EF46 SHOW NOTES
Looking to play or download the episode? Click here… EF46 (S2-E7): Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice
dedication
DEDICATION: Episode EF46 is dedicated to Paul Bloom, an American psychologist known for his work investigating how people try to understand the world. His alternative take on morality — rational compassion over empathy — makes a compelling case on why empathy without the balance of reason might sometimes do more harm than good. Can empathy actually prevent a person from doing the most good they can? If you enjoy trolley problem speculation, then toying with rational compassion will help you formulate challenging scenarios even more personal and complex.
Bloom argues that empathy isn’t a great tool for making rational decisions since empathetic judgment can be clouded by emotions. As a replacement, Bloom suggests rational compassion, a mindset that focuses on maximizing the benefits one can create for others, while simultaneously ignoring the emotional rewards one can get by focusing on the single identifiable victim (who might not represent the greatest good, relatively speaking).
Learn more about Paul Bloom here:
- Paul Bloom Twitter
- Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion on Amazon
- Paul Bloom’s Talk on Rational Compassion
inspirations
INSPIRATIONS: Episode EF46 is further inspired by … Jeremy Bentham, Peter Singer, John Stuart Mill.
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Put in an impossible position early in her career, Mary Payne was forced to make a choice between saving a single identifiable victim or helping an entire community of nameless people. The decision haunts her entire life. Many years later in old age, Mary is faced with another trolley bearing down on her where she will once again be forced to make a difficult decision on which track to send it. But unlike before, this time her life sits in the balance on one of the tracks.
In theories about a just society, good deeds are expected to be rewarded and bad deeds punished. But is it really so easy to define what is a good versus bad deed? Can empathy for one human being, and the reward that comes with it, blind you from the same effort being able to help many others instead? Using Paul Bloom’s theory of rational compassion, we will explore what means to be a good person and why genuine good can easily get prosecuted in an unjust society. What would you do with your hand on the switch and a trolley bearing down on two tracks, both with grave consequences? Is there any real possibility for a just world when some decisions have only bad outcomes? Or is life and society just inherently unfair?
references
John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism. Kindle Edition.
Melvin J. Lerner, The Belief in a Just World: A Fundamental Delusion. 2013, Springer.
Paul Bloom, Against Empathy: The Case of Rational Compassion. 2016, Ecco. (Kindle Edition)
episode quotes
Any of these quotes make you think? If so, please support the show by sharing…
If you’re worried about the way society perceives you, then the wool is fully pulled over your eyes.
What would your life be like if you spent it challenging the status quo?
What if human fallibility is a feature, not a bug?
Many are blinded by empathy for a single victim they can identify, instead of rationally having compassion. Is the selfish decision that makes you feel good really the best one overall?
Many think that life naturally rewards noble actions and punishes evil actions; but that’s not how society works, is it?
Society is like a set of broken scales that people constantly try to balance, even though it’s inherently impossible.
Most have never been forced to choose which track to send the trolley. And even less have actually put themselves on a track.
Season Two, Episode Seven: Like a rigged scale of justice, life in society and within cultures is inherently unfair. But what if there were ways to live true to yourself while also being compassionate to everyone? And is a just world even possible?
Put in an impossible position early in her career, Mary Payne was forced to make a choice between saving a single identifiable victim or helping an entire community of nameless people. The decision haunts her entire life. Many years later in old age, Mary is faced with another trolley bearing down on her where she will once again be forced to make a difficult decision on which track to send it. But unlike before, this time her life sits in the balance on one of the tracks. In theories about a just society, good deeds are expected to be rewarded and bad deeds punished. But is it really so easy to define what is a good versus bad deed? Can empathy for one human being, and the reward that comes with it, blind you from the same effort being able to help many others instead? Using Paul Bloom’s theory of rational compassion, we will explore what means to be a good person and why genuine good can easily get prosecuted in an unjust society. What would you do with your hand on the switch and a trolley bearing down on two tracks, both with grave consequences? Is there any real possibility for a just world when some decisions have only bad outcomes? Or is life and society just inherently unfair?