Programming in the sense of developing algorithmic instructions isnt just for computers - all rigorously-defined human systems are programmed after a fashion. But what is it that programmers (instruction-writers, legislators, chefs) are doing, exactly?

Video: http://youtu.be/TmXsNV3r6DI

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2021/06/20/210.-Programming-and-Theory-Building.html

It’s hard to imagine two subreddits more different than IAmVerySmart & Change My View, & the difference is clear: intellectual arrogance/humility. But what is that, exactly?

Video: http://youtu.be/WohsIy61-4k

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2021/05/28/209.-Intellectual-Humility.html

Engineering disasters often highlight how bad decisions can wreak havoc, but Dr. Richard Cook’s model of complex systems & how they fail paints a different picture.

Video: http://youtu.be/dPFw2ckWZyY

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2021/04/30/208.-How-Complex-Systems-Fail.html

A lot of sci-fi skirts around substantive questions of politics - is this a coincidence, or is there something about the genre that encourages it?

Video: http://youtu.be/zgzoZckSXEQ

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2021/04/16/207.-The-Anti-Politics-of-Sci-Fi.html

Individual humans are demonstrably irrational, & no amount of training or debiasing has been shown to make a dent in that irrationality, which leads us to ask: if I can’t think rationally on my own, why do I think at all?

Video: http://youtu.be/ncylgXtWaRE

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2021/03/29/206.-Social-Rationality.html

Sometimes, getting an expert to tell you what they really think is like pulling teeth - if it’s their job to give advice about their field, why are they often cagey about it? In a word: rhetoric.

Video: http://youtu.be/EcQvVI2Gk-A

Show Notes: https://thunkshow.com/2021/03/18/205.-Expert-Advice-and-Rhetoric.html