This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling. Read this edition of the Earthling: https://nonzero.substack.com/p/the-kay-burley-path-to-world-peace Recorded April 19, 2024. https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:59 Why Iran’s attack on Israel was an “own goal” 5:36 Did Iran minimize casualties on purpose? 12:11 The rising odds of Israel attacking Iran directly 19:39 America’s contradictory relationship with Israel 25:43 How conflict with Iran helps Israel 34:11 What China wants in the Middle East 43:27 America’s destabilizing role in the region 57:16 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddh...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling. Read this edition of the Earthling: https://nonzero.substack.com/p/marc-andreessens-mindless-techno Recorded April 12, 2024. https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:29 Why Paul’s eclipse experience eclipsed Bob’s 6:25 Remembering pioneering psychologist Daniel Kahneman 16:33 Bob fails gender affirmation test 21:14 Has the “replication crisis” tainted Kahneman’s legacy? 27:47 Eastern vs. Western “enlightenment” 35:58 How AI doomerism came to the rationalist community 45:42 3 Body Problem review goes into Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True)...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:34 A brief message from Bob 2:12 Derek and Danny stumble into Bob’s Zoom room 3:11 Israel’s doubly out-of-control week 12:13 How Biden's Gaza failures will shape the Democratic Party 26:42 Biden’s political incentives on Israel-Palestine 30:12 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Derek Davison (Foreign Exchanges, American Prestige, Discontents), and Daniel Bessner (...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:33 Robin’s history of thinking about the future 2:48 Seeing AI as offspring, not adversary 14:54 Robin’s famous answer to a great cosmic mystery 25:21 Would evidence of aliens be good news or bad? 34:23 Is rationalist culture cultist? 44:19 LLMs: revolution or hype cycle? 55:57 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Robin Hanson (George Mason University, The Elepha...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:33 Ilia’s background 2:21 Things to know about the noosphere 8:43 Teilhard’s transgressive theological and scientific thought 14:57 Does AI suggest a “transcendent nature to nature”? 18:36 The Teilhardian solution to the mind-body problem 29:44 How Darwinian was Teilhard, really? 38:37 Teilhard on love 43:33 “Techno-sapiens,” redemption, and the Omega Point 55:06 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolut...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling. Read this edition of the Earthling: https://nonzero.substack.com/p/the-new-persuaders Recorded March 29, 2024. https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:33 Kati’s unusual niche 2:40 How Covid changed meditation 7:38 Kati: The optimal amount of meditation is… 15:10 Is focusing on the breath overblown? 23:06 AI as a spiritual challenge 33:03 Meditation and cognitive empathy 39:52 Using technology mindfully 46:24 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Kathryn Devaney (The Berkeley Alembic). Recorded March 21, 2024. Tw...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 3:05 Are Nikolay and Kirill satisfied with the "special military operation"? 8:26 Why have Russians become more supportive of the war effort? 18:07 Kirill defends the RWA tweet that unsettled Bob 32:53 US policies that made the war more likely 41:15 How much of Ukraine does Putin want? 54:29 Heading to Overtime RWA YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RussiansWithAttitude/videos RWA podcast episodes: https://www.p...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:33 Paul’s Substack: small potatoes or some pumpkins? 4:03 Elon sours on Lemon—is ketamine to blame? 10:00 The enduring enigma that is Elon Musk 21:25 Is Altman overdramatizing the AI #Resistance? 30:03 Paul cavalierly ignores Bob’s sage guidance 34:25 Oscars: The good, the bad, and the hammy 40:57 Heading to Overtime (plus: big Small Potatoes news!) Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) ...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:33 Nathan’s role as “AI scout” 4:07 What "open source" in AI really means 9:45 Why the secrecy around AI training data? 17:19 What’s actually “open” about OpenAI? 32:56 The case for and against open source AI 42:35 Is an open source crackdown coming?52:25 What Waymark, Nathan’s company, does with AI Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nathan Labenz (Cognitive Revolution, Waymark AI...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 2:49 Should Biden pursue regime change in Israel? 11:09 How the White House mishandled Netanyahu's far-right government 22:32 Daniel: “Israel has lost this war” 31:57 What a ceasefire deal would look like 39:16 Biden’s immense, unused leverage over Netanyahu 46:54 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Daniel Levy (Prospects for Peace, NAF, The Century Foundation). R...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling. Read this edition of the Earthling at: https://nonzero.substack.com/p/the-real-problem-with-the-trump-biden Recorded March 08, 2024. https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:31 The other Tim B. Lee 3:16 Unpacking the Elon v. OpenAI case 14:04 How did Google’s Gemini go wrong? 25:24 The unsung ingenious side of Gemini 34:39 Is AI a bubble? 38:53 Are some LLM issues insoluble? 44:39 How Sora changes the AI picture 51:12 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Timothy B. Lee (Full Stack Economics, Understanding AI). Recorded March 6, 2024....
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the (would-be) Earthling. Recorded March 01, 2024. https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 1:19 Big trouble with Small Potatoes 5:13 What makes a good podcast? 13:21 Google’s AI goes wild(ly woke) 27:02 Is Biden a “super-ager” or just super old? 35:51 On the psychology of self-immolation 52:38 Are we thinking right about mental illness? 56:52 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The ...
0:31 Gary’s background and place in the AI world 1:45 Are Gary’s views on AI paradoxical? 9:16 Bob: Searle’s Chinese Room argument is dead 19:29 Have LLMs demonstrated "theory of mind"? 26:34 Arguing the semantics of an LLM's “semantic space” 32:04 Do LLM representations map onto the real world? 41:20 Can (and should) we slow down AI development? 52:11 Gary: I’ve never seen a field as myopic as AI today 54:53 The (symbolic?) future of AI Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Non...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 2:19 Nikita’s memories of Navalny’s emergence as a political force 12:17 The time Nikita was detained for protesting election fraud 23:42 Navalny’s success as a political organizer 36:53 What did Navalny represent? 47:22 Navalny’s courageous post-poisoning return to Russia 57:53 Heading to Overtime (plus: Nikita’s photo with Navalny) Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikita Petrov ...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling. Read this edition of the Earthling at: https://nonzero.substack.com/p/sam-altmans-big-bad-idea Recorded February 16, 2024. https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org ( Overtime audio available to paid subscribers through the player at the top of the page and video version available below the paywall. ) 1:35 What MSM missed about Carlsons' Putin interview 14:20 Putin’s litany of grievances against the West 22:19 Russia gets the upper hand in Ukraine 30:02 Why Zelensky hasn’t paved the way for peace talks 37:02 Putin’s mafia-inspired approach to negotiations 45:47 Do most Russians su...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 1:57 Nora’s low score on the AI doomer test 8:26 The messy math of AI alignment 13:41 Teaching and (unteaching) concepts to LLMS 18:06 Do we really want human-like AI? 28:48 How the AI “mind” works 40:41 How to change an AI’s mind 53:19 Are LLMs reverse-engineering the human mind? 57:26 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nora Belrose (EleutherAI). Recorded Januar...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling. Read this edition of the Earthling at: https://nonzero.substack.com/p/the-new-lab-leak-evidence Recorded February 09, 2024. https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:31 Bob’s bad newsletter news for Paul 3:50 Fast Car's moving Grammy moment 9:42 Music, female orgasms, and other evolutionary enigmas 14:22 The Moral Animal turns 30—how has it aged? 17:16 How AI (barely) helps Paul work 19:54 Is America real? 35:55 Bob tries to drag Paul down the JFK rabbit hole 43:38 Lab leak and the trouble with “conspiracy theories” 49:35 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The E...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:31 Effective altruism (EA) and Rob’s 80,000 Hours podcast 3:10 SBF’s fall = EA’s public relations problem 12:13 What went wrong for (and with) SBF? 29:05 Virtue as a utilitarian shortcut 38:39 What drove EA’s longtermist (r)evolution? 46:18 EA, AI, and the miscalculation of existential risk 53:31 Did EA play a role in the OpenAI board drama? 1:01:16 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution o...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:31 Another high-synergy collaborative episode 1:42 Do mainstream Israelis support ethnic cleansing? 10:56 Biden’s electoral (mis?)calculations on Israel-Palestine 21:14 What does a left-wing foreign policy vision look like today? Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True), Derek Davison (Foreign Exchanges, American Prestige, Discontents), and Daniel Bessner (American Prestig...
2:19 How Israelis think about civilian casualties in Gaza 21:15 Is the war spawning a new generation of terrorists? 35:07 Explaining versus justifying bad behavior 50:07 Can Hamas and other extremist groups be moderated? 1:03:40 Is the world biased against Israel? 1:15:13 Cognitive biases that inflame tribal tensions 1:26:37 The “river to the sea” Rorschach test 1:41:31 On the precipice of World War III? Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Ru...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling. Recorded January 25, 2024.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Robert Wright and Tamler Sommers discuss what you can and can't say about transgender issues. Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Tamler Sommers (Very Bad Wizards, University of Houston, Why Honor Matters). Recorded October 10, 2023.
2:33 Fear and loathing on the campaign trail 2024 10:16 Haley’s shortcomings, Trump’s cognitive decline 25:1 Who’s the perfect Democrat to run against Biden? 40:48 How Biden could stop the Gaza war 48:29 Why the Houthis are hard to neutralize 1:00:42 Could Trump sabotage the border security deal? 1:17:18 Doctor bots, robo-receipt checkers, and AI optimism 1:33:29 The real problem with America’s elites 1:42:56 Is catastrophe the only thing that can save America? 1:52:23 Bob tries to drag Mickey (...
