Stranded Technologies Podcast

Adam is one of the most experienced technology policy analysts in the world - he was writing about the internet on day 1 in the 1990s. Now, Adam is an innovation policy analyst at the R Street Institute, and the author of several books, including Permissionless Innovation (2016) & Evasive Entrepreneurs (2020).

Isn't it striking - almost all popular sci-fi movies about technology are dystopian? Not only does that warp the public perception of technology as something dangerous, but it also influences policy. Supposedly serious policymakers make arguments for increased regulation like "we don't want the Terminator, don't we?" all the time.

Adam takes us through the quagmire of Washington D.C. policy through the lens of one message: permissionless innovation is key to unlock a better future.

He introduces the term "evasive entrepreneurs" through case studies of Uber, Lyft and biohackers that used 3D printing for making prosthetics. These cases of "technology liberation have a few things in common: a) they operate at the borderline of legality, and b) they succeed by making consumers advocates for them.

Evasive entrepreneurship describes the premise of this podcast and of Infinita VC. Special jurisdictions like Prospera in Honduras, the Catawba DEZ in North Carolina or other free zones in Africa or Latin America can be regulatory sandboxes.

However, evasive entrepreneurs have moral obligations. It is also a tactic used by bad actors, such as Sam Bankman-Fried, who used an offshore jurisdiction (Bahamas) as a launchpad for a move to do regulatory capture in the United States.

We concede that evasive entrepreneurship can be done for good and bad.

Recently, Adam has been writing about the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. He brings bad news: Washington D.C. policymakers want to use it as an excuse to control the internet. Adam has been in the business for three decades and he's never seen more extreme proposals in a short amount of time.

This should be alarming to entrepreneurs. Technology is a force for good in the world, and we need permissionless environments to thrive. The good news is that we don't need to advocate for policy in Washington, we can criticize by creating.

Adam's book on Evasive Entrepreneurship contains several chapters to navigate ethical questions, and it's available for free (here). Let's build!

Adam blogs at techliberation.com

Dr. Simon Whitney is a family physician and ethicist. He taught at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas for twenty-two years. He is retired from medical practice but continues to publish and teach about medical ethics.

He wrote the book From Oversight to Overkill: Inside the Broken System That Blocks Medical Breakthroughs—And How We Can Fix It (Rivertowns Books, 2023).

What Simon is talking about is not the behemoth U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), one of the largest public agencies in the world.

The subject of his book is the Institutional Review Board (IRB) system, an institution responsible for preventing abuse of research subjects. It is run by the Office for Human Research Protection (OHRP), a small office within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

It is an obscure and little-known bureaucracy.

Simon uncovers how a fear-driven bureaucracy frustrates scientists by delaying research from anything between months to years and sometimes preventing important research with no harm to patients, but failing to benefit untold millions.

The medical history behind IRBs is fascinating and parallels many other stranded technologies stories.

It starts with a flexible system and lots of innovation. Medical self-experimentation was more common. It can be gut-wrenching, but it led to heroic feats of progress.

It was public health disasters that led to its demise.

Most of all the Tuskegee Syphilis Study became a widely know scandal where the United States Public Health Service (PHS) withheld life-saving treatment from 400 poor African Americans with syphilis to study its effect over 40 years.

A gross incidence of ethical misconduct.

Yet what followed was an overcorrection. The National Research Act of 1974 led to federal oversight of IRBs, leading to frivolous lawsuits and a bureaucracy stifled in fear of not doing the wrong thing, even at the cost of doing the right thing.

The incentives are again stacked against progress.

The anatomy of the IRB system going awry is instructive.

It teaches us again the need for regulatory innovation and for bold action to correct the excesses of bureaucratic overreach - ideas for inside reform seem feasible, and external inspiration by special jurisdictions can help accelerate this movement.

Malcolm Collins is a parent, polymath serial entrepreneur, education nerd, pronatalist and a 5x bestselling author, including the Pragmatists’ Guide series.

He has a podcast and YouTube channel called Based Camp.

In this episode, we talk about a wide range of topics including:

Demographic Collapse: At current fertility rates in developed countries, there will be 5 grandchildren per 100 people. This demographic trend is not economically sustainable and will lead to fundamental transformations of society.

Pronatalism: Pronatalism is a movement that Malcolm and his wife Susan are well, known for as the founders of Pronatalists.org.

The analogy is with climate change: it's not about freezing the planet, it's about countering an unsustainable trend - population decline - by having more children.

Charter Cities: Malcolm views charter cities as key for the pronatalist movements as incubators for a different culture that is not influenced by "urban monoculture".

Some of Malcolm's surprising theses are:

• The collapse is coming when markets price in lack of population growth and divest from assets that losing money to places that grow. These shifts in market sentiments typically happen gradually, and then suddenly.

• The winning cultures need more than high birth rates. The Amish people have high birth rates, but little clout. The winning cultures need to have high birth rates and be technophilic and be at the forefront of technology

• The key for charter cities or special jurisdictions to attract Malcolm are: a) a guaranteed right to use reproductive technologies, and b) a harsh environment, like a space colony, that nurture a culture of hard work to survive

This is a kaleidoscopic episode with insights into the frontiers of humanity.

Primavera De Filippi is a researcher at several institutes, including the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

Her research focuses on the legal challenges and opportunities of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence, with a specific focus on governance and trust.

Primavera is the author of the book “Blockchain and the Law,” published in 2018 by Harvard University Press (co-authored with Aaron Wright).

Primavera led a collective effort during Zuzalu (Vitalik Buterin's pop-up village in Montenegro) to offer an alternative to Balaji Srinivasan's "The Network State".

Her main critiques are its overreliance on market- and exit-based approaches.

This conversation highlights the differences, but Primavera cautions that there are more commonalities between these different approaches than differences. Most importantly, they share the goal to experiment with governance and approaches to sovereignty to improve on failures of the private and public sectors.

We start by defining the problem of the tragedy of the commons: individually rational behavior can lead to collectively worse outcomes.

There are three approaches to overcome the problem:

a) the Leviathan approach where a public authority manages the commons

b) the market-based approach with defined property rights and trade

c) the polycentric governance approach

The last one was developed by Vincent and Elinor Ostrom (the latter receiving a Nobel Price for her work) and is the starting point of Primavera's approach.

Niklas has more confidence in market-based solutions than Primavera, so a fruitful discussion ensues discussion the potential pros and cons of these approaches.

Both discussants agree that pluralism is the right way forward, trying out different approaches to solve issues such as climate change, immigration, or poverty.

The Coordi-Nations approach is encapsulated in a recent blog article, but it's just at the beginning of being formulated and will be discussed in future iterations of Zuzalu and within Ethereum/web3 and governance innovation circles.

Walter Patterson is the co-founder and chief science officer of Minicircle, a biotech startup that produces reversible gene therapies.

Minicircle is known for some of their bold moves that include medical self-experimentation, and conducting clinical trials on Roatan, Honduras within a special economic zone led by Próspera that offers an innovative legal framework.

In this episode, we learn about Minicircle, gene therapy and regulatory challenges from one of the two iconic founders behind it (the other is Mac Davis).

The highlights of this episode are:

• Walter talks about his early fascination for science, and how it allows us to mold the environment around us to live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives

• The potential of various gene therapies (incl. CRISPR, mRNA) to edit the code of human biology, to overcome life-threatening defects and improve life quality

• Minicircle key innovation of plasmid gene therapy, used to produce follistatin to reduce muscle degeneration and increase bone strength for long durations

• The advantage of Prospera as a common law legal jurisdiction: Minicircle is following the same safety protocols and research ethics oversight that are done in the United States under the FDA, the main advantage is to cut bureaucracy

• How, counterintuitively, Minicircle is more regulated under common law and has stronger liability for bad outcomes than in FDA jurisdictions where companies are exempted from liability if the played the political game well

Towards the end of the episode, Walter highlights the beauty of Roatan: the perfect weather, natural beauty and overwhelming friendliness of the community.

You can experience it yourself visiting Roatan during H2-2023 for various conferences and events taking place: https://lu.ma/infinita

Bryan Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University and the author of several books, including Open Borders - The Science and Ethics of Immigration, The Case Against Education and the Myth of the Rational Voter.

Bryan is one of the most iconoclastic contemporary thinkers, and had a major influence on the themes of this podcast. His books explain much of the emergent incentives created by the political process that stymie economic growth.

In this episode, we talk about his new book "Voters as Mad Scientists - Essays on Political Rationality" and use it as a starter to talk about a variety of topics:

• Bryan on how the alignment of "Chaotic Good" in the world of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fits his non-conformist style of thinking and practice of breaking bad or unethical laws, as long as you can get away with it

• Why voters love to hate business and how the Stockholm Syndrome can help explain it: people like to ally with the powerful, even if they're rich, against rich people or business with less or no political power to hurt them

• The politics of what sounds good vs. what is good - explained by social desirability bias, exposed by revealed preferences ("actions speak louder than words") and cemented into practice by status quo bias

• Bryan admits that he's been wrong about cryptocurrency and Bitcoin: F. A. Hayek's idea of de-nationalizing banking has won the day against all odds

If you're a regular listener to this podcast, you'll chuckle when Bryan compares how someone telling him about Bitcoin for the first time with someone telling him about starting a new country on an island (Prospera is not literally a country though).

If starting a new jurisdiction with better laws sounds like a crazy but great idea to you, and your D&D alignment is Lawful-Neutral, Neutral-Good or Chaotic-Good, then come check it out and help us build it - the schedule for coming events is here.

Laurence Ion is a Steward at VitaDAO - a community-owned collective dedicated to funding and advancing longevity science.

Longevity is the defining question of the century. Laurence is passionate about health & longevity due to his personal experience struggling with disease.

Laurence was one of the key organizers of Zuzalu, Vitalik Buterin's pop-up city in Montenegro, and worked with Niklas to put together new initiatives to break through the regulatory bottlenecks that hold back the science & technology of longevity.

This episode encapsulates our thinking on the flawed ethical and regulatory paradigm in medical innovation, resulting from many months of problem analysis and solution-finding through conversations with governments and policymakers in Latin America, Africa and Europe.

The future we want to build is one where we use a different regulatory paradigm, as safe or safer than the existing one, while faster to innovate. A safe haven for refugees of age-related diseases that want to try something different, rejuvenate and heal.

Most importantly, Laurence and Niklas believe community-building is at the heart of what we do, and having seen the possibility of creating talent density like in Zuzalu inspires us to push the boundaries further, and build a bigger movement.

A movement aligned in defeating the Dragon Tyrant of Aging.

If you're a biotechnologist, renegade life scientist or relentless entrepreneur who wants to help radically supercharge human health and extend lifespan, join us!

The key upcoming initiatives are:

• Longevity State Congress in Sep 2023

• Prospera Buildweeks 2023 starting in Oct 2023

• DeSci & Longevity Biotech 2023 - A Próspera Builders' Summit in Nov 2023

• Start a Longevity Network State in Latin America in Q1-2024

Neil Chilson is a lawyer and computer scientist, he’s the former Chief Technologist at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a current senior research fellow for technology and innovation at the Center for Growth and Opportunity, and the author of “Getting Out of Control: Emergent Leadership in a Complex World”.

Neil has decades of first-hand experience in regulatory policy and introduces the distinction between outcome-based, more common law-like legal approaches to regulation vs. the more well-known statutory and preventative approach.

This seemingly technical distinction is very relevant. We start by discussing the "Knowledge Problem" that F. A. Hayek raised in one of the most influential economics papers ever written, "The Use of Knowledge in Society" from 1945.

Hayek's insight is that central planners cannot know the facts relevant to making their decisions, because knowledge is "tacit" and value is subjective to the individual. The system of free price-setting is necessary to create an "emergent order" that does not come about by conscious design but by adjustment and small improvements through individuals making rational decisions based on their local information.

Neil's work is dedicated to applying the insight of emergent order in business, policymaking, and even personal growth - instead of rushing to ask for an authoritative "man in charge", we should instead embrace humility.

Rather than making rules for new technology that is rapidly changing, we should focus on liability for bad outcomes after-the-fact. We apply these insights to debates about the existential risk of artificial intelligence (AI) and the regulatory policy of OpenAI's Sam Altman and Microsoft.

While we're optimistic that software and AI are "born-free" technologies relatively unencumbered by regulatory overreach, Neil warns that policymakers in Washington and in international governmental organizations have an agenda: they see the internet as a bad thing, and AI risk is a welcome opportunity to further this agenda.

Let's not let the internet and AI become stranded technologies. The future is open.

Infinita Website: https://infinitavc.com/

Michael Huemer is "the best living philosopher, possibly the best who ever lived." (Bryan Caplan)

The podcast host Niklas Anzinger considers Michael Huemer to be the greatest intellectual influence on his life and work with Infinita VC to date.

In fact, the name Infinita is a reference to Michael's book "Approaching Infinity".

Michael is Professor for Philosophy and the University of Colorado Boulder. He is the author of more than eighty academic articles in epistemology, ethics, metaethics, metaphysics, and political philosophy - as well as the author of ten books.

This conversation is intended to introduce Michael's work to the listener, particularly the books most relevant to unlocking stranded technologies.

The first book we discuss is "Knowledge, Reality and Value." The book is an introduction to philosophy and a masterful one. It teaches the reader why it's important to form rational beliefs how to make clear arguments and "wake up" from a state of perpetual intellectual confusion (yes, we all are - and we don't notice it).

The second book is "Justice Before the Law", a book about the ethical flaws of the legal system. Michael's key thesis is that actors in the legal system should prioritize what's just over what's the law - that means breaking the law if it's unjust and not unwise to do so. This is an explosive thesis in conflict with existing legal norms.

The third book is "The Problem of Political Authority" which argues that existing governments regularly commit what we would consider atrocious violations of individual rights if they were done by any non-governmental actor, and that political philosophy fails to deliver a convincing justification for this special privilege.

While all these books have surprising and radical conclusions, what is special about Michael Huemer*s work is his method. Michael clearly states his premises and chooses only those that are based on widely shared beliefs. This results in an extremely clearly written and persuasive style of reasoning.

In this episode, we discuss all these books and the implications for entrepreneurs in regulated industries, such as the obligation to follow the law, how to present yourself when you innovate, and how to navigate moral questions that arise in the process.

Michael blogs on a Substack called "Fake Nous".

Today’s episode is another one in the style of episodes 10 and 25 with Niklas' thoughts, synthesizing 1 year of work with the podcast and a VC fund.

First, you’ll hear a recording of Niklas's talk at Zuzalu, Vitalik Buterin’s pop-up city in Montenegro. The speech can be watched on YouTube as well.

The talk shows the progress made by startup cities and network states, and argues that this is a pivotal moment to unleash a wave of new technological progress; the zero-to-ones are already out there - it's no longer a dream.

Afterward, Niklas shares impressions of Zuzalu - he believes the key innovation is to prove the impact of in-person civility, bringing together a highly aligned online community in one place to live and build together. In one quote, it was "a university campus on steroids, with people that actually care and actually build."

Zuzalu is already resulting in a couple of new initiatives, some led by Infinita VC taking place within the next couple of months.

(1) African Regenerative Cities & Futures @ FreeFlow Eden Zanzibar

July 20-23, 2023: This is an event to bring together entrepreneurs, artists, and governance innovators with a focus on African cities & technology.Sign-up & more info here: https://lu.ma/zanzibar_regen

(2) ETH Latam in Honduras and Prospera Buildweeks

October 26-28, 2023: This is the core Ethereum conference for the continent.

Watch out for sign-up news here: https://mirror.xyz/ethhonduras.eth

Afterward, for all of November, we plan to do a 4-week mini-Zuzalu in Prospera called “Prospera Buildweeks”. - during that time we will do two conferences: Crypto & Futurism, Longevity & Decentralised Science, as well as a Prospera General Summit.

Updates on sign-ups are here: https://t.me/+xhTw-dudXBc1NmE6

(3) Founders' Journey - Start a Longevity Network State in Latin America​

This is a 2-month long journey for biotechnologists, renegade life scientists, and relentless entrepreneurs to radically supercharge human health and extend lifespan, by creating of a longevity-focused network state in Latin America.

Sign-up & more info here: https://lu.ma/longevity-journey