The Dan Norton Show

Why freedom erodes. Why people don’t support freedom consistently. Attitudes toward freedom across time and in different places (the U.S., China, Taiwan, Hong Kong)—and what explains it. Ayn Rand’s views on art; The Romantic Manifesto; Joker. Where to start with reading Ayn Rand. Recorded on October 10, 2021. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DanNorton #freedom, #art, #AynRand, #UnitedStates, #Taiw...

Experiments to determine if ethics professors behave differently than others. Non-alignment between beliefs and actions in ethics professors vs. others. Altruism as a cause of non-alignment. Aiming for moral mediocrity. Why is it morally admirable to give your kidney to a stranger? How are ethical questions decided? Utilitarianism/egoism--how to decide between them? Ayn Rand’s metaethics. What giv...

"If You Don't Like Taxes, Leave Society!" by Dan Norton

Script _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Coercive taxation should be abolished. It’s immoral to forcibly take people’s wealth. When I say this to people, I often get a question like: “Then how will roads and firefighters and police be paid for?” My answer is: Voluntarily. But I can be more specific. In the case of roads, more specifically highways, they could be funded by tolls or by selling space to advertisers...

Austin’s view and critique of capitalism. Is capitalism natural? What is “freedom”? Advertising. Is capitalism coercive? Being “forced” to use Amazon. Survival. Capitalism and opportunities. Government programs. Homelessness and minimum wage. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DanNorton

Should an embryo or collection of cells inside the womb count as a “human”? The hostility of many anti-abortionists. Is abortion “murder”? The line-drawing issue. What about the case of rape? Do animals and quadriplegics deserve more regard than invisible cell clumps? What is the source of rights? Is God necessary for morality? Conjoined twins. A thought experiment: a new way to grow children. The...

The existence of God; the beginning of the universe and the Big Bang; two types of atheism; is religion necessary for civilization? the meaning of life; Ayn Rand’s view of social relationships and family; feminism, abortion and rights; Ayn Rand’s philosophy vs. Judeo-Christian philosophy. Recorded on February 18, 2021.

Daniel’s transition from Judaism to atheism to member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; his reasons for changing his view; God and science; materialism; God’s omnipotence and omniscience; God and the laws of nature; creation from nothing and the book of Genesis; reconciling free will and divine foreknowledge; the Objectivist view of selfishness and its implications for one’s rela...

Why live for others (like Jesus) instead of for oneself? The "tree" and its "fruit." Original sin, free will, and explaining the differences between people. How to change oneself for the better. Ayn Rand and selfishness, and the case of divorce.

Is being a veterinarian (or doctor) selfless or selfish? Mother Teresa. Selfless person vs. selfless action. Is it bad to put oneself ahead of others? Is morality subjective? Is it arbitrary?

Would you give money to a homeless person? If so, how much? What would Mother Teresa do? Will you always feel guilty for not emulating her? A new ideal (Ayn Rand). Systemic (political) change.

Who is the most selfish person you can think of? Jeff Bezos and Amazon. Should Bezos give money away, and, if so, how much? Is it just a matter of personal preference as to how much money (if any) one should give away? Being a selfish person without being a bad person. Is selfishness sometimes bad and sometimes not? How should “selfish” be defined? Passive harm. Employee benefits.

Is altruism (e.g., Mother Teresa) good? What’s the opposite of Mother Teresa? Can one live for oneself but not at the expense of others? Robinson Crusoe—is he good? Choice and moral evaluation. A standard of judgment. Respect and harm. Universal values/truths or relativism/subjectivism?

Recorded shortly before the fall 2020 election.

6:01 The Objectivist view of the mind: The conscious mind as volitional, the subconscious (or brain) as automatic. Thinking as volitional and emotion as automatic. 13:40 What exactly is volitional in a thinking process? 25:35 What’s the importance of being able to choose to focus or not? 51:05 Do we have a single, volitional mind/self? Sam Harris’ deterministic, “modular mind” view (as revealed th...

What is the self? The self as the mind. Does the self include the body? The self as the intellect (vs. as the emotions) since it is the part of the mind directly under one’s volitional control. What does “self” mean in the context of the idea that it’s good to be “selfish”? The process of getting the idea of a “self.” Are things in one’s environment part of one’s “self”? Three senses of “self.” Pe...

Selfishness in Iran and the United States. Are you selfish if you do something good for yourself? Is eating breakfast selfish? Sharing food on a lifeboat—with a murderer. Is selfishness sometimes good? If so, when? Helping the homeless—how much? Are good and bad subjective?

Is it good to be a selfish person? If an action is selfish because it helps you benefit others should it be called “selfish”? How would you define “selfish”? Can you be selfish on a desert island? Is our language missing a word?

Who is the most selfish/selfless person you can think of? What makes Jesus perfect? Why is it good to be selfless? If heaven is better than Earth, why not end your life now? What if selflessness didn’t benefit you—would you still be selfless? If so, why? Is being motivated by treasures in heaven selfish?

I'm raising money to help me continue and grow The Selfishness Project. You can see my progress toward my fundraising goal in the comment section below the corresponding video on YouTube or Facebook. If you value this project, please consider making a financial contribution: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheSelfishnessProject PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/SelfishnessProject Facebook Pay (via Fa...

Here is a two-minute video with some highlights and testimonials from various episodes of The Selfishness Project. I post it to help convey the value of the project, since I am currently doing a fundraiser for it. For more information on the fundraiser, please see https://www.facebook.com/dan.norton.1428/posts/10158924987323338 and https://www.facebook.com/dan.norton.1428/videos/10158935571583338/...

In this 23-minute talk (with powerpoint slides you can see if you watch at youtube.com/DanNorton1), I present Ayn Rand's new idea of selfishness. A 65-minute Q&A follows, in which the following questions are addressed: --Wasn't Mother Teresa really selfish? (26:30) --Is there a book you recommend for learning more about Ayn Rand's ideas of selfishness? (34:43) --Does the concept "selfishness" only...

Is it selfless to return a lost wallet and selfish to keep (or ignore) it? “Paying it forward”—what does it mean and was I doing it by returning the wallet? Unintended consequences of good (or bad) actions. What makes an intention good?

The coronavirus, the internet, and the future of higher education: Prof. Molyneux’s experience during the outbreak; will professors be laid off?; effects on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) vs. non-STEM disciplines; what about philosophy? The University of California graduate student strike. Student loan debt and debt forgiveness. (Starting at 0:46:46) The lockdowns: Do they sacri...

Greek egoism and secularism as a counterexample to the idea that humans are innately altruistic.