Nonzero
Revisiting the 1619 Project | Glenn Loury & John McWhorter [The Glenn Show]
updated
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/antisemitism-and-free-speech-robert
1:29 Is it ever okay to fire professors for speech?
13:08 Bari Weiss spreads misinformation without consequence
22:04 Are some of Israel’s American supporters unwittingly inflaming antisemitism?
33:09 Ayaan Hirsi Ali converts to Christianity without abandoning New Atheist creed
38:22 Do Sam Harris et. al. get religion totally wrong?
48:48 Heading to Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
The power of pugnacity
Paul comforts Bob in his search for recognition
How AI could improve clinical psychology
The Chinese TV version of 3 Body Problem
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded May 07, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling, the weekend edition of the Nonzero Newsletter.
Read this edition of the Earthling: nonzero.substack.com/p/the-new-pro-israel-assault-on-free
Recorded May 03, 2024.
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Discussion on the Nonzero Newsletter: nonzero.substack.com/p/early-access-a-debate-on-israel-palestine
0:17 Coleman’s Joe Rogan appearance and new book, The End of Race Politics
2:26 Campus protests and free speech
12:29 Is anti-Zionism anti-Semitism?
17:18 Is "exterminating Hamas" a viable solution?
26:47 Bob: Israel never offered Palestinians a state
40:30 “Right of return” and Palestinian national identity
56:54 How firmly entrenched is hatred of Israel among Palestinians?
1:08:09 Could better US policy have steered Israel-Palestine toward peace?
1:18:48 Are Palestinian “sacred beliefs” the problem?
1:25:56 Possible Palestinian futures
1:33:37 Israel’s strike on Iran’s consulate in Syria
Coleman's YouTube channel: youtube.com/channel/UCUk0AvSMU5CJ0wUqJf9TX8g
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Coleman Hughes (Conversations with Coleman). Recorded April 25, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/campus-protests-dennetts-legacy-robert
0:00 Paul asserts his right to non-assertion
4:07 Campus protests and free speech controversies
19:29 Have pro-Palestine protestors crossed a line? Have their opposition?
30:49 Will the protests force a reckoning on campus “wokeness”?
39:45 Remembering philosopher Daniel Dennett
47:39 Bob vs Dennett on consciousness
1:00:23 Does the mind-body problem suggest a cosmic solution?
1:10:10 Heading to Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
The problem(s) with the 3 Body Problem.
Bob and Dennett’s big breakup: a breakdown.
The time Keanu Reeves glitched at Bob’s expense.
Does Bob have a “Burn Book” in his future?
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded April 24, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/early-access-putin-ukraine-ai-crypto
0:05 Anatoly’s strange CV
3:56 How the 20th century set the stage for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
9:18 Why did Putin turn against the West?
23:55 Anatoly: I underestimated Russia’s incompetence
27:55 Has the Ukraine war really shifted in Russia’s favor?
35:02 Russia’s “elite human capital” problem
41:38 Is the “bio-singularity” near?
50:47 Unipolar vs multipolar AI takeover scenarios
59:37 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Anatoly Karlin (akarlin.com, Nooceleration). Recorded April 16, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling, the weekend edition of the Nonzero Newsletter.
Read this edition of the Earthling: nonzero.substack.com/p/the-kay-burley-path-to-world-peace
Nonzero merch: cafepress.com/nzn
Recorded April 19, 2024.
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Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/how-irans-attack-helps-israel
0:35 Why Iran’s attack on Israel was an “own goal”
5:12 Did Iran minimize casualties on purpose?
11:47 The rising odds of Israel attacking Iran directly
19:15 America’s contradictory relationship with Israel
25:19 How conflict with Iran helps Israel
33:47 What China wants in the Middle East
43:03 America’s destabilizing role in the region
56:52 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Joshua Landis (University of Oklahoma, SyriaComment.com). Recorded April 16, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling, the weekend edition of the Nonzero Newsletter.
Read this edition of the Earthling: nonzero.substack.com/p/marc-andreessens-mindless-techno
Recorded April 12, 2024.
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Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/daniel-kahneman-and-the-rationalists
0:00 Why Paul’s eclipse experience eclipsed Bob’s
6:01 Remembering pioneering psychologist Daniel Kahneman
16:09 Bob fails gender affirmation test
20:50 Has the “replication crisis” tainted Kahneman’s legacy?
27:23 Eastern vs. Western “enlightenment”
35:34 How AI doomerism came to the rationalist community
45:18 3 Body Problem review goes into Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
Should humanity welcome AI/alien overlords?
What was the movie Harvey trying to say?
Psychedelics as psycho-technology
The therapy crapshoot
The self-immolating airman and the trouble with mental “illness”
Poor Things baffles Bob
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded April 10, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com
0:05 A brief message from Bob
1:43 Derek and Danny stumble into Bob’s Zoom room
2:42 Israel’s doubly out-of-control week
11:44 How Biden's Gaza failures will shape the Democratic Party
26:13 Biden’s political incentives on Israel-Palestine
29:43 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Derek Davison (Foreign Exchanges, American Prestige, Discontents), and Daniel Bessner (American Prestige, University of Washington). Recorded April 04, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/ai-rationalism-and-the-great-filter
0:00 Robin’s history of thinking about the future
2:20 Seeing AI as offspring, not adversary
14:26 Robin’s famous answer to a great cosmic mystery
24:53 Would evidence of aliens be good news or bad?
33:55 Is rationalist culture cultist?
43:51 LLMs: revolution or hype cycle?
55:29 Heading to Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
What LLMs do and don’t tell us about the human mind (according to Bob).
Is regulating or not regulating AI more dangerous?
Robin demystifies the sacred.
What are humanity’s “future filters”?
Rationalism’s Yudkowskian fork: a history.
“Grey goo” and the trouble with techno-pessimism.
Robin's Substack: overcomingbias.com
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Robin Hanson (George Mason University, The Elephant in the Brain, Overcoming Bias). Recorded April 02, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/the-cosmic-thought-of-pierre-teilhard
0:00 Ilia’s background
1:53 Things to know about the noosphere
8:15 Teilhard’s transgressive theological and scientific thought
14:29 Does AI suggest a “transcendent nature to nature”?
18:08 The Teilhardian solution to the mind-body problem
29:16 How Darwinian was Teilhard, really?
38:09 Teilhard on love
43:05 “Techno-sapiens,” redemption, and the Omega Point
54:38 Heading to Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
Ilia: We’re a speeding world and no one’s at the wheel.
Is becoming a global superorganism a good thing?
"God is more Omega than Alpha" and other cryptic Teilhard-isms.
Did Teilhard believe in aliens?
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Ilia Delio (Center for Christogenesis, The Unbearable Wholeness of Being, The Not-Yet God). Recorded January 10, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling, the weekend edition of the Nonzero Newsletter.
Read this edition of the Earthling: nonzero.substack.com/p/the-new-persuaders
Recorded March 29, 2024.
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Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/meditation-tips-for-beginners-and
0:00 Kati’s unusual niche
2:12 How Covid changed meditation
7:10 Kati: The optimal amount of meditation is…
14:42 Is focusing on the breath overblown?
22:38 AI as a spiritual challenge
32:35 Meditation and cognitive empathy
39:24 Using technology mindfully
45:56 Heading to Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
Bob’s humiliating meditation hack.
Can meditation erase your attention deficit?
Mushrooms as pacifiers.
Marijuana vs psychedelics—neuroscientifically.
The science of spontaneous enlightenment.
What enlightenment looks like.
Can microdosing be spiritual?
Non-linear meditative progress.
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Kathryn Devaney (The Berkeley Alembic). Recorded March 21, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/what-does-putin-want-robert-wright
RWA YouTube channel: youtube.com/@RussiansWithAttitude/videos
RWA podcast episodes: patreon.com/rwapodcast
2:37 Are Nikolay and Kirill satisfied with the "special military operation"?
7:58 Why have Russians become more supportive of the war effort?
17:39 Kirill defends the RWA tweet that unsettled Bob
31:25 US policies that made the war more likely
40:47 How much of Ukraine does Putin want?
54:01 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikolay and Kirill (Russians with Attitude). Recorded March 21, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/elon-and-altman-dueling-messiahs
0:00 Paul’s Substack: small potatoes or some pumpkins?
3:25 Elon sours on Lemon—is ketamine to blame?
9:32 The enduring enigma that is Elon Musk
20:57 Is Altman overdramatizing the AI #Resistance?
29:35 Paul cavalierly ignores Bob’s sage guidance
33:57 Oscars: The good, the bad, and the hammy
40:29 Heading to Overtime (plus: big Small Potatoes news!)
Discussed in Overtime:
The knotty SSRI sexual side effect question.
How woke is Barbie?
How Will Smith’s Oscar slap is like Russia-Ukraine.
Is AI Bob’s ticket to immortality?
Jury Duty, acting, and human nature.
What is the TikTok ban really about?
Is Paul Pollyanna?
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded March 19, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/the-open-source-ai-question-robert
0:00 Nathan’s role as “AI scout”
3:39 What "open source" in AI really means
9:17 Why the secrecy around AI training data?
16:51 What’s actually “open” about OpenAI?
32:28 The case for and against open source AI
42:07 Is an open source crackdown coming?
51:57 What Waymark, Nathan’s company, does with AI
Discussed in Overtime:
Bob glimpses a Matrix-like future.
Could (and should) we use AI to resolve human disputes?
Where Nathan falls on the AI doomer spectrum.
Understanding how AI understands things.
Is AI alignment overblown?
The Cognitive Revolution podcast: cognitiverevolution.ai
Waymark AI: waymark.com
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nathan Labenz (Cognitive Revolution, Waymark AI). Recorded March 13, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/bidens-gaza-failures-robert-wright
2:21 Should Biden pursue regime change in Israel?
10:41 How the White House mishandled Netanyahu's far-right government
22:04 Daniel: “Israel has lost this war”
31:29 What a ceasefire deal would look like
38:38 Biden’s immense, unused leverage over Netanyahu
46:26 Heading to Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
How the Gaza war makes Biden look weak.
Has the Zionist project become more militant?
The Israel-Palestine one-state reality.
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Daniel Levy (Prospects for Peace, NAF, The Century Foundation). Recorded March 12, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling, the weekend edition of the Nonzero Newsletter.
Recorded March 08, 2024.
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Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/elon-v-openai-google-vs-itself-robert
0:00 The other Tim B. Lee
2:48 Unpacking the Elon v. OpenAI case
13:36 How did Google’s Gemini go wrong?
24:56 The unsung ingenious side of Gemini
34:11 Is AI a bubble?
38:25 Are some LLM issues insoluble?
44:11 How Sora changes the AI picture
50:44 Heading to Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
Are LLMs general learning machines? Are human minds?
The Darwinian dynamics of machine learning.
How to conceptualize how LLMs conceptualize.
Is digital technology’s impact on society overstated?
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Timothy B. Lee (Full Stack Economics, Understanding AI). Recorded March 6, 2024.
Tim's Understanding AI newsletter on Substack: understandingai.org
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the (would-be) Earthling, the weekend edition of the Nonzero Newsletter.
Recorded March 01, 2024.
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Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/googles-ai-bidens-brain-and-other
0:51 Big trouble with Small Potatoes
4:45 What makes a good podcast?
12:53 Google’s AI goes wild(ly woke)
26:34 Is Biden a “super-ager” or just super old?
35:23 On the psychology of self-immolation
52:10 Are we thinking right about mental illness?
56:24 Heading to Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
The problem with paywalls.
Is contingency in life good news or bad?
Do AIs need to be symbolic to be logical?
A new TV show Bob hates.
Bob’s (mental?) break in the JFK case.
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded February 27, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Bob's piece on Searle's "Chinese Room" argument: nonzero.substack.com/p/yes-ais-understand-things
0:00 Gary’s background and place in the AI world
1:17 Are Gary’s views on AI paradoxical?
8:48 Bob: Searle’s Chinese Room argument is dead
19:01 Have LLMs demonstrated "theory of mind"?
26:06 Arguing the semantics of an LLM's “semantic space”
31:36 Do LLM representations map onto the real world?
40:52 Can (and should) we slow down AI development?
51:43 Gary: I’ve never seen a field as myopic as AI today
54:25 The (symbolic?) future of AI
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Gary Marcus (garymarcus.substack.com, Humans vs. Machines, The Algebraic Mind, Kluge). Recorded February 13, 2024.
Gary's Substack: garymarcus.substack.com
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/what-navalny-meant-robert-wright
1:51 Nikita’s memories of Navalny’s emergence as a political force
11:49 The time Nikita was detained for protesting election fraud
23:14 Navalny’s success as a political organizer
36:25 What did Navalny represent?
46:54 Navalny’s courageous post-poisoning return to Russia
57:25 Heading to Overtime (plus: Nikita’s photo with Navalny)
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikita Petrov (https://psychopolitica.substack.com). Recorded February 20, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling, the weekend edition of the Nonzero Newsletter.
Read this edition of the Earthling at: nonzero.substack.com/p/sam-altmans-big-bad-idea
Recorded February 16, 2024.
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Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/ukraines-war-putins-worldview-robert
1:07 What MSM missed about Carlsons' Putin interview
13:52 Putin’s litany of grievances against the West
21:51 Russia gets the upper hand in Ukraine
29:34 Why Zelensky hasn’t paved the way for peace talks
36:34 Putin’s mafia-inspired approach to negotiations
45:19 Do most Russians support the war?
49:21 Why Zelensky fired his popular top general
53:32 Heading to Overtime
Leonid's article in Al Jazeera: aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/2/12/putin-is-ready-for-talks-on-ukraine-but-on-his-own-terms
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Leonid Ragozin (Rest of World, West of Providence, Lonely Planet). Recorded February 14, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/inside-the-mind-of-ai-robert-wright
1:29 Nora’s low score on the AI doomer test
7:58 The messy math of AI alignment
13:13 Teaching and (unteaching) concepts to LLMS
17:38 Do we really want human-like AI?
28:20 How the AI “mind” works
40:13 How to change an AI’s mind
52:51 Are LLMs reverse-engineering the human mind?
56:58 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nora Belrose (EleutherAI). Recorded January 16, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling, the weekend edition of the Nonzero Newsletter.
Read this edition of the Earthling at: nonzero.substack.com/p/the-new-lab-leak-evidence
Recorded February 09, 2024.
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Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/conspiracy-theories-and-true-fictions
0:00 Bob’s bad newsletter news for Paul
3:22 Fast Car's moving Grammy moment
9:14 Music, female orgasms, and other evolutionary enigmas
13:54 The Moral Animal turns 30—how has it aged?
16:48 How AI (barely) helps Paul work
19:26 Is America real?
35:27 Bob tries to drag Paul down the JFK rabbit hole
43:10 Lab leak and the trouble with “conspiracy theories”
49:07 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded February 6, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/the-truth-about-effective-altruism
0:00 Effective altruism (EA) and Rob’s 80,000 Hours podcast
2:42 SBF’s fall = EA’s public relations problem
11:45 What went wrong for (and with) SBF?
28:37 Virtue as a utilitarian shortcut
38:11 What drove EA’s longtermist (r)evolution?
45:50 EA, AI, and the miscalculation of existential risk
53:13 Did EA play a role in the OpenAI board drama?
1:00:48 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Rob Wiblin (80,000 Hours). Recorded January 11, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/whats-next-for-gaza-and-israel-robert
0:00 Another high-synergy collaborative episode
1:14 Do mainstream Israelis support ethnic cleansing?
10:28 Biden’s electoral (mis?)calculations on Israel-Palestine
20:46 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 Prestige, University of Washington). Recorded Feb 01, 2024.
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1:51 How Israelis think about civilian casualties in Gaza
20:47 Is the war spawning a new generation of terrorists?
34:39 Explaining versus justifying bad behavior
49:39 Can Hamas and other extremist groups be moderated?
1:03:12 Is the world biased against Israel?
1:14:45 Cognitive biases that inflame tribal tensions
1:26:09 The “river to the sea” Rorschach test
1:41:03 On the precipice of World War III?
Russ's podcast: econlib.org/econtalk
Russ's Substack: listeningtothesirens.substack.com
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Russ Roberts (Shalem College, EconTalk, Listening to the Sirens, Wild Problems). Recorded January 24, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling, the weekend edition of the Nonzero Newsletter.
Read this edition of the Earthling at: nonzero.substack.com/p/ai-gets-political
Recorded January 25, 2024.
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Full discussion available to Nonzero Newsletter members at:
nonzero.substack.com/p/overton-windows-ep3-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.
Nonzero Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Very Bad Wizards: verybadwizards.com
2:05 Fear and loathing on the campaign trail 2024
9:48 Haley’s shortcomings, Trump’s cognitive decline
24:43 Who’s the perfect Democrat to run against Biden?
40:20 How Biden could stop the Gaza war
48:01 Why the Houthis are hard to neutralize
1:00:14 Could Trump sabotage the border security deal?
1:16:50 Doctor bots, robo-receipt checkers, and AI optimism
1:33:01 The real problem with America’s elites
1:42:28 Is catastrophe the only thing that can save America?
1:51:55 Bob tries to drag Mickey (back) into the JFK assassination rabbit hole
1:58:24 Has DeSantis destroyed his brand?
Mickey's Substack: kaus.substack.com
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded January 20, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/wuhan-lab-leak-effective-altruism
Paul's Substack: smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net
0:00 Bob saves Paul from some very bad influences
5:33 What makes Hitler more evil than Stalin and Mao?
12:59 New lab leak evidence—what will come of it?
22:32 Correcting the record on effective altruism
36:46 Is “self-plagiarism” really plagiarism?
46:59 The dishonesty researcher accused of academic dishonesty
52:10 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded January 18, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
0:00 Reid’s deep roots in the tech world
4:02 The kind of AI pessimism that irks Reid the most
15:48 Can (and should) we slow down AI progress?
27:48 Could AI help resolve international disputes?
34:23 The promise and perils of perspective-taking AIs
47:08 Why Reid co-wrote Impromptu with GPT-4
51:47 Where are the AI optimists?
1:00:04 Sam Altman and the OpenAI drama: a (semi-) behind-the-scenes view
1:14:21 How dangerous is open-source AI, really?
1:19:41 Is AI acceleration decelerating?
1:22:34 Engagement with China and “organic transparency”
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Reid Hoffman (Greylock Partners, Inflection AI, Impromptu, Possible). Recorded January 9, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
1:30 Mickey’s in Iowa—and on the Nonzero Podcast!
5:23 Do Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have a chance?
17:16 Why Biden will probably lose
25:24 Wait, are there Democratic primaries?
39:42 Would Trump 2.0 be a more capable authoritarian?
50:35 AI bots that cater to your every need
57:39 Why doesn't Biden get tougher on the border?
1:07:04 Exciting new Child Tax Credit updates
1:10:44 Is Twitter going down the tubes?
1:18:05 Bob fails to escape from JFK assassination rabbit hole
1:31:45 Subways and other things that have gotten worse
1:36:06 Mickey’s Iowa caucus prediction
Mickey's Substack: kaus.substack.com
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded January 11, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/robert-wright-and-stephen-walt
1:16 How the Gaza war harms US interests
11:48 How the Gaza war harms Israel’s interests
22:21 Could Biden get Israel to wind down the war?
31:29 Biden’s complex political calculus on Israel
42:07 The Israel lobby: what it is and what it does
50:59 How elements of the lobby intimidate critics of Israel
54:14 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Stephen Walt (Harvard University, Foreign Policy). Recorded Jan 9, 2024.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/is-ai-moving-too-fast-robert-wright
0:00 Tim seeks Substack synergy beyond Bob
2:53 Recent contributors to Bob’s AI anxiety
9:08 Why “Mamba” matters
13:25 Is AI moving too fast?
23:44 Are fears of an AI “jobocalypse” overblown?
34:34 AI’s (potential) next transformation
37:47 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Timothy B. Lee (Full Stack Economics, Understanding AI). Recorded January 4, 2024.
Tim's Understanding AI newsletter on Substack: understandingai.org
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/down-the-jfk-rabbit-hole-robert-wright
0:00 Jeff’s journalistic bona fides
3:41 The origins of the official assassination narrative
10:44 Oswald: Lone gunman? Patsy? Both?
19:24 The CIA’s interest in Oswald before the assassination
30:49 The Pentagon’s scheme to provoke war with Cuba via false flag
39:32 How Bob started down the JFK rabbit hole
44:11 Oswald’s critical time in New Orleans
51:11 Why did Jack Ruby kill Oswald, really?
57:29 Why JFK’s assassination still matters
JFK Facts on Substack: jfkfacts.substack.com
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Jefferson Morley (JFK Facts, Snow-Storm in August). Recorded December 28, 2023.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling.
0:42 Where’s Mickey?
5:00 Why ChatGPT is the real person of the year
20:41 The New York Times sues OpenAI
33:40 Bob’s bitter vindication on Russia-Ukraine
43:12 Israel threatens a wider war
48:26 Efforts to remove Trump from the ballot
1:00:13 2024 predictions
Read this edition of the Earthling at: nonzero.substack.com/p/nzns-person-of-the-year
Recorded December 28, 2023.
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twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/early-access-psychedelics-meditation
0:00 Kati’s very unusual Venn diagram
4:24 Your brain on meditation
10:31 The time Bob’s meditation got weird
16:15 What are the “jhanas”?
25:06 What science tells us about the jhana states
31:25 Are psychedelics gateway drugs to meditation?
40:57 Kati: Here’s how we get “not-self” wrong…
46:22 Psychedelics vs meditation—neuroscientifically
54:31 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Kathryn Devaney (The Berkeley Alembic). Recorded December 06, 2023.
In the course of fielding questions from their newsletter subscribers, Bob and Nikita discussed psychedelics, meditation, US foreign policy, ego death, tribalism, cynicism, Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Gaza, artificial intelligence, evolution, how they first met, and more.
Subscribe to The Nonzero Newsletter at nonzero.substack.com
Subscribe to Psychopolitica: psychopolitica.substack.com
Recorded December 21, 2023.
0:52 How Tom tried to bring down Netanyahu’s government
9:32 The coming Biden-Netanyahu showdown
13:57 What’s driving Israeli public support for such massive retaliation?
23:50 The alarming growth of global disorder
30:22 Is Israel fated to be hated?
42:22 Why Tom is still hopeful about Israel-Palestine
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Thomas Friedman (The New York Times). Recorded December 20, 2023.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/effective-altruism-ai-and-existential
2:16 A short history of “longtermism”
8:39 The evolution of effective altruism (EA)
16:59 Unpacking the TESCREAL bundle
21:34 Why AGI dominates longtermist thinking
29:45 Are AI doomers and accelerationists more aligned than it seems?
40:45 Why did Émile ditch EA?
51:34 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Émile P. Torres (Human Extinction; Morality, Foresight, and Human Flourishing). Recorded December 12, 2023.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Full conversation:
youtu.be/X388IuhEDjI
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Daron Acemoglu (MIT, Why Nations Fail, Power and Progress). Recorded November 29, 2023.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
0:17 Max’s book Rules for Rebels—and the rule that Hamas broke
3:45 Is social media a reality distortion machine?
19:04 “From the river to the sea…” compared to “globalize the intifada”
26:33 Does social media exaggerate the level of civil strife—and thereby raise it?
42:43 Is Israel’s assault on Gaza intensifying antisemitism?
55:40 How Israel’s actions impact the Jewish diaspora
1:05:26 The terrorism threat facing Israel
1:16:50 US foreign policy and the Israel lobby
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Max Abrahms (Northeastern University, Rules for Rebels). Recorded December 13, 2023.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Exclusive Overtime discussion at: nonzero.substack.com/p/free-speech-antisemitism-and-elon
Paul's Substack: smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net
0:38 The biggest surprise of Paul’s intellectual life
8:13 What the three college presidents should have said about free speech
20:39 Ramaswamy’s hot mic moment: mistake or power move?
22:45 Elon’s scorched-earth moment: power move or mental break?
30:49 Paul gets fact-checked—and likes it
36:02 In aligning AI, should we aim higher than human values?
40:29 Bob DESTROYS Paul’s AI article
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded December 11, 2023.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Clips taken from the following conversations:
What is consciousness for? | Robert Wright & David Chalmers (2016):
youtube.com/watch?v=oVt40z5JIYY
Panpsychism | Robert Wright & Galen Strawson (2018):
youtube.com/watch?v=1ydqAhPNuyY
The illusion of consciousness | Robert Wright & Keith Frankish (2016):
youtube.com/watch?v=bBgtM1EuaQc
Consciousness All the Way Down? | Robert Wright & Bernardo Kastrup (2022):
youtube.com/watch?v=tdlCv8SORu4
Robert Wright & Miri Albahari (2014):
youtube.com/watch?v=bJeZb8LVvFs
Is religion to blame? | Robert Wright & Sam Harris (2006):
youtube.com/watch?v=0dwD6XQ9Tsw
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