The Jim Rutt Show

Jonathan Rowson & Jim continue their conversation by exploring Jonathan's recent essay, Tasting the Pickle: Ten flavours of meta-crisis and the appetite for a new civilization... Jonathan Rowson & Jim continue their conversation by exploring Jonathan's recent essay, Tasting the Pickle: Ten flavours of meta-crisis and the appetite for a new civilization. They cover contextualizing our entangled meta-crisis, finding better language, limits of intellect & usefulness of felt experience in sensemaking (tasting the pickle), dividing vs distinguishing, mapping the pickle, saving humanity & spreading life, the "is it too late" question & our collective action problem, hidden aspects of the pickle, unifying vs pluralistic views, spiritual bypassing, metaphysical speculation, defining "meta", 10 flavors of the pickle, and more. Episode Transcript Jonathan's Website JRS: EP127 Jonathan Rowson on The Moves That Matter Dr. Iain McGilchrist Jim's article, In Search of the 5th Attractor Jonathan Rowson is co-founder and director of the research institute Perspectiva based in London. He is also the former director of the Social Brain Centre at the Royal Society of Arts and is a chess grandmaster and three-time British Chess Champion. His books include The Seven Deadly Chess Sins, Chess for Zebras, Spiritualize: Cultivating Spiritual Sensibility to Address 21st Century Challenges, and, The Moves That Matter: A Chess Grandmaster on the Game of Life.

Jim Rutt Show producer, Jared Janes & Jim announce some changes to the podcast... Jim Rutt Show producer, Jared Janes & Jim announce some changes to the podcast, preview upcoming guests, talk about the Jim Rutt Show (JRS) origin story, Jim's guest prep process, the evolution of JRS, its impact on Jim's reading habits, reading fiction, civilization collapse, contemporary influencers & counter cultures, curation as a service, what Jim likes the most about the podcast, core JRS themes, the art of yarning, stand out episodes & collaborations that came from the podcast, meditation, and more. Episode Transcript Mentioned Future Guests – Robin Dunbar, Heather E Heying, Robert Tercek, John Vervaeke, Antonio Damasio Mentioned Episodes – JRS: EP136 Harvey Reid on Troubadour Music, JRS: EP75 Nick Chater: “The Mind Is Flat”, JRS: EP116 Doug Erwin on the Cambrian Explosion, JRS: EP51 Richard Bartlett on Self-Organizing Collaboration, JRS: EP37 Jared Janes on Spirituality Mentioned Guests – Tyson Yunkaporta JRS Episodes, Gregg Henriques JRS Episodes, Max Borders JRS Episodes, Michel Bauwens JRS Episodes, Daniel Schmachtenberger JRS Episodes, Simon DeDeo JRS Episodes, Zak Stein JRS Episodes, Samo Burja JRS Episodes, Mark Burgess JRS Episodes John Vervaeke's Series, Awakening from the Meaning Crisis Roam Research Jim Rutt on Medium Bobby Akart Ursula K. Le Guin Robert A Heinlein War and Peace Denis Villeneuve The Consilience Project Waking Up App from Sam Harris

W. Brian Arthur & Jim have a wide-ranging talk about his book, The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves... W. Brian Arthur & Jim have a wide-ranging talk about his book, The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves. They talk about the surprisingly little work on the nature of technology, invention vs innovation, understanding technology as harnessed phenomena, human purpose, the fluid relationship between economies & tech, technology as building on existing components, multi=level evolutionary dynamics in tech, theory of invention & problem solving, domains of technology, relationship between tech & science, tech density & modularity, geographic clusters of tech, knowledge vs deep craft, and more. Episode Transcript The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves W. Brian Arthur is an economist and complexity thinker. He is best known for his work on network effects locking markets in to the domination of a single player. He is also one of the pioneers of the science of complexity—the science of how patterns and structures self-organize. He is a member of the Founders Society of the Santa Fe Institute and in 1988 ran its first research program. He has served on SFI's Science Board for 18 years and its Board of Trustees for 10 years, and is currently External Professor at SFI. He held the Morrison Chair of Economics and Population Studies at Stanford from 1983 to 1996. He has degrees in operations research, economics, mathematics, and electrical engineering.

Alexander Beiner & Jim have a wide-ranging talk about Beiner’s recent essay “Who’s in Charge of Psilocybin?”... Alexander Beiner & Jim have a wide-ranging talk about Beiner’s recent essay “Who’s in Charge of Psilocybin?”. They discuss the state of play regarding psilocybin’s legality, its effectiveness in therapeutic contexts, therapeutic versus personal-growth uses, the value and limitations of clinical trials, metaphors for psychedelics risk, the differences between synthesized and natural-grown psilocybin, COMPASS Pathways’ big patent grab and its threat to psilocybin access, the battle for narrative control around psychedelics, money-on-money return as an engine of Game A, psychedelic sensemaking, psychedelics as a Game B psychotechnology, an LSD-fuelled skiing trip, an idea for a business, and much more. JRS: Currents 019: Alexander Beiner on Indigenous Narcissism Who’s In Charge of Psilocybin? Psilocybin: From Serendipity to Credibility? (paper by James Rucker and Allan Young) Ayahuasca’s ‘afterglow’: improved mindfulness and cognitive flexibility in ayahuasca drinkers Porta Sophia - Psychedelic Prior Art Library (open source patent library) Beiner’s debate with Compass Pathways co-founder Lars Wilde Carey Turnbull’s nonprofit Freedom to Operate Usona Institute Multidisclipinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Alexander Beiner is a writer, facilitator and cultural commentator. As a co-founder of Rebel Wisdom, he leads on Rebel Wisdom’s written content and live experiences, and is particularly focused in finding new ways of having in-person conversations around the most essential and challenging ideas. He is also one of the directors of Breaking Convention, Europe’s largest conference on psychedelic science and culture. His work on psychedelic culture has been published in the 2016 book Neurotransmissions, as well as The Guardian. He also writes fiction and plays traditional Irish music.

Connor Leahy continues his conversion with Jim in this wide-ranging chat about Artificial Intelligence... Connor Leahy continues his conversion with Jim in this wide-ranging chat about his new GPT-J model, the background & approach of Aleph Alpha, attention in AI, our food maximizer & AGI risk, narrow algorithm impacts, proto-AGI, risk thresholds & timelines, safeguard complexities, slow vs fast AI take-off, Connor's brilliantly strange Counting Consciousness series, biological blockchain & the hard problem of trust, the AI consciousness diversity question, and more. JRS: Currents 033: Connor Leahy on Deep Learning Multimodality: attention is all you need is all we needed Eliezer Yudkowsky's Tweet on AI risk JRS: EP137 Ken Stanley on Neuroevolution Counting Consciousness, Part 1 EleutherAI Connor Leahy is an AI Researcher at German startup Aleph Alpha and founding member of the loose AI research collective EleutherAI. Eleuther is best known for their ongoing efforts to produce a full open source GPT-3 sized language model. Connor currently researches large, general purpose language models and how to align them to human values.

Ken Stanley, a leader at OpenAI and co-founder of Geometric Intelligence, dives deep into neuroevolution and its groundbreaking potential. He discusses his NEAT algorithm, emphasizing the vital role of diversity and modularity in evolving neural networks. The conversation challenges traditional goal-oriented methods through the lens of novelty search, showcasing how unintended discoveries can spark innovation. Stanley also explores the analogies between biological evolution and artificial intelligence, putting a spotlight on the efficiency of computational models.

Reason.fm co-founder Sam Harris talks to Jim about his TEDx talk, "The Genius You Need to Listen to Is Yourself"... Reason.fm co-founder Sam Harris talks to Jim about his TEDx talk, "The Genius You Need to Listen to Is Yourself". They cover technology attention highjacking, putting our phones away, social media algorithms, playing games you can win, utilizing rules, natural social interactions, online dating dynamics, time blocking, the value of boredom, where humanity is heading, and much more. Episode Transcript TEDx: The Genius You Need to Listen to Is Yourself Jim's Ep on Sam's Growth Mindset Podcast Reason.fm (formerly Syncify) Reclaiming Our Cognitive Sovereignty The Social Dilemma

Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, writer, and music educator Harvey Reid talks to Jim about his book, The Troubadour Chronicles: A History, A Celebration and A Manifesto... Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, writer, and music educator Harvey Reid talks to Jim about his book, The Troubadour Chronicles: A History, A Celebration and A Manifesto. They talk about Harvey's musical background, what a troubadour is, solo performance & collaborations, Jim & Harvey's favorite troubadours & performances, Bob Dylan, musical education's failure to support troubadours, over-emphasis on sight-reading & notation, music tablature, tunning variation, multi-cultural troubadour history, technical evolutions in music, Robert Johnson Recordings, COVID impacts on music, visionary black musicians, embracing the improper, and much more. Episode Transcript Woodpecker Multimedia The Troubadour Chronicles Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Harvey's Favorite Troubadour Performances John Prine Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, writer and music educator Harvey Reid has honed his craft since the 1970's in countless clubs, festivals, streetcorners, cafes, schools and concert halls across the nation. He has been called a "giant of the steel strings" and "one of the true treasures of American acoustic music," and is considered to be one of the modern masters and innovators of the acoustic guitar, autoharp and 6-string banjo. He has absorbed a vast repertoire of American contemporary and roots music and woven it into his own colorful, personal and distinctive style. His 32 recordings on the Woodpecker record label showcase his mastery of many instruments and styles of acoustic music, from hip folk to slashing slide guitar blues to bluegrass, old-time, Celtic, ragtime, and even classical. Full Bio Here

Dennis Waters, a visiting scientist at Rutgers University and author, explores the intricate relationship between behavior and culture through his book. He discusses how one-dimensional patterns dictate behavior in our complex world. Interesting topics include the interplay of sequences in biology and language, the unique nature of DNA, and the evolution of human communication. Waters also tackles big questions like the Fermi paradox and AGI's feasibility, while examining economic implications of goods and the dynamics of societal rules.

Forrest Landry & Jim continue their exploration of metaphysics by diving deep into the Non-Relative Ethics that arise from Forrest’s Immanent Metaphysics... Forrest Landry & Jim continue their exploration of metaphysics by diving deep into the Non-Relative Ethics that arise from Forrest’s Immanent Metaphysics. They cover ethical philosophies, defining effective choice, ethics vs morality, the relationship of choice & ethics, defining self beyond the human, localization in perception, the uncertainty of choice & limits of reason, the role of integrity, prioritizing symmetry & continuity, value, purpose, meaningfulness, Forrest's view on the meaning crisis, ethical practice, autism & sociopathy, perception & expression relationship, three essential rights, cooperation, wants, needs, desires, feeling & thinking towards choices, and much more. Episode Transcript Non-Relative Ethics Immanent Metaphysics Forrest's past JRS Episodes John Vervaeke Forrest Landry is a philosopher, writer, researcher, scientist, engineer, craftsman, and teacher focused on metaphysics, the manner in which software applications, tools, and techniques influence the design and management of very large scale complex systems, and the thriving of all forms of life on this planet. Forrest is also the founder and CEO of Magic Flight, a third-generation master woodworker who found that he had a unique set of skills in large-scale software systems design. Which led him to work in the production of several federal classified and unclassified systems, including various FBI investigative projects, TSC, IDW, DARPA, the Library of Congress Congressional Records System, and many others.