Steve Hsu is a professor of theoretical physics and professor of computational mathematics, science, and engineering at Michigan State University, as well as the former VP of Research. He was the founder of digital security companies Safeweb, acquired by Symantec, and Robot Genius, as well as genomics startups Othram and Genomic Prediction. He writes the blog Information Processing. In this podcast, we discuss the history and politics of academia, individual differences in intelligence and athleticism, our experiences with high level mathematics, statistics as an anti-meme, the tension between merit and ideology, math education, theory of mind, differences between the Midwestern and immigrant suburb schools where Steve and I grew up, respectively, and informal networks as alternative credentials.
Steve Hsu on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hsu_steve
Information Processing:
https://infoproc.blogspot.com/On wordcels: https://infoproc.blogspot.com/2022/02/annals-of-psychometry-wordcels-and.html
Bounded cognition (statistics and innumeracy): https://infoproc.blogspot.com/2007/10/bounded-cognition.html
Creators and Rulers: https://infoproc.blogspot.com/2009/08/creators-and-rulers.html
Quantum GDP: https://infoproc.blogspot.com/2014/12/quantum-gdp.html
Terman studies:
Volume 1-3: https://www.amazon.com/Genetic-Studies-Genius-Vol-III/dp/B001LD3MKA
Volume 4: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1947-15005-000
Volume 5: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1959-07905-000
Wordcels and Shape Rotators:
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cultures/wordcel-shape-rotator-mathcel
Death’s End, by Liu Cixin:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0765377101?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_thcv_2&storeType=ebooks
Timestamps:
3:24 Interview Starts
15:49 Cactus' Experience with High Math People
19:49 High School Sports
21:26 Comparison to Intelligence
26:29 Is Lack of Understanding due to Denial or Ignorance?
29:29 The Past and Present of Selection in Academia
37:02 How Universities Look from the Inside
44:19 Informal Networks Replacing Credentials
48:37 Capture of Research Positions
50:24 Progressivism as Demagoguery Against the Self-Made
55:31 Innumeracy is Common
1:06:53 Understanding Innumerate People
1:13:53 Skill Alignment at Cactus' High School
1:18:12 Free Speech in Academia
1:21:00 You Shouldn't Fire Exceptional People
1:23:03 The Anti-Excellence Progressives
1:28:42 Rawls, Nozick, and Technology
1:34:00 Freedom = Variance = Inequality
1:37:58 Dating Apps
1:41:27 Jumping Into Social Problems From a Technical Background
1:41:50 Steve's High School Pranks
1:46:43 996 and Cactus' High School
1:50:26 The Vietnam War and Social Change
1:53:07 Are Podcasts the Future?
1:59:37 The Power of New Things
2:02:56 The Birth of Twitter
2:07:27 Selection Creates Quality
2:10:21 Incentives of University Departments
2:16:29 Woke Bureaucrats
2:27:59 Building a New University
2:30:42 What needs more order?
2:31:56 What needs more chaos?
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