Uploaded July 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Robin Hanson (@robinhanson)is associate professor of economics at George Mason University, and research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University with a doctorate in social science from CalTech, master's degrees in physics and philosophy from the University of Chicago. He has spent nine years as a research programmer, at Lockheed and NASA, has 3500 citations, 60 publications, 700 media mentions, and he blogs at OvercomingBias.
Robin is also the author of The Elephant in the Brain - Hidden Motives in Everyday Life and co-authored The Age of Em - Work, Love and Life when Robots Own the World.
Hanson is credited with originating the concept of the Policy Analysis Market, a DARPA project to implement a market for betting on future developments in the Middle East. Hanson also created and supports a proposed system of government called futarchy, where policies would be determined by prediction markets.
Hanson is a man not willing to challenge conventional wisdom/norms and has lately drawn criticism for his unconventional economics positions on sex, gender dynamics and problems with today's society.
In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including:
The reasons our culture values and norms are quickly changing
Why physics forced Robins to become an atheist
How Robin sees artificial intelligence progressing
The power of prediction markets and why we haven't seen more uptick
Why brain emulation may be the most likely future scenario
The reason Robin prefers to be more like a historian than a futurist
Why we'll never answer the hard problem of consciousness
Why economics is a great way to forecast the future
The problem with academia and education
Why Robin isn't worried about breakout AI
Why Robin is sceptical of blockchains
The reason Robin signed up for cryonics
What folks should know about AI boom and bust cycles
*** http://fringe.fm ***
Prefer podcasts? Subscribe today to get episodes delivered free to your phone:
iTunes: *** http://fringe.fm/itunes ***
Android: *** http://fringe.fm/android ***
Robin Hanson (@robinhanson)is associate professor of economics at George Mason University, and research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University with a doctorate in social science from CalTech, master's degrees in physics and philosophy from the University of Chicago. He has spent nine years as a research programmer, at Lockheed and NASA, has 3500 citations, 60 publications, 700 media mentions, and he blogs at OvercomingBias.
Robin is also the author of The Elephant in the Brain - Hidden Motives in Everyday Life and co-authored The Age of Em - Work, Love and Life when Robots Own the World.
Hanson is credited with originating the concept of the Policy Analysis Market, a DARPA project to implement a market for betting on future developments in the Middle East. Hanson also created and supports a proposed system of government called futarchy, where policies would be determined by prediction markets.
Hanson is a man not willing to challenge conventional wisdom/norms and has lately drawn criticism for his unconventional economics positions on sex, gender dynamics and problems with today's society.
In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including:
The reasons our culture values and norms are quickly changing
Why physics forced Robins to become an atheist
How Robin sees artificial intelligence progressing
The power of prediction markets and why we haven't seen more uptick
Why brain emulation may be the most likely future scenario
The reason Robin prefers to be more like a historian than a futurist
Why we'll never answer the hard problem of consciousness
Why economics is a great way to forecast the future
The problem with academia and education
Why Robin isn't worried about breakout AI
Why Robin is sceptical of blockchains
The reason Robin signed up for cryonics
What folks should know about AI boom and bust cycles
*** http://fringe.fm ***
Prefer podcasts? Subscribe today to get episodes delivered free to your phone:
iTunes: *** http://fringe.fm/itunes ***
Android: *** http://fringe.fm/android ***
