Hacking State
Exploring how technology changes our relationship to power, each other, and ourselves.
Making sense of the techno-acceleration, Alex Murshak conducts in-depth interviews on the philosophy of technology. Hacking State is about doing more with less, pushing limitations, and finding gainful exploits at every level of the human operating system; from minds, to bodies, to tools, organizations, governments, and higher order social systems.
Heidegger describes the nature of technology as a kind of revealing. It remains to be seen where and whether technology gives us Nietzschean will-to-power-like mastery over nature and ourselves or, as Plato warns, we are liable to be lead astray by novel ideas. Our capacity to harness nature has never been greater. Science and technology have unlocked immense power. Yet the human animal remains remarkably similar across millennia. In such a situation, discernment is our greatest asset. It is our relationship to ourselves, our systems, and one another, that will determine our future.
Latest episodes
Jun 7, 2023 • 1h 23min
3 - Jae Yang and John Bugnacki: Tacen and the Wild West of Tech
Jae Yang and John Bugnacki of Tacen join me to discuss financial sovereignty, the regulatory state of crypto in the United States, the Wyoming stabelcoin, and why you have to go to the frontier for better governance and technology.
Tacen is working on a crypto exchange that is fast, non-custodial, and cross-chain. Project TXA is a settlement network that allows cross-chain settlement.
Jae Yang is the founder and CEO of Tacen and the Chief Architect of Project TXA. John Bugnacki is Deputy General Counsel and Director of Regulatory Policy at Tacen.
Jae Yang: https://twitter.com/jae_tacen
Tacen: https://www.tacen.com/
Tacen Twitter: https://twitter.com/tacen_app
Project TXA: https://www.txa.app/
Project TXA Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProjectTXA
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hacking-state/id1689677076
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1XB9XYULrAY4dp0qIJVvCg
RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/hackingstate/feed.xml
May 31, 2023 • 1h 1min
2 - Matthew Mehan: Classical Education & the Moral Training of Self-Government
Matthew Mehan is Associate Dean and Assistant Professor of Government for Hillsdale College’s Steve and Amy Van Andel Graduate School of Government in Washington D.C.
We spoke about the relationship of poetry to philosophy, the value of a classical liberal arts education, technology and the Tyranny of Velocity, raising children with social media, politicization of education, the moral training of self-government, and how to create leaders of tomorrow.
Hillsdale profile: https://dc.hillsdale.edu/Profiles/Matthew-Mehan/
Matthew Mehan is also the author of popular children's books:
Mr. Mehan's Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals:
https://www.amazon.com/Mehans-Mildly-Amusing-Mythical-Mammals/dp/1505112494
The Handsome Little Signet:
https://www.amazon.com/Handsome-Little-Cygnet-Matthew-Mehan/dp/1505120608
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hacking-state/id1689677076
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1XB9XYULrAY4dp0qIJVvCg
RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/hackingstate/feed.xml
May 25, 2023 • 1h 36min
1 - Robin Hanson: Prediction Markets & Futarchy
Robin Hanson and I discuss prediction markets, decision markets, Futarchy, and Demarchy.
We cover simple and more elaborate applications of prediction markets, common objections to them and barriers to implementation at the organization level, when a prediction market becomes a decision market, his vision for Futarchy--a proposed system of government whereby elected officials use prediction markets to inform policy decisions based on measurable objectives--and Demarchy, another alternative governance mechanism where policy-makers are chosen at random from among the population.
Professor Robin Hanson is Associate Professor of Economics at George Mason University and a research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University.
Robin Hanson's Twitter: https://twitter.com/robinhanson
Personal site: http://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/home.html
University bio: https://economics.gmu.edu/people/rhanson
On prediction markets: http://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/ideafutures.html
On Futarchy: http://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/futarchy.html
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
