In this episode Curt Jaimungal talks with game designer Jonathan Blow about consciousness, the nature of true art, and how video game design can illustrate a theory of everything. They explore free will, the limits of language, and the way game mechanics express deep philosophical ideas.
- 00:00:00 - Introduction
- 00:02:46 - Jon recounts people using him for clicks
- 00:05:53 - Too many wannabe gurus, lack of instruction
- 00:08:00 - Curt's manipulation of formal film aspects
- 00:09:34 - Goal of understanding the universe
- 00:17:23 - Understanding self vs universe
- 00:19:41 - Limits of language and truth
- 00:25:10 - Video game design and building a TOE
- 00:33:22 - What works in Braid aesthetics
- 00:44:03 - Game mechanics vs theme
- 00:54:29 - Struggling to explain true art
- 00:56:06 - True art vs propaganda
- 01:04:01 - Dislike of contemporary art
- 01:12:06 - Jon on game reviews and art
- 01:32:32 - Specifics of Jon's game design
- 01:42:02 - Rupert Spira in The Witness
- 01:47:08 - Original ideas are difficult
- 01:49:34 - Meditation and insights
- 02:00:20 - Materialism vs qualia vs stories vs models
- 02:06:25 - Wolfram's physics model
- 02:09:21 - Free will is too simple
- 02:16:12 - Super Bunyhop & Joseph Anderson review
- 02:16:39 - Dunkey?
- 02:16:45 - VR interesting but not for immersion
- 02:22:54 - Stanley Parable
- 02:23:36 - OpenAI applied to games
- 02:26:00 - Unreal Engine 5 hype?
- 02:31:24 - [ForceField] On Henri Bergson
- 02:32:49 - [stef] Subconscious artistic expression
- 02:34:41 - [Steven Brent] Games vs other media emotions
- 02:36:45 - [Pooja Soni] Games helping mental illness
- 02:40:27 - [James R] Mind uploading
- 02:43:31 - [Tom] Analytic vs intuitive vs supra‑rational
- 02:45:34 - [Chris Merola] Sausage Roll praised
- 02:48:42 - [championchap] Aphantasia and design
- 02:49:50 - [Brian Mauch] Industry criticism
- 02:51:41 - [James Jones] Neuralink
- 02:53:37 - [Johannes Norrbacka] Jai language opinions
- 02:56:33 - [Lara Lebeu] Connection to non‑duality teachers
- 02:59:35 - Societal stagnation point
- 03:04:00 - [Mr. K] Kojima speculation
- 03:04:16 - [ZenoEvil - Meaning Machines] Braid copycats question
- 03:06:31 - [Wes Lord] Burnout and motivation
- 03:08:45 - [bc1n0] Beta access request
- 03:10:54 - [Michael Bespalov] Hades early access model
- 03:13:22 - Playtesting methods
- 03:15:25 - [Ivan] Free speech thoughts
- 03:21:07 - Weinstein, Thiel, stagnation revisit
- 03:26:02 - SCRUM vs Kanban work process
- 03:29:49 - [Ruari VK] Why it's called The Witness
SPONSORS:
- Brilliant: 20% off at https://brilliant.org/TOE
- Algo: supply chain AI at http://algo.com
RESOURCES:
- YouTube link: https://youtu.be/80f47smhYEI
- Jon's talk on video game ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCVVLAs9mJU
- Jon's talk on motivation and burnout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7kh8pNRWOo
- Iain McGilchrist interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-SgOwc6Pe4
- Rupert Spira interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocP6JSyicY0
- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal
- Crypto: https://tinyurl.com/cryptoTOE
- PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt
- Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs
- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802
- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e
- Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything
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