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EP 305 J. Doyne Farmer on Complexity Economics
Jim talks with J. Doyne Farmer about his book Making Sense of Chaos: A Better Economics for a Better World. They discuss deterministic chaos & strange attractors, how chaos makes time possible, bounded rationality, economic equilibrium & Nash equilibrium, traditional economics' failures, standard economic theory basics, "as if" vs "as is" approaches, heterogeneity in economic systems, agent-based modeling & its critiques, the "metabolism of civilization" analogy, financial markets as an ecology of strategies, the Prediction Company experience, climate economics, weather forecasting as an analogy for economic forecasting, energy investment modeling, technology cost curves & climate change solutions, the vision of a "conscious civilization," and much more. Episode Transcript Making Sense of Chaos: A Better Economics for a Better World, by J. Doyne Farmer The Eudaemonic Pie, by Thomas A. Bass A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming, by Paul N. Edwards J. Doyne Farmer is Director of the Complexity Economics programme at the Institute for New Economic Thinking and Baillie Gifford Professor of Complex Systems Science at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford. He is also External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute and CEO and Chief Scientist at Macrocosm. His current research is in economics, including agent-based modeling, financial instability and technological progress. He was a founder of Prediction Company, a quantitative automated trading firm that was sold to UBS in 2006. His past research includes complex systems, dynamical systems theory, time series analysis and theoretical biology. His book, Making Sense of Chaos: A Better Economics for a Better World, was published in 2024.
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1:22:21
EP 304 Samuel Arbesman on The Magic of Code
Jim talks with Samuel Arbesman about the ideas in his book The Magic of Code: How Digital Language Created and Connects Our World—and Shapes Our Future. They discuss Sam's motivation for writing the book, the wondering vs. utilitarian stances toward computing, early personal computing experiences, scale in programming, AI as a "hinge of history" moment, the democratization of code through AI tools, the dual nature of code as text & action, analogies between code & magic/mysticism, HyperCard as an early programming tool, the evolution of web development & protocols, layers of abstraction in computing, code golf, imperative vs. functional languages, recursion in programming, tools for thought & note-taking software, numeric modeling & world simulation, agent-based modeling & artificial life, the simulation hypothesis, research into "glitches in the matrix," and much more. Episode Transcript Overcomplicated: Technology at the Limits of Comprehension, by Samuel Arbesman The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date, by Samuel Arbesman The Magic of Code: How Digital Language Created and Connects Our World—and Shapes Our Future, by Samuel Arbesman The Orthogonal Bet podcast "As We May Think," by Vannevar Bush Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, by Harold Abelson, Gerald Jay Sussman, Martin Henz, Tobias Wringstad The Art of Computer Programming, by Donald E. Knuth Network Wars Numerical Recipes: The Art of Scientific Computing Samuel Arbesman is Scientist in Residence at Lux Capital. In addition, he is an xLab senior fellow at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management and a research fellow at the Long Now Foundation. He is the author of The Magic of Code, Overcomplicated, and The Half-Life of Facts, and his writing has appeared in such places as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and Wired, where he was previously a contributing writer. He lives in Cleveland with his family. The first computer he used was a Commodore VIC-20.
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1:21:45
EP 303 Mark Stahlman on Pope Leo XIV and the Catholic Church’s Missionary Turn
Jim talks with Mark Stahlman about the new Pope Leo XIV and the Catholic Church's evolving role in a digital age. They discuss Trump as an avatar of the digital paradigm shift, the significance of Leo XIV's name choice, Francis as a thug, Francis's background as chemical engineer and bouncer, Synodality & Church decentralization, the exterior vs interior personas of Pope Francis, Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, the three pillars of Catholic social teaching, financial system reforms and new settlement currencies, the role of Dubai in blockchain/crypto development, multipolar traps & solidarity, generational changes & media consumption, the growth of Catholicism in France despite overall European decline, the Catholic Church's diplomatic efforts and interfaith outreach, the future of global systems, and much more. JRS EP290 - Mark Stahlman on Trump as the Avatar of the Digital Paradigm Shift Center for the Study of Digital Life (digitallife.center) Mark Stahlman's Substack (exogenous.substack.com) First Things (magazine) Trivium University (online graduate school mentioned) Rerum Novarum, by Pope Leo XIII (1891 encyclical) Quadragesimo Anno, by Pope Pius XI (1931 encyclical) Centesimus Annus, by Pope John Paul II (1991 encyclical) Aeterni Patris, by Pope Leo XIII (1879 encyclical) Return of the Strong Gods, by R.R. Reno "The Two Popes" (movie) "Dictator Pope" (book) God's Diplomats, by Victor Gaetan Mark Stahlman is a biologist, computer architect and ex-Wall Street technology strategist. He is the President of the not-for-profit Center for the Study of Digital Life (CSDL, 501(c)3, digitallife.center) and its educational project Trivium University (Triv U, trivium.university). He is also CEO of Exogenous, Inc. (EXO, exogenousinc.com), a strategic risk analysis group and on the editorial staff of its publication, the Three Spheres Newsletter (TSN). He studied for but did not complete advanced degrees in Theology (UofChicago) and Molecular Biology (UW-Mad). He has been widely interviewed and published, including teaching online courses (available on YouTube via 52 Living Ideas).
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58:01
EP 302 Daniel Mezick on Games and Governance
Jim talks with Daniel Mezick on the theme of games and their relationship to governance. They discuss Jane McGonigal's four properties of games, the nature of authority, position-based vs role-based authority, formal vs. informal authority structures, finite & infinite games, mutable games, the paradox of self-amendment, the U.S. Constitution as a game, progress tracking in governance systems, roles, artifacts, rules, events, Constitutional reforms, problems with a two-party system, unintended consequences in rule design, game theory & system design, gaming virtue, and much more. Episode Transcript JRS EP151: Daniel Mezick on Ritual and Hierarchy JRS EP219: Katherine Gehl on Breaking Partisan Gridlock Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, by Jane McGonigal Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior, by Christopher Boehm Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization, by Dave Logan "The Tyranny of Structurelessness," by Jo Freeman Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility, by James Carse "The Paradox of Self-Amendment," by Peter Suber "Designing the Future," by Jay Forrester Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture, by Johan Huizinga Coaching executives and teams in Agile since 2006, Daniel Mezick leads Improving Agility. Daniel has guided dozens of organizations in the art and science of Agile improvement. An author and co-author of three books on organization change, Daniel is a frequent keynote speaker at industry conferences and events. He is the originator of OpenSpace Agility, an engagement model for enabling authentic and lasting organizational improvement. He is also an Advisory Board member and co-Founder of The Open Leadership Network, a certification body and community of practice dedicated to implementing Open patterns and practices inside business enterprises worldwide.
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53:59
EP 301 Zak Stein on K-12 Education in the AI Era
Jim talks with Zak Stein about the psychological and developmental risks of AI in K-12 education. They discuss education vs schooling, technology's role in human-to-human interaction, GPS & skill atrophy, prosthetic vs enhancement technologies, multipolar traps in AI, cognitive diminishment & skill development, teacherly authority, attention as a constrained resource, attention as a service, parasocial attachment, risks of anthropomorphizing AI, object relations theory, bad parenting & AI parenting, Daniel Dennett's proposal about criminalizing misrepresentation, design principles for responsible AI in education, non-anthropomorphic design, age limits, neurological safety, fiduciary security, the transhumanist ideology behind AI development, the need for better cultural & legal frameworks, and much more. Episode Transcript Education in a Time Between Worlds, by Zachary Stein JRS Currents 067: Ending Nihilistic Design (with Zak Stein) JRS EP57: Zak Stein on Education in a Time Between Worlds JRS EP60: Zak Stein on Educational Systems Collapse JRS EP62: Zak Stein on Education, Tech & Religion First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on CosmoErotic Humanism, the Meta-Crisis, and the World to Come, by David J. Temple Reconstructing Value & Preserving Human Freedom In the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Exit the Silicon Maze Vol. 1, by David J. Temple, Marc Gafni, Zak Stein The Politics of Invisibility: Public Knowledge about Radiation Health Effects after Chernobyl, by Olga Kuchinskaya "The Problem with Counterfeit People," by Daniel Dennett Wayfinding: The Science and Mystery of How Humans Navigate the World, by M.R. O'Connor Dr. Zachary Stein is a Co-Founder of the Civilization Research Institute and the Center for World Philosophy and Religion. He was trained at the interface of philosophy, psychology, and education and now works in fields related to the mitigation of global catastrophic risk. He is a widely sought-after and award-winning speaker and a leading authority on the future of education and contemporary issues in human development.
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