In this episode, Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather are joined by author Manu Saadia, fulfilling his dream of appearing on Overthinking It, to remember Prince and talk economics in the Star Trek universe.
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Our Guest: Manu Saadia
Manu Saadia is the author of Trekonomics, which analyzes the economic system in the world of Star Trek.
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Further Reading
- Trekonomics on Amazon
- Manu Saadia on the Economics of Star Trek
- Post Racial Karaoke on Overthinking It
- Gary Shandling Interviews Vanity
- Sign o’ The Times Tour
- The Climate Casino: Risk, Uncertainty, and Economics for a Warming World by William D. Nordhaus
You should have Manu Saadia on again to talk about anything, I think he is the perfect guest for this podcast.
What’s your thoughts on the Prime Directive? It seems like the post scarcity utopia is mostly populated with moral relativists, with one exception. Kant argues that you cannot use people as means to an end, likewise the Federation must respect the autonomy of new civilizations. Is the prime directive an expression of the categorical imperative, or is it purely an extension of their scientific mission? I feel like the prime directive argues that a post scarcity utopia is non-consequentialist.
Hey it’s Manu here!
Re: Prime Directive – I have an entire section of the book on it. All mentions of Kant, Mill and Rawls were mercilessly edited out of the book for the sake of brevity, but it will be obvious for those who know, hopefully!