Undertone

Nabeel S. Qureshi

Mar 12, 2024

The podcast delves into Nabeel's wide-ranging interests, from foreign film to AI, startups, and more. Topics include Shakespeare on film, Miyazaki's approach to filmmaking, deep reading, technology's impact on literature, favorite music albums, and the AI landscape in San Francisco. The conversation also explores the balance between optimism and skepticism in startup problem-solving, the intersection of entertainment and learning, and the benefits of taking a sabbatical journey.

02:24:01

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Episode guests

Nabeel S. Qureshi

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Exploration of diverse film regions such as Hong Kong and Taiwan

Appreciation for classic and thought-provoking Hollywood films

Emphasis on the visual impact of movies to captivate viewers

Significance of immersive theater experiences for conscious cinematic engagement

AI's role in enhancing educational experiences for children through creative expression

Leveraging AI models for efficient programming tasks and deep reading

Deep dives

Critique on Directors Selection

The protagonist delves into a detailed analysis of various directors, categorizing them into 'obvious' and 'underrated' categories based on personal preferences. Slow cinema is highlighted for its capacity to engage viewers on a deeper level, challenging them to think more profoundly.

Embrace the Strangeness in Art and Design

02:00

Importance of Differentiated Insight in Startups

02:43

Challenging the Unification of Ethical Theories

02:43

The Value of Twitter for Idea Obsessives

01:40

Introduction

3min

Exploring Underrated Film Regions and Thoughtful Movie Preferences

8min

Miyazaki's Approach to Filmmaking for Children and Adults

2min

Exploring Cultural Perspectives Through Film

14min

The Art of Deep Reading

20min

Exploring the Significance of Strangeness in Art and Design

2min

Exploring the Evolution of Technology and Literature

22min

Exploring Musical Favorites and Modern Adaptations

4min

Exploring Chess Addiction and the Charms of California

2min

10.

Cultivating Arts and Culture in San Francisco

6min

11.

Navigating Twitter: From Unique Connections to Platform Evolution

9min

12.

Exploring the AI Landscape in San Francisco

13min

13.

Balancing Optimism and Skepticism in Startup Problem-Solving

7min

14.

Exploring the Boundary Between Entertainment and Learning

4min

15.

Embracing the Sabbatical Journey

4min

16.

Embracing Personal Imbalances and Networking with Influential People

25min

Nabeel is a Visiting Scholar at the Mercatus Center focused on developing an optimistic vision for AI, but as you’ll see in this conversation his breadth of interests goes about as wide as you can imagine. We talk about foreign film, interpreting the Iliad, Shakespeare, Wittgenstein, Derek Parfit, SF vs. NYC, AI, startups, and a lot more.

Episode transcript

Timestamps

(0:00:00) Intro

(0:00:49) Nabeel's favorite directors

(0:02:59) Underrated regions for film

(0:04:33) Nabeel's favorite Hollywood movies

(0:06:20) What makes a movie visually inspiring?

(0:09:34) Shakespeare on film

(0:10:31) Miyazaki

(0:12:03) Paris, Texas

(0:14:34) Jia Zhangke

(0:16:12) When is the movie better than the book?

(0:18:06) CGI

(0:18:44) Robert Bresson

(0:20:30) Love in film

(0:21:50) Director's Nabeel hasn't been able to "get"?

(0:22:34) Film theory

(0:24:15) Do the arts matter for founders?

(0:26:08) Going deep on great books

(0:29:31) The Iliad

(0:32:24) Tolstoy and Shakespeare

(0:34:21) Henry IV

(0:37:51) Shakespeare’s Sonnets

(0:38:56) Secondary literature

(0:41:18) Rene Girard

(0:42:57) Norman Rush's "Mating"

(0:44:27) Watership Down

(0:46:13) Harold Bloom

(0:48:04) Sci-fi

(0:49:32) Authors Nabeel hasn't been able to get

(0:50:35) Tech pessimists

(0:54:40) LLMs and the big questions

(0:57:59) Peter Hacker

(0:59:58) Wittgenstein

(1:01:47) Derek Parfit

(1:03:55) Moral intuition

(1:05:13) Do EAs make good CEOs or founders?

(1:07:20) Selfishness

(1:09:43) Favorite albums

(1:10:26) Beethoven

(1:11:27) Modernized opera

(1:12:38) NYC

(1:13:38) Chess

(1:14:31) California

(1:17:57) Fashion

(1:18:57) Eating in NYC

(1:19:52) Travel

(1:21:40) High school

(1:22:30) Twitter

(1:31:05) SF and AI

(1:32:38) AI doomers

(1:34:28) AGI timelines

(1:36:07) Nabeel's LLM usage

(1:43:42) Science brain vs founder brain

(1:47:48) Iteration vs conviction

(1:51:02) Is art education or entertainment?

(1:54:53) Sabbaticals

(1:58:53) What makes Nabeel imbalanced as a personality?

(2:00:05) Cold emails

(2:01:43) Meditating

(2:04:09) Regret

(2:05:16) Reminding yourself you will die

(2:08:04) GoCardless and startup culture

(2:13:37) Ideas vs execution

(2:16:10) Peter Thiel and Alex Karp?

(2:18:38) Philosophers in tech

(2:21:19) Learnings from Palantir

(2:23:18) Conclusion

Links

- Follow Nabeel on X

- Nabeel's personal site

- ⁠⁠⁠Follow Dan on X⁠⁠⁠

- Subscribe to Undertone on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠, or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

- Watch or listen to previous episodes of Undertone with ⁠⁠Tyler Cowen⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Vitalik Buterin⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Scott Sumner⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Samo Burja⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Steve Hsu⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠more⁠⁠

- I love hearing from listeners. Email me any time at dan@danschulz.co

- Share anonymous feedback on the podcast: ⁠⁠⁠https://forms.gle/w7LXMCXhdJ5Q2eB9A

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Undertone

Nabeel S. Qureshi

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Critique on Directors Selection

Underrated Film Regions

Perspective on Hollywood Movies

Visual Inspiration in Movies

Importance of Watching Movies

Use of Technology in Child Development

Advancements in AI and Programming Efficiency

Innovation in Deep Reading and Knowledge Exploration

AI Transforming Human-Computer Interaction

Challenges of the Engineering Mind for Founders

Importance of Iteration and Vision in Startups

Learning, Entertainment, and Constructing Mental Models

Embrace the Strangeness in Art and Design

Importance of Differentiated Insight in Startups

Challenging the Unification of Ethical Theories

The Value of Twitter for Idea Obsessives

Get the Snipd
podcast app

AI-powered
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highlights

Save any
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Undertone

Nabeel S. Qureshi

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Critique on Directors Selection

Underrated Film Regions

Perspective on Hollywood Movies

Visual Inspiration in Movies

Importance of Watching Movies

Use of Technology in Child Development

Advancements in AI and Programming Efficiency

Innovation in Deep Reading and Knowledge Exploration

AI Transforming Human-Computer Interaction

Challenges of the Engineering Mind for Founders

Importance of Iteration and Vision in Startups

Learning, Entertainment, and Constructing Mental Models

Embrace the Strangeness in Art and Design

Importance of Differentiated Insight in Startups

Challenging the Unification of Ethical Theories

The Value of Twitter for Idea Obsessives

Get the Snipdpodcast app

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Discoverhighlights

Save anymoment

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