Infinite Loops

Jesse Michels is an investor at Thiel Capital and the creator and host of 'American Alchemy', a Youtube channel dedicated to highlighting the most heretical thinkers and ideas of our time. He joins the show to discuss the transmission theory of consciousness, whether mushrooms are aliens, the reawakening of the Boomers and MUCH more! Important Links:

• American Alchemy
• Jesse's Twitter

Show Notes:

• The modern-day Robert Anton Wilson
• Why Jesse started American Alchemy
• The transmission theory of consciousness
• Why mushrooms may have catalysed human civilisation
• Paradigm shifts and heretical thinking
• Are mushrooms aliens?
• Nixon, psychedelics & brainwashing
• The reawakening of the Boomers
• AGI, qualia & quantum physics
• AI, learned helplessness & Twitter
• The power of curiosity
• Reality is a compressed version of something much larger.
• MUCH more!

Books Mentioned:

• The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date; by Samuel Arbesman
• The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size; by Tor Norretranders
• Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid; by Douglas Hofstadter
• The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World; by David Deutsch
• The Immortality Key : The Secret History of the Religion with No Name; by Brian C. Muraresku
• The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science; by Robert Anton Wilson
• How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence; by Michael Pollan
• Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties; by Tom O'Neill
• Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops & the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream; by David McGowan
• Prometheus Rising; by Robert Anton Wilson
• Quantum Psychology: How Brain Software Programs You & Your World; by Robert Anton Wilson
• The Cosmic Trigger trilogy; by Robert Anton Wilson
• Communion: A True Story; by Whitley Strieber

Mark Nelson is the Managing Director of Radiant Energy Group, a consultancy which advises governments, nonprofits and industry about nuclear energy. He joins the show to discuss Chernobyl the memes vs Chernobyl the molecules, introducing nuclear festivals, adopting an abundance mindset, and a whole lot more. Important Links:

• Mark's Twitter
• Radiant Energy Group
• Mark's LinkedIn

Show Notes:

• Why does the nuclear industry have a confidence problem?
• Electricity deaths vs nuclear deaths
• Chernobyl the memes vs Chernobyl the molecules
• How do we create better nuclear memes?
• Bureaucracy and the precautionary principle
• Steelmanning the case against nuclear power
• Recency bias, human OS and high visibility events
• The story of Three Mile Island
• Introducing nuclear festivals
• Wind and solar is not essential for the grid
• Take memes seriously
• Disambiguating nuclear weapons from nuclear power
• Tying financial needs with energy needs
• Escaping Mad Max
• How can we encourage an abundance mindset?
• Bipartisan enthusiasm for nuclear power
• MUCH more!

Books Mentioned:

• The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World; by David Deutsch

Author, CEO of VUDU Marketing and digital nomad Sam McRoberts returns for his second appearance on Infinite Loops. This week, Sam and Jim discuss Sam's latest book 'The Grand Redesign'. Part science-fiction, part operating manual for upgrading human OS, 'The Grand Redesign' touches on a number of recurring Infinite Loops themes, and is available for free online (see 'Important Links' section below). Important Links:

• The Grand Redesign
• Sam's Twitter
• Sam's Substack
• The Thinker and The Prover
• Tinkered Thinking's winning entry to our 'White Mirror' competition

Show Notes:

• Why Sam wrote the book
• Is the Watcher a reliable narrator?
• Interfering with complex systems
• An overview of Social OS
• Why we need White Mirror
• The kindness pledge
• Incentives and the Cobra Effect
• How do we break the Shannon limit?
• Jim's movie idea
• Improving the political and legal system
• The opportunities of AI
• Optimising our system for flourishing
• Finding the hidden geniuses
• Sam's solutions; reaching the tipping point
• Sam's hopes for the book
• MUCH more!

Books Mentioned:

• The Grand Redesign; by Sam McRoberts
• The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It; by Will Storr
• Prometheus Rising; by Robert Anton Wilson
• House of Cards: Psychology and Psychotherapy Built on Myth; by Robyn Dawes
• The Lessons of History: by Will Durant and Ariel Durant
• Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine; by Derren Brown
• The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future; by Kevin Kelly

Cliff Asness is the Founder, Managing Principal and Chief Investment Officer at AQR Capital Management. Prior to co-founding AQR Capital Management, he was a Managing Director and Director of Quantitative Research for the Asset Management Division of Goldman, Sachs & Co. Cliff joins the show to discuss FTX, AMC , why hedge funds aren't hedging, the role of index funds and a whole lot more. Important Links:

• Cliff's Twitter
• Cliff's Blog
• AQR Capital Management
• Do Hedge Funds Hedge?

Show Notes:

• Cliff's take on FTX and crypto
• The AMC saga
• HODL and the MOASS
• Finding the right media format for substantive investment conversations
• Thoughts on the value spread
• "We don't want a world where markets are perfect"
• Hedge funds aren't hedging
• The role of index funds
• Never override a model
• "Study statistics and stick to your principles"

Books Mentioned:

• What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time; by Jim O'Shaughnessy

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