The Local Maximum with Max Sklar

Returning after a Hiatus * Today is just going to be a hangout with me and Aaron if you’re into that.. And later, we’ll return to more specific topics * Give a little personal history & history of the show Full Move to NYC Teaching * Less time Hopscotch Labs * Working on that * Beebot - coming SOON!! * Internship Program Hope for The Local Maximum Reading Habits and Strategies (for the busy) * Is it still worth reading books in the AI era? * What do I do if I get stuck on a book? * How do I know I’m stuck? * Can you read 2 books at once? * How do I deal with these enormous tomes in my bookshelf * What about textbooks? * Local Maximum examples * AJ Jacobs - easy to read! I didn’t think I’d be interested in the topic * Jeffrey Tucker - fun to read! * Sweet spot: 100-200 pages with SHORT CHAPTERS * Books with 50-page chapters - WHY * Topics: Current affairs vs History, philosophy, self-help, fiction? * Examples * Revisiting The Singularity is Nearer (Ep. 323 - The Technological Singularity Part I & Ep. 324 - The Technological Singularity Part II) * Tracking tools https://app.thestorygraph.com/ * (pause feature and journal feature) * Take notes during or after; don’t wait! Upcoming Topics for The Local Maximum * Pull up the sheet * Will we have a schedule? I plan on doing this differently Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Author, entrepreneur, and AI professor Graham Morehead joins the Local Maximum to talk about Artificial Thought and human potential working with AI in his book, “The Shape of Thought” https://grahammorehead.com/ Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

The Local Maximum returns from a hiatus with today’s interview of James Barnes, founder of Autobiographer, and AI-based app developed at Betaworks that helps you tell your own story. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s guest is Eric Daimler, co-founder and CEO of Conexus (conexus.com). Max talks to Eric about the enormous shift in focus in the industry since his last appearance in 2022, and gets his perspective on the promise and pitfalls of the latest generation of AI. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Max and Aaron go deeper into the ideas of the singularity and the law of accelerating returns as articulated in Ray Kurzweil’s Singularity is nearer. They talk about Nanotechnology, Longevity Escape Velocity, and Computronium. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Max and Aaron discuss Ray Kurzweil’s new book, The Singularity is Nearer, and talk about the prospect for a technological singularity by 2045 and AGI by the end of this decade. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

On Freund, co-founder and CEO of Wilco, talks to Max to explore the future of software development in a post-AI world. Learn about the evolving roles of developers, the significance of real-world problem-solving, and the continuous journey of upskilling and reskilling. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Max talks to Codium.ai Founder Itamar Friedman about the rise of LLMs, the evolution of AI as practiced, and the philosophical ideas that will help us get the most out of it. https://codium.ai/ Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Max and Aaron discuss Max's new initiatives in startups and academia, his concerns about the current direction of Foursquare, and the structure and evolution of computer science courses. Max talks about his role next semester as the data structures course instructor at NYU, and all that might entail. They shared their personal experiences in being students at Yale and MIT. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Max talks to Tiffany Grossman, a blogger, marketing specialist, and co-host of the 'Spill the T' podcast. Tiffany shares her journey into the podcasting world. We delve into the importance of networking, the challenges of starting a podcast, and choosing topics that resonate personally while providing value to listeners. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s interview is with Fused.io cofounder Isaac Brodsky. We talk about geo-spatial visualization, dealing with large amounts of data, computer science, and career. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s discussion is on Cellular Automata by looking at Conway’s Game of Life, William Poundstone’s “The Recursive Universe” and Stephen Wolframs “A New Kind of Science”. We run into concepts like artificial life, Von Neumann probes, and more! Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Max reflects back on his podcast and radio show as he turns forty, and discusses the non-stop news events of this month of a seemingly epoch-defining nature, from the earthquake to the eclipse, to the Bitcoin halving. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Fresh off of his trip to the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation for the Yale Alumni Service Corps, Max talks to Aaron about his trip. They then get into some of the ideas of Cal Newport and Digital Minimalism, as well as a recent warning from Jonathan’s Haidt’s research on children and mobile technology. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Max talks about the intensifying AI trends in 2024, including video creation and context windows, as well as Google's misstep with their image generation in Gemini. Will we be replaced by AI? Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

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Michael Callahan, host of "Where We Go Next" (wherewegonext.com) comes onto the Local Maximum to share what he's learned about hosting open conversations about Identity and Ideas. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Max appears on the podcast Where We Go Next with Michael Callahan to talk about technology’s effects on the health of society.https://wherewegonext.com/episodes/max-sklar Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Max and Aaron welcome 2024 by talking about the most interesting episodes of 2023, and possible areas for exploration in the New Year. Their conversation runs the gamut from copyright to crypto to digital habits and to international politics. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe

Max and Aaron finished their discussion on "The Fourth Turning is Here" and talk about what may be in store for the rest of the Fourth Turning Crisis and what the next several decades might look like as a result. Get full access to The Local Maximum at localmaximum.substack.com/subscribe