Cult or Just Weird

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Making predictions is tough, especially about the future.

-Niels Bohr

Chris & Kayla put the L in TESCREAL.

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*Search Categories*

Anthropological; Science / Pseudoscience; Common interest / Fandom; Internet Culture

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*Topic Spoiler*

TESCREAL & interview with Dr. Émile P. Torres

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Further Reading

Dr. Émile P. Torres's Website

Dr. Émile P. Torres Wikipedia

Dr. Émile P. Torres Twitter

Dr Torres & Dr Gebru's joint paper on TESCREAL

---

*Patreon Credits*

Michaela Evans, Heather Aunspach, Alyssa Ottum, David Whiteside, Jade A, amy sarah marshall, Martina Dobson, Eillie Anzilotti, Lewis Brown, Kelly Smith Upton, Wild Hunt Alex, Niklas Brock, Jim Fingal

>>

Jenny Lamb, Matthew Walden, Rebecca Kirsch, Pam Westergard, Ryan Quinn, Paul Sweeney, Erin Bratu, Liz T, Lianne Cole, Samantha Bayliff, Katie Larimer, Fio H, Jessica Senk, Proper Gander, Nancy Carlson, Carly Westergard-Dobson, banana, Megan Blackburn, Instantly Joy, Athena of CaveSystem, John Grelish, Rose Kerchinske, Annika Ramen, Alicia Smith, Kevin, Velm, Dan Malmud, tiny, Dom, Tribe Label - Panda - Austin, Noelle Hoover, Tesa Hamilton, Nicole Carter, Paige, Brian Lancaster, tiny

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AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there'll be great companies. - Sam Altman

Chris & Kayla talk about the future of humanity, in the long term.

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*Search Categories*

Anthropological; Science / Pseudoscience; Common interest / Fandom; Internet Culture

---

*Topic Spoiler*

TESCREAL & interview with Dr. Émile P. Torres

---

Further Reading

Dr. Émile P. Torres's Website

Dr. Émile P. Torres Wikipedia

Dr. Émile P. Torres Twitter

Dr Torres & Dr Gebru's joint paper on TESCREAL

---

*Patreon Credits*

Michaela Evans, Heather Aunspach, Alyssa Ottum, David Whiteside, Jade A, amy sarah marshall, Martina Dobson, Eillie Anzilotti, Lewis Brown, Kelly Smith Upton, Wild Hunt Alex, Niklas Brock, Jim Fingal

>>

Jenny Lamb, Matthew Walden, Rebecca Kirsch, Pam Westergard, Ryan Quinn, Paul Sweeney, Erin Bratu, Liz T, Lianne Cole, Samantha Bayliff, Katie Larimer, Fio H, Jessica Senk, Proper Gander, Nancy Carlson, Carly Westergard-Dobson, banana, Megan Blackburn, Instantly Joy, Athena of CaveSystem, John Grelish, Rose Kerchinske, Annika Ramen, Alicia Smith, Kevin, Velm, Dan Malmud, tiny, Dom, Tribe Label - Panda - Austin, Noelle Hoover, Tesa Hamilton, Nicole Carter, Paige, Brian Lancaster, tiny

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out?

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This podcast is Bayesd.

Chris & Kayla update all of their priors about LessWrong and decide if it's a cult, or just weird.

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*Search Categories*

Anthropological; Science / Pseudoscience; Common interest / Fandom; Internet Culture

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*Topic Spoiler*

LessWrong

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*Further Reading*

https://www.lesswrong.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/LessWrong/

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/LessWrong

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LessWrong

The Sequences

just some Harry Potter fanfic

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/DyG8tzmj3NnGRE8Gt/explaining-the-rationalist-movement-to-the-uninitiated

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/LgavAYtzFQZKg95WC/extreme-rationality-it-s-not-that-great (the community is remarkably self-aware)

Yudkowsky on cults!

Yudkowsky on cults again!

the podcast eats its tail (CoJW's previous LessWrong episode)

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko's_basilisk

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8060440

https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/19cmro3/should_i_read_lesswrong_wiki_or_not/

https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/2ddfs6/comment/cjp22pf/

Slate Star Codex (LessWrong2.0)

somethingawful has a bitch-thread about LessWrong

https://www.reddit.com/r/SneerClub/ (LessWrong hater's group)

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Bayesian

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_Decision_Theory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcomb%27s_paradox

Time platforms Yudkowsky's doomerism

Receipts for how bad Yudkowsky's predictions have been

---

*Patreon Credits*

Michaela Evans, Heather Aunspach, Alyssa Ottum, David Whiteside, Jade A, amy sarah marshall, Martina Dobson, Eillie Anzilotti, Lewis Brown, Kelly Smith Upton, Wild Hunt Alex, Niklas Brock

>>

Jenny Lamb, Matthew Walden, Rebecca Kirsch, Pam Westergard, Ryan Quinn, Paul Sweeney, Erin Bratu, Liz T, Lianne Cole, Samantha Bayliff, Katie Larimer, Fio H, Jessica Senk, Proper Gander, Nancy Carlson, Carly Westergard-Dobson, banana, Megan Blackburn, Instantly Joy, Athena of CaveSystem, John Grelish, Rose Kerchinske, Annika Ramen, Alicia Smith, Kevin, Velm, Dan Malmud, tiny, Dom, Tribe Label - Panda - Austin, Noelle Hoover, Tesa Hamilton, Nicole Carter, Paige, Brian Lancaster, tiny

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out?

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---

The Territory is not The Map.

Chris & Kayla fall out of a coconut tree and continue their discussion of LessWrong.

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*Search Categories*

Anthropological; Science / Pseudoscience; Common interest / Fandom; Internet Culture

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*Topic Spoiler*

LessWrong

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*Further Reading*

https://www.lesswrong.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/LessWrong/

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/LessWrong

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LessWrong

The Sequences

just some Harry Potter fanfic

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/DyG8tzmj3NnGRE8Gt/explaining-the-rationalist-movement-to-the-uninitiated

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/LgavAYtzFQZKg95WC/extreme-rationality-it-s-not-that-great (the community is remarkably self-aware)

Yudkowsky on cults!

Yudkowsky on cults again!

the podcast eats its tail (CoJW's previous LessWrong episode)

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko's_basilisk

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8060440

https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/19cmro3/should_i_read_lesswrong_wiki_or_not/

https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/2ddfs6/comment/cjp22pf/

Slate Star Codex (LessWrong2.0)

somethingawful has a bitch-thread about LessWrong

https://www.reddit.com/r/SneerClub/ (LessWrong hater's group)

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Bayesian

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_Decision_Theory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcomb%27s_paradox

Time platforms Yudkowsky's doomerism

Receipts for how bad Yudkowsky's predictions have been

---

*Patreon Credits*

Michaela Evans, Heather Aunspach, Alyssa Ottum, David Whiteside, Jade A, amy sarah marshall, Martina Dobson, Eillie Anzilotti, Lewis Brown, Kelly Smith Upton, Wild Hunt Alex, Niklas Brock

>>

Jenny Lamb, Matthew Walden, Rebecca Kirsch, Pam Westergard, Ryan Quinn, Paul Sweeney, Erin Bratu, Liz T, Lianne Cole, Samantha Bayliff, Katie Larimer, Fio H, Jessica Senk, Proper Gander, Nancy Carlson, Carly Westergard-Dobson, banana, Megan Blackburn, Instantly Joy, Athena of CaveSystem, John Grelish, Rose Kerchinske, Annika Ramen, Alicia Smith, Kevin, Velm, Dan Malmud, tiny, Dom, Tribe Label - Panda - Austin, Noelle Hoover, Tesa Hamilton, Nicole Carter, Paige, Brian Lancaster, tiny

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out?

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---

Have not you read The Sequences?

Chris & Kayla do their first ever CoJW topic revisit and discuss an online community dedicated to Rationalism.

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*Search Categories*

Anthropological; Science / Pseudoscience; Common interest / Fandom; Internet Culture

---

*Topic Spoiler*

LessWrong

---

*Further Reading*

https://www.lesswrong.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/LessWrong/

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/LessWrong

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LessWrong

The Sequences

just some Harry Potter fanfic

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/DyG8tzmj3NnGRE8Gt/explaining-the-rationalist-movement-to-the-uninitiated

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/LgavAYtzFQZKg95WC/extreme-rationality-it-s-not-that-great (the community is remarkably self-aware)

Yudkowsky on cults!

Yudkowsky on cults again!

the podcast eats its tail (CoJW's previous LessWrong episode)

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko's_basilisk

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8060440

https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/19cmro3/should_i_read_lesswrong_wiki_or_not/

https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/2ddfs6/comment/cjp22pf/

Slate Star Codex (LessWrong2.0)

somethingawful has a bitch-thread about LessWrong

https://www.reddit.com/r/SneerClub/ (LessWrong hater's group)

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Bayesian

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_Decision_Theory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcomb%27s_paradox

Time platforms Yudkowsky's doomerism

Receipts for how bad Yudkowsky's predictions have been

---

*Patreon Credits*

Michaela Evans, Heather Aunspach, Alyssa Ottum, David Whiteside, Jade A, amy sarah marshall, Martina Dobson, Eillie Anzilotti, Lewis Brown, Kelly Smith Upton, Wild Hunt Alex, Niklas Brock

>>

Jenny Lamb, Matthew Walden, Rebecca Kirsch, Pam Westergard, Ryan Quinn, Paul Sweeney, Erin Bratu, Liz T, Lianne Cole, Samantha Bayliff, Katie Larimer, Fio H, Jessica Senk, Proper Gander, Nancy Carlson, Carly Westergard-Dobson, banana, Megan Blackburn, Instantly Joy, Athena of CaveSystem, John Grelish, Rose Kerchinske, Annika Ramen, Alicia Smith, Kevin, Velm, Dan Malmud, tiny, Dom, Tribe Label - Panda - Austin, Noelle Hoover, Tesa Hamilton, Nicole Carter, Paige, Brian Lancaster, tiny

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out?

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What would you say you... do... here?

Chris dunks on a doofy website for 40 minutes straight; it is also possible we learn some things about Transhumanism along the way.

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*Search Categories*

Anthropological; Science / Pseudoscience; Common interest / Fandom; New Religious Movement

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*Topic Spoiler*

Humanity+

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*Further Reading*

https://www.britannica.com/topic/transhumanism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanity%2B

H+'s website: https://www.humanityplus.org/

H+'s weird, tiny, self published "news articles" (also an example of their liberal/left leaning): https://www.humanityplus.org/news/transhumanists-condemn-police-brutality

other sites in the H+ "webring":

https://willeadership.io/

https://healthspanaction.org/healthspan-action-coalition/

H+ hosted zoom roundtable on Transhumanism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdjMoykqxys

H+'s weird mission statement: https://www.humanityplus.org/about

Max More's blog post on the definition of Transhumanism: https://www.humanityplus.org/philsophy-of-transhumanism

Two articles from early 2000s on the left/right schism in Transhumanism:

https://web.archive.org/web/20060313212747/http://www.twliterary.com/jhughes_utne.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20061231222833/http://www.slate.com/id/2142987/fr/rss/

Notable Transhumanists:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hughes_(sociologist)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_More

Extropianism? What's that?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extropianism

https://www.oed.com/dictionary/extropianism_n?tl=true

---

*Patreon Credits*

Michaela Evans, Heather Aunspach, Alyssa Ottum, David Whiteside, Jade A, amy sarah marshall, Martina Dobson, Eillie Anzilotti, Lewis Brown, Kelly Smith Upton, Wild Hunt Alex, Niklas Brock

>>

Jenny Lamb, Matthew Walden, Rebecca Kirsch, Pam Westergard, Ryan Quinn, Paul Sweeney, Erin Bratu, Liz T, Lianne Cole, Samantha Bayliff, Katie Larimer, Fio H, Jessica Senk, Proper Gander, Nancy Carlson, Carly Westergard-Dobson, banana, Megan Blackburn, Instantly Joy, Athena of CaveSystem, John Grelish, Rose Kerchinske, Annika Ramen, Alicia Smith, Kevin, Velm, Dan Malmud, tiny, Dom, Tribe Label - Panda - Austin, Noelle Hoover, Tesa Hamilton, Nicole Carter, Paige, Brian Lancaster, tiny

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out?

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---

To be what you want to be: isn't this the essence of being human? - David Zindell

Chris and Kayla take the next steps on the path of the unfolding season...and the unfolding of humanity's future.

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*Search Categories*

Science / Pseudoscience; Common interest / Fandom

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*Topic Spoiler*

Transhumanism

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Further Reading

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/transhumanism#:~:text=Transhumanism%20is%20the%20position%20that,capacities%20beyond%20current%20biological%20constraints.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism

https://www.humanityplus.org/transhumanism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_More

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM-2030

https://organicmachinecmp.home.blog/2019/04/10/transhumanism/

https://nickbostrom.com/papers/history.pdf

https://www.amazon.com/Singularity-Near-Humans-Transcend-Biology/dp/0670033847

---

*Patreon Credits*

Michaela Evans, Heather Aunspach, Alyssa Ottum, David Whiteside, Jade A, amy sarah marshall, Martina Dobson, Eillie Anzilotti, Lewis Brown, Kelly Smith Upton, Wild Hunt Alex, Niklas Brock

>>

Jenny Lamb, Matthew Walden, Rebecca Kirsch, Pam Westergard, Ryan Quinn, Paul Sweeney, Erin Bratu, Liz T, Lianne Cole, Samantha Bayliff, Katie Larimer, Fio H, Jessica Senk, Proper Gander, Nancy Carlson, Carly Westergard-Dobson, banana, Megan Blackburn, Instantly Joy, Athena of CaveSystem, John Grelish, Rose Kerchinske, Annika Ramen, Alicia Smith, Kevin, Velm, Dan Malmud, tiny, Dom, Tribe Label - Panda - Austin, Noelle Hoover, Tesa Hamilton, Nicole Carter, Paige, Brian Lancaster, tiny

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out?

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---

Man cannot endure his own littleness unless he can translate it into meaningfulness on the largest possible level. - Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death

Chris and Kayla talk about a theory that underpins everything we'll cover this season.

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*Search Categories*

Anthropological; Science / Pseudoscience

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*Topic Spoiler*

Terror Management Theory

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*Further Reading*

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terror_management_theory#cite_note-GPS-1

https://www.ernestbecker.org/book-film-reviews/worm-at-the-core?rq=terror%20management%20theory

https://scholar.utc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1340&context=mps

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Becker

---

*Patreon Credits*

Michaela Evans, Heather Aunspach, Alyssa Ottum, David Whiteside, Jade A, amy sarah marshall, Martina Dobson, Eillie Anzilotti, Lewis Brown, Kelly Smith Upton, Wild Hunt Alex, Niklas Brock

>>

Jenny Lamb, Matthew Walden, Rebecca Kirsch, Pam Westergard, Ryan Quinn, Paul Sweeney, Erin Bratu, Liz T, Lianne Cole, Samantha Bayliff, Katie Larimer, Fio H, Jessica Senk, Proper Gander, Nancy Carlson, Carly Westergard-Dobson, banana, Megan Blackburn, Instantly Joy, Athena of CaveSystem, John Grelish, Rose Kerchinske, Annika Ramen, Alicia Smith, Kevin, Velm, Dan Malmud, tiny, Dom, Tribe Label - Panda - Austin, Noelle Hoover, Tesa Hamilton, Nicole Carter, Paige, Brian Lancaster, tiny

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out?

Come join us on discord!

---

The act of freezing a dead body and storing it indefinitely on the chance that some future generation may restore it to life is an act of faith, not science. - The Society for Cryobiology, official statement

The chilling conclusion to CoJW's series on cryonics... but is it a cult, or just weird?

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*Search Categories*

Science / Pseudoscience; Common interest / Fandom

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*Topic Spoiler*

Cryonics

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Further Reading

https://www.alcor.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics

https://www.reddit.com/r/cryonics/

Michio Kaku cryonics video

Alcor rebuttal to Michio Kaku

How To with John Wilson episode

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*Patreon Credits*

Michaela Evans, Heather Aunspach, Alyssa Ottum, David Whiteside, Jade A, amy sarah marshall, Martina Dobson, Eillie Anzilotti, Lewis Brown, Kelly Smith Upton, Wild Hunt Alex, Niklas Brock

>>

Jenny Lamb, Matthew Walden, Rebecca Kirsch, Pam Westergard, Ryan Quinn, Paul Sweeney, Erin Bratu, Liz T, Lianne Cole, Samantha Bayliff, Katie Larimer, Fio H, Jessica Senk, Proper Gander, Nancy Carlson, Carly Westergard-Dobson, banana, Megan Blackburn, Instantly Joy, Athena of CaveSystem, John Grelish, Rose Kerchinske, Annika Ramen, Alicia Smith, Kevin, Velm, Dan Malmud, tiny, Dom, Tribe Label - Panda - Austin, Noelle Hoover, Tesa Hamilton, Nicole Carter, Paige, Brian Lancaster, tiny

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out?

Come join us on discord!

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Being cryopreserved after death is the second-worst thing that could happen. The worst thing is dying without being cryopreserved. - Ben Best

Kayla dives deeper into the world of cryonics by talking to an actual cryonaut.

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*Search Categories*

Science / Pseudoscience; Common interest / Fandom

---

*Topic Spoiler*

Cryonics

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Further Reading

The Cryosphere discord

https://www.reddit.com/r/cryonics/

https://www.alcor.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics

How To with John Wilson episode

---

*Patreon Credits*

Michaela Evans, Heather Aunspach, Alyssa Ottum, David Whiteside, Jade A, amy sarah marshall, Martina Dobson, Eillie Anzilotti, Lewis Brown, Kelly Smith Upton, Wild Hunt Alex, Niklas Brock

>>

Jenny Lamb, Matthew Walden, Rebecca Kirsch, Pam Westergard, Ryan Quinn, Paul Sweeney, Erin Bratu, Liz T, Lianne Cole, Samantha Bayliff, Katie Larimer, Fio H, Jessica Senk, Proper Gander, Nancy Carlson, Carly Westergard-Dobson, banana, Megan Blackburn, Instantly Joy, Athena of CaveSystem, John Grelish, Rose Kerchinske, Annika Ramen, Alicia Smith, Kevin, Velm, Dan Malmud, tiny, Dom, Tribe Label - Panda - Austin, Noelle Hoover, Tesa Hamilton, Nicole Carter, Paige, Brian Lancaster, tiny