Ep 170 "Will Mars Create a New Species of Human?" with Scott Solomon

What happens when we start birthing babies on Mars? Might a Martian human become unable to survive on Earth because of differences in microbes and gravity? How much of your body is shaped by the details of this planet? Will radiation accelerate human evolution on Mars? Could living on Mars eventual…

Ep169 "What Is Claude Thinking But Not Saying?" with Jack Lindsey

Is AI thinking things it never says aloud? How would we know if a large language model were having a subjective experience? Is there a way to read the 'thoughts' of an LLM? Human brains seem to have a 'global workspace' -- what would it mean if we discovered that AI has something similar? Can you r…

Ep168 "Will it Someday Make Sense to Elect an AI President?"

Could there be a better form of government than the one we have now? As we enter an AI-powered world, when might we choose an AI leader? Will your grandchildren ever vote for a human president, who comes with a political party & the weaknesses of a human, or will they vote for a system that has a j…

Ep167 "What Happens With Stone Age Brains + Godlike Tools?" with Steven Kotler

What happens when old brain circuitry collides with modern tech? Are we heading into an age of abundance, and can abundance create its own psychological problems? Do we need friction in our lives to become better humans? Could curiosity become the most important survival skill of the twenty-first c…

Ep166 "Could the Next Brain Interface Get Sprayed Up Your Nose?" with Tetiana Aleksandrova & Scott Meek

A brain computer interface (BCI) is any technology that allows you to connect your 3 pounds of wetware to a computer. But instead of implanting electrodes via neurosurgery, might the next revolution in BCIs come from something very small, like nanoparticles? Would this allow us to spy on millions (…

Ep165 "What's a Doom Loop & How Do You Escape It?" with Jonathan Downar

Have you ever spent hours with a thought cycling around in your head? What happens when the brain continuously worries, craves, or replays something without finding the exit? Where does the feeling of being “done” come from? Might depression, addiction, OCD, and PTSD all share the same problem? Is …

Ep164 "Why Do We Act Differently Around Different People?" With Claude Steele

Does your identity and performance change in different situations? What does this have to do with wondering how you’re being judged? What if polarization grows from uncertainty more than hatred? Might social uncertainty be more common than prejudice? Why do strangers become enemies so easily? Can w…

Ep163 "How Quickly Does AI Become Smarter Than Humanity?" with Ben Goertzel

What is artificial general intelligence (AGI) and how close are we to getting there? What defines the next step, called artificial superintelligence (ASI), and why might the gap between those two be so dangerous? When machines become smarter than us, what roles are left for humanity? Should we thin…

Ep162 "What Does Medicine Look Like in Ten Years?" with Jeanne Loring

For all of medical history, we’ve tried to persuade sick cells to behave better. What if instead we just swapped them out? Can we insert new brain cells grown from your own skin cells? And what does any of this have to do with sending one’s own cells into space, or rescuing animals on the very brin…

Ep161 "What Do Ancient Brains and Future AIs Have in Common?" with Read Montague

What do honeybee brains have in common with human brains -- and with the AI that beat the world's best Go player? What simple algorithm has been hiding inside brains for 100s of millions of years? When babies throw food from a high chair again and again, are they being mischievous or are they runni…