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Is AI our partner in evolution, or is it a harbinger of our downfall?

In this episode of Into the Impossible, I sit down with two brilliant minds to explore the current and future relationship between artificial intelligence, human evolution, and creativity. Blaise Agüera y Arcas, a leading AI researcher, and Benjamin Bratton, philosopher and theorist, bring their unique insights to this conversation. Together, we discuss how AI is not here to replace us but to reshape what it means to be human, through symbiosis rather than competition. 

We explore the concept of the hardware lottery, the role of randomness and creativity in both human brains and machines, and how AI can help us rethink the concept of evolution itself. From quantum computing to AI’s future in medicine and education, this conversation explores the big questions shaping tomorrow’s world.

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Key Takeaways: 

00:11:13 Co-evolution and human-AI interaction 

00:12:44 Is AI training us?

00:15:43 The limitations of AI 

00:23:19 Ethical considerations of AI use

00:26:42 The path to a new physics 

00:30:32 Blaise’s books explained

00:40:23 It takes a computer to know a computer 

00:44:30 The role of improvisation 

00:47:19 The role of predictability 

00:52:48 Where are we now? 

00:57:01 AI, education, and daily use cases

01:02:27 Judging a book by its cover

01:11:29 Outro 

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Additional resources: 

📚 Who Are We Now? by Blaise Aguera y Arcas: https://a.co/d/aG81gqL 

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The Dark Side of AI Hallucinations & Tech Predictions

Watch the full episode with Steven Pinker here:

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Dive into the fascinating world of Lord Kelvin, a pivotal figure in the scientific revolution! In this video, we explore his groundbreaking contributions, including the concept of absolute zero and the Kelvin temperature scale.

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Timestamps:

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Key Takeaways: 

00:00 Intro 

00:58 When common knowledge is wrong

02:37 The role of common knowledge in social

08:48 Free will and determinism 

14:48 Judging a book by its cover

21:08 Government suppression and common knowledge

30:08 The agree to disagree theorem 

34:54 Generosity and charity in human affairs

41:12 The role of common knowledge in religious

48:31 LLMs and common knowledge 

50:39 Outro

Additional resources: 

📚 When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows… by Steven Pinker: ⁠https://a.co/d/bKJzohi⁠ 

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Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

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Brian Keating sits in the guest chair on Julian Dorey's podcast. This fascinating conversation dives deep into the heart of science, skepticism, and the culture wars swirling around them. Together, Brian and Julian tackle everything from wild theories about NASA, the South Pole, and the moon landing, to the challenges of scientific gatekeeping, the allure of conspiracy thinking, and the importance—and limitations—of critical thinking.

You'll hear candid reflections on podcast rivalries, the pitfalls of confirmation bias, and the struggles scientists face in the public eye. Brian offers a behind-the-scenes look into debates with figures like Terrence Howard, the claims of Bart Sibrel, and the real impact of science denial. Plus, you'll get personal stories from Brian’s own adventures at the South Pole and insights into why science sometimes gets it gloriously, or painfully, wrong.

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Key Takeaways:

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Join this channel to get access to perks like monthly Office Hours:

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The first-ever audiobook from Galileo: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican https://a.co/d/iZPi9Un

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James sits down once again with cosmologist Brian Keating—longtime friend of the show and author of Into the Impossible: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner. In this candid conversation, they challenge each other’s views on focus, curiosity, and the trade-offs of staying in your lane. Brian shares behind-the-scenes lessons from interviewing Nobel Prize winners, the thinking behind his new “Keating Test” for AI, and why communication matters as much as discovery in science.

This episode isn’t about self-help clichés. It’s about real-world insights you won’t hear anywhere else—whether it’s why guarding your time is the most important skill, how to use flow states to sharpen your career, or why great breakthroughs depend on questioning the work of those who came before.

What You’ll Learn

Timestamped Chapters

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For over a century, cosmologists have believed that the universe began a single fiery moment. The Big Bang. But what if that story is incomplete?

Or what if it's even wrong?

My guest today, Professor Niayesh Afshordi, is a professor of astrophysics at the Perimeter Institute and the University of Waterloo.

He and his colleague Bill Halpern argue that the real battle in science is over the mysteries of singularities, those points where our equations collapse and space, time and physics itself seem to break down.

In a new book, Battle of the Big Bang, they take us inside the fight to understand whether the Big Bang was truly the beginning of it all, or whether it was just one chapter in a far stranger cosmic saga.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

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Additional resources:

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📚 Get a copy of my books:

Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, with life changing interviews with 9 Nobel Prizewinners: https://a.co/d/03ezQFu

My tell-all cosmic memoir Losing the Nobel Prize: http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA

The first-ever audiobook from Galileo: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican https://a.co/d/iZPi9Un

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What if your life wasn’t real—not metaphorically, but literally? That’s the premise my guest today has been exploring for years. Rizwan Virk, MIT graduate, gaming entrepreneur, and author of The Simulation Hypothesis, believes that physics, computing, and even ancient wisdom traditions point to the same unsettling conclusion: we may be living inside a programmed reality.

In this conversation, we dive into the science, philosophy, and technical roadmaps that could one day prove—or disprove—this theory. We explore quantum mechanics, AI, and the limits of spacetime itself, asking whether reality is an unshakable foundation… or just a beautifully rendered illusion.

Key Takeaways: 

00:00 Intro 

00:00:42 The Simulation Hypothesis 

00:10:14 The limitations of AGI

00:15:17 Rizwan’s religious background

00:21:43 Energetic physical limitations in a simulation

00:28:33 Quantum computing and the simulation hypothesis

00:34:45 Judging a book by its cover

00:37:11 The Planck length 

00:41:59 Is Deja Vu a consequence of the simulation? 

00:43:41 Ethical and moral considerations

00:48:35 How to avoid collapsing the wave function 

00:54:33 Cracks in the matrix 

01:02:21 What’s the purpose of the simulation? 

01:07:28 Rizwan’s next project 

01:09:02 The winning strategy 

01:10:37 Outro

—

Additional resources: 

➡️ Follow Rizwan Virk:

✖️ Twitter: https://x.com/rizstanford?lang=en 

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Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

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Fred Hoyle coined the term “Big Bang”—but he hated the theory it described. Instead, he championed the steady state universe, helped uncover the stellar origin of the elements, and gave us the immortal phrase: “We are stardust.”

This video explores Hoyle’s brilliance and contradictions:

Why he mocked the Big Bang yet proved it correct

How he predicted the “Hoyle state” that makes carbon—and life—possible

His role in the legendary B²FH paper that rewrote cosmic history

The injustices that kept him from a Nobel Prize

His radical speculations on panspermia, Stonehenge, and cosmic design

Hoyle’s story is a masterclass in scientific courage: following data even when it destroys your own theory.

👉 Subscribe for more deep dives into the rebels who reshaped science: Into the Impossible Podcast

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Key Takeaways:

00:00 Fred Hoyle: Defying Scientific Norms

06:02 "Fred Hoyle: Unconventional Scientific Curiosity"

10:11 Hoyle and Littleton's Cosmic Inquiry

12:32 Constructive Contrarianism in Cosmology

14:59 Science Communication and Public Responsibility

19:09 B2FH: Stellar Element Synthesis

21:02 Hoyle's Interdisciplinary Genius

25:53 Universe's Surprising Insights

27:46 Nobel Prize Debate: CMB Origins

32:14 "Helium Mystery and Hoyle's Concession"

35:07 Hoyle's Overlooked Nobel Stance

38:23 Hoyle's Unyielding Scientific Pursuits

42:36 Fred Hoyle: Science's Intellectual Rebel

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My tell-all cosmic memoir Losing the Nobel Prize: http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA

The first-ever audiobook from Galileo: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican https://a.co/d/iZPi9Un

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#universe #podcast #briankeating #intotheimpossible #science #astronomy #cosmology #cosmicmicrowavebackground #intotheimpossible #briankeating

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David Deutsch offers his insights into the physics that will impact our future, challenging our new technologies, such as AGI and the development of synthetic humans, as depicted in movies. Join us for this fascinating discussion as we go INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

00:00:00 – 00:00:39 Could machines experience thoughts and sensations like humans?

00:00:45 – 00:01:46 Deutsch argues subjective experiences can arise from any system replicating brain-like processing.

00:01:47 – 00:02:25 We never experience the present moment directly but recall slightly delayed interpretations.

00:02:25 – 00:03:30 Deutsch views himself as software running on brain hardware, embodiment is mainly computational.

00:03:30 – 00:04:37 Loss of physical body parts doesn’t reduce personhood

00:04:43 – 00:07:13 Story of “lock-in” from horse’s width shaping space tech leads to analogy about AI hardware lock-in.

00:08:10 – 00:09:20 Lock-in may slow progress but creativity ensures no permanent limits.

00:09:20 – 00:12:15 Square roots and complex numbers naturally emerge in physics due to algebraic structures of reality.

00:12:15 – 00:13:31 Not all mathematical structures are worth exploring—only those relevant to solving physics problems.

00:13:31 – 00:17:00 Shift to memetics: persistence of anti-Jewish patterns is deeper than typical memes.

00:17:00 – 00:19:26 Pattern predates Christianity; it persists through cultural rationalizations, not simple hatred.

00:19:50 – 00:21:23 Discussion of life vs. death choices from Torah portion ties to Deutsch’s book on infinity

00:21:44 – 00:22:32 Humanity faces no upper or lower bounds—capable of infinite progress or catastrophic mistakes

00:23:36 – 00:24:21 Advice to young self-consider interference processes as a door to quantum computation

00:25:16 – 00:26:13 Deutsch admits past mistakes—initially misjudged multiverse explanations and free will

00:27:08 – 00:28:08 David redefines free will as the ability to create objectively new knowledge.

00:28:14 – 00:28:41 AGI programs will have free will once true AI is achieved.

00:29:02 – 00:29:18 Conclusion

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

Additional resources:

Get Dr. Brian Keating’s NEW Book for Only 0.99! This week only: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100

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

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Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, with life changing interviews with 9 Nobel Prizewinners: https://a.co/d/03ezQFu

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The first-ever audiobook from Galileo: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican https://a.co/d/iZPi9Un

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Sabine Hossenfelder: https://youtu.be/g00ilS6tBvs

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