Dive into the interconnectedness of complex theories like epistemology and quantum mechanics, advocating for a unified approach to knowledge. Discover how constructor theory could reshape various fields and how anti-rational memes are impeding innovation. Explore the delicate balance of freedom of speech amidst societal controls and rethink the power dynamics in education. The discussion reveals the profound implications of institutional stability versus individual creativity in driving societal progress.

Exploring AGI impossibility, superiority of explanatory knowledge, resilience of knowledge laden information, problems of cloning, objections to Taking Children Seriously, creativity versus nature, giving up on ultimate explanation

Topics discussed include the universality of computation, growth of knowledge through problem-solving, clashes between ideas, debunking the survival of the fittest concept in evolution, bad philosophy in quantum theory, the connection between free will and knowledge creation, the nature of wealth as transformations, the principle of optimism, constructor theory, and making a better world.

The podcast discusses the qualities of good science fiction, the limitations of AI compared to human creativity, the concept of personhood and the evolution of language, living a goal-driven life with inspiration and spontaneity, treating individuals with their own motivations, and major threats facing civilization such as robots and woke culture.

The podcast discusses Karl Popper's philosophy, the importance of good explanations in science, and the limitations of answering questions about quantum theory. It also explores the concept of foundationalism and its relevance to knowledge creation, the enlightenment in Britain and its impact on the industrial revolution, and the challenges of determining truth in the multiverse.

Introduction 0:00 The Human Race 2:11 Knowledge Creation 12:34 AGI 15:50 Taking Children Seriously 23:30 Good Explanations 27:49 Quantum Computers 36:35 — Transcript http://nav.al/david-deutsch

The elder statesman of smart contract blockchains 0:00 The Ethereum community 1:22 The DAO hack 2:34 Vitalik’s finest and worst moments in protocol politics 5:18 Becoming a Twitter memelord 7:45 Vitalik’s influence on Eth today 8:59 It’s getting harder to do big things in Eth 10:38 Goals outside Ethereum 12:17 Crypto needs the good-natured 15:00 Russia 18:06 Vitalik’s lifestyle 19:51 Closing thoughts 22:06 — Transcript http://nav.al/vitalik-2

Introduction 0:00 Haseeb’s background 0:22 Vitalik’s background 2:43 A blockchain you can build any app on top of 7:02 Eth trades efficiency for transparency 10:18 Like plain text, Eth is simple and efficient 12:41 Only high-value transactions can afford the blockchain 13:08 Doing away with ‘trusted’ third parties 14:09 Trading performance for security 14:43 ‘Impregnable castles made of math’ 16:23 Ethereum’s limitations are latency and privacy 16:56 There are ways to get back your privacy 19:32 Can Eth provide a high level of decentralization and a high level of scaling at the same time? 20:39 Sharding leads to more centralization 21:49 Verifiability at the expense of scaling 24:00 How much decentralization is the right amount? 25:11 What happens when subsidies to join nodes disappear? 27:07 Stateless clients make it possible to verify the chain with very little on your hard drive 28:18 Staking culture is difficult to cultivate 28:52 New blockchain players tend to go for minimum viable decentralization 29:54 People don’t value privacy until somebody goes to jail over it 30:32 Eth is ‘simple at the base’ 31:12 Social recovery wallets make it easier to be your own bank 31:44 Block space is getting expensive 32:41 There’s not a lot of innovation on Bitcoin, by design 33:35 Blockchain’s ‘free-rider effect’ 34:57 Innovation is slowest at Layer 1 35:34 Layer 2 moves faster because it’s permissionless 36:59 What if we froze Layer 1 today? 37:25 Data for computation trade-off 38:57 Benchmarking blockchains apples-to-apples 40:02 Enshrining decentralization 41:43 Tensions between scaling and preserving value 42:27 There will be multiple stores of value 43:54 — Transcript http://nav.al/vitalik

Transcript http://nav.al/infinity-1

Transcript http://nav.al/caveman