We have a powerful intuition that some special mental feature, such as self-awareness, is a prerequisite to intelligence. This causes confusion because we don’t have a coherent understanding of what the special feature is, nor what role it plays in intelligent action. It may be best to treat mental characteristics as in the eye of the beholder, and therefore mainly irrelevant to AI risks. https://betterwithout.ai/mind-like-AI You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporti...
Sep 04, 2023•10 min•Season 3Ep. 124
Scary AI: Apocalyptic AI scenarios usually involve some qualitatively different future form of artificial intelligence. No one can explain clearly what would make that exceptionally dangerous in a way current AI isn’t. This confusion draws attention away from risks of existing and near-future technologies, and from ways of forestalling them. https://betterwithout.ai/scary-AI Superintelligence: Maybe AI will kill you before you finish reading this section. The extreme scenarios typically consider...
Aug 27, 2023•16 min•Season 3Ep. 123
We now begin narrating the book Better Without AI, by David Chapman. https://betterwithout.ai/only-you-can-stop-an-AI-apocalypse You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold ] Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License....
Aug 20, 2023•16 min•Season 3Ep. 122
A meta-rational organization may appear chaotic (although productive and innovative), until you notice how smoothly routine rational work gets done. https://metarationality.com/meta-rational-workplace This is one of several standalone essays by David Chapman I'm incorporating into the unwritten sections of In The Cells Of The Eggplant, for the audiobook version. You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If y...
May 22, 2023•18 min•Season 2Ep. 120
Fine-grained analysis of a molecular biology how-to video reveals significant features of rationality in practice. https://metarationality.com/rational-pcr This is one of several standalone essays by David Chapman I'm incorporating into the unwritten sections of In The Cells Of The Eggplant, for the audiobook version. The Britannica entry on PCR: https://www.britannica.com/science/polymerase-chain-reaction The Khan Academy explainer on PCR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHi-3jP6Mvc&ab_chan...
May 14, 2023•32 min•Season 2Ep. 119
Part V of In The Cells Of The Eggplant: Taking Rational Work Seriously Putting meta-rationality to work, in statistics, experimental science, software development, and entrepreneurship. https://metarationality.com/applications Richard Feynman derided “cargo cult science” that sticks to fixed systems. Innovation requires an upgrade to fluid, meta-systematic inquiry. https://metarationality.com/upgrade-your-cargo-cult This is one of several standalone essays by David Chapman I'm incorporating into...
May 07, 2023•58 min•Season 2Ep. 118
The syllabus for a curriculum teaching meta-rational skills: how to evaluate, combine, modify, discover, and create effective systems. https://metarationality.com/meta-rationality-curriculum This is one of several standalone essays by David Chapman I'm incorporating into the unwritten sections of In The Cells Of The Eggplant, for the audiobook version. You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like th...
Apr 23, 2023•49 min•Season 2Ep. 117
Distinguishing irrational, anti-rational, and meta-rational critiques of rationalism helps reply effectively. https://metarationality.com/rationalism-critiques This is one of several standalone essays by David Chapman I'm incorporating into the unwritten sections of In The Cells Of The Eggplant, for the audiobook version. You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a co...
Apr 16, 2023•26 min•Season 2Ep. 116
Just as in the last episode, this is one of several standalone essays by David Chapman I'm incorporating into the unwritten sections of In The Cells Of The Eggplant, for the audiobook version. It fits well into Part 4: Taking Meta-Rationality Seriously. Rationality requires judging whether a system of reasoning applies to a situation — but that judgement cannot be systematic! https://metarationality.com/meta-systematic-judgement Links mentioned in this episode: A webcomic by Saturday Morning Bre...
Apr 09, 2023•52 min•Season 2Ep. 115
The heart of the meta-rationality book: what meta-rationality is, why it matters, and how to do it. https://metarationality.com/meta-rationality A first lesson in meta-rationality, or stage 5 cognition, using Bongard problems as a laboratory. This is an essay from metarationality.com edited and inserted into In The Cells Of The Eggplant, with the permission of the author. https://metarationality.com/bongard-meta-rationality Some links in the episode: Index of Bongard problems http://www.foundali...
Apr 02, 2023•45 min•Season 2Ep. 114
Reconfiguring categories, properties, and relationships is a meta-rational skill—key in scientific revolutions. https://metarationality.com/remodeling Be advised, this episode is an hour long. You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution...
Mar 26, 2023•56 min•Season 2Ep. 113
Even counting, the simplest rational method, works only with the aid of non-rational support. https://metarationality.com/pebbles You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License....
Mar 12, 2023•16 min•Season 2Ep. 112
A pragmatic understanding of how systematic rationality works in practice can help you level up your technical work. https://metarationality.com/rationality You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 Li...
Mar 05, 2023•49 min•Season 2Ep. 111
Reasonableness works with nebulous, tacit, interactive, accountable, purposeful ontologies, which enable everyday routine activity. https://metarationality.com/reasonable-ontology You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerci...
Feb 19, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 110
Using instructions requires figuring out what they mean in the context of your activity, and relative to your purposes. https://metarationality.com/reasonable-ontology You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Internati...
Feb 12, 2023•15 min•Season 2Ep. 109
This episode is more than an hour long. The epistemological categories—truth, belief, inference—are richer, more complex, diverse, and nebulous than rationalism supposes. https://metarationality.com/reasonable-epistemology You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under ...
Feb 05, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 108
Peculiar features of language make sense as tools to enable collaboration, rather than to express objective truths. https://metarationality.com/purpose-of-meaning You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International ...
Jan 22, 2023•22 min•Season 2Ep. 107
We actively work to perceive aspects of the world as meaningful, in terms of our purposes, in context. https://metarationality.com/perception Here are the images mentioned in this episode: In this episode is a mention of a perception test of tracking basketball players passing a ball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo Also mentioned in this episode is a more advanced version of the perception test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY You can support the podcast and get episodes...
Jan 15, 2023•25 min•Season 2Ep. 106
You are accountable for reasonableness: Accountability is the key concept in understanding mere reasonableness, as contrasted with systematic rationality. https://metarationality.com/accountability Reasonableness is routine: Routine activity usually goes smoothly overall, despite frequent minor glitches, because we have methods for repairing trouble. https://metarationality.com/routine You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m...
Jan 08, 2023•29 min•Season 2Ep. 105
Aspects of reasonableness: A summary explanation of everyday reasonable activity, with a tabular guide and a concrete example. https://metarationality.com/reasonableness-aspects Reasonableness is meaningful activity: Understanding concrete, purposeful activity is a prerequisite to understanding the formal rationality that depends on it. https://metarationality.com/meaningful-activity You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/f...
Jan 01, 2023•19 min•Season 2Ep. 104
Everyday reasonableness is the foundation of technical, formal, and systematic rationality. https://metarationality.com/reasonableness This is not cognitive science - The Eggplant is neither cognitive nor science, although it seeks a better understanding of some phenomena cognitive science has studied. https://metarationality.com/cognitive-science The ethnomethodological flip - A dramatic perspective shift: understanding rationality as dependent on mere reasonableness to connect it with reality....
Dec 25, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 103
The conclusion of Part One of In The Cells Of The Eggplant: Taking Rationalism Seriously. Acting On The Truth Rationalist theories of action try to deduce optimal choices from true beliefs. This is rarely possible in practice. https://metarationality.com/action-in-rationalism Overcoming Post-Rationalist Nihilism Realizing rationalism is wrong can be devastating. Antidotes to the ensuing rage, anxiety, and depression are available, fortunately! https://metarationality.com/post-rationalist-nihilis...
Dec 18, 2022•17 min•Season 2Ep. 102
The probability of green cheese: A thought experiment shows why probability theory and statistics cannot address uncertainty in general. https://metarationality.com/small-world Statistics and the replication crisis: The mistaken belief that statistical methods can tell you what to believe drove the science replication crisis. https://metarationality.com/probabilism-crisis You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudio...
Dec 11, 2022•31 min•Season 2Ep. 101
Probability theory seems an attractive foundation for rationalism—but it is not up to the job. https://metarationality.com/probabilism Leaving the casino - Probabilistic rationalism encourages you to view the whole world as a gigantic casino—but mostly it is not like that. https://metarationality.com/probabilism-applicability What probability can’t do - If probability theory were an epistemology, we’d want it to tell us how confident to be in our beliefs. Unfortunately, it can’t do that. https:/...
Dec 04, 2022•27 min•Season 2Ep. 100
Three short chapters from In The Cells Of The Eggplant. What can you believe? - Propositions are whatever sort of thing it is you can believe. Nothing can play that role; so we need a different understanding of belief. https://metarationality.com/propositions Where did you get that idea in the first place? - Rationalism does not explain where hypotheses, theories, discoveries, inventions, or other new ideas come from. https://metarationality.com/no-new-ideas The Spanish Inquisition - Unboundedly...
Nov 27, 2022•15 min•Season 2Ep. 99
Rationalist theories assume perception delivers an objective description of the world to rationality. It can’t, and doesn’t try to. https://metarationality.com/rationalist-perception You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Comme...
Nov 20, 2022•29 min•Season 2Ep. 98
Rational methods assume objects are objectively separable; but they aren’t. How do we use rationality effectively anyway? https://metarationality.com/objective-objects You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Internati...
Nov 13, 2022•17 min•Season 2Ep. 97
Reference: rationalism’s reality problem - The correspondence theory of truth doesn’t work by metaphysical magic. We must do the work to make it work—by any means necessary. https://metarationality.com/rational-reference The National Omelet Registry - Rationalism implicitly or explicitly assumes that every object in the universe has a unique ID number. https://metarationality.com/identity You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.co...
Nov 06, 2022•18 min•Season 2Ep. 96
Approximation is a powerful technique, but is not applicable in all rational work, and so is not a good general theory of nebulosity. https://metarationality.com/approximation You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial I...
Oct 30, 2022•13 min•Season 2Ep. 95
“Shades of gray” is sometimes a good way to think about nebulosity—the world’s inherent fuzziness—but not always. https://metarationality.com/vagueness You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podcast is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International 4.0 License...
Oct 23, 2022•23 min•Season 2Ep. 94
