Will we ever have an AI for president? In this episode of the podcast I speak with Pedro Domingos about the impact of AI on society, industry, and politics. Pedro is professor emeritus of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington and co-founded the International Machine Learning Society. He is also the Author of `The Master Algorithm' and `2040: A Silicon Valley Satire'. This episode is not a paid advertisement for Pedro's books, but we use his book `2040' to set the context for the discussion.

We discuss the hype and fear surrounding AI and the future of tech, and Pedro gives an insiders view into the realities of AI development and impact. In his view AI is a human made tool. It isn't going to take over the planet like the terminator, but it will be something that is used by humans to shift the balance of power in society, industry, and politics. A particularly interesting aspect of the discussion surrounds digital twins. Imagine a world in which dating apps are replaced with a digital platform in which your digital twin simulates dates, and even entire lives with the digital twins of potential partners. Users would then go on physical dates with the top performing selection. This same idea could be extended to predicting crime, presidential election outcomes, and more. All of a sudden the simulation hypothesis doesn't seem to crazy, when simulations are used to predict future outcomes in the real world.

Another key topic in this conversation is that of `wokism'. Pedro discusses `wokism' as a new iteration of cultural marxism, an ideology that reinterprets the dynamics of class struggle through cultural and identity-based lenses. While the creation of wealth in a society is not inherently a zero-sum game—where one person’s gain is necessarily another’s loss— the division and redistribution of that wealth that has been created is a zero-sum conflict. Pedro suggests that `wokism' is an attempt to shift power and resources within society, but where the division between the oppressed and the privileged is identity based.

►Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LjBZc-Zh4bc

►Find out more about Pedro's work here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Domingos https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KOrhfVMAAAAJ&hl=en https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~pedrod/

►Follow Pedro on Twitter: @pmddomingos

These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The Andrea von Braun Foundation has provided me with full creative freedom with their support. As such, the views expressed in these episodes are my own and/or those of my guests.

In this conversation I speak with renegade economist and creator of doughnut economics Kate Raworth. Kate is a Senior Associate at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute, where she teaches on the Masters in Environmental Change and Management. She is also Professor of Practice at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.

We speak about economic transformation, and re-imagining economic possibilities for the 21st century. What should we design our economic system to do? Growth in GDP is a nice target to aim for because it is simple, but it doesn't do a very good job of capturing all of the economic externalities associated with market contracts, and in particular the impact of doing business on the environment and human well being. Our economies are beginning to run up against our planets boundaries, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that our planet is finite. So what should our target be if not for endless growth in GDP at the expense of our only known habitable planet?

►Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/edP8rgk6l3g

►Find out more about Kate's work here: https://www.kateraworth.com/about/

►Follow Kate on Twitter: @KateRaworth

These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The Andrea von Braun Foundation has provided me with full creative freedom with their support. As such, the views expressed in these episodes are my own and/or those of my guests.

This conversation is the second part of a two part mini-series on Regenerative cattle farming. The question is: Does raising cattle really have to be so damaging to the environment? Can cattle be integrated into a natural system that sequesters carbon from the atmosphere, and if so what would that system look like?

Joel Salatin segregates his land into small fenced off areas, which he rotates his cattle through. By moving his herd routinely he gives grass and other wild vegetation optimal time to grow and absorb carbon, and for the cattle to disperse their excreta such that it is optimally absorbed into the fields. By dispersing the impact of his cattle, and introducing a number of complimentary species he is able to reduce the impact of disease and pests without the use of insecticides, pesticides, and other chemical based management approaches. This keeps the soil alive such that smaller organisms can work the carbon deposited by the cattle into the soil. The claim is that this approach is able to sequester carbon. Its also far better for the animals, and leads to a better end product.

At 21:00 Joel mentions a connection between autism, and nutrition. The exact causes of autism are not fully understood, but research points to a combination of genetic, environmental, and possibly prenatal influences. Maternal nutrition during pregnancy (including adequate levels of folic acid and vitamin D), gut health, and nutritional deficiencies may influence autism-related symptoms, though no definitive dietary cause has been identified and specialized diets show mixed evidence and require further research.

At 1:16:00 Joel mentions health comparisons between Fake meat Substitutes and real beef. I don't know much about that topic yet, but here is somewhere to start looking if you are interested: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/impossible-and-beyond-how-healthy-are-these-meatless-burgers-2019081517448 At 1:19:51, 1:41:36, and 1:45:48, Joel mentions concerns about an agenda surrounding Claus Schwab, Bill Gates, and population reduction/control. This is a topic that I completely failed to properly question or investigate during the interview itself. This is not a topic that I was aware of or primed for, but there appear to be multiple articles online highlighting conspiracy theories surrounding these topics, and for that reason I would suggest caution regarding them. These are not my views, but the views of my guest. This does not detract from my guest's extensive expertise with cattle and regenerative farming.

►Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Mvp36SgMRMY

►Find out more about Polyface Farm Here: https://polyfacefarms.com/

►Follow PolyFace Farm on Twitter: @Polyface_Farm

These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The Andrea von Braun Foundation has provided me with full creative freedom with their support. As such, the views expressed in these episodes are my own and/or those of my guests.

In this conversation I speak with Will Harris, who is a fourth generation cattle farmer. Will originally ran a standard industrial farm, but increasingly became dissatisfied by the welfare of his animals. That started a journey to change the way his farm ran, and over the years he has converted his operation piece by piece into a regenerative farm. That means no more grain feed, no more confined feed lots, no more hormones, no more pesticides. The basic idea is to focus on improving the land in order to leave it better each year. Will has come up with a system that is not only better for the cattle and the consumer, but which also appears to be significantly better for the environment.

Its quite common to hear about the environmental problems caused by Beef production, including chemical runoff, loss of top soils, and methane from belches. But these problems are usually associated with intensive farming, where cattle are densely packed, and fed on grain. What does the story look like for regenerative practices? The claim is that when cattle are optimally rotated through paddocks, their impact on the land is dispersed, and it reduces the need for pesticides, herbicides, hormones, and other pharmaceuticals (both in feed production, and within the herd itself). Solar energy goes into growing the grass, which captures carbon as it grows. Carbon is then processed by the herd on the field, and without wormer, and insecticides and other chemicals being used, a living soil is able to develop, which increases in carbon content over the years, drawing down carbon and fixing it in the soil. But what about methane production? Methanotrophs that metabolize methane are also found within healthy soils - and it might be the case that these species account for the methane produced by cattle.

Third party assessments appear to show that White Oak Pastures does significantly better than conventional intensive farming, and within the margin of error of the study, there is a potential that the beef production is climate positive, storing more carbon in the soil than the pasture-raised cows emit during their lifetime: https://blog.whiteoakpastures.com/blog/carbon-negative-grassfed-beef

►Watch On Youtube or subscribe on YouTube to see more: https://youtu.be/IYYq2LRe0ow https://www.youtube.com/c/EscapedSapiens?sub_confirmation=1

►Find out more about White Oak Pastures Here: https://whiteoakpastures.com/

►Follow White Oak Pastures on Twitter: @whiteoakpasture

These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The Andrea von Braun Foundation has provided me with full creative freedom with their support. As such, the views expressed in these episodes are my own and/or those of my guests.

In quantum mechanics the state of a physical system is described by a wavefunction, which provides information about the probabilities of various outcomes, such as finding a particle at a particular location in space. This differs dramatically from classical physics, where a particle is described by a definite position and momentum. As a result, quantum mechanics inherently involves a certain level of uncertainty. A key question is whether this uncertainty reflects a fundamental indeterminacy in reality itself or merely our limited knowledge of the physical system.

One possibility is that reality could be deterministic, and the wavefunction might simply describe statistical properties, much like temperature and pressure describe the collective behavior of gas molecules. In this view, the true state of the system would be governed by hidden variables—deterministic factors that remain unseen yet produce the probabilistic outcomes we observe in quantum experiments. The standard view, however, is that the universe itself is inherently probabilistic. Furthermore, Bell’s theorem famously rules out “local hidden variable” models, suggesting to many that any such model must allow instantaneous causal influences between spatially separated objects. But is this standard picture as definitive as it seems?

In this episode of the podcast, I speak with Rob Spekkens, one of the world’s leading experts on the foundations of quantum mechanics. His research explores the idea that a quantum state may represent a state of incomplete knowledge rather than an objective state of reality. Many of the phenomena commonly associated with quantum mechanics—noncommutativity, interference, entanglement, wave-particle duality, and discrete energy levels—can, as Rob demonstrates, be modeled with classical toy models wherein each system has a determinate physical state but where we have incomplete knowledge of this state.. Rob suggests that quantum mechanics may not be as fundamentally different from classical physics as it initially appears. If we truly want to understand quantum reality, we should focus on isolating and investigating the "thin film" of phenomena that distinguish a quantum from a classical world. That's what we discuss in this episode. ►Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/J2ZIRkfrFlI

►Find out more about Rob's work: https://perimeterinstitute.ca/people/robert-spekkens

►Follow Rob on Twitter: @RobertSpekkens

►Subscribe And Turn On All Notifications To See More: https://www.youtube.com/c/EscapedSapiens?sub_confirmation=1

These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The Andrea von Braun Foundation has provided me with full creative freedom with their support. As such, the views expressed in these episodes are my own and those of my guests.

Wheat, soy, corn, potatoes—did we really domesticate the best crops nature had to offer? In this episode of the podcast, I speak with geneticist Padraic J. Flood, who specializes in population and quantitative genetics. Padraic left academia and a position in vertical farming to pursue a dream: the domestication of the Aardaker. The Aardaker is a small, unassuming plant native to moist temperate regions of Europe and Western Asia. It produces edible tubers similar to potatoes, but unlike potatoes, these tubers are rich in protein. This unique combination could yield several times more protein per hectare than soy. Not only that, but the Aardaker is delicious, versatile (much like a potato), and improves soil quality by fixing nitrogen. If Padraic succeeds in domesticating the Aardaker—improving its size, uniformity, and other key traits—he could create a super crop that requires less land, enriches the soil, and potentially returns vast areas of farming land to nature.

►Find out more about Padraic's work: www.aardaia.com

These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The Andrea von Braun Foundation has provided me with full creative freedom with their support. As such, the views expressed in these episodes are my own and those of my guests.

In this episode I speak with Professor Thomas Metzinger about how our strong, consciously experienced subjectivity emerges out of objective events in the natural world. According to Thomas, no such things as selves really exist in the world: nobody ever had or was a self. All that exists are what he calls `phenomenal' selves which our brains fabricate. In this episode I try to unpack what this means exactly, and what the implications are.

Note: The first question of this interview has been re-filmed after the interview.

Thomas has a new book, which he made open access for everybody to read for free. You can find it here: https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5725/The-Elephant-and-the-BlindThe-Experience-of-Pure

►Watch on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/KdHxUo8wRpY

These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The Andrea von Braun Foundation has provided me with full creative freedom with their support. As such, the views expressed in these episodes are my own and those of my guests.

Why is alcohol use so widespread? The usual thinking is that despite its negative effects, alcohol is pleasurable and that is why we drink it. But this can't be the whole story because if alcohol is really so bad then cultures that prohibit drinking should dominate over those that like to drink, or you might think that a genetic mutation that makes drinking less pleasurable would spread rapidly through the population. In this conversation I discuss this mystery with sinologist and philosopher Edward Slingerland, who is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, where he also holds appointments in the Departments of Psychology and Asian Studies. Our conversation ranges from the history of alcohol, to its biochemistry and impact on creativity and social life, to a discussion of whether alcohol was necessary for the development of civilization.

► Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/j36sKDsvZUg

► For more information about Edward's work see: https://www.edwardslingerland.com/ https://philosophy.ubc.ca/profile/edward-slingerland-iii/

►Follow Stephen on X: @slingerland20

These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The Andrea von Braun Foundation has provided me with full creative freedom with their support. As such, the views expressed in these episodes are my own and those of my guests.