Bit of a Tangent

In this episode, Jared and Gianluca throw caution to the wind and discuss their most controversial topic yet: what they think might be the best way to exercise! Specifically, they summarise the thesis behind the book ‘Body By Science’ by John Little and Doug McGuff and reveal their own workout routines. Along the way they also explore the field of evolutionary programming and genetic algorithms (hint: Gianluca just published his research paper on the topic!) and what these techniques could bring to the design of complex structures and systems!

-----------------------

SHOWNOTES:

Gianluca’s research paper - “Warfarin dose estimation on multiple datasets with automated hyperparameter optimisation and a novel software framework”: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.05363 

Genetic programming/evolutionary algorithms: http://www.cs.montana.edu/~bwall/cs580/introduction_to_gp.pdf 

Evolved wind-turbines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZUNRmwoijw 

Random walk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stgYW6M5o4k 

Monte Carlo simulation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0F3S-46bIQ 

Robin Hanson book - “The Elephant in The Brain”: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28820444-the-elephant-in-the-brain

Robin Hanson blog on signalling: http://www.overcomingbias.com/tag/signaling 

Julia Galef’s podcast, “Rationally Speaking”: http://rationallyspeakingpodcast.org/ 

The halo effect: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Halo_effect 

Body by Science: A Research-Based Program for Strength Training, Body Building, and Complete Fitness in 12 Minutes a Week by John Little, Doug McGuff: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4642174-body-by-science 

A podcast by Tim Ferriss on the so-called “1-minute workout”: https://tim.blog/2017/01/23/the-one-minute-workout-designed-by-scientists-dr-martin-gibala/ 

Elon Musk on the Joe Rogan Experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycPr5-27vSI 

Via negativa thinking (and other mental models) at Farnam Street Blog: https://fs.blog/mental-models/ 

Lateral shoulder raises tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5sNYB1Q6aM 

Dr Rhonda Patrick on sauna use and heat: https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/biohacker-summit-2016 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NChyDtupmkk

In this episode, Jared and Gianluca introduce the fundamentals of Game Theory; before examining the AI alignment problem, civilisational inadequacy, and Moloch—the mythical characterisation of all things suboptimal. This episode makes heavy reference to an article called "Meditations on Moloch", from Scott Alexander’s SlateStarCodex blog. We highly recommend it.

----------

Shownotes:

SlateStarCodex article on Moloch : https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/

Background on the myth of Moloch : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch

Alan Ginsberg’s poem on Moloch : https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49303/howl

Game Theory : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory

Prisoner’s Dilemma : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma

Tragedy of the Commons : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

Bostrom’s Vulnerable World Hypothesis : https://nickbostrom.com/papers/vulnerable.pdf

The AI Alignment Problem : https://intelligence.org/stanford-talk/

Stanislav Petrov, the Russian who prevented a nuclear war : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

Gianluca and Jared are joined by crypto expert Thomas Tumiel in a discussion about the details of Facebook’s new Libra cryptocurrency. They give a brief primer on the fundamentals of blockchains and cryptography, examine how Libra is implemented (compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum), discuss Facebook’s strategy for rollout, consider possible failure modes, and contrast the dystopian and utopian outcomes of a truly global cryptocurrency.

----------

Shownotes:

Mined For Change: https://minedforchange.org/

AI and Crypto Soc: https://www.facebook.com/UCTCryptoSoc/

Libra announcement: https://libra.org/en-US/

Early rumours about Libra: https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/8/17332894/facebook-blockchain-group-employee-reshuffle-restructure-david-marcus-kevin-weil and https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-21/facebook-is-said-to-develop-stablecoin-for-whatsapp-transfers

Facebook crypto job postings: https://www.coindesk.com/facebook-is-hiring-5-new-staff-members-for-its-blockchain-team

Intro to Blockchain (from 3blue1brown): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBC-nXj3Ng4

“How does the blockchain work” by D’Aliessi on Medium:

https://medium.com/blockchain-review/how-does-the-blockchain-work-for-dummies-explained-simply-9f94d386e093

Hash functions: https://medium.com/@isuruj/introduction-to-hashing-5b4daf343889 and

https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-hashing/

Merkle Trees: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle_tree

Transaction times across different blockchains: https://medium.com/@johnhinkle_80891/the-fastest-cryptocurrency-transaction-speeds-for-2018-498c1baf87ef

Libra technical whitepaper: https://developers.libra.org/docs/assets/papers/the-libra-blockchain.pdf

Smart contracts (e.g. on Ethereum): https://blockgeeks.com/guides/smart-contracts/

“On the blockchain, nobody knows you’re a fridge” —Richard Gendal Brown: https://gendal.me/about/

Gas prices: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gas-ethereum.asp

Cloud computing on the blockchain vs. with cloud service providers (AWS, Google, etc.): https://medium.com/@eternacapital/blockchain-based-decentralised-cloud-computing-277f307611e1

Facebook (instagram + whatsapp) daily active users: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/

Superforecasting by Phillip Tetlock: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23995360-superforecasting

Prediction markets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prediction_market

Eliezer Yudkowsky and Civilisational Inadequacy: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/zsG9yKcriht2doRhM/inadequacy-and-modesty

Efficient markets: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/efficientmarkethypothesis.asp

Shorting the market: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shortselling.asp

WeChat and its ubiquity in China: https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/1/16721230/wechat-china-app-mini-programs-messaging-electronic-id-system

“Critical Vulnerability” pull request: https://cryptonews.com/news/cryptoverse-reached-level-9000-in-trolling-facebook-and-libr-4071.htm

Gianluca outlines his new Habit Formation Framework and future habit-related projects, Jared discusses his heuristics and hacks for a good day, and they both examine the consequences of sleep deprivation—especially on (medical) students.

----------

Shownotes:

“Atomic Habits” by James Clear : www.goodreads.com/book/show/40121378-atomic-habits

Loving Kindness meditation : https://www.headspace.com/meditation/compassion

Oak meditation/breathing app : https://www.oakmeditation.com/

ASMR : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_response

Five-minute favour : https://www.forbes.com/sites/kareanderson/2013/07/17/pay-it-forward-with-the-five-minute-favor/#74088b596f5d

80000 Hours mega-article on how to be successful in any career : https://80000hours.org/career-guide/how-to-be-successful

Art of Manliness episode on storytelling : https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/how-to-tell-better-stories/

“Eat That Frog” by Brian Tracy : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95887.Eat_That_Frog_

Oura Ring : https://ouraring.com

“Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker, PhD : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep

Matthew Walker on Joe Rogan : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwaWilO_Pig

Matthew Walker on FoundMyFitness (with Dr. Rhonda Patrick) : https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/matthew-walker

W.S. Halstead, the founder of the residency programme (and a drug addict) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stewart_Halsted

Neal Stephenson, a legendary Sci-fi author : https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/545.Neal_Stephenson

The Story Collider Podcast : https://www.storycollider.org/podcasts

No Such Thing As A Fish : https://audioboom.com/channel/nosuchthingasafish

The Wikicast : https://thewikicast.podbean.com/

Gianluca and Jared speak about absurdism, existentialism, and an antidote to becoming bored with the world. They then think out loud about direction versus random walks as well as their visions for the long term future of humanity and how to even think about these kinds of massive questions. They also touch on attention and what it would mean to use it well, all things considered, some of the basics of Transhumanism, and what single thing each of us would wish for to give humanity its best chance at thriving!

----------

Shownotes:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Absurdism: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/camus/

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Existentialism: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/

Some great videos from The School of Life about Existentialism: ‘Philosophy - Sartre’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bQsZxDQgzU and ‘Existentialism and Dating’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcniOW0wc5k 

Kurt Vonnegut books: ‘Slaughterhouse Five’: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4981.Slaughterhouse_Five and ‘Breakfast of Champions’: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4980.Breakfast_of_Champions

Bonus: Jared’s favourite article introducing a key concept related to Transhumanism: https://waitbutwhy.com/2016/03/cryonics.html

80 000 Hours on why we should value the long term future: https://80000hours.org/articles/future-generations/ as well as a podcast episode (from the 80 000 Hours podcast) on a similar topic: https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/why-the-long-run-future-matters-more-than-anything-else-and-what-we-should-do-about-it/ and a strong argument for thinking about existential risk: https://80000hours.org/articles/extinction-risk/ 

Book ‘The Art of Doing Science and Engineering’: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/530415.The_Art_of_Doing_Science_and_Engineering

‘The Last Question’, a short story by Isaac Asimov: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4808763-the-last-question P.S. a great reading can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojEq-tTjcc0

‘Do Spoilers Change a Person's Enjoyment of a Television Show?’ https://digital.usfsp.edu/masterstheses/166/ and ‘Story Spoilers Don’t Spoil Stories’ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797611417007?journalCode=pssa - two studies suggesting maybe spoilers aren’t as bad as we think? (that being said, don’t try me - Jared)

Jared’s current favourite explanation of the Buddhist concept of ‘emptiness’ comes from this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32895535-why-buddhism-is-true

A great, short video explaining some aspects of the Fermi Paradox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNhhvQGsMEc (part 1), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fQkVqno-uI (part 2) and a bonus on the Great Filter hypothesis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjtOGPJ0URM 

Gianluca and Jared record their first face-to-face episode! They think out loud about how to deduce germ theory as a hunter gatherer, why having interesting conversations is about making people interesting, not meeting interesting people, and finally speculate about why we might have a sense of self and whether it's outlived its usefulness!

Shownotes:

The (minimal) effects of creatine on cognitive performance : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21118604 and https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00213-005-0269-z

 Tim Ferriss on morning routines : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHAyE0UC5I4

All the evidence for the efficacy and safety of creatine supplementation : https://examine.com/supplements/creatine/ 

Sam Harris’ guide to meditation : https://samharris.org/how-to-meditate/

Dr. Satchin Panda on Practical Implementation of Time-Restricted Eating (from FoundMyFitness podcast with Dr. Rhonda Patrick) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iywhaz5z0qs

Germ Theory (of disease) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_of_disease

Lactase Persistence : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_persistence

Sonder, from Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows : https://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/post/23536922667/sonder 

Robert Wright’s “Why Buddhism is True” : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32895535-why-buddhism-is-true?from_search=true

Synaesthesia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

The superior verbal memory span of Mandarin speakers due to faster rehearsal : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5880866/

Albert Camus : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Camus

“Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality” by Eliezer Yudkowsky : http://www.hpmor.com/

“Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!”, a great biography of the brilliant Richard Feynman : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35167685-surely-you-re-joking-mr-feynman 

Jocko Willink (podcast) : http://jockopodcast.com/

Sam Harris (podcast) : https://samharris.org/

Steelmanning (with Sam Harris and Jordan B. Peterson) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh-DKbKlfag

Jared and Gianluca compare notes on their favourite productivity strategies and mindfulness techniques. They also explore the rhetorical bias of wisdom and the rationalist interpretation of cached thoughts; before making ill-advised attempts at explaining the nebulous concepts of "Idea Space" and "Short Inferential Distances".

Shownotes:

‘Getting Things Done’ book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1633.Getting_Things_Done?from_search=true 

 ‘Eat That Frog’ book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95887.Eat_That_Frog_

Prediction Markets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prediction_market

Read more about becoming an expert predictor with the ‘Superforecasting’ book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23995360-superforecasting?ac=1&from_search=true

HighExistence website: https://highexistence.com/ and 30 day challenge: https://jimmanueljoseph.wordpress.com/2016/09/02/30-challenges-to-enlightenment-high-existence/ 

Book ‘Algorithms To Live By’ on using computer science to make decisions: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25666050-algorithms-to-live-by 

LessWrong post on “Cached Thoughts”,. We also talk about ‘cached replies’ a bit later in the podcast: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/2MD3NMLBPCqPfnfre/cached-thoughts

The idea of ‘research debt’ and translating ideas: https://distill.pub/2017/research-debt/

Book ‘Elements of Eloquence’: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17415726-the-elements-of-eloquence

Book on habits and identity, ‘Atomic Habits’: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40121378-atomic-habits

LessWrong post on ‘Expecting Short Inferential Distances’: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HLqWn5LASfhhArZ7w/expecting-short-inferential-distances

Jared and Gianluca dive into the ethics of lying and the effects of trying really hard not to, as well as some of the concepts and thoughts which changed the course of their lives. They also discuss religion, Santa and whether you only have a limited window to overcome limiting beliefs.

Shownotes:

The book in which Sam Harris talks about the difference between LSD and meditation : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18774981-waking-up

Eliezer Yudkowsky’s essay “Crisis of Faith” : https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BcYBfG8KomcpcxkEg/crisis-of-faith

A good primer on Belief in Belief : https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/CqyJzDZWvGhhFJ7dY/belief-in-belief

Robert Sopalsky’s book “Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst” : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31170723-behave

Christopher Hitchens’ powerful monologue : https://youtu.be/MQox1hQrABQ

“Lying” by Sam Harris : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18869177-lying

“Waking Up” by Sam Harris : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18774981-waking-up

Douglas Harding’s “On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious” : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/817501.On_Having_No_HeadEliezer Yudkowsky, the rational voice in our heads : https://twitter.com/ESYudkowsky