Social Evolution

Imagine picking up your smartphone one morning to find only two apps: one red one blue. Your smartphone’s operating system now only runs these two apps. You’d probably think it sucks. In the USA, we run on DOS (the democratic operating system) with only two apps. Many fetishize voting and elections, but these have become circuses to go with all the bread. We labor under the illusion that we are “free,” but we have outsourced our primary responsibilities to a corrupt cartel in Washington. In this episode, Porch and Max discuss the evolution of the Republic, the problems of political power, and the woeful shortcomings of democracy. The fundamental question: can we do better than monopolies on violence? Two-Party SystemConstitutional GovernmentSeparation of Powers - Check & BalancesFounding Father of the United StatesDemocratic republicScapegoatingRené GirardTristan HarrisDaniel SchmactenbergerThe Social DilemmaThe Social SingularityMax BordersFirst past the post votingAmerican civil religionCampaign finance reform in the United StatesTammany HallRepublic, Lost Lawrence LessigUnited States presidential primaryLobbying and special interestsParliamentary systemWestphalian sovereigntyCity-statesSettled agriculture and the Neolithic RevolutionJames C. ScottTheories on the origins of the stateJames MadisonThomas Hobbes: Moral and Political PhilosophyPhilosopher KingMajoritarian democracymajority ruleLiberal democracyJohn Rawls and reasonable pluralismFreedom of religionNinth Amendment to the US ConstitutionTenth Amendment to the US ConstitutionGeorge MasonAnti-FederalismConsent of the governedSocial contract theoryWard republicTerritorial expansion of the USJane JacobsMonstrous HybridBootleggers and BaptistsG.K. Chesterton and Chesterton’s FenceTraditionalist conservatismProgressivismPolitical spectrum modelsNolan chartThe consistency of libertarianismGlenn GreenwaldJoe RoganMohairRational ignorancerational irrationalityPath dependencyPolitical polarizationradicalizationTribalismgroupthinkStates rightsHoreshoe theoryEmergency powers9/11 attacksMass surveillance2021 US Capitol AttackDomestic terrorismCognitive biasApproval votingRanked-choice votingBlockchaincryptocurrenciessmart contractsOn-chain GovernanceHolacracyLiquid democracyQuadratic votingGlen WeylVatalik ButerinJaneček methodCollective action problemDecentralized autonomous organizationAlex Tabarrok’sDominant Assurance ContractVote tradingSocialityMutual organizationNon-zero sum gamesOrganizational missionCorporatist economics and FascismMinarchismCode forkingOpen-source softwareLinuxNetwork effectAntifragilityTalebFederalismSubsidiarityAvailability cascadeLocalismPolyarchypolycentricitypanarchyCircle of concern and circle of influence

Are we living through a moral panic about Social Media? Many folks are concerned about misinformation while for others censorship is the main concern. Social media companies seem stuck in a dilemma where they’re damned whatever they do. Does the magnitude of the problems measure up to the handwringing on either side? Is our ability to make sense of things lost in this hall of mirrors? Some argue that algorithms create asymmetries between enfeebled humans and awesome AIs. Others say these concerns are overblown and that partisans are scapegoating social media companies for the failures of legacy governance. Join us for what turned out to be, in moments, a heated exchange. You will not be bored. Strap in and hang on. (And of course: like, share, and hit subscribe.) The Facebook Files - Wall Street JournalThe Social DilemmaLimbic HijackingOperant conditioning chamber aka “skinner box”Filter BubblePropagandaEdward Bernays“We shape our tools and our tools shape us”Marshall MacluhanCritical TheoryA Propoganda ModelNoam ChomskyB.F. SkinnerBlank SlateEvolutionary Psychology IQ and susceptibility to misinformationPropagandaA/B split testingClick-through rateSearch engine optimization (SEO)Conversion rate optimization (SRO)Online Advertising networksAd exchangesUnexplainability and Incomprehensibility of AIGPT-3RSS NewsreaderMoral panicSteel Man ArgumentViral phenomenonHooked: How to Build Habit Forming ProductsNir EyalIndistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your LifeNudge theoryClickbaitNPR BiasInstagram in the News: Mental Health Risks for Teen GirlsConspiracy theoryInternet memePolitical polarizationUnderstanding the Blue ChurchJordan HallA brief explanation of the cathedral by Curtis YarvinThe Prussion Welfare StateHigh modernismTechnocracyFDRFireside ChatsPsychographic segmentationFacebook needs, wants, must have regulation, Zuckerberg saysRegulatory captureDeregulation of the Radio Broadcast IndustryBig 3 TV NetworksWalter CronkiteCitizen journalismCyperphunk manifestoSocrates on writingPrint and the persecution of witchesSpiral DynamicsPlato’s AuthoritarianismPublic choice theoryPlatonismRelativismRawls’ Reasonable PluralismDaniel SchmactenbergerOccam’s RazorLab-leak vs zoonotic origins of SARS-Cov-2Crony CapitalismChinese Communist Party - The Great FirewallElizabeth Warren Call on Facebook to Stop the Deliberate Spread of DisinformationFrances HaugenThe Hypocrisy of The Social DilemmaTristan HarrisCambridge Analytica ControversySensemaking in the Era of Authoritarian MediaHot to make your iphone black & whiteLess WrongRationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It MattersSteven PinkerSequencesEliezar YudkowskyCritical thinkingThe dubious rise of ivermectin as a Covid-19 treatment, explainedBayesian inferenceThe Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of TruthJonathan RauchCGP GreyKurzgezagtPrediction MarketDistributed ledgerblockchainFalsifiabilityOpen Science

From Skynet to Singularitarian fantasy, AI is back in vogue with much hype and hand-wringing. Mainstream media don’t really know how to talk about it in a way that brings as much light as heat. In fact, even AI researchers have difficulty unpacking concepts like, well, intelligence. Philosophers stand by with critical eyes. Michael and Max talk about the stickier issues as they try to find footing in a fog of mystery and misinformation. What is cognition? What are morals? Are we recreating conscious minds or just spinning out more sophisticated algorithms? Such questions linger as the industry speeds along, whether or not we have ready answers. Conversations like this help us burn the proverbial candle at both ends. Artificial IntelligenceIntelligenceBoston DynamicsSpotA Collection of Definitions of IntelligenceMarcus HutterMetalheadBlack MirrorInstrumental RationalityIntelligence Quotientg factorMultiple IntelligencesHoward GardnerTechnological SingularityThe Age of Spiritual MachinesThe Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend BiologyRay KurzweilExponential growthSymposium: 'Will Spiritual Robots Replace Humanity?'Why the Future Doesn’t Need UsBill JoyGPT-3Moore’s lawMoore’s Law is not dead and AI is ready to explodeIJ “Jack” GoodIntelligence Explosion FAQAlphaGoprojectDeepMindLee SedolAlphaZeroprojectThomas Thwaites: How I built a toaster - from scratchI, PencilLeonard Read2001 A Space OdysseyTerminatorDystopia“We are as gods and might as well get good at it.”Stewart BrandStuart J. RussellThe myth of King Midas and the curse of his Golden TouchThe Sorcerer’s ApprenticePaperclip MaximizerSuperintelligenceSuperintelligence: Paths, Dangers, StrategiesNick BostromDescartes ErrrorThe Feeling of What Happenssomatic marker hypothesisAntonio DamasioThe Elephant and the RiderJonathan HaidtDual process theory — System 1 & System 2The prefrontal cortexReinforcement learningSkinner boxPlaying Atari with Deep Reinforcement LearningNeocortexCortical columnHow to Create a MindOn Intelligence: How a New Understanding of the Brain will Lead to the Creation of Truly Intelligent MachinesJeff HawkinsPredictive model of the brainB. F. SkinnerbehaviorismNoam Chomskycognitive revolutionNeural networksMachine learningWriting Successful Reward FunctionsSearch engineImage classifierHomeostasisInstrumental Convergenceorthogonality thesissuperintelligent willExternalitiesThe Chinese Room ArgumentJohn SearleOracle AIDeep LearningArtificial general intelligenceAI safety conference in Puerto RicoTristan HarrisIason Gabriel on Foundational Philosophical Questions in AI AlignmentFuture of Life InstituteMoralityethicsmeta-ethicsMoral anti-realismJustice as FairnessJohn RawlsAI Alignment Problem, aka, the Control ProblemEthics of technology“We shape our tools and our thereafter our tools shape us”Daniel SchmactenbergerLaws of RoboticsFriendly AIHuman Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of ControlStuart J. RussellAsliomar AI PrinciplesComplexityDarwin MachineUniversal DarwinismThe Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human ValuesBrian ChristianMoral ConstructivismBlockchainDecentralizationCode is LawLawrence LessigNudge theoryRichard ThalerCass SunsteinSpiral DynamicsJohn Nashgame theorDavid Gauthiersocial contract theory of moralityAhimsaThe Golden RuleJohn Stuart MillNo-harm principleCategorical imperativeImmanuel KantNegative UtilitarianismCommunicative rationalityJürgen HabermasHippocratic oathMutually assured destructionWarrior monkNon-attachmentDesireBiofeedbackSocial realityNetwork effectBrain-computer interfaceAgent-based models and simulationsWhy deep-learning AIs are so easy to foolMoravec’s Paradox aka “the hard things are easy and the easy things are hard”Adversarial machine learningDeduction vs. Induction vs. AbductionAI Winterhype-cycleCommon SenseCreativityAnalogy and Analogical ReasoningInference to the best explanationCognitive scienceCompetitive vs. Complementary Cognitive Artifacts

Higher states of consciousness, whether through psychedelics or meditative practice, straddle the cognitive and the sacred. As we enter a “psychedelic renaissance,” we must do so not in a bacchanalian frenzy, but with respect and discernment. Michael and Max explore their personal experiences as well as the value of higher states in both personal transformation and contemporary life. Removing taboos around psychedelic substances, which are still illegal in most jurisdictions, starts with frank discussions around risks, benefits, and the need for wisdom. PsychedelicsEntheogenEgo deathSet and SettingPsychological ShadowVarieties of Religious ExperienceWilliam JamesVedantaAhimsaThe Immortality KeyBrian C. MurareskuDoors of PerceptionAldous HuxleyHow to Change Your Mind by Michael PollanThePsychedelicRenaissanceAppolonian and DionysianEleusinian MysteriesPhenomenologyThe Omega PointPierre Teilhard de ChardinTerrence McKenna Omega PointWhere do ideas come from? Alan MooreImagination and Hypothesis generationAdult DevelopmentSecond TierMystical ExperiencesNondualismModel of hierarchical complexityIs stage theory BS?Nora Bateson

Consciousness is a central feature of our humanity, yet consciousness is a mystery. Conscious experience comprises every aspect of our waking lives, yet we have a hard time explaining its nature. We know that our brains and bodies are made up of energy and matter. We also know that if we get a big bonk on the head, we can disturb the energy and matter in such a way as to LOSE consciousness. So what is the nature of the relationship between mental properties (such as itchy feeling) and physical properties (such as firing neurons)? For millennia, humans have been trying to bridge this ‘explanatory gap.’ And as we enter the age of AI, questions about the nature of consciousness will become more relevant as we create artificial beings who will think and feel like us. Artificial IntelligenceSentienceBishop Berkeley (Idealism)The Technological SingularityPhenomenal ConsciousnessQualiaAnimal ConsciousnessReductionismPhysicalismSubjective/Objective DistinctionEpistemologyMental PropertiesGritsCausal completeness/closureThe Explanatory GapWhat it is Like to be a Bat?"Cartesian TheaterNanotechnologyPenrose MicrotubulesCartesian DualismEliminativismPaulPatricia ChurchlandConsciousness ExplainedDaniel DennetConscious by Annaka HarrisThe Conscious MindDavid ChalmersFolk PsychologyCausal OverdeterminationEmergentismPanpsychismI Am a Strange LoopDouglas HofstadterWhat is it like to be a Thermostat?Multiple Drafts TheoryRecursionFractalsfMRIsComplexity and ConsciousnessSubstrate IndependenceEmulationEms (Emulation) - The Age of EmRobin HansonAgnosticismConscious UniversePanpsychism ReduxThe Tao of PhysicsFritjof CapraWilber’s Quantum QuestionsDancing Wu Li MastersInterdependent Co-arising (Pratītyasamutpāda)Indra’s NetVedantaMythopoetic ThoughtPhenomenologyMeditationEdmund HusserlNaturalismPsychonauticsPhysicalismParadigm ShiftThomas KuhnIneffabilityEpistemic Status of Unobservable Entities

The greatest innovation since the printing press is here. The trouble is, it’s a threat to the old Westphalian order: digital ledger technologies (DLTs), like bitcoin: aka “crypto.” The supplicants of the old order have a lot at stake in the status quo, so a war is coming. Michael and Max spend this episode talking about the idea of crypto as money, going back through a little bit of history, then rocketing back to the future to discuss the implications for humanity. To what extent can we disintermediate using crypto? To what extent will humanity be able to create cloud governance that challenges the old order? Nobody knows, but it’s important to speculate. Indeed, we must set out a vision of possibilities for crypto, because there is so much promise in this evolving ecosystem. CryptocurrencyDistributed Ledger TechnologyBitcoinEthereumBlockchainDistributed Application (DApp)Code and Other Laws of CyberspaceLawrence LessigThe Crypto Anarchist Manifesto (1988)Timothy MayA Cypherpunk’s Manifesto (1993)Eric HughesDavid ChaumNick SzaboWei DaiHal FinneyCypherpunkFreedom of AssociationCommon LawCode of JustinianDigiCashECashBitGoldBitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash SystemSatoshi NakamotoFiat MoneyReserve CurrencyCentral BankNeolithic RevolutionMoneychangersJames C. ScottTemple / Palace EconomyUsuryMedieval Antisemitism LeviathanThomas HobbesMiddleman or IntermediaryInterestInvestment BankingFinancial Crisis of 2007-2008Occupy Wall StreetMoneySubjective Theory of ValuePrice MechanismGoldbuggeryBitcoin MaximalismCryptographyMiracle of WörglVelocity of MoneyJohn Maynard KeynesTime BankingLocal Exchange Trading SystemMutual CreditCharles EisensteinBancorLudwig von MisesFriederich HayekBretton Woods ConferenceSystemPeter ZeihanVirtual currenciesDeficit spendingStanding armyInflationInflation hedgeThe Big ShortMichael LewisCooperativeNetwork effectMetcalfe’s LawHyperinflationFOMOVisiCalcTechnology adoption lifecycleInstitutional investorCoinbaseRegulatory captureCartelizationSecurities and Exchange CommissionHow we Become the Social Safety NetMutual societiesWelfare stateTrustless systemArt BrockHolochainOpen access networkConsensus mechanismTezosOn-chain governanceButterfly effectReal estateRivalry in EconomicsPlutocracyOligopolyHobbesian trapBureaucracyDemocracyFeedback loopCrypto anarchismThe Vanguard GroupCredit UnionPolyarchyPanarchyPolycentric law

Billions of people worldwide are trying to track the truth. And yet we are living in a hall of mirrors. Whether it’s admonitions to “trust the experts” or headlines that read “Science says…” it’s too easy to forget that human beings have epistemic limits. We are all trapped in our subjective selves. We come with biases. And in our search for truth we sometimes have to appeal to authorities who are just as human as we are. In this brave new world of narrative warfare, we must reckon with the fact that tracking the truth (nevermind arriving at collective intelligence) is a tough, dirty business. In this episode, we seek the wisdom to know our limitations and the courage to track the truth despite them.

We are evolved beings. In fact, we’re more or less the same species we were 100,000 years ago. Yet, as individuals, we continue to develop until we die—as individuals and as cultural groups. Theories of adult development such as those proposed by Abraham Maslow, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Clare Graves are making a comeback. In this episode of Social Evolution, Michael and Max talk about the delicate interplay of nature and nurture. Then they discuss Spiral Dynamics, a popular “theory of everything,” which weaves together a number of threads in “bio-psycho-social” development. Biological EvolutionDarwinismFitness landscapeLimits to cognitionLong tail of excellence Evolved Cuteness: Dan DennettNeuroplasticityOutliersEgalitarianism10,000 hoursAdult Developmental PsychologyNabokov’s LolitaLanguage Acquisition and AgeSpiral DynamicsClaire GravesBeck and CowenDunbar’s NumberAnimismMagical ThinkingThey worshipped strength, because it is strength that makes all other values possibleDaimyoHobbes’s LeviathanJames C. Scott: The state as protection racketAgainst the GrainDutyHierarchyGreat Chain of BeingMagna CartaGalileoBaconian MethodologyFrom Mercantilism to MarketsJean-Jacques RousseauCounter EnlightenmentRomanticism“Everybody get together try to love one another right now”HippiesThe SixtiesConsensusCultural relativismPostmodernismCritical theoryKen WilberJürgen HabermasCharles DickensDas KapitalKarl MarxTrust BustingProgressive EraChildhood labor lawsHoward ZinnA People’s History of the United StatesFrankfurt SchoolMax HorkheimerMax WeberSpeak truth to powerCulture warNoble SavageTraditionalismIslamismShariaCatholic IntegrismTed KaczynskiTree StructureEvolution before DarwinTree of LifeStephen Jay GouldLawrence Kohlberg Robert KeganCognitive complexityEither/or fallacyAll-or-nothing thinkingCognitive biasComplex SystemsMultifactorial causation of behaviorBayesian epistemologyBlack swan theoryNassim TalebUnknown UnknownsIntegral TheoryEmergenceEpistemic humilitySecond Tier ThinkingHolonicApotheosizeCultural EvolutionSociocultural EvolutionComparative religionAnimal domesticationselective breedingcoevolutionBird and crocodilecleaning symbiosis Self-domesticationTranshumanismgenetic engineeringCRISPRJames Mark BaldwinBaldwin effectCognitive StratificationThe Flynn EffectDaniel Kish, “bat boy”human echolocationBiofeedbackAccelerated learningElysiumThe Time MachineH.G. WellsMetamodernismGautama BuddhaThomas AquinasGottfried LeibnizEmily DickensonEnneagram of Personality

Since humans roamed in paleolithic clan groups, humans have arranged themselves in different ways in order to coordinate. New forms of organization continue to emerge to this day. Max Borders and Michael Porcelli have a deeper look at these organizational forms, where they come from, and where they could be going. The hosts peer through the lenses of institutional rules, culture, as well as the technologies that enable different forms. The upshot? Insights about these rapidly evolving forms could be the most important lessons humanity has to learn so as to reckon with the onrush of complexity. Notes: OrganizationEight metaphors of organizationHunter-gatherersProsocial behaviorEusocialityBlueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good SocietyNicholas ChristakisPaleolithic - the era of hunter-gatherer societyNeolithic Revolution - the transition to settled agrarian societyHierarchical organizationInstitutionConstitutional Documents - the legalistic definition of an organizationCorporate governanceCapitalization TableBusiness Entity Types501(c)(3) OrganizationExogenousEndogenousDutch East India CompanyBritish East India CompanyJuridical PersonCorporate PersonhoodCarrot and stickProtection racketProfit motiveBiological ThermodynamicsEntropySocial Organization: The Thermodynamic BasisAdrian BejanHow physics explains the evolution of social organizationBlood vesselsAortaTree structureDunbar numberJeff BezosAmazon.comThe Nature of the FirmRonald CoaseTransaction CostsHolacracyProperty rightsOrg chartWorkplace politicsBuck passingPolitical decayExecutive functionDecision fatigueBiological bases of conformityBiological cases of hierarchyEmploymentOrganizational structureVisionary entrepreneurshipIntrapreneurshipCorporate valuesProcessing tensions in holacracyCorporate cultureThe HP WayEmergent cultureOuja boardPeter DruckerGlobalizationCultural relativism / pluralismMetarelating practiceClearing the airWeaving shared realityDiversity, equity, and inclusionDismantling” racism at workDismantling” patriarchy at workTechnical debtorganizational debtCosmopolitanismInformation TechnologyTelecommunicationDatabasesCryptocurrencydistributed ledgerSmart contractDisintermediationDistributed Autonomous OrganizationForking the codeBitcoinEthereumBTCBCHBSVReduced transaction costsEconomies of scaleClient server modelAmazon Web ServicesDecentralized webCosmos and TaxisFriedrich HayekAfter Collapse: The End of America and the Rebirth of Her IdealsEconomic planningEmergent orderTaylorismFordismTeal organizationReinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage in Human Consciousness Frédéric Laloux

Our imaginations are fonts of apocalyptic thinking--from the ancients seers to contemporary doomsday preppers, end-times cultists, and think tanks dedicated to studying existential risk. It seems there’s an end-times prophecy to suit any proclivity. Worries about human-caused cataclysms are gaining steam, including climate change, CRISPR, and superintelligent AI gone bad. Does the proliferation of dangerous exponential technologies require interventions such as “turnkey totalitarianism”? Or does trust in such great power bring catastrophic risks of its own? Join Max Borders and Michael Porcelli as they dive into these questions and even get a bit personal about why they each care about such matters. After Collapse by Max BordersEschatologyCommitment deviceDelayed GratificationSurvivalismCollapsitariansThe Technological SingularityPosthumanismTranshumanismMatrioshka BrainThomas MalthusMalthusian CatastropheThe Population BombPaul EhrlichThe Club of Rome and The Limits to GrowthCollapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed Jared DiamondStewart BrandKevin KellyThe Long Now FoundationJulian SimonThe Simon-Ehrlich WagerClimate ChangeBright Green vs. Dark Green EnvironmentalismJim BendallDematerializationEphemeralizationMore From LessAndrew McAfeeGlobal Catastrophic RiskNick BostromTurnkey TotalitarianismFuture of Humanity InstituteFuture of Life InstituteCentre for the Study of Existential RiskVulnerable World ThesisCOVID-19BiohackingCRISPRIncelDrake EquationFermi ParadoxGreat FilterExistential risk from artificial general intelligenceThe PrecipiceToby OrdJordan HallPrometheusDemocideDaniel SchmachtenbergerJim RuttNonviolenceAhimsaBlack MirrorSan JuniperoDecentralizationCryptocurrencyMulticellular LifeLudwig von MisesHolonMussoliniFascismCentral Nervous SystemCancerHolacracyFlash CrashSystemic RiskHobbesian TrapRace to the BottomRed Queen EffectImmune SystemCybersecurityCyberwarfareMutually Assured DestructionBlack Swan TheorySolarWinds HackCoordination ProblemsThe Blue ChurchJordan HallWalter CronkiteFUBARAnthony FauciDaniel DennettFuture generations (posterity)Transcendental ArgumentSentienceMoral AgencyEthical ConstructivismPascal’s WagerPostmodern ConditionThe RoadCormac McCarthyTed KaczinskiSpiral DynamicsCatastrophizingCognitive DistortionsCognitive Behavioral TherapyExtinction RebellionEffective AltruismWill MacAskillFlagellantModern StoicismVirtuesPolyphasic SleepKen WilberTruth, Goodness, and BeautyPost-TruthOODA LoopJohn Boyd

What is social evolution? We wield tremendous powers of transformation: culture, technology, and institutions. From the mists of our primordial past up to the dazzling civilizations of the present, the natural world has shaped us as a species. As the process of social evolution unfolds, we find both promise and peril. And that process is accelerating. In this episode, Michael Porcelli and Max Borders set the stage for what comes next.