Rationally Speaking Podcast

Not enough people know about the Mohists, a strikingly modern group of Chinese philosophers active in 479-221 BCE. This episode features Chris Fraser, expert on Mohism and professor of philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. Chris and Julia discuss how the Mohists put their philosophy into practice and got Chinese leaders to hold off on starting wars; how their philosophy was similar to and different from modern consequentialism; why their movement died out, and what modern groups like Effective Altruists can learn from their story.

Spencer Greenberg, a mathematician and entrepreneur, teams up with physicist Seth Cottrell to discuss their popular initiative, Ask a Mathematician, Ask a Physicist, which started at Burning Man. The duo shares the wildest questions they've tackled, including the debated zero to the zeroth power and quirky hypotheticals like using a Cat Cannon for a Double Slit Experiment. They also delve into the oddities of quantum theory, critique the Many Worlds Interpretation, and highlight how unconventional inquiries can lead to real scientific advancements.

Rob Reich, a Stanford political science professor and author of 'Just Giving', dives into the contentious world of philanthropy and its effects on democracy. He critiques tax-deductible charitable donations, questioning their power dynamics and potential to undermine recipient autonomy. The discussion includes the historical pitfalls of philanthropy, such as its role in systemic inequalities and segregation. Reich advocates for a more equitable funding approach in education, pushing back against the influence of affluent donors on public schools.

This episode features Peter Eckersley, an expert in law and computer science, who has worked with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Partnership on AI. Peter and Julia first delve into some of the most fundamental questions about privacy: What are the risks of losing privacy? Do we have more to fear from governments or industry? Which companies do a good job of protecting their users' privacy? Are there tradeoffs between supporting privacy and supporting competitive markets? Next, they discuss Peter's work measuring recent progress in AI, and debate to what extent recent progress is cause for optimism.

Economist Jason Collins discusses problems with behavioral economics: reliance of governments, suspicious number of cognitive biases, problematic 'nudges'. Also explores flaws in neoclassical economics, exploitation by marketers, limitations of naming biases, and concerns about pendulum swinging too far in favor of behavioral economics in policymaking.

In this discussion, applied econometrician Chris Auld from the University of Victoria dives into the misconceptions surrounding economics. He tackles common critiques of the field, particularly those that misrepresent economists' roles. The conversation also ventures into the complexities of rationality, especially regarding addiction, challenging the traditional views of human behavior. Auld emphasizes the need for precise language in economics and showcases the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to better understand socio-economic issues.

Aviv Ovadya, an expert on misinformation, talks with Julia about the multiple phenomena that get lumped together as "fake news." For example, articles that are straightforwardly false, misleading, or artificially created (think "Deepfakes," videos that make a politician appear to say something he didn't say). Which of those problems are more dangerous for our civilization? Are any of them tractable? And what might a solution look like?

On this episode of Rationally Speaking, professor Diana Fleischman makes the case for transhumanist evolutionary psychology: understanding our evolved drives, so that we can better overcome them. Diana and Julia discuss sexual preferences, jealousy, and other drives -- how immutable are they? How do we know? And how would it change society, if we could change the distribution of people we find attractive, or normalize new relationship structures such as polyamory?

This episode features Anders Sandberg, a researcher at Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, explaining several reasons why it's valuable to think about humanity's long-term future. Julia and Anders discuss the common objection that we can't predict or steer the future, and explore whether people really care if humanity dies out.

This episode features physicist Anthony Aguirre discussing Metaculus, the site he created to crowd-source accurate predictions about science and technology. For example, will SpaceX land on Mars by 2030? Anthony and Julia discuss details such as: why it's useful to have predictions on questions like these, how to measure Metaculus' accuracy, why Anthony chose not to run it like a traditional prediction market, and how to design incentives to reward good forecasters.