While We're On The Subject

Mike and Jon start with a conversation about jobs their not suited for and the dull life of house painters before some follow up on the wilder side of genetic engineering.  They then explain why they always rank things in their mind and go into how constraints and limitations can spur creative problem solving and help us to think of novel solutions.

How Genetic Engineering is advancing today

Why ranking things helps to order the world around us

How limits in creative projects can spur creative solutions

Radiolab Podcast - Mantis Shrimp Episode

Peacock Mantis Shrimp

Tardigrades (Waterbears)

Extremophiles

Canadian GM Salmon

Barbra Streisand’s Cloned Dogs

CRISPR CAS9

UK Mitochondrial Replacement - 3 parent babies

Using CRISPR On Humans In China

Choice Paralysis / Overchoice

Jon’s Procrastination Video

Flash fiction

Mike and Jon discuss the differences between people who nitpick endlessly or make sweeping generalizations as well as how people wrap their identities up in their ideas.  They also go over Jon’s condemnation of contemporary scientific units and the importance of feedback whether provided by yourself or others.

The problems with the Metric system

The problems with scientific notation

How our hosts deal with feedback

History of the metric system

Unit conversion problem causes lost NASA satelite

Scientific notation

Contact us!!!!  We Love Feedback!!!

Mike and Jon start with a conversation on the mentality of immigrants and the difference between risk and the unknown followed by a meandering walk through marginal cost how to evaluate friendships and the dangerous virality of long dead ideas.

The difference between risky outcomes and unknown outcomes

The value of having relationships with people you disagree with

How old ideas made new can come back with a vengeance

Jack Dempsey wouldn’t spar Hemingway for fear of hurting him

Marginal cost

Ethno-Nationalism

Mercantilism

Darth Sidious

Fire and Fury

Our hosts examine the difficulties of migration and demographic decline in Eastern Europe and how this is exacerbating populism in Poland, Bulgaria, and Hungary.  They go over what mike wants in a place he lives and talk about the history of number systems as well as what an ideal system might look like. They close out with some speculation about the future impact of fusion, solar energy, and genetic engineering upon societies.

How Eastern Europe’s demographic crunch illuminates challenges for the entire world

The history and importance of number systems

What the future of genetic engineering portends

Book: Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

The earliest human genetic engineering: Mitochondrial Replacement Surgeries

Mike and Jon recap their conversation on time tracking and rank the three most underrated U.S. Presidents and the three worst periods of history.  They then discuss why branding and advertising are so despised and the often ignored intrinsic value they bring to society.

The value of time tracking

Interesting facts about underrated Presidents

The upside of branding and advertising

Smart Phones without advertising: One Plus One

Smart Phones without branding: The Essential Phone

Coke christmas Ad campaign

Mike ruminates on the origins of stairs, housing and doors before challenging Jon to find something interesting in the mundane topic of rope.  They continue with a discussion of commuting, getting gas in LA, and how traits like optimism, caution, responsibility, and age might impact decision making around things we all do.  They then explore the contemporary political realignment seen around the world in the decades since the end of the cold war, the lack of capitalist tradition in post soviet republics, and the proliferation of conspiracy theories about the new world order.  They close by reviewing and reflecting on the first 10 episodes of this show, what they’ve learned along the way, and the value of having recordings of early work for seeing your growth and progress.

Interesting facts about rope

How global politics have realigned since 1990

Our thoughts on the first 10 episodes of While We’re On The Subject

Dave Chappelle Special: Poor White Voters

Our Patreon

Mike and Jon begin by discussing how our expectations around marriage, schooling, and work are influenced by our families, the media, and society at large.  They examine how desires interact with expectations and some of theirs growing up.  After touching on some of the failings of the educational system they go into how the search for passions in work distracts from true satisfaction and how passion is actually developed.  They close with a comparison of rationalism and empiricism.  Going through their practical uses and how to use these methods of thinking to assist our learning and pursuit of truth.

Listen to this Episode and Learn:

How expectations interact with desires and outcomes

Why some countries are convinced that they’re the best

The uses and misuses of logic and Rationalism

The importance of empirical thinking when judging the truth of information

Mentioned in the Episode:

Books: Deep Work and So Good They Can’t Ignore You, by Cal Newport, professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University

Our hosts broaden their conversation of grammar by complaining about people not using the plural possessive, schools not teaching grammar, and an exploration of German cases and the echoes of these that remain in English.  They continue with a discussion of people’s interests and why different people are interested in such different things; examining sports and history in particular.  They close by analyzing the media they consume, how long media remains relevant, and what mediums are best for consuming different kinds of information.

Listen to this Episode and Learn:

The plural possessive and German cases

Interest, where it comes from, and how we can generate it

The shelf-life and relevance of different kinds of media consumed in different mediums

Mentioned in the Episode:

No one uses plural possessives

German cases

Native Australian language - Time is described with directions

Dan carlin’s hardcore history - The American Peril Episode

Reeling in the years

Our hosts start off contrasting the snow in Korea to the fires all over California.  Jon then complains about speed bumps and somehow generalizes them as a symptom of greater evil in society.  They suggest a way to think about implementing long term permanent changes whether as a city planner or for yourself.  They then touch on the hidden French etymological origins of some word families and how finding these connections between languages can shed meaning on patterns in our own language, discuss the drift of accents in the United States and the United Kingdom, and the influence of German culture and language on the USA.  They go on to speculate over the impact of future medical advances greatly lengthening human lifespans, how our societies might acclimate to them, and whether individual rights include healthcare.  They close with some reflections on 2017 and a few plans for the coming months.

Listen to this Episode and Learn:

Why speed bumps are a terrible solution

How English is a creole and its Germanic and Romantic roots

Speculation on how society would handle people living for 500 years

Our thoughts on new year’s resolutions

Mike and Jon follow up on the cost of cabs and Ryanair flights, and make corrections about car ownership and New York hurricanes.  They also talk about the Economist Newspaper’s odd practice of collective authorship, and why we trust certain media sources sources.  After this they explain the Catalan independence movement and have a discussion on various secession  movements and the future of the European Union more broadly.

Listen to this Episode and Learn:

The origins of the Economist Newspaper

Our thoughts on trust of the media

The forces driving the Catalan independence movement

Our thoughts on secessionists, nationalism, and self determination

Mentioned in the Episode:

Ryanair: 10 euro flights between the UK and Ireland

New England hurricane killed 60 people

the Economist Newspaper

Why Economist Authors aren’t listed

Bloomberg Businessweek

Economist founded September 1843 - to fight corn laws among other things

Catalan Independence

Galencia and basque independent movements

Scottish independence referendum

Catalonia’s referendum - October 2017 - 92% for 8% against

2016 US Election - 58% of eligible voters turned out

Correction: Catalonia accounts for 20% of Spanish GDP

Population of Catalonia is 7.5 million > Ireland (4.7M) or Denmark (5.7M)

Italy’s Northern League

Correction: Naples is Italy’s 3rd largest city

IRA - Irish Republican Army not to be confused with NRA - National Rifle Association

Peruvian ethnic and linguistic diversity

Chinese Languages

Indian linguistic diversity

Esperonto - the second language of the world

Gaudi houses in Barcelona

Listen to this Episode and Learn:

Some history of social change and the the issue of gay marriage in the USA

How demographics, birth rates, and life spans are changing around the world

Our thoughts on why people struggle with change and how integral change is to human perception

How Generational change is unique

The importance of the aging of the populace and how that will affect society in the coming decades

Mentioned in the episode:

Hate listening to podcasts: The Joe Rogan Experience

Books:

The righteous mind  - Jonathan Haidt - People make political choices due to morality more than economic interests

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Demographic changes and life extension in asia: Japan, China, India, Indonesia

Japan Population is in Decline

China population will decline by 2025