Ben Shapiro interviews Yaron Brook

[MisterSwig]

In case you missed it...

https://youtu.be/5kvckmP_FHo

Shapiro interviewed Brook for over an hour. It's nice to see such exposure for Objectivism, and I think Brook did a good job overall. Unfortunately this wasn't the debate we really needed. Shapiro seemed focused on exploring and testing, rather than attacking, the Objectivist morality.

[dream_weaver]

I'm about half-way into the program. You said he focused on exploring and testing, but it seems that he brings in many of the objections floated out there, and presents them to see what Yaron did with them.

Shapiro seems familiar enough with the subject to see things that come across as an issue of wording, which gave Yaron the opportunity to unpack the issue with the wording by pointing out the essential difference. Take the early point of selfishness, where two men vote to seize the wealth of the third, and contrasting that with the relationship of wealth to reason, purpose and self-esteem, without which, the seized wealth is a hollow victory, putting off the end-game for the current foreseeable moment.

As debates go, it is out there and has 27,000 hits so far, mostly Shapiro's audience, I would reckon, with others tuning in because Yaron is on the broadcast.

I could look up the stats for Yaron's show, but his numbers are somewhat preaching to the choir, and serve as a tool for others to pass on when an aligned interests are detected.

[MisterSwig]

18 minutes ago, dream_weaver said:

I'm about half-way into the program. You said he focused on exploring and testing, but it seems that he brings in many of the objections floated out there, and presents them to see what Yaron did with them.

Yeah, that's what I meant by "testing." I would classify his objections as pretty standard, nothing too challenging or fresh. It's like Shapiro pulled ancient objections from around the Internet and regurgitated them. The real, serious disagreement is over the standard of value and what Rand means by "life." They need to debate abortion at a deep level to make any real difference. 

[Harrison Danneskjold]

I was actually impressed with Shapiro right up to the bit about the romantic aspects of Atlas Shrugged. From his life insurance plug about "it's your family and you care about them" to his remark about the "Cartesian argument" in our evidence for free will (which was right on the money) he was sharp, insightful and shockingly familiar with the philosophy.

And then he went and asked whether it was moral for Dagny Taggart to flit from relationship to relationship. If having THREE different relationships over the course of an entire LIFETIME constitutes promiscuity then I would bet real money that Shapiro would be a much bigger slut than Dagny by that standard (I know I would be). He actually seemed to view Lillian Rearden as good! I had to pause the video for a bit when he said "there are no children in Atlas Shrugged".

He obviously has a remarkable mind which he's obviously devoted to eliminating any sense or sanity from the realm of human relationships. I really shouldn't speculate on exactly what he's evading but it is frustrating.

 

Yaron was as excellent as he always is, though. All in all I thought it was great.

 

Thank you!

Edited August 31, 2019 by Harrison Danneskjold