelling argument for many people – and here is where we need to exercise the greatest caution. Emotionally compelling arguments by their very definition need to be rigidly examined and resisted – to avoid intellectual bigotry, we must subject seductive arguments to the greatest tests.

Question 1: [1:25] - What should I do when a bigger child is being aggressive with my son? A mother complained when I protected my son from a boy who pushed him. Am I being over-protective - perhaps because I was bullied by my mother and regularly by kids at school - or is this a healthy reaction?

Question 2: [29:50] - If Intelligence has a genetic component and is a strong predictor of future economic success - this raised an interesting moral question. Do we have some duty to protect the less intelligent from themselves, perhaps the same way we might support a person who is born disabled? Is high intelligence just winning the genetic lottery? Do we have a duty? And if not, why?

Question 3: [1:54:45] - It is my opinion that that conservatives try to persuade people with logic and reason more than emotions. Besides a few exceptions, I think a majority conservative personas can participate in rational discussions without constant logical errors or appeal to emotions. So - why do not we play the left's game? Why do we persist with logic when the left wins by making emotionally arguments?

On Monday 9/14, Ahmed Mohammed, a 14-year-old Texan kid, made the national headlines after he was suspended from school for bringing an alarm clock he had supposedly built himself. Later on Barack Obama tweeted "Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great." As is to be expected, there is far more to this story!

Sources: http://www.fdrurl.com/ahmed-mohamed

In the political version of the Hunger Games, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee and John Kasich squared off for their political survival. Who will get voted off the island?

Did Hugh Hewitt and Jake Tapper do a better job as moderators for CNN than Megyn Kelly did in the FOX debate? Do vaccines cause autism? What do the candidates think about medical marijuana and federal drug laws? Why is Jeb Bush's mother upset with him?

In the aftermath of the September 16th, 2015 Republican Presidential debate on CNN, Stefan Molyneux and the Freedomain Radio team examine the latest version of Donald Trump vs. The World!

Question 1: [2:10] - Can you provide me some clarification regarding Universally Preferable Behavior (UPB) and tell me why people have such a hostile reaction to the idea of universal secular ethics?

Question 2: [56:29] - I've listened to the Gene Wars series on r/K reproduction strategies, and I'm a bit puzzled about one of the repeated characterizations of K-strategy: noting that ancient China was unchanged for centuries. Since K-strategists are supposed to embrace competition and free markets, which are extremely unstable - how does one reconcile these positions?

Question 3: {1:22:05] - I have some criticism of your coverage of the police violence stories, especially with regard to the poor black community. Your stories were well researched and quite accurate, but, as a black person, I thought your focus seemed biased. Both the police/government and the poor black community are in the "matrix", but your focus tended toward hold blacks to a higher standard, while speculating and reasoning out rational justifications for the police.

Question 1: [1:20] - I’m a German citizen. Is there a solution to the Immigrant crisis in Germany/Europe - or is history repeating itself and we are on the brink of a new European war?

Question 2: [1:23:10] - Certain common sense conservative beliefs are the glue that bonds Republicans nationwide - but are any of these actually principles? Could you address a few of these “beliefs” and tell me if they are actually principles? Includes an extensive conversation on stripping personal responsibility from the black community.

Question 3: [2:13:37] - I have mixed feelings and hesitation about getting married and having children, even though I am in a good long-term relationship, and we both want marriage and children - and time is an issue! All considered, what is a healthy way to approach this inner conflict between R and K impulses?

Question 1 [0:15] - The interview you did with Dr. Jim Penman (author of Biohistory: The Decline and Fall of the West) was very challenging for me and deeply anxiety provoking. I kept thinking, are we on this deterministic journey as a species - it was very disorientating and felt kind of hopeless at first.

After re-listening and thinking it through again, I now see it as just another part of the jigsaw puzzle of more knowledge. Knowledge that allows us as a species to learn from and become more aware of these biological tendencies. Would you say that was true - or am I just rationalizing the anxiety these ideas provoked?

Question 2 [54:55] - For years I lived as a chameleon avoiding conflict and mirroring others. This conduct has weakened my ability to communicate, impacted my relationships and lead to me feeling insecure. How can I engage in effective communication and cope with the fear of rejection?

Conclusion [1:49:25] - More YouTube comments from Bernie Sanders supporters!

In continuing our discussion on Human Intelligence and the predictive powers of IQ, Charles Murray joins the broadcast to discuss the latest science regarding ethnic and gender differences in intelligence.

Charles Murray is a political scientist, author, and libertarian. He first came to national attention in 1984 with the publication of "Losing Ground," which has been credited as the intellectual foundation for the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. His 1994 New York Times bestseller, "The Bell Curve," coauthored with the late Richard J. Herrnstein, sparked heated controversy for its analysis of the role of IQ in shaping America's class structure.

The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0684824299/?tag=freedradio-20

For More of Charles Murray’s books and writing, go to: http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Murray/e/B000AP5UJQ/?tag=freedradio-20

Freedomain Radio is 100% funded by viewers like you. Please support the show by signing up for a monthly subscription or making a one time donation at: http://www.fdrurl.com/donate

"Single parenthood is tough. There's no denying that at times it can be exhausting doing it all by yourself. But there are good times, too. Single parents do an amazing job. Here are 15 reasons why being a single parent can really rock." Stefan Molyneux explains why it not only doesn't rock to be a single mom - it really really sucks - especially for any children involved.

Article: http://www.netmums.com/parenting-support/single-parents/life-as-a-single-parent/reasons-it-rocks-to-be-a-single-mum

Stefan Molyneux provides historical context for the events that shook the United States of America on September 11, 2001. The terrorist attack that took the lives of close to 3,000 people and destroyed the World Trade Center doubtless altered the fabric of American society, but the thread of that fabric begins thousands of years in the past. Tune in for a brief story of the long journey towards your enslavement.

Comedian Nicole Arbour caused an uproar when she recently published the video, "Dear Fat People," on YouTube. Other YouTube commentators have made emotional response videos decrying Arbour for "Fat Shaming" and "Body Shaming," while others created emotional response videos calling Arbour a bully. Stefan Molyneux responds to the controversy to look at the facts behind obesity, fat shaming and the reaction.