
Life is complicated. It is afflicted with more big questions than big answers. As one is tested by the suffering and irrationality of life, the questions become more compelling and imperative, and the answers become more urgent and necessary in order to be a good person and to live a happy life. What does it mean to be a good person? What is a happy life? What is love? Who am I before I was told who I am? Why haven’t I found myself yet? Why do I have regrets? Is the world just? Everything seems to have been figured out, except how to live. In this podcast, we will ask and answer the hard questions, and we will question the simple answers, the answers you’ve been told to believe almost from the moment of birth. Think for yourself. There is no feeling like it, and it really is the only good fight left. You may not be rewarded for your wisdom, but you will be rewarded by your wisdom. “The Laughing Philosopher” is Robert M. Khoury, Ph.D., a scholar and writer with a lifetime of teaching and learning at the intersection of sociology and philosophy.
Episodes

Thursday Mar 06, 2025
The Anatomy of Belief: Why Do Smart People Believe Stupid Things?
Thursday Mar 06, 2025
Thursday Mar 06, 2025
Smart people can be stupid and believe absurd, weird, and crazy things. We are remarkably poor at distinguishing truth from falsehood and even worse at detecting liars and deception. Truth has nothing to do with what we believe. A belief doesn’t need to be true to be believed. We believe as we do, not because we think our belief is true, but because it is consistent with the wider web of our other beliefs. If we wish it to be true, and if it fits neatly inside the web of beliefs, then we readily believe it, true or false.
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