The Wright Show (audio)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.comRobert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling.Read this edition of the Earthling:https://nonzero.substack.com/p/marc-andreessens-mindless-technoRecorded April 12, 2024.https://twitter.com/NonzeroNewshttps://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com0:29 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 OvertimeRobert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded April 10, 2024.Paul’s Substack:Overtime titles:0:00 Should humanity welcome AI/alien overlords? 4:44 What was the movie Harvey trying to say? 15:07 Psychedelics as psycho-technology 26:59 The therapy crapshoot 31:06 The self-immolating airman and the trouble with mental “illness” 42:58 Poor Things baffles Bob

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com0:34 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 OvertimeRobert 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.American Prestige on Substack: https://www.americanprestigepod.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=publication_embed&utm_medium=webTwitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com0:33 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 OvertimeRobert 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.Robin's Substack: https://www.overcomingbias.com/

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com0:33 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 OvertimeRobert 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: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsOvertime titles:0:00 Ilia: We’re a speeding world and no one’s at the wheel 13:20 Is becoming a global superorganism a good thing? 19:43 "God is more Omega than Alpha" and other cryptic Teilhard-isms 25:57 Did Teilhard believe in aliens?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.comRobert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling.Read this edition of the Earthling: https://nonzero.substack.com/p/the-new-persuadersRecorded March 29, 2024.https://twitter.com/NonzeroNewshttps://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com0:33 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 OvertimeRobert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Kathryn Devaney (The Berkeley Alembic). Recorded March 21, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com3:05 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 OvertimeRWA YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RussiansWithAttitude/videos RWA podcast episodes: https://www.patreon.com/rwapodcastRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikolay and Kirill (Russians with Attitude). Recorded March 21, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsOvertime titles:0:00 Will Ukrainians blame Zelensky for the war? 10:16 Andrei Tarkovsky’s films and Burkean conservatism 21:40 The future of Russia’s political opposition 31:39 How are Russian nationalists processing the Gaza war?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com0:33 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) and Paul Bloom (https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded March 19, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsDiscussed 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?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com0:33 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 AIRobert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nathan Labenz (Cognitive Revolution, Waymark AI). Recorded March 13, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsThe Cognitive Revolution podcast: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai/ Waymark AI: https://waymark.com/Overtime titles:0:00 Bob glimpses a Matrix-like future 4:34 Could (and should) we use AI to resolve human disputes? 9:47 Where Nathan falls on the AI doomer spectrum 22:50 Understanding how AI understands things 32:22 Is AI alignment overblown?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com2:49 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 OvertimeRobert 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: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsOvertime titles:0:00 How the Gaza war makes Biden look weak 5:30 Has the Zionist project become more militant? 23:22 The Israel-Palestine one-state reality

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.comRobert 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-bidenRecorded March 08, 2024.https://twitter.com/NonzeroNewshttps://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com0:31 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 OvertimeRobert 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:Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsOvertime titles:0:00 Are LLMs general learning machines? Are human minds? 6:44 The Darwinian dynamics of machine learning 13:37 How to conceptualize how LLMs conceptualize 20:04 Is digital technology’s impact on society overstated?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.comRobert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the (would-be) Earthling.Recorded March 01, 2024.https://twitter.com/NonzeroNewshttps://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com1:19 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 OvertimeRobert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded February 27, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsPaul’s Substack:Overtime titles:0:00 The problem with paywalls 4:06 Is contingency in life good news or bad? 22:28 Do AIs need to be symbolic to be logical? 32:46 A new TV show Bob hates 38:04 Bob’s (mental?) break in the JFK case

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 AIRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Gary Marcus (https://garymarcus.substack.com/, Humans vs. Machines, The Algebraic Mind, Kluge). Recorded February 13, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsGary's Substack: This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com2:19 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 (psychopolitica.substack.com). Recorded February 20, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.comRobert 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-ideaRecorded February 16, 2024.https://twitter.com/NonzeroNewshttps://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com(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 support the war? 49:49 Why Zelensky fired his popular top general 54:00 Heading to OvertimeLeonid's article in Al Jazeera: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/2/12/putin-is-ready-for-talks-on-ukraine-but-on-his-own-termsRobert 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: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsOvertime titles:0:00 An approaching Russia-NATO war? 3:39 Why the Gaza war is

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com1:57 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 OvertimeRobert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nora Belrose (EleutherAI). Recorded January 16, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsOvertime titles:0:00 Eleuther’s extra open open-source AIs 4:29 Is the human mind a general learning machine? 7:18 Why Nora supports open-source AI 11:42 How could we tell if AIs are conscious? 23:31 The new contender for reinforcement learning supremacy 29:57 Inside the minds of the AI doomers 40:52 Bob’s main sources of AI anxiety