Robert Wright's Nonzero

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 Bob quizzes Mickey on worrisome Ukraine war developments 8:26 What could push Putin to go nuclear? 16:34 How disastrous was the DeSantis launch really? 27:46 DeSantis’s possible anti-Trump trump card 37:03 Who’s losing the debt-ceiling fight? 40:15 Parrot room preview: Soul and dual Dune reviews; the latest on Epstein-Gates; Bob’s 12 Monkeys howler; AI; simply the best of Tina Turner; Mickey delineates new immigration bills Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded May 26, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66225 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com 0:00 The watershed moment that led Ben to write his new book, "Cry, Baby"10:55 Does meditation make you less emotional?16:37 How different socio-cultural groups feel about crying23:18 Why do we cry anyway?36:42 Transformative and performative weeping42:29 Putting Joel Osteen’s tears under a microscope54:50 How does the nature of crying change over a lifetime?1:03:33 Overtime preview: Bob’s most embarrassing adult crying experience, psychedelics and crying, and more!1:06:03 Ben delivers a benediction on crying Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Benjamin Perry (Middle Church, "Cry, Baby"). Recorded May 22, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66201Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 Mickey’s risky quiz for Bob 7:20 Biden, Feinstein, Fetterman: Compare and contrast 12:32 Does DeSantis have a path to the presidency? 16:28 Bob’s biggest takeaway from the AI hearings 18:41 How the chip war with China makes real war more likely 29:17 What senators should have asked OpenAI’s CEO 38:47 Ukraine war update 48:09 Parrot room preview: (Not much) debt deal talk; Robert Putnam essay assessed; the Thiel-Epstein and Botstein-Epstein and Chomsky-Epstein connections; an important note on inequality; examining 12 Monkeys; Tucker; new “woke-watch” items; more AI Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded May 19, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66189Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com 0:00 Tim’s tech background and his new newsletter, Understanding AI 4:12 Natural selection and artificial intelligence 11:12 Why Tim is a singularity skeptic 15:17 How exactly would AI take over? And will it even want to? 24:21 The bad AI vs good AI arms race 36:05 What exactly are "AI agents"? 40:09 Why Tim is an AI job-pocalypse skeptic 51:13 Has AI created the biggest tech hype wave ever? 55:45 How Tim thinks AI will actually transform human life Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Timothy B. Lee (Full Stack Economics, Understanding AI) Recorded May 10, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66149 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:15 The food fight within Russia’s military establishment7:50 Could Ukraine’s looming offensive succeed? 12:44 The foreign policy Blob’s biggest blind spot 19:00 Was Trump’s town hall performance a tactical blunder?26:57 Is DeSantis’s attack on Disney anti-democratic?34:54 Tucker moves to Twitter Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded May 12, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66139Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

00:49 America’s missed opportunity to create a peaceful post-Cold-War world8:09 The moment US foreign policy went off track 14:19 Why didn’t the West invest in Russia’s post-Cold War recovery? 22:18 The foreign policy Blob’s continuity across presidential administrations 30:01 Has the American journalism gotten worse in recent decades? Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Jeffrey Sachs (Columbia, The End of Poverty, The Ages of Globalization). Recorded May 01, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66121 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 Mickey deflates a DeSantis challenger 10:52 Mickey’s ego-inflating podcast week 14:01 Who was behind the Kremlin drone attack? 18:38 Neocon propaganda outlet busted; Bob vindicated 25:45 Who has the bigger beef with Neera Tanden? 29:30 How bad was the leaked Tucker text about how “white men fight”? 40:03 Parrot room preview: Gordon Lightfoot trivia lightning-round; adjudicating the Ed Sheeran plagiarism case; new Epstein name-drops; Bob’s latest AI piece; DeSantis vs. Disney; the latest Twitter rival’s arrival; Elon’s subtle Tesla pricing strategy Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded May 05, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66111Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com 0:00 Israel’s many issues 2:52 How ugly could Israel’s judicial reform crisis get? 11:11 Are Palestinian citizens of Israel really under “apartheid”? 18:10 The demographic and ideological sources of Israel’s instability 32:44 If the two-state solution is dead, now what? 43:40 How might an increasingly multipolar world affect Israel? 59:22 Why climate change makes Israel-Palestine even more dire Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Daniel Levy (Prospects for Peace, NAF, The Century Foundation). Recorded May 01, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66091Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:48 Is MSM giving cheat sheets to Biden? 7:58 Trump says he might skip GOP debates 18:33 Will Tucker make a run for the White House? 27:57 Disney escalates its feud with DeSantis 32:59 Bob: Ukraine’s looming offensive is a bad idea Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded April 28, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66084 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com 0:00 John’s upcoming book, How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy2:51 Is the US to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?10:00 Is Putin less rational than John assumes?22:20 Why John is a Russia dove and a China hawk29:50 Does China pose a threat to freedom around the world?36:57 Why John thinks China’s rise threatens American security47:58 Has globalization made great-power peace possible?56:14 Should the US defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion? Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago, The Great Delusion). Recorded April 19, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66062 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 Is DeSantis done for? 9:14 Ro Khanna for president! 13:04 Why Cold War II makes AI scarier 22:45 Is Twitter done for? 27:23 How imminent is a recession, really? 31:52 Ukraine war update 45:06 The Blinken wrinkle in the Hunter Biden laptop story 47:43 Parrot room preview: Mickey’s AI revelation; Can the GOP win over the college crowd?; Is Fetterman out of the woods?; Is a border crisis incoming?; The slow-burn of Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice; more on DeSantis Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded April 21, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66054 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com 0:00 How Roko and Alex wound up debating on the Nonzero Podcast5:05 Could near-term AI disruption be worse than Covid?13:18 Is AI an existential threat? 25:31 How the sci-fi apocalypse scenario might unfold36:42 How is a renegade AI like a man wearing a condom?47:06 Why would an AI want to kill us?55:47 How the Cold War makes AI more dangerous1:09:49 Roko and Alex make final statements before Overtime Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True), Roko Mijic (Heretical Update), and Alexander Campbell (Rose AI). Recorded April 11, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66201 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Nonzero Newsletter at https://nonzero.substack.com 1:29 The promise (and perils) of Notes, Substack’s new social media platform10:08 One big way Notes could be a better Twitter24:47 Nikita’s grand vision for Notes—and Substack41:21 User control vs. the allure of algorithms48:09 Is a better culture of discourse possible through Notes?1:06:11 How Notes benefits from elite buy-in1:15:15 Bob’s advice for Substack: Don't be like Microsoft!1:24:40 Towards a civil society Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikita Petrov (https://psychopolitica.substack.com/). Recorded April 15, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66011Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

00:00 The Biden age issue 5:59 Are Republicans setting the stage for Biden’s re-election? 15:10 Bob: Right-wing “non-interventionists” are rabid China hawks 24:48 The Pentagon’s no good, very leaky week 31:39 Is Clarence Thomas corrupt? 37:50 The New York Times hunts down a leaker 43:39 Elon vs. Matt Taibbi and Substack 48:07 Parrot Room preview: The new legal theory for prosecuting Trump; Biden’s border policy; Mickey vs. Ross Douthat on AI alarmism; government programs Mickey likes; the movie Megan comes to life; the potential of Substack Notes. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65962Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com 0:36 How freaked out is Michal by current AIs? 9:30 Why "theory of mind" (aka cognitive empathy)—even in humans—is mind-blowing 16:00 Michal’s theory-of-mind experiments with AI 19:49 Bob’s theory-of-mind experiments with AI 29:21 Do large language models construct representations of concepts? 42:26 Does AI have subjective experience? 49:56 What human neural networks do that AI doesn't Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Michal Kosinski (Stanford University). Recorded April 04, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65981 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 The SBF and Trump indictments: compare and contrast 8:32 Is DeSantis tanking? 15:25 How the Tennessee House controversy could boost Biden 24:06 Unpacking progressive wins in Wisconsin and Chicago 30:58 Is Twitter becoming a banana republic? 49:04 Ukraine war (and NATO) update 59:12 Parrot room preview: Russian pro-war blogger’s strange assassination; Jill Biden’s basketball misstep; Clarence Thomas’s controversial trips; Amazon against anti-woke reviews; M3GAN, the alignment problem, and more AI talk; GM’s EV blunder; Matt Taibbi vs. Mehdi Hasan; Dershowitz on Epstein Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded April 07, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65962Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com 00:51 Paul’s book, The World Crisis and International Law7:25 Should we demand that other countries be as liberal as we are?20:06 What went wrong in Russia after the Soviet Union fell?33:32 How post-Cold war consensus gave way to global fragmentation39:29 Can international law prevent techno-authoritarianism?48:12 Paul’s skepticism about international law57:44 How the knowledge economy could lead to a Chinese Trump Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Stephan(University of Virginia, The World Crisis and International Law). Recorded March 15, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65935Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 00:00 A common conundrum: How to pay off your porn-star mistress 11:38 Ways to make Ron DeSantis seem human 20:49 Bob: The newest AI has cognitive empathy 28:01 How Cold War II makes AI more dangerous 35:47 Why are traditional American values in decline? 49:20 What foreign policy elites say about Russia-Ukraine behind closed doors 57:07 Parrot Room preview: Something smart Zelensky said; US think tank advocates murder; how the Nashville shooting was reported; Musk makes another Twitter policy change; why Elizabeth Holmes was ahead of her time Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded March 31, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65924 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

1:26 Is ChatGPT capable of “theory of mind”5:39 Is it like anything to be ChatGPT?7:44 ChatGPT passes a cognitive empathy test with flying colors.13:19 ChatGPT analyzes cognitive empathy.17:17 ChatGPT flatters Bob22:36 How ChatGPT uses cognitive empathy in everyday life. A transcript of this conversation is available here: Robert Wright’s simulated voice generated using Play.ht. “ChatGPT” simulated voice generated using Descript. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com 0:00 Bob and David reminisce about Bloggingheads3:26 David’s book, American Psychosis: A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy 9:18 Are Russiagaters moving the goalposts? 20:10 What the Trump team knew about Russian meddling 36:05 The missing “collusion” piece of the Russiagate puzzle 46:54 Why David thinks Russiagate's biggest critics are perpetuating a hoax 58:08 If Russiagaters are right, why didn’t Trump do Russia many favors? Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and David Corn (Mother Jones, Russian Roulette, American Psychosis). Recorded March 16, 2023.