Ben Tossell writes Ben’s Bites, a daily newsletter on AI that’s read by over 15,000 others from Google, a16z, Sequoia, Amazon, Meta and more. He previously founded Makerpad, a no-code education side which was acquired by Zapier in March 2021. Important Links:

• Ben’s Newsletter
• Ben’s Twitter

Show Notes:

• Ben’s journey into AI
• The importance of ease of use
• How AI will impact our lives
• Ben’s hackathon
• Balancing originality and usefulness
• Why Ben is wary of providing strategic advice
• Achieving ground-up change with AI
• Interaction between the AI industry and the governments
• How Ben wants AI to be used
• Following your curiosity
• Making the world more competitive
• MUCH more!

We’ve landed. After 3 months of stealth mode, sneak-peeks, and surprise announcements, we have finally hit launch day. In this special episode of Infinite Loops, hosted by Patrick O’Shaughnessy, Jim chats through the rationale behind founding OSV, the positive impact he wants it to have on the world, and the ways you can get involved. Important Links:

• OSV’s Website
• Jim’s Twitter

Show Notes:

• The origins of OSV
• Why OSV does not invest third parties’ money
• The story of Jim’s investment in Stability AI
• What has surprised Jim the most about the world of AI
• What OSV will look like on 1 January 2023: the four verticals
• Assembling the OSV team
• OSV’s objective function
• Where the majority of Jim’s energy will be directed
• How you can get involved with OSV

Tom Morgan returns for his third appearance on Infinite Loops with Jim, Infinite Loops’ own Ed William and special guest Brett Andersen, an evolutionary psychology PhD student at the University of New Mexico. We discuss the implications of the ideas presented in Brett’s fantastic essay ‘Intimations of a New Worldview’, whether the rise of anti-heroes is a challenge to Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, the influence of conscious vs unconscious design, and much more. Important Links:

• Intimations of a New Worldview
• Brett’s Substack
• Brett’s Twitter
• Tom’s blog
• Tom’s Twitter
• Awakening from the Meaning Crisis

Show Notes:

• Objective vs subjective morality
• Complexity as a precondition
• Biological complexification
• Complexification and social selection
• Relevance realisation
• Jordan Peterson’s ‘Maps of Meaning’ and the metamyth
• The optimal path and the process of creation
• The cognitive purpose of supernatural beliefs
• Mapping a response to the meaning crisis
• Quantum entanglement and consciousness
• Practical implications of Brett’s theory
• Cultural evolution
• Conscious vs unconscious design
• There is an underlying flow of things
• Breaking Bad and the Hero’s Journey
• Slack vs tension
• MUCH more!

Books Mentioned:

• Meaning in Life and Why It Matters; by Susan Wolf
• The Romance of Reality: How the Universe Organizes Itself to Create Life, Consciousness, and Cosmic Complexity; by Bobby Azarian
• The Life of the Cosmos; by Lee Smolin
• Evolution's Arrow: the direction of evolution and the future of humanity; by John Stewart
• Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny; by Robert Wright
• The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature; by Geoffrey Miller
• Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief; by Jordan Peterson
• Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis; by John Vervaeke
• Principia Mathematica; by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell
• The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World; by Iain McGilchrist
• The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous; by
• The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom
• Life Finds A Way: What Evolution Teaches Us About Creativity; by Andreas Wagner
• Tao Te Ching; by Laozing

Brom Rector is the founder of Empath Ventures, a VC fund that in invests in early-stage psychedelics startups. Prior to founding Empath, Brom sent several years as a portfolio manager and quantitative researcher. Brom joins the show to discuss the current state of the psychedelics industry, the lessons learned founding a VC fund, the differences between psychedelics and cannabis, and a whole lot more. Important Links:

• Empath Ventures
• Brom’s LinkedIn
• Brom’s Twitter
• The Brom Podcast

Show Notes:

• How Brom became interested in psychedelic investing
• Psychedelics and the mental health epidemic
• Depoliticising psychedelics
• Empath Ventures’ business model
• How we can scientifically improve psychedelics
• The influence of hippie culture
• A contrarian view on Big Pharma
• The potential benefits of ibogaine
• The differences between cannabis and psychedelics
• Do some people not react to psychedelics?
• Brom’s thoughts on microdosing
• Lessons learned from founding a VC company
• The benefits of Rule 506(c)

Books Mentioned:

• How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence; by Michael Pollan
• Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection; by John E. Sarno MD

Ahead of the release of the next episode of his lecture series on René Girard, Johnathan Bi returns for his second appearance on the show. He and Jim discuss Girard, prestige, innovation, AI, and much more. Enjoy! Important Links:

• Johnathan’s website
• Johnathan’s Twitter
• Johnathan’s lecture series with David Perell
• Our research note on Johnathan
• Johnathan’s first appearance on the show

Show Notes:

• The Girardian notion of prestige
• What proof is there for mimesis?
• The difference between mimesis and status signalling
• Philosophical critiques of Girard
• Girard on innovation
• Historical understandings of innovation
• A conversation between a pessimist and an optimist
• AI, progress and the panopticon
• Could we ban innovation?

Books Mentioned:

• The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It; by Will Storr
• The Alchemy of Finance; by George Soros
• The Laws of Imitation; by Gabriel Tarde
• When These Things Begin: Conversations with Michel Treguer; by René Girard
• The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World; by David Deutsch
• The Invention of Improvement: Information and Material Progress in Seventeenth-Century England; by Paul Slack
• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future; by Peter Thiel

Rohit is a VC and essayist who writes fascinating, thought-provoking essays on complexity, progress, innovation and technology over at Strange Loop Canon. He joins the show for a second time to discuss the lessons learned from the FTX meltdown, why there isn’t a philosophy of business, creating an AI picture book, and a whole lot more. Important Links:

• Rohit’s Twitter
• Rohit’s Substack
• Our research note on Rohit

Show Notes:

• What can VCs learn from FTX?
• FTX, hubris and good manners
• “Don’t let anyone push you into a decision that you don’t want to make”
• Signing up to the right narratives
• Why you can’t beat the market
• Why isn’t there a philosophy of business?
• Markets, desire and innovation
• How AI allows us to talk to machines in our language
• The complexities of the AI sentience debate
• How AI unlocks new outlets for creativity
• The need for positive stories
• The three components of innovation
• “Curiosity is a shit starter”
• Finding new ways to create community
• Openness and experimentation
• MUCH more!

Books Mentioned:

• What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time; by Jim O’Shaughnessy
• The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom
• Unflattening; by Nick Sousanis
• Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the 20th Century; by Brad DeLong
• American Gods; by Neil Gaiman
• Lessons: A Novel; by Ian McEwan

Julia is the co-founder of Rosetta Analytics Inc, “an alternative asset manager that is pioneering the use of advanced artificial intelligence to build and actively manage liquid investment strategies.” Prior to co-founding Rosetta, Julia served as President of Wilshire Consulting and was a member of Wilshire’s Board of Directors and Consulting Investment Committee. Julia joins the show to take a deep dive into deep reinforcement learning and Rosetta’s pioneering work using AI as the basis of its investment strategies. Important Links:

• Rosetta Analytics
• Julia’s LinkedIn

Show Notes:

• Julia’s journey from Wilshire to Rosetta
• Defining deep reinforcement learning
• AI and non-linear thinking
• Using adaptive models
• Overcoming the human need for ‘why’
• Pitching deep reinforcement learning models to new investors
• Telling positive stories about AI; improving our discourse
• “Wake up and look for the joy”; “overcoming fear is the biggest barrier to success”

Books Mentioned:

• What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time; by Jim O’Shaughnessy
• The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World; by David Deutsch
• The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy - What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny; by William Strauss and Neil Howe

Creator and curator Liberty RPF returns for his second appearance on Infinite Loops. He and Jim discuss the art of curation, the opportunities and risks of AI, the curse of creativity, the future of learning, and MUCH more!

Title:  Description: Lulu Cheng Meservey is the Chief Communications Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Activision Blizzard. She joins Infinite Loops to provide us with a masterclass in communications for startups. A must-listen for current and aspiring founders. Important Links:  • Lulu’s Twitter  • Lulu’s Substack Show Notes:  • Why people write hit pieces  • The insurgency framework  • How to access your audience’s neural real estate  • How to develop a spontaneous elevator pitch  • Tips for becoming better at reading the room  • Speak directly and take the hits  • Defining business objectives  • Learning from other industries  • Personalising your message  • Overcoming resistance to the unknown, what Christianity can teach us about comms  • Escaping corporate jargon  • How comms resembles rugby  • Taking ownership of comms  • Moving to a new model of comms  • “Don’t let things happen to you. Go and happen to things.” Books Mentioned:  • The Network State: How To Start a New Country; by Balaji S. Srinivasan  • The Hero with a Thousand Faces; by Joseph Campbell

“With enough curiosity, self-confidence is irrelevant.” Tinkered Thinking is a writer, artist, author and creator. He is also the worthy winner of our ‘White Mirror’ competition. His writing includes a series of ‘Lucilius Parables’, short stories dispersed throughout time and space designed to help readers reconceptualise their experience of being alive. He joined the show to discuss writing, technology, curiosity, optimism and MUCH more! Important Links:

• Website
• Twitter
• The Lucilius Parables, Volume I
• The Lucilius Parables, Volume II
• The Century of the Self: Happiness Machines - Adam Curtis

Show Notes:

• The origin of Lucilius
• Why write short stories?
• Fear and human nature
• Technology, progress and optimism
• Where is the positive poetry of today?
• The momentum metric
• How to rebrand Guatemala
• White Mirror
• Choose your disposition
• The power of curiosity
• The question as a concept
• Hope grows foolish with no doing

Books Mentioned:

• The Lucilius Parables, Volume I; by Tinkered Thinking
• The Lucilius Parables, Volume II; by Tinkered Thinking
• The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory; by Brian Greene
• The Fifth Science; by Exurb1a
• Foundation; by Isaac Asimov
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; by Bob Pirsig
• The Beginning of Infinity; by David Deutsch
• Language in Thought and Action; by S.I. Hayakawa
• Screw the Zoo: Escape From Your Cage, Free Your Mind, and Take Over the World; by Sam McRoberts
• Unflattening; by Nick Sousanis
• Atomic Habits; by James Clear
• The Power of Habit; by Charles Duhigg
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; by Douglas Adams
• The Egg; by Andy Weir
• The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
• Awakening: Conversations with the Masters; by Anthony De Mello
• Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment; by Jed McKenna