Astral Codex Ten Podcast

Announcement of winners and decision-making process of ACX Grants 2024. Winners' projects include battery recycling, lobbying for kidney donation laws, studying insensitivity to pain in women, and more. UV light for killing germs, animal welfare, and assurance contracts explored. Grants for research, advocacy, and development also discussed. Updates on World Health Organization's vaccine plan and ACX grants program.

Exploring the polygenic structure of schizophrenia genetics and the potential benefits of these genes. Discussing the evolutionary implications and potential consequences of choosing embryos based on their risk for schizophrenia. Arguing against scaremongering and suggesting health improvements from zero schizophrenia risk.

The speaker criticizes an article that unfairly generalizes polyamorous people based on one memoir. They discuss the limitations of relationship advice books and debunk stereotypes. They explore contempt towards memoir writers and the weirdness of treating relationships as political statements.

Schizophrenia researcher E. Fuller Torrey and philosopher Awais Aftab discuss the genetic origins of schizophrenia. They question whether schizophrenia should be categorized as 'mostly genetic' and explore biases in twin studies and the interpretation of heritability numbers. They also explore the role of genetic and environmental factors in schizophrenia and debunk the misconception that genetic causes are less desirable. The podcast concludes by discussing different perspectives on classifying schizophrenia as an autoimmune, viral, or genetic disease.

Discusses the resignation of Claudine Gay as president of Harvard due to plagiarism allegations and controversial testimony. Explores the shifting media portrayal of effective altruism and misunderstandings about journalists targeting individuals. Analyzes the motivations of journalists and the role of power in shaping perceptions of events.

This podcast explores election problems and Trump odds, discusses the power of prediction markets, and examines scenarios for the future of AI. It also covers various predictions related to AI, politics, and technology, reflects on forecasting and grading predictions, and explores the presence of unreliable forecasters on prediction sites.

This podcast explores how politics affects people's mental health, including the loss of reasoning abilities, prevalence of paranoia and conspiracy theories, emotional impact of differing opinions, and addictive nature of staying informed. It also delves into trauma, its definition, and the effects of institutional racism on trauma. Additionally, it discusses triggers, trauma, and politics, including trigger controversies, distortion of cognition, and addiction to trauma. Finally, it examines the dangers of trauma and political disagreements, and the theory that ancient warriors did not experience PTSD.

This podcast challenges the belief that schizophrenia is mostly genetic. It discusses the low concordance rate between identical twins with the disorder and the lack of a significant increase in schizophrenia rate after a eugenics program. The impact of environmental risks on polygenic disorders is explored, along with the complexities of diagnosing schizophrenia and the need for a more comprehensive model considering individuals' uniqueness and the correlation between environment and genetics.

Larry Page, Google cofounder who had a disagreement with Elon Musk about the dangers of AI, discusses the clash between Musk and himself over AI risks. Topics include effective accelerationism, coexistence of humans and AI, the contrasting narratives about AI, consciousness, merging of AI with humans, and the ethical dilemma of advanced AI.

This podcast discusses the benefits of subscribing to Astral Codex Ten's paid membership, including exclusive articles and early access to drafts. It also explores the folklore tale of The New Year's Coin and relates it to modern-day subscriptions and supporting the podcast on Patreon.