Thinking On Paper

The Space Economy Isn’t Free Market Capitalism - Matthew Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau

How do we stop humanity taking its failures to space? Can we take civilization to the stars and make it economically viable? The space industry is entering a strange new phase. Traditionally, space has been the domain of governments. Exploration, prestige, national projects. Apollo. Shuttle. The ISS.  Now space is beginning to look less like exploration and more like a private business. Satellite networks, commercial space stations, lunar mining, microgravity manufacturing and data centers in space.  Despite commercialization, state power still dominates the frontier. NASA is returning to the Moon and China is breathing down their neck. National security still drives the agenda. And pays for launch.  This week, we Think On Paper with Matt Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau, authors of Space To Grow. You’ll learn why the modern space industry still depends heavily on governments, whether commercial space stations can become profitable, how geopolitical rivals still cooperate in orbit, and how markets, power and national security shape the economics of life beyond Earth.  Can space become a true economy, or will it always remain an extension of the state? Please enjoy the show. 🏠 Buy us a beer on Substack [https://thinkingonpaperpodcast.substack.com/] 🎧 Watch us compete with Lex Fridman on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnInzxdiFkk] 🎧 Remember Steve Jobs and listen on APPLE [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinking-on-paper-technology-moves-fast-think-slower/id1713227258] 📺 Watch the clips and shorts on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thinkingonpaperpodcast/] Watch a random video from Rick Beato. Because we love him [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nsKIXhc_HY]. -- Chapters (00:00) The Balance of Government and Market in Space (03:35) The Role of Microgravity in Space Research (07:43) Economic Incentives and Long-term Investments in Space (12:14) Navigating Political Cycles in Space Policy (17:09) International Collaboration and Competition in Space (18:45) The Importance of Security in Space (21:36) The Power of Space Exploration (24:27) Space as an Invisible Backbone (28:49) The Debate on Space Investment (30:37) Challenges of Space-Based Data Centers (33:40) Exploring the Future of Space Resources (38:26) Governance in Space: A New Era (40:55) Minimum Viable Governance in Space

IBM And The Quantum Computer Isolated From The Universe

Ten years ago, IBM put a five qubit machine on the cloud and let anyone run a program on it. Today, researchers have published nearly 6,000 papers on IBM hardware, and quantum computing is nearing the tipping point. You know what? It might be useful! Scott Crowder thinks on paper about where quantum actually is right now. And all paths lead to the Cleveland Clinic. They recently simulated a 303 atom protein by splitting the problem between quantum and classical hardware, a jump from the 14 atoms they could handle nine months earlier. Researchers at RIKEN in Japan are coordinating quantum hardware and the country's largest HPC cluster in the same building. Both efforts point toward what IBM calls a quantum-centric supercomputer, an architecture where quantum and classical resources accelerate each other rather than compete. You'll learn why superconducting qubits beat the alternatives, how a quantum computer draws about the same power as a single rack of AI hardware, whether quantum data centers belong in space, why helium-3 may become a real constraint by the mid-2030s, and what Richard Feynman would make of his 1981 vision finally coming to life. Please enjoy the show.-- 🏠 HQ: www.thinkingonpaper.xyz 📺 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingonpaperpodcast/ 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/00volKqMsQntToeho35W47 🎧 APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinking-on-paper-technology-moves-fast-think-slower/id1713227258 -- Mark x: https://x.com/markfielding99 Jeremy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremygilbertson/ – Chapters (00:00) Trailer (01:20) Quantum computing: real, hyped, or both (02:40) Why reference architectures decide which technologies win (05:05) Superconducting vs. trapped ion vs. spin qubits (06:47) Why accessibility and algorithmic discovery are the real bottlenecks (12:34) Cleveland Clinic's 303-atom protein simulation (13:44) IBM's quantum-centric supercomputing architecture (16:07) What already runs on quantum computers today (17:58) The roadmap: how quantum and classical converge (22:28) What Richard Feynman would make of the field today (25:25) What quantum computing means for the future of data centers (32:01) Quantum computers in space, and why Crowder rejects Elon's pitch (34:10) What computing is actually for (42:19) Why Qiskit, NVIDIA, and open source matter for adoption

Can Bryan Johnson Really Live Forever? Longevity, AGI & The Politics Of Space - Anders Sandberg

Hold on to your hats, your brain is about to get a serious work out. Anders Sandberg, futurist, transhumanist and curiosity magpie joins us for one of the widest-ranging conversations we've ever recorded.You'll learn about brain emulation, uploading your consciousness, the politics of space, AI run economies, NASA, transhumanism, longevity, maths, neuroscience, memory, middle age and aliens. You'll learn why Dracula wouldn't be bored if he was around today, what drone warfare and AGI means for peace, prosperity and economics and we ask: Can Bryan Johnson really live forever? Plus much more. Enjoy. 🎧 Listen to every podcast⁠ [https://www.thinkingonpaper.xyz/] 📺 Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/toptechpodcast/] 🏠 Follow us on ⁠X⁠ [https://x.com/thinkonpaperpod] 🏠 Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremygilbertson/] To suggest guests or sponsor the show, please email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz [hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz] -- Chapters (00:00) Augmentation and Human Potential (08:09) The Impact of Mobile Technology on Humanity (11:51) Accountability in AI Agents (18:25) The Role of Empathy in Human-AI Interaction (25:35) AGI vs. Alien Life: A Comparative Analysis (27:36) Consciousness and Brain Emulation (35:52) The Future of Uploaded Minds (40:33) Exploring Parallel Realities and Memory Merging (45:16) The Future of Human Collaboration and Organizations (46:24) AI's Role in Managing Global Systems (51:23) The Dual Economy: Human vs AI Management (57:43) The Complexities of Space Ownership and Governance (01:05:18) The Future of Space Exploration and Human Expansion (01:17:49) The Impact of Space Race on Human Progress (01:21:43) The Role of Nations and Corporations in Space Exploration (01:24:22) Experimenting with New Forms of Governance (01:26:18) NASA's Future in the Age of Innovation (01:28:41) The Potential for Breakaway Movements in Space (01:30:16) Trust and Coordination in Space Governance (01:34:18) The Future of Fusion Energy (01:42:15) The Value of Time and Life Extension (01:48:06) Reinventing Identity in Extended Lifespans (01:52:03) The Future of Humanity and Technology

Carissa Véliz - Protect Yourself From The Prophets Of Technology

Oxford AI philosopher Carissa Véliz Thinks On Paper.The accolades for her TED talk are piling up. Her new book Prophecy is propping up every technology bestseller list this side of Silicon Valley. Yet she found time to join us and dismantle the illusion that big AI and Big Tech CEOs can predict tomorrow. She's taking on the big leagues, and she won't flinch.Carissa draws on philosophy, political history, and her work at Oxford's Institute for Ethics in AI, to outline her argument: the predictions Sam Altman and Elon Musk throw around don't just describe the future. They shape it. When we believe the super-forecasts, we risk turning them into self-fulfilling prophecies. Prophecy is nothing new. It just has a bigger stage. From the Oracle at Delphi to Rasputin, prediction has always been a tool for steering human behaviour. What’s changed is the reach, the speed, and the size of the audience. Personal autonomy, analog experience, and friendships are all ways to resist the pull of predictions. So is comedy. Watch more Seinfeld, Fawlty Towers, and George Carlin. Carissa is a brilliant scholar and fabulous writer, but more than that she’s a wonderful human who recognizes that the future is unwritten. And you write it. -- 📺 Watch On YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhm4Ojfn4mE&t=411s]: 🎧 Listen to every podcast⁠ [https://www.thinkingonpaper.xyz/] 📺 Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/toptechpodcast/] 🏠 Follow us on ⁠X⁠ [https://x.com/thinkonpaperpod] 🏠 Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremygilbertson/] To suggest guests or sponsor the show, please email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz [hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz] -- CHAPTERS   (00:00) Intro (01:00) What is the good life?  (02:00) Why knowing yourself matters more than strategy  (04:44) The analog world vs the digital world  (06:45) How prophecies exploit our need for security  (08:47) Why ancient Rome banned predicting the emperor's death  (10:11) The illusion of safety that AI sells us  (12:27) When predictions work, and when they don't  (15:00) Altman, Amodei, Huang: predictions or sales pitches?  (28:29) How to resist prophecies as a busy person  (29:53) Prediction markets, Polymarket, and democracy  (31:49) TikTok, algorithms, and the Molly Russell case  (36:08) "Engagement algorithms are cocaine in food"  (40:54) Self-fulfilling prophecies as the perfect crime  (43:44) Why comedy is the enemy of prophecy  (46:59) What Seinfeld teaches us about predictive algorithms  (52:16) Karikó and the Nobel Prize we almost missed  (53:40) Increase your serendipity  (56:13) Why Epicurus beats the Stoics

America Lost The Meme War With Iran - Lolz

The AI meme war between the US and Iran has evolved into an absolute shit show. If you thought it was awful a few weeks ago, you ain't seen nothing yet. AI-generated Lego propaganda videos were a curiosity. Sometimes funny, often violent, always troublesome and never diplomatic, they quickly gained millions of views across social media... because social media. The White House Twitter (X) account was responsible for the US videos. An Iranian media company called Explosive Media, the Iranian. America, either put off by the global consensus that it was losing the war, or bored, switched their AI models to tax season (with equal ineptitude). Iran, losing the guns and missiles part of the war, has changed tact. Explosive Media turned up the heat. And was duly banned from YouTube. Which could of unleashed the beast. Now Iranian embassies are posting them on Twitter (X) and US creators are using the same format to mock it all with Lego.. Just watch it yourself. And let us know what you think. -- 🎧 Listen to every podcast⁠ [https://www.thinkingonpaper.xyz/] 📺 Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/toptechpodcast/] 🏠 Follow us on ⁠X⁠ [https://x.com/thinkonpaperpod] 🏠 Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremygilbertson/] To suggest guests or sponsor the show, please email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz [hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz] -- -- TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Explosive Media (00:38) US Bowling Iran (01:52) Trump's Mask (03:20) Blockade, Blockade (06:28) Drunken Hegseth (08:00) Truth