Other Life

We discuss the imminent future of DAOs on Urbit with the founder of Holium (~lomder-librun) and Anthony (~poldec-tonteg) from the Urbit-focused startup accelerator The Combine.Other Life✦ Subscribe to the coolest free newsletter in the world OtherLife.co✦ Get a free Urbit planet at imperceptible.computer✦ We're building a new country at imperceptible.countryIndieThinkers.org✦ If you're working on independent intellectual work, join the next cohort of https://IndieThinkers.org

James Poulos is a Tocqueville scholar who wrote The Art of Being Free (2017) and Human Forever (2021). He was a co-founder of The American Mind and his latest project is a magazine called Return. We discuss humanism and post-humanism, the merging of Big Tech and Woke Capital into an atheist cyborg theocracy, why James rejects accelerationism, the importance of human memory, Bitcoin, Urbit, and much more.✦ Human Forever✦ Return Magazine✦ James on TwitterOther Life✦ Subscribe to the coolest free newsletter in the world OtherLife.co✦ Get a free Urbit planet at imperceptible.computer✦ We're building a new country at imperceptible.countryIndieThinkers.org✦ If you're working on independent intellectual work, join the next cohort of IndieThinkers.org

Riva Tez wants to fund epistemological anarchy in science. Former VC, Former Director at Intel, former store owner, Riva does whatever she wants.We talked about how Riva built a unique career doing whatever she wants, what she's learned from the philosopher of science Paul Feyerabend, why the brain might be an antenna, why she moved away from Transhumanism, why Rationalism is cringe, how she thinks Urbit will win, and how she's planning to introduce epistemological anarchism to contemporary science funding.✦ Riva is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/rivatez✦ Riva's writings: hardtowrite.comOther Life✦ Subscribe to the Other Life newsletter at OtherLife.co✦ We're building a new country at Imperceptible.Country

If you like the podcast, you'll love the newsletter: otherlife.co✦ The Improvement Illusion: otherlife.co/improvement✦ On the NYRB: otherlife.co/signs78✦ Join the new Other Life community: imperceptible.country✦ If you're working on independent intellectual work you should join the next cohort of IndieThinkers.org

I'll be in NYC for a few days around May 20. I'm down to give talks, do your podcast, etc. Just hit reply to an Other Life newsletter and tell me what's up.✦ Subscribe to the Other Life newsletter (free) at OtherLife.Co✦ Get your own Urbit planet (free) at imperceptible.computer✦ If you're a writer, enroll in the next cohort of IndieThinkers.org

Dr. Jonathan Paprocki is a specialist in topological quantum compiling and an Urbit engineer interested in swarm intelligence, Internet of Things, and anarcho-communist governance structures.✦ Jonathan on Urbit: ~datnut-pollen✦ Get your own Urbit planet at imperceptible.computer✦ Subscribe to the Other Life newsletter at OtherLife.Co

Anthony Arroyo runs The Combine, a startup incubator for startups building on Urbit. We discuss how Urbit governance really works, debunking the many myths, i.e. the meme that Urbit has a "feudal" or even "fascist" governance structure. We also discuss how Urbit competes with Ethereum, what kinds of businesses are starting to appear on Urbit, and many other interesting topics.✦ Anthony on Urbit: ~poldec-tonteg✦ Get your own Urbit planet at imperceptible.computer✦ Subscribe to the Other Life newsletter at OtherLife.Co

Sam Frank has written for Harper's and The New Yorker, but he was also an early buyer of Ethereum because Vitalik "looked like an alien." Sam explains his heuristics for judging technological and cultural projects, how he first met Curtis Yarvin, what he sees in Urbit, and how he eventually became one of 256 senators in Urbit's galactic senate.✦ Sam on Urbit: ~todset-partug✦ Get your own Urbit planet at imperceptible.computer✦ Subscribe to the Other Life newsletter at OtherLife.Co

A short lecture on "Review of CCRU's Digital Hyperstition" in the book Writings 1997-2003. We analyze how the CCRU foresaw many aspects of the crypto economy from first principles in the early 1990s. See more below.✦ Get a free Urbit planet at https://imperceptible.computer✦ Subscribe to the Other Life newsletter at https://otherlife.co

Ted Blackman is a senior engineer at Tlon and one of the most advanced Urbit engineers in the world. We discuss how Urbit will get faster, how it will scale to billions of users, and how Urbit fits into the blockchain ecosystem. In some ways Urbit is like a blockchain, in other ways Urbit is the categorical dual of the blockchain, soon there will be a blockchain built on top of Urbit, and more.✦ Ted on Urbit: ~rovnys-ricfer✦ Get your own Urbit planet at imperceptible.computer✦ Subscribe to the Other Life newsletter at OtherLife.Co