Don Watkins

Author & Speaker. A Rational Morality for Secular Thinkers.

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

@Ayaan Two pieces of feedback:

Christianity is not what made the West great: https://t.co/U2AcBAMAlx

There is a secular, inspiring, non-Christian morality: https://t.co/mzEcRveWvj

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

@ah_pod Welp

[Ayn Rand Institute @AynRandInst]

We need your help finding the right creators and influencers to promote our new $100,000 competition, which challenges 16–22-year-olds to analyze, question, defend, or critique the ideas in Atlas Shrugged.

Details on how you can help are in the first comment👇

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

@shlevy First draft of marketing copy is sometimes good, especially given all the context ChatGPT has of my audience and products.

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

Good news for venture capitalists everywhere

[Joe Pompliano @JoePompliano]

Fernando Tatis Jr. has lost his lawsuit against Big League Advance.

Tatis was paid $2 million as a minor leaguer in exchange for 10% of his future earnings.

This was not a loan.

If Tatis didn't make it to the big leagues, he didn't have to repay the $2 million.

But Tatis did make it to the big leagues and later signed a 14-year, $340 million contract.

That meant Tatis owed Big League Advance $34 million.

Tatis had publicly praised Big League Advance, saying the $2 million allowed him to hire a personal trainer, upgrade his apartment, and eat better food.

But after realizing he owed $34 million in exchange for $2 million, Tatis sued the company, alleging that they used predatory tactics to lure him into an investment deal that was really an illegal loan.

The judge disagreed.

The agreement was upheld this week and Tatis was even ordered to pay Big League Advance’s legal fees.

This is a big deal because Big League Advance has signed deals with 700+ athletes, including Elly De La Cruz (MLB) and Nolan Smith (NFL), across MLB, NFL, and college sports (think: NIL).

And now that the courts have ordered Fernando Tatis Jr. to follow through on the agreement, other potential legal challenges will likely go the same way.

[Jonathan Hoenig @JonathanHoenig]

@CliffordAsness @MonocleMan1 See @yaronbrook and @donswriting: “The Moral Case for Finance” https://t.co/QwNCO7bqdm

[Samantha Watkins @_samantha_joy]

>Have you heard the good news? A child's IQ and personality appear largely set at birth. Ergo, research shows parenting doesn't matter! We can all relax!

Spare me the drivel.

Parenting matters, and matters deeply, for who a child becomes.

[Ben Bayer @BenBayer]

I agree with everything Don says here in his review of Ehrman. My written review is forthcoming. Stay tuned.

[Ayn Rand Institute @AynRandInst]

Bart Ehrman on the Christian Origins of Altruistic Morality

@BenBayer interviews historian Bart Ehrman on how Christianity invented the morality of self-sacrifice, and why this origin is anything but rational.

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

"Christian 'love' is not shared joy but selfless suffering. It is not rooted in any actual admiration for others, let alone desire, but is rather about dutifully 'giving to others to help them in their need.'”

https://t.co/BdEiLvx5r0

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

"Today most equate morality and altruism—to be moral simply is to sacrifice for those in need. But that is a product of 2,000 years of ideological indoctrination by Christianity."

https://t.co/BdEiLvx5r0

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

*Love Thy Stranger* by @BartEhrman is an important but flawed book.

It reveals how Christianity overthrew Greek and Roman moral ideals with a radical doctrine of self-sacrifice.

The problem: Ehrman doesn't understand altruism.

Full review below.

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

@JustinLever3 Normalize for plate appearances and I'd be okay with it.

[Samantha Watkins @_samantha_joy]

Describing the thought and effort of parenting as a "sacrifice" belittles you and saps some of the joy of parenting.

*actually* sacrificing harms both you and your child.

I interviewed philosopher, @GSalmieri, to discuss how parenting without sacrifice is better for everyone.

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

@Philly__Nation Well, if you were last in defensive runs saved, you *would* want to be a run prevention team!

[Quent Cordair @QuentCordair]

"Are we then to credit Christianity with modern science after all? Absolutely not. This has been my point all along. Christianity has always been an other-worldly ideology that made concessions to this world. Every advance civilization has made since Christianity’s rise has happened precisely because of these concessions. The more ground Christians cede to this world, the more civilization moves forward—the more Christianity’s other-worldly ideals dominate, the more civilization falters." ~ @donswriting
"How the Bible Corrupted the Soul of Western Civilization - Part 5" https://t.co/tastCk1YpG

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

@shlevy Oh man, you have no idea how much this is my sense of humor.

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

@_samantha_joy Yeah, but even if I knew that's what you wanted, I'm afraid that I'd end up challenging your doula to a duel.

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

@ah_pod Should’ve gotten hit

[Ayn Rand Institute @AynRandInst]

The Atlas Prize challenges exceptional young minds to engage deeply with the ideas of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and demonstrate the power of their reasoning before a global audience for the chance to win up to $100,000. Get the details at https://t.co/q2scPiOg2W.

[Don Watkins @donswriting]

Did Christianity create science?

Spoiler alert: no.

https://t.co/isLLsrV6t6