Arjun Khemani Podcast (Arjun Khemani)

This was a very fun conversation with Sarah on the manner in which children are generically raised and why that is not helpful, the importance of Taking Children Seriously and raising a child without coercion, fallibilism, the growth of knowledge, problem-solving, her inspiration for founding Taking Children Seriously and much more.

Brett's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ToKTeacher

Brett's blog: https://bretthall.org

Brett's podcast (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmP5H2rF-ER33a58ZD5jCig

Danny Miranda is the host of The Danny Miranda Podcast where he’s interviewed people like Bryan Johnson, Morgan Housel, Gary Vaynerchuck, David Perell, Jim O’Shaughnessy, Sam Parr, Anthony Pompliano, Derek Sivers, among many others.

If you enjoy the podcast, the best way to support it is by sharing it. And if you have the means, please consider buying me a coffee.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - 7-year-old Danny taking over the New York Times

2:17 - Thoughts on creating content

5:09 - The desire to be normal

8:22 - Danny’s entire process of creating a podcast

22:25 - Seeing no results

22:09 - Twitter is invaluable

26:51 - You gotta go where the people are

35:10 - On podcasting and the future

41:10 - Books and podcasts Danny likes

46:53 - Gary Vaynerchuck and optimism

52:18 - People Danny admires and closing remarks

DANNY’S LINKS

Podcast: https://linktr.ee/heydannymiranda

Twitter: https://twitter.com/heydannymiranda

ARJUN’S LINKS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemani

Blog: https://arjunkhemani.com

Buy Me A Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

Don Watkins is a fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute. He is the coauthor, along with Yaron Brook, of Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand's Ideas Can End Big Government and Equal is Unfair: America's Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality.

Support this podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

TIMESTAMPS

0:39 - On a quest for the best life that you can achieve

4:02 - Happiness without morality or morality without happiness

5:27 - The interests of humans are at harmony

7:58 - Sacrifice is not good for you and the world

12:24 - Love is selfish

17:12 - Are soldiers sacrificial?

19:15 - The Fountainhead

23:33 - Communicating counter-culture ideas

33:58 - Epistemology

47:25 - Wealth, progress and happiness

1:01:52 - Closing remarks

DON’S LINKS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/donswriting

Website: https://www.donswriting.com

ARJUN’S LINKS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemani

Blog: https://arjunkhemani.com

Buy Me A Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

Airchat: https://www.getairchat.com

TIMESTAMPS0:24 - The nature of knowledge1:01- Constraints of progress6:31 - The finite speed of light is not a problem13:36 - “Any system that doesn’t get its feedback from free markets or nature eventually gets corrupted.” — Naval19:54 - Knowledge creation leads to wealth creation25:44 - Free will

RELEVANT LINKSNaval on Airchat: https://www.getairchat.com/navalBrett on Airchat: https://www.getairchat.com/bretthallKeith on Airchat: https://www.getairchat.com/welivetoserveArjun on Airchat: https://www.getairchat.com/arjunKnowledge | Airchat: https://www.getairchat.com/arjun/knowledge

Arjun’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemani

Support this podcast: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

Nat and Martha are filmmakers. In February 2023, they won a fellowship through O’Shaughnessy Ventures to explore alternative education. 

Support this podcast: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

TIMESTAMPS0:00 - Preview and intro1:16 - Nat and Martha’s background (making movies)6:20 - Living on the road in an RV for a whole year11:47 - “you can just do stuff”15:30 - Winning $100,000 fellowship through O'Shaughnessey Ventures22:36 - Education, homeschooling/unschooling, “follow the fear”, gaps in knowledge, socialization, authority, Taking Children Seriously57:11 - Winning the social media game

NAT & MARTHA'S LINKS Website: https://natandmartha.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@natandmarthaTwitter: https://twitter.com/natandmartha

ARJUN’S LINKS Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemaniBlog: https://arjunkhemani.comBuy Me A Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

Lulie Tanett is a writer and expositor of ideas of applied critical rationalism.

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider supporting it at: https://buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

We talk about:

* Lulie’s untypical childhood and the parenting philosophy she was raised under

* What psychology and the social sciences can learn from epistemology

* Mindfulness tied to Critical Rationalism

* The constraints of creativity

* And much more!

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Lulie’s childhood and Taking Children Seriously

9:30 - Why social science isn’t science

11:35 - Evolutionary psychology

14:15 - Foundations of psychology: not neurology, but epistemology

15:35 - Meme theory

17:39 - What’s needed for consciousness?

19:54 - AGI

21:14 - Criticism Scheduling and Privacy

29:35 - Tying mindfulness and meditation to Critical Rationalism

45:05 - Constraints help creativity

50:27 - Non-coercive schools

52:53 - Critical Rationalism community + recommendations by Lulie

MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE

* The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch

* Episode 10 of Do Explain with David Deutsch on The Primacy of Ideas

* Lulie’s recent appearance on the Do Explain podcast [The Chapman Series, Pt.5]

* David Deutsch on the ‘Fun Criterion’ with Lulie Tanett

* Increments podcast

* Lulie’s post on Alexander Technique

LULIE’S LINKS

* Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/reasonisfun

* Website: https://www.lulie.co.uk/

ARJUN’S LINKS

* Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemani

* Blog: https://arjunkhemani.com

* Buy Me A Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

Yaron Brook is an objectivist philosopher, podcaster, and author. He’s also the chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute.

Support the podcast at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

TIMESTAMPS

0:30 - What makes humans different

3:50 - Christian atheists

8:05 - Inequality good?

12:25 - AGI Doomerism

21:46 - Aliens

23:37 - Bad philosophy in popular movies

26:29 - The education system

28:37 - Epistemology and The Beginning of Infinity

40:58 - Advice for young people

YARON'S LINKS

* Twitter: https://twitter.com/yaronbrook

* YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yaronbrook

ARJUN'S LINKS

* Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemani

* Blog: https://arjunkhemani.com

* Buy Me A Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

This episode was recorded on Airchat. Learn more at getairchat.com.

Logan Chipkin is a writer. You can purchase his recently published fantasy novel, Windfall here.

Follow Logan on Twitter @ChipkinLogan and on Airchat @logan.

TIMESTAMPS

0:33 - A brief history of Austrian economics

9:15 - Is economics a science?

14:12 - How to think about the state

21:05 - The problem with welfare statism

30:05 - Constructor Theory and Austrian economics

33:12 - Economic creationism

41:20 - Consumerism: does capitalism rob us of meaning from our lives?

52:14 - Fiat, sound, hard, and easy monies

55:49 - The history of money: the fall of Rome

1:01:47 - Attributes of a sound money

1:05:59 - History of money: the Renaissance

1:12:06 - History of fiat money: the gold standard

1:15:17 - History of fiat money: World War I

1:18:48 - History of fiat money Post World War II

1:23:13 - Market feedback as criticism

1:32:56 - Bitcoin

1:52:51 - Constructor Theory

2:04:07 - Recommended reading and final remarks

LINKS

Support my work: buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

Twitter: twitter.com/arjunkhemani

Support this podcast at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

Jim O’Shaughnessy is the founder and CEO of O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC. He also serves as the executive chair of the board of directors at Stability AI and is the host of the Infinite Loops podcast.

TIMESTAMPS

0:27 - The future of AI and Jim’s investment in Stability AI

4:51 - The Beginning of Infinity and the ideas of David Deutsch

12:32 - The perils of labeling things and the illusion of certainty

17:35 - Thinking probabilistically vs. deterministically

23:14 - The education system and Synthesis School

29:38 - $100,000 OSV fellowships

35:43 - The Great Reshuffle and the movie industry

51:09 - We have more natural resources today than we did in the past

56:46 - Does Jim want to live forever?

1:02:08 - Final remarks

JIM’S LINKS

* Twitter: https://twitter.com/jposhaughnessy

* O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC: https://www.osv.llc

ARJUN'S LINKS

* Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemani

* Blog: https://arjunkhemani.com

* Buy Me A Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

Support this podcast: buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

David D. Friedman is an anarcho-capitalist economist, author of ‘The Machinery of Freedom’, and son of Milton Friedman.

TIMESTAMPS

0:44 - 50 years of The Machinery of Freedom

3:35 - What is a government?

9:22 - How law could be produced and enforced in an anarcho-capitalist society

12:00 - Laws produced by the market will be biased toward freedom

14:27 - Is David an anarchist for pragmatic or ethical reasons?

15:41 - Strategy

18:19 - Governments evolving into private firms and science-fiction

25:43 - India, capitalism, and the West

32:51 - The rights of youth, education, and the State

LINKS

David’s website: daviddfriedman.com

David’s Substack: daviddfriedman.substack.com

Arjun’s Twitter: x.com/arjunkhemani

Arjun’s newsletter: arjunkhemani.substack.com

If you would like to support this podcast, click here.

Bitcoin donations at: bc1q3vajy7e79080uzg5j7watdtl2h7ktqx9l7x8w8

Per Bylund is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University and a Senior Fellow at the Mises Institute. His latest book, How to Think about the Economy: A Primer, serves as an introduction to economic reasoning and aims to improve economic literacy.

TIMESTAMPS

0:04 - Why economic illiteracy is so prevalent

5:25 - Individualists trying to spread their ideas in a collectivist manner

9:25 - The role of the entrepreneur

12:27 - The primacy of theory in the social sciences

25:07 - The irrationality of “social entrepreneurship”

32:17 - Cospaia

34:52 - Javier Milei

39:13 - The greatest economic fallacy

41:50 - The effects of taxes

43:55 - What advice would Per give his 17 year old self?

45:35 - Could we have cured cancer in the 60s?

49:49 - Final remarks

EPISODE LINKS

Per’s Twitter: x.com/perbylund

Download Per’s latest book for free here: mises.org/primer

Arjun’s Twitter: x.com/arjunkhemani

Arjun’s newsletter: arjunkhemani.substack.com

If you would like to support this podcast, click here.

Bitcoin donations at: bc1q3vajy7e79080uzg5j7watdtl2h7ktqx9l7x8w8

Tom Hyde is a geologist with degrees in geoscience and natural hazards. In addition to his academic background, Tom has a keen interest in the scientific and philosophical works of Karl Popper and David Deutsch, as well as in libertarianism, climate and risk, gender theory, aesthetics, anti-aging, and pro-natalism, among other topics.

TIMESTAMPS

0:39 - Why a larger population is good for the world

11:18 - The morality of immortality

25:11 - Anarchism and why wealth inequality may be good for the poor

38:01 - Degrowth is disastrous

49:05 - Animal consciousness

56:31 - The infinite gender theory

1:07:40 - Final remarks and recommendations

EPISODE LINKS

Tom’s Substack: http://tomhyde.substack.com

Tom’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomhyde_

Arjun’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemani

Arjun’s newsletter: https://arjunkhemani.substack.com

If you would like to support this podcast, click here.

Max More is a philosopher, futurist, and former CEO of Alcor Life Extension Foundation. He is currently Director of Communications at Biostasis Technologies. Max wrote the first definition of “Transhumanism” in its modern sense.

TIMESTAMPS

0:45 - Why Max changed his last name to “More”

2:45 - Max’s early life and interest in cryonics and life extension

8:00 - Extropian philosophy and Transhumanism

9:15 - Cryonics explained

26:06 - Hardest challenges in achieving indefinite lifespan

33:16 - Humans don’t like uncertainty

35:55 - We need more progress in AI

39:05 - Climate change is massively exaggerated

46:24 - Pancritical Rationalism and Karl Popper

52:21 - Proactionary principle

56:58 - Max’s book on cryonics and final remarks

EPISODE LINKS

Max’s website: https://www.maxmore.com

Max’s Substack: https://maxmore.substack.com

Arjun’s X: https://x.com/arjunkhemani

Arjun’s Substack: https://arjunkhemani.substack.com

David Deutsch is the author of The Fabric of Reality and The Beginning of Infinity. He works on fundamental issues in physics, particularly the quantum theory of computation and information, and constructor theory. He is known as the father of quantum computing for his contributions to the field. He is an advocate of Taking Children Seriously, a new, non-paternalistic view of children.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Read the full transcript below. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:22 - Happiness is a state of continually solving one’s problems

4:54 - Both free-will and the self exist

12:06 - The principle of optimism

17:28 - Any ultimate explanation is a bad explanation

20:22 - The origins of Taking Children Seriously

25:33 - Why children are the most coerced members in society

31:33 - Anarcho-capitalism

Jeremy Shearmur is a fellow emeritus in philosophy at the Australian National University. He is the author of Hayek and After and The Political Thought of Karl Popper. He also worked as assistant to Karl Popper for eight years.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Read the full transcript on Substack. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:00 - The commonalities (and differences) between Austrian economics and Popperian epistemology

14:34 - Young Popper’s socialism

25:35 - The sociology of philosophy

29:20 - Two different aspects to Popper’s approach to teaching

36:11 - The situation at the Institute for Humane Studies at GMU

45:45 - Popper’s personality, work ethic, and other interests

52:11 - Against the self-expressionist theory of art

56:24 - Why the ideas of Popper and Hayek aren’t mainstream

1:10:03 - Anarcho-capitalism

1:23:02 - Closing remarks

If you are interested in Jeremy's Zoom based conferences on Karl Popper's work, you can contact him at: jeremy.shearmur@fallowfield.info

Farbood Nivi is the founder of Grockit (acquired by Kaplan in 2013). He has been biohacking for 25 years. Recently, he became one of the first 200 people in the world to receive Follistatin gene therapy.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:39 - Biohacking for 25 years

7:23 - Follistatin gene therapy

11:15 - Farbood’s protocol and results after taking follistatin

15:38 - The FDA’s job is not to keep you alive and healthy

20:58 - Próspera and other startup cities

24:13 - Effective accelerationism

29:27 - On living forever

33:40 - The nine most terrifying words in the English language are “I’m an effective altruist and I’m here to help”

44:40 - Action is always selfish

50:53 - Tips for the average person to get started with biohacking

57:00 - The importance of mobility and flexibility

1:02:14 - Steve Jobs and following your heart

Follow Farbood on X: http://x.com/farbood

Matthew Lysiak is an investigative journalist and author of Fiat Food: Why Inflation Destroyed Our Health and How Bitcoin Fixes It.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:49 - Why Matthew wrote Fiat Food

5:29 - Restructuring the American diet after the gold standard

11:25 - The Seventh-day Adventist Church

16:09 - The word “science” has become a shield against criticism

18:19 - On eating everything in moderation

21:04 - The CPI significantly downplays the effect of inflation

25:53 - The benefits of eating sound good

28:54 - How could a transition to the Bitcoin standard look like?

32:50 - Freedom and raising free children

36:21 - Advice for starting the carnivore diet and closing remarks

Follow Matthew on X: http://x.com/Matthewlysiak

Get Fiat Food from The Saif House: http://thesaifhouse.com

Ashley St. Clair is the Operations Manager at Babylon Bee and author of the children’s book Elephants Are Not Birds. This interview was recorded on Airchat.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:19 - The immigration crisis in the US

11:08 - DEI and Mark Cuban

14:29 - Anti-humanism and Gen Z

18:17 - The rise of Christian nationalism

22:32 - Elon freeing the bird

27:47 - What the birth control pill represents

33:07 - Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom

35:16 - Should you go to college?

38:37 - Elephants Are Not Birds

Follow Ashley on X: http://x.com/stclairashley

Niklas Anzinger is the founder of Infinita VC and Vitalia. He is also the host of the Stranded Technologies Podcast.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:32 - Building Vitalia and Infinita VC

6:05 - The parallels between longevity and crypto

17:35 - How to convince people that living longer is a worthy goal

22:54 - Network societies

30:35 - Curating your early community

35:22 - The benefits of making organ trade legal

39:23 - Master of Business Creation

43:46 - The madness of air travel regulation

48:51 - Privatizing the base layer of society + closing remarks

Follow Niklas on X: http://x.com/NiklasAnzinger

Nicole Behnam is a founder and journalist. She is the creator of Beyond The Interview where she’s interviewed people like Chris Voss, Konstantin Kisin, and Robert Greene.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:00 - Nicole’s relationship with her parents and books

4:45 - On being a red carpet host

9:57 - Clubhouse

14:34 - How Naval spoke at one of Nicole’s events

18:03 - Leverage social media

19:45 - NFTs

26:32 - Cults, communities, and influencing people

30:51 - Ray Peat

34:36 - What would your Oscar’s speech be?

Follow Nicole on X: http://x.com/NicoleBehnam

Riva Tez is a philosopher, writer, and venture capitalist. She’s the author of the blog Hard to Write.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:52 - Does crypto make anarcho-capitalism pragmatic?

11:56 - Crypto is both technologically and morally superior

20:08 - Ayn Rand’s ideal world

26:00 - Children are humans in their purest form

30:03 - Having integrity in your beliefs

33:17 - Creating a TV show of Atlas Shrugged

36:33 - COVID radicalized a lot of people

41:48 - Riva’s toy store and philosophy class for kids

44:37 - Epistemological anarchism

46:49 - Objective beauty

50:57 - AI, AGI, and AI safety

57:25 - Distractions in the longevity movement

1:04:30 - Why care about longevity (and hate the state)

1:08:07 - Riva’s childhood

1:12:42 - There is more opportunity out there than anyone wants you to believe

Follow Riva on X: http://x.com/rivatez

Johan Norberg is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a writer who focuses on globalization, human progress and intellectual history. He is the author of In Defense of Global Capitalism, Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future, and The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work. You can also send me bitcoin to this address.

Timestamps

0:50 - How Johan changed his mind about human progress

3:50 - Pro-human flourishing cannot be anti-environment

5:33 - Alternative words to describe capitalism

8:30 - Why is there so much economic illiteracy?

12:36 - Despise poverty, not wealth or inequality

16:41 - We are taxing what we want more of

18:46 - Degrowth and the fall of western education

25:21 - The concept of “needs” is often abused

29:27 - How to have infinite growth on a finite planet

33:08 - Elon Musk

34:43 - Javier Milei and Argentina

39:34 - Privatizing law and justice systems

43:52 - Child labor

49:52 - Advice for young people

Follow Johan on X: http://x.com/johanknorberg

Click here to support my work. You can also send me bitcoin to this address.

Nat Eliason is a writer and crypto insider with a wildly popular newsletter and podcast. He is the author of the book Crypto Confidential: Winning and Losing Millions in the New Frontier of Finance.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Timestamps

0:49 - Ayn Rand

6:40 - The transition from writing online to writing a book

12:26 - Marketing Crypto Confidential

16:43 - Writing for the modern world

21:20 - Come for the money, stay for the tech

26:49 - Decentralized social media

30:19 - Don’t be someone’s exit liquidity!

34:39 - The value of authenticity

36:39 - The advantages of being pseudonymous

39:19 - Constraints can help us be creative

42:53 - Is note-taking valuable?

46:02 - The future of work

50:11 - Strava for writing

53:49 - What idea sounds crazy today but will be mainstream in 5-10 years?

1:01:00 - Why Nat doesn’t use shampoo and other conventional health products

Follow Nat on X: http://x.com/nateliason

Get Nat’s book Crypto Confidential: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0593714040

Julian Barbour is a renowned physicist known for his groundbreaking work on the nature of time. In his influential books, The End of Time and The Janus Point he explores the concept of a timeless universe, challenging traditional views.

Samuel Kuypers is a theoretical physicist, currently located in Montréal, who is interested in the foundations of quantum theory and time.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work. You can also send me bitcoin to this address.

Timestamps

1:10 - The instant is not in time, time is in the instant

6:27 - Time capsules and evidence of time passing

9:22 - Newton’s view of absolute time and space

18:46 - Shape dynamics

24:33 - Mathematics of variety

37:51 - Newton’s theory as a theory of creation

56:23 - How shape dynamics relates to general relativity

1:06:50 - Entropy and heat death of the universe

1:28:13 - Free will and determinism

1:33:22 - Carpe diem

1:34:13 - Julian’s interest in Shakespeare

1:40:54 - Question from David Deutsch about quantum theory

1:48:56 - Question from Brett Hall about general relativity and QT

1:51:51 - Final remarks

I had the pleasure of sitting down with David Deutsch in his lovely garden in Oxford a few months ago. Here’s our conversation.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

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Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

1:01 - A tragic view of human history

7:04 - Why did it take so long for civilization to arise?

13:31 - Fallibilism

21:32 - Cultural relativism denies improvement

24:03 - Richard Dawkins and indigenous ways of knowing

26:49 - Chemical scum that dream of distant quasars

31:38 - The era of man

37:55 - People are unlike any other force of nature

42:51 - The dangers of regulating AI

48:09 - Are we running out of resources?

54:21 - Everything in existing educational theory is wrong

1:11:30 - When David met Richard Feynman

1:17:33 - Everyone is a Popperian

1:20:16 - Only progress is sustainable

1:26:00 - The biggest threat to Western civilization

Follow me on X.

Follow David on X.

My conversation with Naval Ravikant. Enjoy!

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:00 - The Theory of Everything

4:48 - How do you know what’s true?

7:51 - Groups search for consensus, individuals search for truth

13:07 - We have never run out of a single resource

15:25 - Are we destroying the Earth?

17:48 - Marxism denies wealth creation

21:28 - Regulation kills innovation

27:05 - Degrowth and the fall of Western universities

33:31 - Why the West is best

35:47 - Federalism

38:10 - Everyone wants to live forever

41:44 - Humans are universal explainers

43:25 - Collectivism vs. individualism

50:44 - You cannot explain the universe without explaining humans

55:02 - How David Deutsch’s ideas have changed Naval’s life

1:02:31 - The scientific method isn’t possible

1:05:07 - The low-hanging fruit theory is a bad explanation

1:08:19 - The biggest threats to Western civilization

Follow me on X.

Follow Naval on X.

My conversation with Zooko, Nate Wilcox, and Sean Bowe about the Zcash protocol.

Zooko is a cypherpunk who co-founded Zcash along with his brother, Nate Wilcox, and others. Sean Bowe is a cryptographer and engineer who has played a crucial role in the development of Zcash and has made significant contributions to advancements in zero-knowledge proofs, particularly zk-SNARKs, which underpin Zcash’s privacy features.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:00 - Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn

0:04 - Writing the first blog post on Bitcoin ever

6:21 - Bitcoin’s fundamental privacy flaw

9:40 - Unstoppable private money

12:19 - Will Zcash compete with Bitcoin as a store of value?

14:24 - How many people are using Zcash?

16:18 - Good security is good usability

20:10 - Social credit systems and ubiquitous surveillance

23:43 - Why Monero’s privacy tech can’t work

35:21 - Integrating ZKPs into other blockchains

39:51 - Privacy comes from money at rest, not from money in flight

47:42 - Why did the price of ZEC fall so drastically in the beginning?

51:49 - Zcash stablecoins?

55:50 - Quantum threats to Zcash

1:02:50 - Encrypted love notes in the blockchain'

1:07:07 - Privacy enabled cultural trends

1:12:43 - Nate Wilcox

1:14:38 - Why do you need privacy if you have nothing to hide?

1:16:16 - A brief history of Zcash

1:22:42 - Why does Zcash have opt-in privacy?

1:26:55 - Does Zcash still rely on a trusted setup?

1:30:49 - Upgrading the Zcash protocol to Hybrid PoW/PoS

1:40:50 - A bug that almost killed Zcash

1:52:40 - Zcash’s funding model

2:09:09 - Why can’t privacy be added as an L2?

2:14:35 - Scaling Zcash and making it more interoperable

2:23:16 - Shielded Labs

2:24:39 - Nate’s vision for Zcash

2:27:53 - Sean Bowe

2:32:53 - Censorship resistance is a spectrum

2:35:26 - Will privacy coins be banned?

2:37:49 - Privacy and scalability

2:41:47 - Programmable money

2:43:31 - Summary of Sean’s contributions to the field of cryptography

2:55:17 - Zcash might get privacy against quantum adversaries for free

3:00:14 - Halo

3:05:34 - What Sean’s working on right now

3:11:54 - What has influenced Sean’s thinking in cryptography the most?

3:13:36 - Being a high school dropout working in crypto

3:15:08 - Zcash is just getting started

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My conversation with philosopher and author Peter Boghossian.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:00 - The enlightenment

5:51 - The dangers of moral relativism

21:28 - Modern education is failing us

31:14 - What’s worth preserving in the West

37:00 - Is wokeism filling the void left by atheism?

38:04 - The spread of Islamism

45:49 - Speech is not violence

49:11 - Derangements of science

52:48 - The myth of the framework

56:34 - Why you should learn epistemology

58:05 - The instinct to belong trumps what’s true

1:02:44 - Chasing likes versus pursuing truth

1:05:08 - What is Peter most optimistic and most pessimistic about

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My conversation with Ethan Thornton, founder of Mach Industries.

Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro

1:07 - Why Mach needs to exist

3:16 - Early experiments

5:07 - Dropping out of MIT

8:36 - Raising $85 million at 19 years old

11:20 - Decentralized vertical supply chains

13:54 - The most important domain of the next century

15:55 - Betting on hydrogen

18:11 - Overview of Viper and Glide

21:06 - Building feedback loops across teams

25:29 - Facing regulatory hurdles

28:19 - Knowing when to be risk tolerant

29:54 - Time until China invades Taiwan

31:45 - The future of warfare

42:29 - Takeaways from the (unmanned) war in Ukraine

48:23 - Biggest influences on Ethan’s life

49:37 - Mach’s long-term plan

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Links

* Aastha Jain

* Live Longer World podcast

* Feynman Kids Program

* Blog post by Aastha: Contra Elon Musk on Lifespan Extension

Timestamps

1:05 - An important question: should we stop aging?

3:27 - What if people don’t change their minds?

5:35 - It’s in human nature to go against nature

7:14 - Contra Elon Musk on Lifespan Extension

15:20 - Greater chance for statism if a generation extends indefinitely?

18:26 - Population and pessimism

25:26 - Doesn’t death give life meaning?

34:56 - The importance of desire and changing our neurochemistry

41:15 - How far we’ve come in the field of longevity

49:40 - “I just want to live long enough until we defeat death”

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Jay is one of the coolest people I’ve met

1:56 - What’s wrong with the school system and how to escape it

5:48 - Growing up in an entrepreneurial family and dropping out

8:18 - Become more valuable by learning high value skills

10:45 - Voids create value / why Jay wants to change the way education is done

13:20 - Digital Nomad and filming a documentary in the Arctic Circle

21:10 - The most profound thing Jay learned from traveling to 57 countries

24:30 - All morality is localized / every idea is open to criticism

29:31 - How you do one thing is how you do everything

30:20 - What “home” means to a digital nomad / I’m a citizen of the world

39:21 - Next steps for Jay

44:00 - Biggest mentors in Jay’s life + books / closing remarks

In this podcast I speak with Jay Topp.

He’s like one of the coolest people I’ve ever met.

* Jay is 22 years old from the Gold Coast, Australia.

* He’s a Digital Nomad who’s stepped foot in 57 countries. He calls himself a “citizen of the world”.

* He dropped out of school when he was 16 at a time when he started earning more than his teachers while helping his family scale their business.

* His agency, Lion Social helps scale businesses from ideation to seven figures and has had a couple of great success stories.

* He’s an excellent musician.

* He’s been working on a documentary on “Digital Nomads living in the Arctic circle” which releases later this year.

* His mission is to play a meaningful role in the revolution of education.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT

* We talk about the flaws in the education system and how Jay escaped it.

* Jay shares the most profound thing he learned upon traveling to 57 countries.

* We explore who digital nomads are and the reasons why Jay is creating a documentary about them situated in a very unique place.

* Jay shares what “home” means to him.

* And much more.

Jay’s links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayt0pp/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzevubxwGHCx7aVbKPTOxjg

In this episode, I talk to Chris Turner. A tech entrepreneur turned education entrepreneur who founded Moonrise, a co-learning space for kids.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

We talk about the problem with school, bad explanations around learning, the hard (yet exciting) problem Moonrise is solving, Taking Children Seriously and much more.

This was a very fun and insightful conversation! Hope you find it so to.

TIMESTAMPS

0:30 - How Chris came from the startup world to the alt-education space

8:55 - School does serve a function in society

12:15 - Structure without coercion is good for creativity

17:11 - Moonrise: a co-learning space for kids

24:08 - Why the Internet didn’t really revolutionize the education system

29:41 - Do you learn by immersion?

31:47 - Bad explanations about learning

33:59 - Should we revolutionize the education system or make changes incrementally?

38:55 - Problem of people being “uneducated” and on credentials and proof of work

47:35 - Taking Children Seriously and closing remarks

Chris’ links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_cturner

Moonrise website: https://www.moonrise.com/

Jason is the founder of The Roots of Progress, where he writes and speaks about the history of technology and the philosophy of progress. Previously, he spent 18 years as a software engineer, engineering manager, and startup founder.

We talk about the need to study progress, tackle the question of whether progress makes humans any happier, optimism and solutionism, and some more.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:38 - Why we need a new philosophy of progress

3:54 - “Almost nothing about progress is linear…”

9:56 - Why bother making any progress in the first place?

16:18 - Understanding and “obeying” laws of nature

18:01 - Does progress make us happy? Are we on an intergenerational hedonic treadmill?

27:52 - Optimism and solutionism

35:15 - What’s your message for people living a thousand years from now?

JASON’S LINKS:

The Roots of Progress: https://rootsofprogress.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford

Michael Strong is the founder of a virtual school called The Socratic Experience, made for children aged 8-19 where they get a personalized and purpose-driven education cultivated to develop their unique genius. He is one of the most experienced designers of innovative school programs in the United States.

In our conversation, we talk about Michael’s vision for education in 20 years, deschooling society, Socratic questioning, the future of education and much more!

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

TIMESTAMPS

0:49 - Michael’s vision for education

5:03 - Ivan Illich’s book Deschooling Society

8:00 - How to eliminate the need for credentialing

11:55 - Adding something to the education system won’t help

14:52 - Non-coercive boundaries for children

17:58- The Socratic method of questioning

27:08 - Gamifying learning

29:32 - Reading + the difference between teaching and learning

34:50 - How to scale alternative education so that it becomes the norm? + closing remarks

MICHAEL’S LINKS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/flowidealism

The Socratic Experience: https://socraticexperience.com

ARJUN'S LINKS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemani

Blog: https://arjunkhemani.com

Charlie Jungheim (aka Hermes of Reason) makes really cool videos about Critical Rationalism following the works of Karl Popper and David Deutsch. He’s a musician and comedian.

In a fun and wide-ranging conversation, we talk about mixing comedy with intellectual stuff, our lives being transformed by the works of David Deutsch, how meditation links to epistemology, then Mars and more!

TIMESTAMPS

0:45 - Charlie’s INCREDIBLE content around critical rationalism (comedy mixed with intellectual stuff)

6:17 - Most intellectual heroes are dead. Ours isn’t.

11:55 - Deep ideas can take a while to penetrate (plus isn’t “being a Deutschian” ironic?)

18:33 - Things David Deutsch changed Charlie’s mind about (plus “your problem is the biggest problem in the world”)

24:50 - Linking meditation and epistemology, and Mars

38:25 - Barriers to creativity and productive constraints

48:25 - The meaning of life

CHARLIE’S LINKS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hermesofreason

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDCrUxqE3ThHrmLYsuM9fLQ

ARJUN’S LINKS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemani

Blog: https://arjunkhemani.com

Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

Chiara is a quantum physicist and research fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford. Her research interests are at the foundations of physics. Together with David Deutsch she is the pioneer of constructor theory, a new mode of scientific explanation which expresses physical laws in terms of counterfactuals, i.e. what can and cannot happen.

She is the author of The Science of Can and Can’t subtitled “A Physicist’s Journey Through the Land of Counterfactuals” which is all about constructor theory and its implications.

We talk about Chiara’s lovely childhood that led to her developing an interest in fundamental physics, people being a force of nature, knowledge, instrumentalism, reductionism, information having physical properties, updates on constructor theory, productive constraints and more!

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

TIMESTAMPS

1:40 - Chiara’s childhood and why she came to do what she does today

11:44 - Man, a force in nature & what makes knowledge resilient

21:45 - In an information-less universe / why information and knowledge are physical (not abstract) entities

26:00 - Explanatory and non-explanatory knowledge

28:45 - How constructor theory has been received by the physics community so far

33:28 - Bad philosophy / instrumentalism and reductionism

45:17 - Constraints are good!

51:50 - Why Chiara isn’t on Twitter + closing remarks

LINKS

* https://constructortheory.org

* https://www.chiaramarletto.com

Support the podcast using this link: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

ARJUN’S LINKS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemani

Blog: https://arjunkhemani.com

Andrew Kirby is a YouTuber with over 600,000 subscribers who became financially free at age 22 by synthesizing content on the Internet.

We talk about the path Andrew takes to attain financial freedom at age 22, how to write good cold DMs, entrepreneurship, misconceptions around money, The Beginning of Infinity and Andrew’s most influential books, the pursuit of creation, happiness and much more!

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Andrew’s backstory // his entrepreneurial childhood

4:50 - How Andrew became financially free at 22 // being a permission-less apprentice

9:15 - The shortcut to writing good Cold DMs

12:18 - What Andrew invests in

13:24 - Understanding is the purest form of power // Andrew’s big goals

15:42 - Money can be boiled down to solving people’s problems

19:15 - Say yes to everything at first, then say no // how to prioritize

22:30 - BOOKS!

30:45 - Creating for yourself vs. creating for others

34:37 - Happiness and the meaning of life

ANDREW’S LINKS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AndrewKirbys

Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAmAndrewKirby

ARJUN’S LINKS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemani

Blog: https://arjunkhemani.com

Support the podcast using this link: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

If you’d wish to support this podcast, click here.

David Perell is a writer, podcaster and founder of the course Write of Passage.

We talk about David’s new writing course for high schoolers, why he thinks the Internet is the best thing that happened to education, writing online and effective ways to do so, how to tackle long term goals, ChatGPT and more!

TIMESTAMPS

0:30 - The problem David is trying to solve with his new writing course for high schoolers

6:10 - What David would do and how he would go about writing on the Internet if he were a 15 year old today

16:30 - The Internet is the best thing that ever happened to education and “the paradox of abundance”

22:57 - Arjun’s current school experience

28:25 - The tragedy of school killing curiosity

31:26 - A novel and important idea that David wants to write more about

36:29 - How to write a book

39:10 - “Is ChatGPT a part of your writing routine?”

DAVID’S LINKS

Website: perell.com

Twitter: twitter.com/david_perell

Write of Passage Liftoff: liftoff.school

ARJUN’S LINKS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunkhemani

Blog: https://arjunkhemani.com

Support the podcast using this link: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

Support this podcast using this link: buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani

James Pierce is a writer, executive coach and a philosopher.

TIMESTAMPS

0:50 - How modern psychology weakens the mind and how to conquer anxiety

4:15 - Perspective and “direct observation”

8:25 - Shoulds, prescriptions, and inexplicit knowledge

15:58 - Sincere questions

17:59 - Why James doesn’t meditate, the sense of sense, and enlightenment

21:05 - The ultimate cause for all relationship problems

26:20 - Peace

33:30 - Insincere questions

36:40 - Freedom

JAMES’ LINKS

Website: james-pierce.com

Twitter: twitter.com/jimmpierce

ARJUN’S LINKS

Twitter: twitter.com/arjunkhemani

Blog: arjunkhemani.com

Buy Me A Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/arjunkhemani