Ghosts in the Machine

#6 Lorraine Besser - Why are we not living good lives?

Lorraine Besser is a professor of philosophy at Middlebury College. She is the author of The Art of the Interesting: What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life and How to Cultivate It. Lorraine joins Yash to discuss why happiness and meaning are insufficient for living good lives, what we get wrong about what we really want, how to avoid rationalizing difficult situations, moral obligations, relationships, and parties.

#5 Christof Koch - Consciousness, Psychedelics, and Free Will

Christof Koch is one of the world’s leading experts in the study of consciousness. He was the Chief Scientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, now Meritorious Investigator. He is also the Chief Scientist of the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation in Santa Monica. Christof has over 350 scientific papers and has written six books including Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist, The Feeling of Life Itself, and Then I am Myself the World. Christof joins Yash to discuss consciousness, 5-MeO-DMT, the illusion of the self, integrated information theory, idealism, free will, and vegetarianism. This video is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not endorse, promote, or advocate the use of any substances discussed. The experiences shared involve dangerous substances that carry significant health and legal risks. Nothing here constitutes medical advice, and viewers should not attempt these activities. Always consult qualified professionals regarding health and legal matters.

#4 Colin Marshall - Schopenhauer's Dark Philosophy, Suffering, and Music

Philosopher Colin Marshall joins Alex and Mark to discuss Arthur Schopenhauer's views on how to live life in spite of suffering, why the Stoics were wrong, moral responsibility and free will, how to truly connect with other human beings, art, music, and the ethics of persuasion.

#3 Ian Schnee - Existentialism, AI Relationships, and Conspiracy Theories

The philosopher Ian Schnee joins Yash and Alex to discuss why a complete science of the mind will not replace the role of existentialism, how studying and teaching existentialism has shaped his personal life, what conspiracy theories reveal about the human mind, existential and social concerns about AI relationships, why AI could be conscious and suffer without us knowing, and how it could be possible for big tech companies to listen to philosophers.

#2 Oren Etzioni - Joe Biden, Philosophy of AI, and the Future of Intelligence

Oren Etzioni, founding CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence and co-founder of Vercept, joins Yash to discuss his meeting with President Joe Biden, the path to artificial general intelligence, how to know if AI is about to destroy civilization, simulated vs genuine empathy, and how our conceptualizations of free will, the self, and consciousness inform our views on if AI progress really is creating human intelligence. Articles Discussed: https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/02/25/906083/artificial-intelligence-destroy-civilization-canaries-robot-overlords-take-over-world-ai/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/06/28/1054270/2022-innovators-ai-robots/