Biel Casals is a Data Science student at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. His interests range from everything technology-related to economics, biohacking, and philosophy. He is also a fitness freak and DJ in his spare time.  

Timestamps/Chapters 

0:00 -  Introduction & the utility of podcasts  

06:04 - Biel's story  

12:25 - Identity, self-improvement and the pursuit of an ideal  

19:05 - Systems thinking  & marginal gains  

26:02 - The interconnection between future technology & self-improvement  

31:36 - Economic efficiency & the struggle to find balance  

37:12 -  How can we reach the 'Truth'? Thoughts from a data-science student  

56:34 - How concepts and language affect our reality  

1:05:37 - Bio-hacking, nootropics and the limitations of the human condition  

1:19:06 -  The future of the human experience & consciousness  

1:29:18 - Thoughts on Utopia & the future  

1:49:47 - Final thoughts  

Books/People Mentioned   

1. 'Utopia' by Thomas Moore  

2. Lex Fridman (https://www.youtube.com/user/lexfridman) -  is an AI researcher working on autonomous vehicles, human-robot interaction, and machine learning at MIT and beyond. Teaching: deeplearning.mit.edu.

3. Richard Dawkins - "Memes"  

4. 'Atomic Habits' by James Clear  

5. Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian-born political philosopher and cultural critic. He was described by British literary theorist, Terry Eagleton, as the “most formidably brilliant” recent theorist to have emerged from Continental Europe.  

6. Slavoj Žižek - "What is nature"? ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIGeDAZ6-q4)  

7. Terence Mckenna was an American ethnobotanist and mystic who advocated for the responsible use of naturally occurring psychedelic plants.   

8.  Kevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired Magazine and a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Review. He has also been a writer, photographer, conservationist, and student of Asian and digital culture  

9. Kevin Kelly's "Technium" (https://palladiummag.com/2020/12/10/kevin-kelly-on-why-technology-has-a-will/)   

10. Andy Clark and David Chalmers - "The Extended Mind" (https://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/philo/courses/concepts/clark.html) 

11.  Nick Bostrom is a Swedish-born philosopher at the University of Oxford known for his work on existential risk, the anthropic principle, human enhancement ethics, superintelligence risks, and the reversal test  

12. Joscha Bach is a cognitive scientist focusing on cognitive architectures, models of mental representation, emotion, motivation, and sociality