Micah Zarin Podcast

Is Suffering Actually Bad? (w/ Richard Chappell)

In this conversation, I talk with philosopher Richard Chappell about moral realism, suffering, moral responsibility, effective altruism, AI consciousness, digital sentience, and why our intuitions about machines may change once the machines actually arrive. Richard’s blog: https://www.goodthoughts.blog [https://www.goodthoughts.blog] My Substack: https://substack.com/@micahzarin [https://substack.com/@micahzarin] Timestamps 0:00 Consciousness 0:53 Realism 3:36 Reflection 9:23 Mathematics 24:41 Suffering 31:05 Consequences 41:33 Responsibility 49:29 AI 58:02 Advice

Why Our Civilization Will Collapse Within Decades (w/ Robin Hanson)

Robin Hanson is an economist at George Mason University, the inventor of prediction markets, and the author of The Age of Em and The Elephant in the Brain. In this conversation he argues that our civilization is failing because we broke the engine of cultural evolution, and that the only way out is to let capitalism run more things, which I pushed back on, badly. We also got into prediction markets, why we don't actually want accurate information, authenticity as hidden performance, foragers vs farmers, falling fertility, insider trading, and what young people should do with their lives. 📚 Robin's work: Overcoming Bias: https://www.overcomingbias.com [https://www.overcomingbias.com] The Age of Em: https://ageofem.com [https://ageofem.com] The Elephant in the Brain: https://www.elephantinthebrain.com [https://www.elephantinthebrain.com] 🎧 More from me: Substack: https://substack.com/@micahzarin [https://substack.com/@micahzarin] ⏱️ Chapters: 00:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQyRnnYnp7Y] — Hook 00:11 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQyRnnYnp7Y&t=11s] — Intro 01:27 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQyRnnYnp7Y&t=87s] — Philosophy 05:04 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQyRnnYnp7Y&t=304s] — Kalshi & Polymarket 13:56 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQyRnnYnp7Y&t=836s] — Group loyalty, and implausible beliefs 21:15 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQyRnnYnp7Y&t=1275s] — Cultural evolution 27:14 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQyRnnYnp7Y&t=1634s] — Why civilization is collapsing 51:41 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQyRnnYnp7Y&t=3101s] — The incoherence of utopia 57:22 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQyRnnYnp7Y&t=3442s] — Where I tried to defend anti-capitalism 1:16:21 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQyRnnYnp7Y&t=4581s] — Life advice for me

Does Fine-Tuning Prove God? (w/ Bentham's Bulldog)

I sat down with Matthew Adelstein (Bentham's Bulldog) to debate one of the most popular arguments for God's existence: the fine-tuning argument. 🔗 Bentham's Bulldog: https://benthams.substack.com [https://benthams.substack.com] 🔗 My Substack: https://substack.com/@micahzarin [https://substack.com/@micahzarin] 0:00 - Hook 0:14 - Intros 6:11 - Fine-Tuning Explained 9:10 - Independent Constants? 21:33 - Bill Gates Analogy 40:51 - Islands and Continents 1:02:06 - Why God? 1:04:06 - Advice

She Paints Brain Cells Without Realizing (w/ Haleh Fotowat)

Haleh Fotowat is a senior scientist at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, where she leads neuroscience work on a DARPA-funded program developing novel anesthetics. She trained as an electrical engineer in Tehran and Houston before getting her PhD in neuroscience at Baylor, with postdocs at McGill, Ottawa, and Harvard studying locust escape behavior, weakly electric fish, and zebrafish navigation. She is also a working abstract painter whose pieces have shown in Harvard art exhibitions. https://www.halehfotowat.com [https://www.halehfotowat.com] I realized "Sleepwalkers" is an essay I never posted on my Substack, but it was an assignment for a class. Here's the Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/micahzarin [https://open.substack.com/pub/micahzarin] 00:00 — Intro 00:21 — Art & Spontaneity 16:06 — The Brain 17:40 — Electric Fish & Serotonin 29:00 — Anesthesia & Consciousness 39:05 — AI & Attention 55:04 — What Makes Art Human 01:03:53 — The Secretary Problem 01:09:51 — Advice

Arguing With a Logician About Reality (w/ Graham Priest)

Graham Priest