Robert Wright's Nonzero

00:54 Frank’s book The End of History and the Last Man 10:35 Bob’s book Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny 17:14 Do people have to be rational in order to cooperate? 24:07 Are AI and other technologies advancing too rapidly for society to adapt? 37:21 Frank’s take on Hegel 48:05 Why Frank’s a Russia hawk and Bob's a Russia dove 58:12 Will authoritarian regimes do a better job of dealing with advanced information technologies?Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Francis Fukuyama (Stanford University, The End of History and the Last Man, Liberalism and Its Discontents). Recorded May 23, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66315Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 3:31 The GOP primary gets crowded 10:56 Will Trump’s indictment help him get the nomination? 19:07 Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive begins 25:55 Dissecting Timothy Snyder’s Ukraine analysis 36:01 Looks like Ukraine blew up Nord Stream 41:47 Tucker’s new Twitter show 49:22 Parrot Room preview: Bob draws lesson from PGA’s merger with Saudi’s LIV; affirmative action set to fall; Apple’s new goggles; Taylor Swift; food stamps and the homeless; why Gen-Zers are more likely to be non-binary; Cracker Barrel goes woke; Chinese spy situation in Cuba; Bob on the sci-fi show Silo. Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded June 09, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66298 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org2:00 The dam breaks in Ukraine 10:12 Is western media giving a clear picture of the war? 18:25 Why do some Ukrainian soldiers wear Nazi symbols? 27:37 How Russia-Ukraine could become a wider war 37:05 Could the US have prevented the war? 48:11 Seeing American foreign policy from Putin's point of viewRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Branko Marcetic (Jacobin). Recorded June 06, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66277 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

1:31 China’s role in Saudi-Iran rapprochement7:10 The legacy of Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal12:25 Does Israel have a Palestine plan?24:12 Tensions resurface in Kosovo29:03 NATO expansion and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine35:31 Has the US mismanaged its relationship with Russia?43:53 Prospects for peace in Ukraine—or for massive military escalation56:26 A message from Bob about this week's Parrot RoomRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Thomas Friedman (The New York Times). Recorded May 31, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66256Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe

Robert Wright and Samuel Hammond discuss topics such as AI interpretability, natural selection and AI, language models absorbing human nature, singularitarian AI doomers, an AI-safety Manhattan Project, and AI safety blindspots.

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 Bob quizzes Mickey on worrisome Ukraine war developments 8:26 What could push Putin to go nuclear? 16:34 How disastrous was the DeSantis launch really? 27:46 DeSantis’s possible anti-Trump trump card 37:03 Who’s losing the debt-ceiling fight? 40:15 Parrot room preview: Soul and dual Dune reviews; the latest on Epstein-Gates; Bob’s 12 Monkeys howler; AI; simply the best of Tina Turner; Mickey delineates new immigration bills Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded May 26, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66225 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:00 The watershed moment that led Ben to write his new book, "Cry, Baby"10:55 Does meditation make you less emotional?16:37 How different socio-cultural groups feel about crying23:18 Why do we cry anyway?36:42 Transformative and performative weeping42:29 Putting Joel Osteen’s tears under a microscope54:50 How does the nature of crying change over a lifetime?1:03:33 Overtime preview: Bob’s most embarrassing adult crying experience, psychedelics and crying, and more!1:06:03 Ben delivers a benediction on cryingRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Benjamin Perry (Middle Church, "Cry, Baby"). Recorded May 22, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66201Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 Mickey’s risky quiz for Bob 7:20 Biden, Feinstein, Fetterman: Compare and contrast 12:32 Does DeSantis have a path to the presidency? 16:28 Bob’s biggest takeaway from the AI hearings 18:41 How the chip war with China makes real war more likely 29:17 What senators should have asked OpenAI’s CEO 38:47 Ukraine war update 48:09 Parrot room preview: (Not much) debt deal talk; Robert Putnam essay assessed; the Thiel-Epstein and Botstein-Epstein and Chomsky-Epstein connections; an important note on inequality; examining 12 Monkeys; Tucker; new “woke-watch” items; more AI Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded May 19, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66189Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:00 Tim’s tech background and his new newsletter, Understanding AI 4:12 Natural selection and artificial intelligence 11:12 Why Tim is a singularity skeptic 15:17 How exactly would AI take over? And will it even want to? 24:21 The bad AI vs good AI arms race 36:05 What exactly are "AI agents"? 40:09 Why Tim is an AI job-pocalypse skeptic 51:13 Has AI created the biggest tech hype wave ever? 55:45 How Tim thinks AI will actually transform human lifeRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Timothy B. Lee (Full Stack Economics, Understanding AI) Recorded May 10, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66149 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:15 The food fight within Russia’s military establishment7:50 Could Ukraine’s looming offensive succeed? 12:44 The foreign policy Blob’s biggest blind spot 19:00 Was Trump’s town hall performance a tactical blunder?26:57 Is DeSantis’s attack on Disney anti-democratic?34:54 Tucker moves to TwitterRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded May 12, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66139Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe