“Opponents replied that when you modeled a hurricane, nobody got wet. When you modeled a fusion power plant, no energy was produced. When you modeled digestion and metabolism, no nutrients were consumed – no real digestion took place. So, when you modeled the human brain, why should you expect real thought to occur?” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're talking all things consciousness and simulated reality with Permutation City by Greg Egan. Classified as a ...
Mar 20, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 91
“In today’s world, even a non-Stagnated version, the flying car is not a replacement for the car; it is a replacement for the airplane. A reasonably well-designed convertible could fit right in to today’s airspace system; it would fit right into our road system as well. Without the Stagnation there might well be a 50,000 airplane per year market, and enough licensed pilots to buy them. Remember, average family income would be well into six figures. In 1950, about one quarter of one percent of Am...
Feb 21, 2023•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 90
“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're covering The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Though it's nearly 2,500 years old, the military tactics and war strategies presented in the book are still being taught in militaries and business schools around the world making this a timeless...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 89
“Neuroscience research shows that the only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going inside ourselves.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we discuss The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk, and the effects that traumatic stress can have on our mind and body. We cover a wide range of topics including: Why the mind and body should not be viewed as unrelated entities The role of bot...
Jan 27, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 88
Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode we discuss The Analects of Confucius and virtuous living. We cover a wide range of topics including: Confucian virtues The differences between Confucianism and Taoism The value of friendships between the young and their elders How to govern through example in a Confucian way Transmitting the values of ancients to contemporary times Ancient Chinese religions And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat , Neil , and Adi...
Jan 17, 2023•1 hr 26 min
Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode we discuss The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter, and how our modern lifestyle and pursuit of ease might be making us miserable, stressed, and anxious. We cover a wide range of topics including: The connection between boredom and creativity Misogis and how to discover what you're truly capable of Why you don't necessarily want "less phone" How rucking could be a massive exercise hack The proper "dose" of outdoor, tech-free time An...
Dec 22, 2022•1 hr 34 min
In today’s episode, Nat Neil and Adil discuss the Tao Te Ching by Laozi. We each picked a few of our favorite chapters from the book to read and discuss, resulting in a wide-ranging discussion of work, happiness, ambition, finance, philosophy, and all our usual favorite subjects. Some of the topics we covered were: The importance of not over-extending yourself, being moderate and patient What does it mean to prioritize “inaction”? The balance between short and long-term productivity Which parts ...
Dec 15, 2022•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 85
Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Neil, Nat, and Adil give you a full 70 minutes doing what they do best: Going on tangents. Originally set to continue with the next book on their Great Books Project, the energy and caffeine took over as they dive into a variety of interesting discussions, stories, and ideas. This is an episode you don't want to miss! We cover a wide range of topics including: Our favorite virtual reality video games and table games How new lead...
Nov 22, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 84
"Tell me about a complicated man. Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy, and where he went, and who he met, the pain he suffered in the storms at sea, and how he worked to save his life and bring his men back home. He failed to keep them safe; poor fools, they ate the Sun God’s cattle, and the god kept them from home. Now goddess, child of Zeus, tell the old story for our modern times. Find the beginning." Welcome back to another episode of Made You...
Oct 28, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 83
“Like the generations of leaves, the lives of mortal men. Now the wind scatters the old leaves across the earth, now the living timber bursts with the new buds and spring comes round again. And so with men: as one generation comes to life, another dies away.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Neil, Nat, and Adil continue with the next book on their Great Books Project: The Iliad by Homer. This book explores the themes of fate, gods, and the glory of war. Listen ...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 82
"The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Neil and Nat discuss the next book on their Great Books Project: the book of Exodus. We pick up from where we left off in G...
Sep 14, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 81
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Neil and Adil discuss the next book on their Great Books Project: the book of Genesis. The book begins with the story of creation and wraps up with the lives of Jacob and Joseph...
Aug 19, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 80
“Humans are born, they live, then they die, this is the order that the gods have decreed. But until the end comes, enjoy your life, spend it in happiness, not despair. Savor your food, make each of your days a delight, bathe and anoint yourself, wear bright clothes that are sparkling clean, let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand, and give your wife pleasure in your embrace. That is the best way for a man to live.” Welcome back to another episode of Made Y...
Jul 27, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 79
“No matter what I believe to be true, there always seems to be another side to the question. If you were to put me to the torture, I’d probably confess that this is my analytic ideal: to consider the question from as many relevant perspectives as the mind can hold.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Nat, Neil, and Adil talk about their key takeaways from The Revolt of the Public by Martin Gurri. With technology giving us access to more information than ever, the...
Jun 30, 2022•1 hr 27 min
"Everyone should have an intense interest in what money is and how it’s manipulated by the few at the expense of the many. Money is crucial for survival. It is necessary for maintaining a free society. A healthy economy depends on it. Limiting political power is impossible without it. Sound money is essential for preventing unnecessary wars. Prosperity and peace in the long run are impossible without it." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Nat and Neil are joined...
Jun 15, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 77
“A story told by the conscious mind has a beginning, a development, and an end, but the same is not true of a dream. Its dimensions in time and space are quite different; to understand it you must examine it from every aspect-just as you may take an unknown object in your hands and turn it over and over until you are familiar with every detail of its shape.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! After years of mentioning Carl Jung and his work in previous episodes, we're excited to ...
Jun 01, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 76
"The despot is not a man. It is the Plan. The correct, realistic, exact plan, the one that will provide your solution once the problem has been posited clearly, in its entirety, in its indispensable harmony. This plan has been drawn up well away from the frenzy in the mayor’s office or the town hall, from the cries of the electorate or the laments of society’s victims. It has been drawn up by serene and lucid minds. It has taken account of nothing but human truths. It has ignored all current reg...
May 12, 2022•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 75
“A Fourth Turning lends people of all ages what is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to heal (or destroy) the very heart of the republic.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Nat and Neil are joined by Adil Majid to discuss their key takeaways from The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe. The authors uncover how history moves in cycles, or "turnings", and how our past could very well predict our future. This episode will challenge the way you ...
Apr 06, 2022•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 74
“The man who is striving to solve a problem defined by existing knowledge and technique is not, however, just looking around. He knows what he wants to achieve, and he designs his instruments and directs his thoughts accordingly. Unanticipated novelty, the new discovery, can emerge only to the extent that his anticipations about nature and his instruments prove wrong. . . . There is no other effective way in which discoveries might be generated.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 73
“It can be said that life's perhaps most fundamental dynamic is the attempt to move from a lower form of experience and consciousness to a higher (or deeper) level of consciousness.” In this episode of Made You Think, Nat and Neil discuss their key takeaways from King, Warrior, Magician, Lover by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette. This book presents the 4 archetypes of manhood, and explores what undeveloped masculinity looks like in the form of the archetype Shadows. In this episode of Made You ...
Mar 15, 2022•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 72
“Democracies are not lucky. They do not attract civic-minded leaders by chance. Rather, they attract survival-oriented leaders who understand that, given their dependence on many essentials, they can only come to and stay in power if they figure out the right basket of public goods to provide.” In this episode of Made You Think, Nat and Neil are joined by Adil Majid to discuss their key takeaways from The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita. The Dictator's Handbook delivers five rules...
Feb 25, 2022•2 hr
"The most beautiful as well as the most ugly inclinations of man are not part of a fixed and biologically given human nature, but result from the social process which creates man. In other words, society has not only a suppressing function—although it has that too—but it has also a creative function. Man’s nature, his passions, and anxieties are a cultural product; as a matter of fact, man himself is the most important creation and achievement of the continuous human effort, the record of which ...
Feb 17, 2022•1 hr 20 min
"To feel that it is bliss to be alive, health alone is needed. And by health I mean not the absence of physical ailment or disease, but a high condition of vitality. This the country gave me; this the town denied me. The only question was then, at what rate did I value the boon?" In this episode of Made You Think, Nat and Neil are joined by Andrew Lynch to discuss their key takeaways from The Quest of the Simple Life by William Dawson. The setting takes place in London in the early 1900s, and Da...
Feb 04, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 69
Made You Think is back! And if you heard our previous update episode from a few weeks ago, consider this the Update 2.0 on what's to come for the podcast. We are excited to bring you new episodes this year, so stay tuned and follow our show on Spotify so you don't miss an episode. In this episode of Made You Think, Nat and Neil cover a wide range of topics including: The rapidly growing world of Crypto and Web3 Podcasting 2.0 - How you can further support your favorite podcast hosts The Anti-wor...
Jan 28, 2022•45 min•Ep. 68
Hey everyone, this is an update episode. Made You Think is coming back this month! The biggest change is that Nat will not be a co-host on most episodes moving forward, due to other time commitments. Instead, we'll have other co-hosts on each episode, some of whom you've heard on the show before. For those that want to follow along, the next two books we're covering are: The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics by Alastair Smith and Bruce Bueno de Mesquita The Que...
Jan 12, 2022•2 min•Ep. 67
“Even today, what to study and how to study it are more important than where to study it and for how long. The best teachers are on the Internet. The best books are on the Internet. The best peers are on the Internet. The tools for learning are abundant. It’s the desire to learn that’s scarce.” - Naval Ravikant In this episode of Made You Think, Nat and Neil are joined by Eric Jorgenson. Eric is a writer, product strategist, and author of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant . We cover a wide range of...
Dec 16, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 66
“My old definition was "freedom to." Freedom to do anything I want. Freedom to do whatever I feel like, whenever I feel like. Now, the freedom I'm looking for is internal freedom. It's “freedom from." Freedom from reaction. Freedom from feeling angry. Freedom from being sad. Freedom from being forced to do things. I'm looking for "freedom from," internally and externally, whereas before I was looking for “freedom to." On this episode of Made You Think, Nat and Neil discuss The Almanack of Naval ...
Oct 23, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 65
From a fundamental biophysical perspective, both prehistoric human evolution and the course of history can be seen as the quest for controlling greater stores and flows of more concentrated and more versatile forms of energy and converting them, in more affordable ways at lower costs and with higher efficiencies, into heat, light, and motion. Energy and Civilization by Vaclav Smil provides an explanation of energy in its relation to society. Smil dives deeply into the history of energy. From sca...
Oct 09, 2020•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 64
Scale by Geoffrey West focuses on the the principles and patterns connecting the ways that cities, organisms, and companies grow. West, a theoretical physicist, studied the way in which sizes of mammals related to their life expectancy, and further connected these laws to the growth and longevity of cities and the world of business. Nat and Neil unpack these laws and principles on today's podcast episode. We cover a wide range of topics including: The idea of '1 billion heartbeats' per lifetime ...
Sep 11, 2020•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 63
Made You Think is BACK! In this episode of the podcast, Nat and Neil catch up after a year and a half hiatus. Their plan was to catch up on what’s been going on, but that didn’t happen as they ended up talking a lot about COVID, the economy, politics, some books they’d read, and a whole lot more. We cover a wide range of topics, including: The rise of Tiktok and Twitter Media coverage and confirmation bias Cargo cult science and research in the Health field How COVID has affected the workplace O...
Sep 02, 2020•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 62
