In this episode, renowned paleo-anthropologist Dean Falk joins us to talk about how the evolution of our brains led to the emergence of language and how we differ from apes in terms of language and tools. Dean Falk shares her interesting perspective on how language began and the biases we have trying to understand our past from a male and female perspective which helps us acknowledge how humans evolved. A lot was going on 7MM years ago all the way to and through 200/300K years ago. We dive deep into the importance of fossils and what they have revealed, human and chimpanzee common ancestors and the split between the 'human' family tree from the chimpanzees. Additionally we talk about what happened after the split, the Botanic Age and the key role of mothers and babies in the origins of language. Stay tuned! SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PDAPkhNxrC Who is Dean Falk? Dean Falk is an American evolutionary anthropologist specialized in paleo-anthropology, academic, research professor and author who is currently writing a book about the emergence and evolution of the earliest human predecessors who lived long before the appearance of the oldest known stone tools (tentatively titled Basket Weaving 101: Hominin Evolution during the Botanic Age). She is the Hale G. Smith Professor of Anthropology and a Distinguished Research Professor at Florida State University. Much of her work focuses on the evolution of the human brain (paleoneurology) and the associated emergence of language, music, art, and science. Topics: Welcome Dean Falk to The Rhys Show!: (00:00:00) Goal for listeners: (00:02:16) What part of early sapiens Dean focuses on: (00:02:50) Answering questions by studying skulls: (00:04:37) 4 decade discussion focusing on lunate sulcus: (00:08:51) About Bipedalism & the split between humans and chimpanzees: (00:10:06) About tools and mothers & babies: two cognitive biases: (00:14:33) The role of women as opposed to stone tools & the Botanic Age: (00:18:21) How does Dean know whether her perspective is true or not: (00:27:11) How did language start & how was it connected to imitation: (00:32:43) What about imitation, spindle neurons or mirror neurons?: (00:39:18) About the evolution of brain size: (00:45:16) How evolution as from early primates applies to the future: (00:49:21) Overrated or underrated questions about fire and the importance of being in groups in human evolution: (00:53:34) Get in touch with Dean: (00:55:35) Dean Falk’s books: “Geeks, Genes, and the Evolution of Asperger Syndrome”: https://www.amzn.com/0826356923 “Finding Our Tongues: Mothers, Infants, and the Origins of Language”: https://www.amzn.com/0465002196 Connect with Dean Falk: FSU Department of Anthropology: https://anthro.fsu.edu/faculty-staff/department-faculty/dr-dean-falk Web: https://deanfalk.com/

In this episode, social ecosystem designer, culture hacker, and facilitator Jean M. Russell joins us to talk about how a participatory and cooperative approach instead of a brutal approach enables us to envision and co-create a world of wellbeing and health. As the founder of the thrivability movement and expert on collective thriving, Jean speaks about THRIVABILITY. She believes this word is a gift. It inspires you to wonder what it looks like in your context and make it show up. What comes alive in you? We dive deep into hedonic habituation and how to avoid falling into it, how to emerge to more positive futures, about co-creation and how to break down the “who” the “how” and the “what”, what a positive environment should look like and how to design it, and how to get set on a more participatory path. “Something about thriving speaks to our inner sense of harmony, abundance, greatness, generativity, aliveness, vitality, well being, and right-placement. What would our lives and the sum of our society be like if we said they were thriving?” If you are interested in open-source software or a better social ecosystem design, this chapter is for you! Stay tuned! SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PDAPkhNxrC Who is Jean M. Russell? Jean M Russell is a social ecosystem designer, culture hacker, and facilitator. She is the founder of the Thrivability movement and an expert in collective thriving speaking to and with change agents, innovators, builders, and edge-riders around the world. Her work on thrivability, innovation, philanthropy, and cultural shifts has been highlighted in the Economist, Harvard Business Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and Worldchanging. Topics: Welcome Jean M. Russell to The Rhys Show!: (00:00:00) What is thrivability?: (00:01:41) How do you give a positive valance term for what animals should experience: (00:04:09) Happiness like short term dopamine versus delight and purpose: (00:05:53) Thrivability as an emergent thing we chat about with others and move towards emergent positive futures: (00:08:03) How should Roote as an org be more participatory about building the wisdom age instead of making it “everybody be wiser”: (00:11:19) Co-creation: an example to breakdown the who and the how: (00:14:26) How Jean views cooperation playing a role vs. competition playing a role: (00:16:07) Lord of the rings has a memetic view of reality. Is there another memetic version to show another view of reality?: (00:19:25) About anarchism & Peter Kropotkin: (00:22:37) Other ways to make a more cooperative lense of society: (00:23:44) Instead of pointing at the bad competition, double down on the good?: (00:26:05) What does a positive environment look like for animals?: (00:31:56) What does a positive environment look like for humans?: (00:34:44) Designing an environment for memes: instead of a brutal one a positive one?: (00:37:54) Breakdown “hands, head and heart” model & how the heart relates: (00:42:41) How to take a more participatory path & wrap-up: (00:47:57) Mentioned resources: “Survival of the Friendliest: Understanding Our Origins and Rediscovering Our Common Humanity” book by Brian Hare & Vanessa Woods: https://www.amzn.com/0399590668 “A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster” book by Rebecca Solnit Peter Kropotkin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution” book by Peter Kropotkin: https://www.amzn.com/0875580246 “Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures” book by Merlin Sheldrake: https://www.amzn.com/0525510311 Connect with Jean M. Russell: Twitter: https://twitter.com/nurturegirl Twitter Thrivable Society: https://twitter.com/Thrivable Web: https://www.jeanmrussell.com/ Thrivable Society Project: https://www.thrivablesociety.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeanMRussell

In this episode, artist and programmer Gene Kogan joins us to talk about new AI-Generated Art and how AI assistants are going to provide us with interfaces to maximize our creativity. Gene is interested in advancing scientific literacy through creativity and play, and building educational spaces which are as open and accessible as possible. Currently, he is leading an open project to create an autonomous artificial artist. We dive deep into different generative AI interfaces such as Dall-E, Midjourney and Abraham the one he is currently working on, other generative models, how to create open-source systems and how they connect to collective intelligence and the environmental niches that AI is going to evolve into. AI assistants progressively are going to become part of our lives. If you are interested in the future of AI, and the environmental niches that it is going to evolve into, Stay tuned! SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PDAPkhNxrC Who is Gene Kogan? Gene is an artist and programmer with interests in generative art, collective intelligence, autonomous systems, and computer science. He is a collaborator within numerous open-source software projects, and gives workshops and lectures on topics at the intersection of code and art. Topics: Welcome Gene Kogan to The Rhys Show!: (00:00:00) Goal of this episode for listeners: (00:01:29) Catalyzing moment in childhood that set off curiosity about the world: (00:01:53) What are the next steps with ai in terms of art: (00:04:27) AI generative music & what evolutionary nische will music fall into: (00:08:38) Abraham vs. Dall-E & Midjourney: (00:10:57) What should this autonomous artist agent do or look like in the next 50 years?: (00:12:49) What would make it more autonomous?: (00:17:33) General thoughts about the future of AI assistance: (00:20:44) AI inputters or do we as people need to learn how to be centaurs in better ways: (00:23:31) A new third replicator: are these new computer memes these kemes? : (00:28:35) Other niches that AI is likely to evolve into?: (00:33:32) How these different models work: (00:37:44) Dalle-E & GANs overrated or underrated: (00:40:58) Wrap-up: (00:43:16) Mentioned resources: Dall-E: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DALL-E Midjourney: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midjourney Primaver De Filippi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primavera_De_Filippi AARON: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AARON All You Need to Know About Coexisting With Living Robots: Dr. Joshua Bongard & Dr. Michael Levin (The Rhys Show): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mkC9nGAos0 Gene’s avatars: Mars College: https://mars.college/ BrainDrops: https://braindrops.cloud/ Machine Learning for art (ml4a): https://ml4a.net/ Abraham.ai: https://abraham.ai/ Connect with Gene Kogan: Twitter: https://twitter.com/genekogan Web: https://genekogan.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ekogan19 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/genekogan/ GitHub: https://github.com/genekogan Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/genekogan Medium: https://www.medium.com/@genekogan Tumblr: https://electricdosa.tumblr.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/genekogan1

In this episode, Co-founder and General Partner of 1517 Fund Danielle Strachman joins us to talk about her perspective on the current state of education and the importance of changing it from a students center perspective. Danielle is passionate about progressive education, all the way from homeschooling and giving kids freedom and autonomy to build new things, to backing founders at the earliest stages of their careers and companies. We dive deep into homeschooling, the charter student-led project based learning model, the importance of compassionate connection and non-coercion in learning and how and why we should empower the talent of kids. Furthermore we tackle the venture capital system and how Danielle through 1517 fund focuses on backing founders that are getting their education through starting a business rather than attending university. Stay tuned! SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PDAPkhNxrC Who is Danielle Strachman? Danielle is the Co-founder and General Partner of 1517 Fund that backs dropouts, renegade students, and deep tech scientists at the earliest stages. She has worked with homeschoolers, Co-founded Innovations Academy, and was on the founding team of the Thiel Fellowship, a two-year program for young people who want to build new things. Topics: Welcome Danielle Strachman to The Rhys Show!: (00:00:00) Goal of this episode for listeners: (00:01:53) What got Danielle excited about helping young folks?: (00:02:22) What could the educational experience for a student feel like from ages 0 to 18?: (00:09:23) Why are “essential questions” crucial for the process?: (00:17:29) About Innovations Academy K-8 charter school: (00:19:10) Does this student-led project based learning model work for the low income kid?: (00:23:23) What should schools look like in 30 or 50 years from a VC lense: (00:26:16) 1517 VC: investing in teams led by dropouts, deep-tech scientists, and founders working outside of tracked institutions. What Danielle means by dropouts: (00:29:31) About creating an ecosystem where people can help each other overtime and share ideas: (00:42:45) High school and online learning underrated or overrated?: (00:48:25) Mentioned resources: An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students. Book by Ron Berger: https://www.amzn.com/0325005966 Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World. Book by Tyler Cowen & Daniel Gross: https://www.amzn.com/1250275814 Connect with Danielle Strachman: Twitter: https://twitter.com/DStrachman Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellestrachman/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danielle.strachman Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dstrachman/

In this episode, researcher, writer, editor and PhD student in psychiatric genetics Saloni Dattani joins us to talk about her view of the world in different movements she tracks and how she does the research process. It is possible to make progress against the huge problems we are all facing in the world by sharing new and underrated ideas of amazing thinkers. Why don’t we? Because research and data isn't accessible. Saloni works through different fields making that knowledge accessible and understandable for us all. We dive deep into science communication and how to make it better, what brings Saloni into the research space, how sub communities interact and collaborate, the importance of learning in real time from amazing people on twitter and why we should make use of that in the current academic publishing system. Stay tuned! SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PDAPkhNxrC Who is Saloni Dattani? Saloni Dattani is a founding editor of Works in Progress and an editor at Stripe Press. She is also a PhD student in psychiatric genetics at King's College London , science writer, and researcher at Our World in Data. Dattoni is also the founder of a new Substack newsletter called Scientific Discovery. Topics: Welcome Saloni Dattani to The Rhys Show!: (00:00:00) About Saloni & goal of this episode: (00:01:15) Catalyzing moment in childhood that Made Saloni curious and eager to learn: (00:02:06) What influenced Saloni to be so curious: (00:03:54) Evolutionary lense from a memetic perspective & sub communities interacting and collaborating: (00:05:51) About memetic phrases & cheems mindset: (00:08:11) The goal of Saloni’s new “Scientific Discovery” weekly newsletter: (00:10:38) 1st newsletter on effective vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus: (00:12:25) Why RSV vaccine is effective according to Saloni: (00:14:17) How mRNA vaccine worked: (00:17:03) What brings you into research spaces and how do you go about it: (00:18:37) How #scicomm should be done in 20 years: (00:23:40) Learning from amazing people on twitter to share: (00:28:42) About Work In Progress: how Saloni does the process, finds the right people and edits: (00:33:47) How can we help with the memeplexes that people fall into in regards to covid reporting: (00:38:13) About Our World In Data: (00:45:04) Are meta science, Twitter and getting a PhD underrated or overrated?: (00:50:48) Mentioned resources: Horrible Science (series of books): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Science “Evolve or Die (Horrible Science)” book by Phil Gates: https://www.amzn.com/dp/1407105353 Swole Dog vs. cheem: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/swole-doge-vs-cheems Derek Lowe: https://www.science.org/blogs/pipeline Virological: https://virological.org/ Steven Pinker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Pinker Connect with Saloni Dattani: Twitter: https://twitter.com/salonium Work in Progress: https://www.worksinprogress.co/ Stripe: https://stripe.com/es-us Our World in Data: https://ourworldindata.org/

In this episode, curator of the world’s most extensive mind map Jerry Michalski joins us to talk about how we as a society can contribute to the public commons in a positive way and why we must. Jerry shares the mission behind his distinguished idea of creating a second brain! He has been working on this brain map for more than 24 years and has introduced almost 500 THOUSAND THOUGHTS in his brain and keeps it up! We dive deep into how he created this system that gives access to tons of knowledge collected and connected in context, the importance of having a deep curation and scaffolding process, several possible roles for AI in this procedure and why having shared common knowledge is crucial for a better and more just future for us all. “If we could slowly build arguments and add evidence we might govern better” Additionally Jerry shares why lesser accessed links tend to gradually clear out of google search, how to make spam disappear from the internet and all about his dislike about the word “consumer” and designing from trust. SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PDAPkhNxrC Who is Jerry Michalski? Curator of The World’s Largest Mind Map, Guide to the World in Context, Tech Visionary for 30+ Years, Keynote Speaker & Expert on Trust & Mistrust Jerry is working to curate collected shared memory through captivating ventures. Two to mention: https://openglobalmind.com/ and the world's largest brain published called Jerry’s Brain. IF YOU WANT TO HELP BUILD THIS SHARED MEMORY SPACE! DIVE INTO JERRY’S LINKS! Topics: Welcome Jerry Michalski to The Rhys Show!: (00:00:00) What is Jerry’s Brain and what exists in it: (00:01:22) Acknowledgement and connecting to a second brain: (00:03:29) About spaced repetition software and Jerry’s thoughts on Anki: (00:07:42) What would public epistemic commons look like in 1950s: (00:11:00) The importance of a deep curation and scaffolding process: (00:15:29) Different possible roles for AI in curation and scaffolding process: (00:17:25) Why it is so hard to make spam disappear from the internet: (00:20:05) How Jerry thinks about trust: (00:29:42) Defining trust and how to make it abundant: (00:32:54) Traffic calming as an example of designing from trust: (00:36:34) Catalyzing moment in childhood about curiosity: (00:39:51) How to help Jerry in this SHARED MEMORY SPACE: (00:44:57) The importance of HARD FUN: (00:45:27) Mentioned resources: Duolingo: https://www.duolingo.com/ Anki: https://www.ankiapp.com/ Roamresearch: https://roamresearch.com/ Logseq: https://logseq.com/ GPT-3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPT-3 Hans Monderman: https://www.pps.org/article/hans-monderman Alice Miller: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Miller_(psychologist) Russell L. Ackoff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_L._Ackoff Connect with Jerry Michalski: Design from trust: https://www.designfromtrust.com/ Web: https://www.jerrymichalski.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jerrymichalski LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrymichalski/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jerry.michalski Instagram Sociate: https://www.instagram.com/sociate Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JerryMichalski

Interested in KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION or how humanities can help us understand the present? Then this episode is for you! In today’s chapter, Dean of Arts and Humanities Hollis Robbins joins us to talk about the extraordinary way in which she views the world. We dive deep into how to scaffold students' learning, how knowledge production works, and how the humanities of the 19th century can inform the present and the future of technology. Furthermore Hollis shares her thoughts about organizational systems, how society systematizes information, frameworks for organizing knowledge and mapping the 19th century into the 21st century. SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PDAPkhNxrC Who is Hollis Robbins? Hollis is a Dean, Professor with a long standing academic focus on 19th century African American history and literature; film and film music; poetry and artificial Intelligence. Hollis writes about leadership in higher education, and is author and editor of several books. She will be joining the University of Utah as Dean of Humanities on July 1. Topics: Welcome Hollis Robbins to The Rhys Show!: (00:00:00) Key things that we can learn from the 19th century to apply to today: (00:02:23) 19th century a function of globalization or a function of industrial revolution?: (00:05:12) Standardization process in the 19th century: (00:06:20) About present fragmentation process and restandardization both in technology and culture: (00:10:36) About being on the same page with the current thing: (00:16:10) Should we realign around better kind of agreements that we have on internet?: (00:18:42) What Hollis thinks the new agreements should be: (00:25:51) Providing structures on how to help people navigate the future: (00:31:55) Pushing forward towards a scaffolding: (00:38:55) About memory app as an anti oblivion frame: (00:40:53) The purpose of attending weekly a clubhouse with Sci-Fi authors: (00:44:12) Utopic science fiction books that show us what a positiver world looks like in the near term: (00:47:50) Why Anecdotal?: (00:50:44) Mentioned resources: Tweetscape: https://www.roote.co/tweetscape/vision AnkiApp, Memory App: https://apps.ankiweb.net/ Andy Matuschak: https://andymatuschak.org/ Clubhouse Sci-fi talk: https://www.clubhouse.com/@anecdotal The Martian, book by Andy Weir: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_(Weir_novel) Severance Series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severance_(TV_series) Moby-Dick, book by Herman Melville: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick Uncle Tom’s Cabin, book by Harriet Beecher Stowe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom%27s_Cabin Connect with Hollis Robbins: Twitter: https://twitter.com/anecdotal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollis-robbins-12642898/

In this episode, historian, scholar of Russian history, professor emeritus and author David Christian joins us once again to talk about his new book Future Stories, a guide with a big-history perspective that helps us get prepared for the future. David Christian is the creator of Big History, a holistic and interdisciplinary approach that encompasses the history of human existence on a broad scale, from the Big Bang up to the present and the future. We dive deep into crucial patterns and processes that underlie everything and help us understand how to think about the future, what actions we must take to make this world a better place, as well as how and why we must collaborate better, improve our communication and share information better. If we connect the study of the past with the study of the future, we can start to imagine what the world will look like in the future and collaboratively look for solutions to the huge challenges ahead of us. I highly recommend Future Stories, it’s a mind blower! SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PDAPkhNxrC Who is David Christian? David Christian is a Professor Emeritus at Macquarie University, where he was formerly a Distinguished Professor of History and the director of the Big History Institute. He co-founded the Big History Project with Bill Gates, his Coursera MOOCs are popular around the world, and he is co-creator of the Macquarie University Big History School. He is an author of numerous books amongst which are the bestseller Origin Story and his recent book Future Stories. Topics: Welcome David Christian to The Rhys Show!: (00:00:00) What unique angle does David as a historian bring to thinking about the future?: (00:03:44) Patterns & processes from the past to predict the future: (00:06:15) Future Stories, part 1: How scientists & living organisms think about the future: (00:12:18) Future Stories, part 2: How existing organisms already think about managing the future: (00:16:48) Learning from multicellular organisms how we should manage the future : (00:22:25) Future Stories, part 3: How humans think of the future: (00:00:00) Making the collective learning process for good: (00:33:31) Future Stories, part 4: How to imagine the future: (00:39:38) How to do the politics right and reach the goals we have: (00:46:43) Connect with David Christian: Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidgchristian Facebook Big History Project: https://www.facebook.com/OERProject Web Big History Project: https://www.bighistoryproject.com/home

In this episode, architectural designer and public policy professional Annie Fryman joins us to talk about how to create abundant housing, the housing policies she led to address the California housing shortage by increasing housing supply, and how she managed permitting time to go down from 8 1/2 years to 60 days. Currently, Annie is the Director of Cities at Abodu, a Bay Area based company that builds affordable and high-quality accessory dwelling units in California and Washington. We dive deep into her work at Abodu implementing some of the laws she made helping people push through housing, the role of prefab, modular & manufactured ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units) and why she switched from the world of policies to startups. Roote has a civic abundance project which is creating infrastructure and coordination to help all cities thrive. There is a civic dashboard that we are trying out framing towards abundant housing . Learn about our project here: https://www.roote.co/civic-abundance SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PDAPkhNxrC Who is Annie Fryman? Annie Fryman is the Director of Cities at Abodu. Formerly she led housing, land use, and transportation policy for California Senator Scott Wiener (successful legislator on housing affordability in the United States). She was the policy staffer designing, writing, and negotiating Senate Bills 35 and 828, and continues to advise public, non-profit, and private sector partners on their use and implementation. Annie has also worked as an academic researcher at Stanford University focusing on the social and economic fabric of vibrant Black neighborhoods during Jim Crow. Annie studied Architectural Design in the Civil Engineering program as an undergraduate at Stanford University and is frequently called in as a guest lecturer for undergraduate and graduate level courses in law, design, and public policy. Topics: Welcome Annie Fryman to The Rhys Show!: (00:00:00) Roote’s civic abundance project: (00:02:23) What a city should look like around housing according to Annie: (00:03:04) Walkable cities with six story buildings with retail on the bottom: (00:06:19) Senate Bills & if they create more housing: (00:13:57) Zoning and housing quota law: (00:27:03) Abodu, making ADUs & switching from policies to startups: (00:39:02) Where Annie got her agency from: (00:51:52) Connect with Annie Fryman: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-fryman-59974961/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/anniefryman Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ann.fryman Abodu Web: https://www.abodu.com/

Rhys was a guest at The Index Show with host Alex Kehaya. A great conversation about the Web3 ecosystem, why capitalism needs marriage counseling, and the evolution of society. SUPPORT US ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark JOIN OUR DISCORD: discord.gg/PDAPkhNxrC