How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Become a Philosopher-in-Residence
Why would the Harmony Hotel care about what a philosopher and a psychologist have to say about ethics?
It’s a question I kept asking myself well into my visit to the beautiful and peaceful property last week with Tamler Sommers. Tamler (the philosopher) and I (the psychologist) had both been invited to stay for a week to participate in the inaugural session of the Philosopher-in-Residence program, courtesy of the Harmony Hotel. The ultimate goal of this program, we learned, is to bring an atmosphere of intellectual curiosity and critical thought to the community of Nosara.
Yet a few days into our stay, I was still wondering whether anyone around us would care about our work. Don’t people go to places like the Harmony Hotel to “turn-off”? To do things like take surf lessons, get massages, and read trashy novels by the pool? If this were my vacation, I thought, I’m not sure I would want to listen to people like me talking about their own research. I honestly wasn’t sure we were worth such a generous invitation.
But then something clicked. After a few days of soaking up the relaxation, I began to understand the value and potential of a program like this. You see, the broad theme of the week’s program—human morality—is one that Tamler and I have spent a significant portion of our lives studying. We’re both intrigued by questions such as why some people believe that an action is right or wrong or that a person is good or bad, and what (if any) implications the answer to these questions might have for what we *ought* to believe. (It is our mutual interest in these questions that has kept us in touch over the past decade despite the complexities of family, work schedules, and time zones). But what finally clicked for me was the realization that at the end of the day I can learn only so much about human beings by staying in my academic comfort zone. My daily life usually consists of talking to like-minded colleagues and students at Cornell University, attending conferences where I talk to like-minded academics, and socializing with family and friends who tend to have backgrounds very similar to my own. Nosara offered an escape from my intellectual “buffer zone.”
For example, Tamler and I were able to talk to Andres Gonzales (a local attorney whom we interviewed for our podcast) about how laws and intuitions concerning crime and punishment are viewed in Costa Rica, and how they might be viewed differently across other cultures. We visited the Nosara Wildlife Rescue and spoke to Vicki and Steve Coan, two Americans who have devoted their time and personal resources to rescuing and releasing injured howler monkeys (and any other animals in need). We spent time with Tobias Holler (an architect) and Ayana de Vos (a documentarian)–a couple from Germany who have been in Costa Rica for the past few months building a recycling center and documenting the experience to share with the world. In addition we got to speak to a number of guests at the Harmony from around the world, local foreigners who fell in love with Costa Rica and have made it their temporary or permanent home, and Costa Ricans from all walks of life who were always kind and patient enough to answer our questions (no matter how weird they might have sounded).
So while it is flattering to think that others might benefit from my work on morality (I guess I’d have given up a long time ago if I didn’t truly believe that *somebody* might), what’s obvious in retrospect is how valuable this trip was for me, both personally and academically. While conducting surveys and attending academic presentations certainly provides insight into human morality, it is very different from the insight that comes from talking to other human beings; from seeing the sadness in the eyes of a person talking about an animal suffering due to human indifference, or from hearing the contagious passion of someone proudly recounting the progress their community has made in taking care of the environment.
I really hope that Tamler and I can give something back to the people who helped make this experience so deeply valuable and enjoyable, and that our work can be of some interest to anyone who shares the goals of the Harmony Hotel.
Within the next few weeks, Tamler will be posting about one of our attempts to give something back–a series of podcasts to be posted on the Harmony Blog entitled “Very Bad Wizards” (he’ll explain the reason for the title) that we recorded before, during, and after our visit to Nosara. These are probably best described as a series of informal conversations between a philosopher and a psychologist about the broad topic of human morality–including issues such as justice, revenge, culture, free will, and moral responsibility. Tamler and I have also been working on a permanent home on the web where we can highlight and discuss some of the topics we’ll be covering in the podcast, and which will contain all of the episodes as well (you can preview it here: www.verybadwizards.com). We hope you stay tuned for more!
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