Exploring Possibilities

Mysteries, Paradoxes, and Uncertainty

Mysteries abound. Why does the word behave the way it does? Social Media — technology that should be making us happier and connecting us is making us miserable and driving us apart. What gives? More […]

Exploring Possibilities

Fiction Becomes Reality

It’s a (semi) Geekout as Phil and Stephen discuss scenarios from fiction (and from non-fictional speculation) that are coming true or that we hope to see come true soon. We begin with this story: Nanobots […]

Accelerating Tech

Infinite Computing or Infinite Hype?

How do we sort amazing new capabilities from eloquent marketing hype? Headline on Facebook: What if We Could Unlock Infinite Computing Power? Headline when you get to the page: What if we could unlock our […]

Accelerating Tech

New Capabilities, New Risks

New technologies bring unintended consequences and often unexpected risks. A new method of treatment introduces a whole new category of risk: Could genome sequencing in healthy persons create “sick patients for life”?  It was also […]

Adjacent Realities

Adjacent Realities: Crossing the Line

We are all realized possibilities. Before you existed, before you became a part of reality, you were a possibility — and a very remote possibility at that. As we have explored in earlier posts and […]

Philosophy

Adjacent Realities: The Big Lie

When talking about the possible, we must from the outset confront the big lie that all too often accompanies it. Unlike many big lies, this one is not always offered with an intent to deceive. […]

Philosophy

Adjacent Realities: The Fourth Wall

Most of us like to think that reality is something that human beings can comprehend. And, more to the point, we tend to think that we personally are among those who have a pretty good […]

Accelerating Tech

Is Social Media Killing Us?

Is social media killing us? If so, how do we fix it? Correlation is not causation, but still there is a huge correlation between rising depression rates and the ascendancy of social media. For example, […]

Accelerating Tech

Closer Than We Think

Are breakthrough technologies progressing faster than we think? Phil and Stephen review three recent news items that indicate they may be. Sucking carbon dioxide from air is cheaper than scientists thought https://go.nature.com/2JhnFLT Siphoning carbon dioxide […]

Accelerating Tech

Frickin’ Lasers! (Save the Universe)

Frickin’ Lasers Save the Universe Lasers Could Make Computers 1 Million Times Faster Phil and Stephen discuss two recent examples of the amazing potential of lasers to change everything. Lasers Could Make Computers 1 Million […]

Energy

Gold From Thin Air

High-quality carbon nanotubes made from carbon dioxide in the air break the manufacturing cost barrier “The most valuable material ever sold” Carbon nanotubes are super-materials that can be stronger than steel and more conductive than […]

Entertainment

Attack of the Fans

It’s a full-on geekout as Phil and Stephen discuss the most critical question of our times: to go see Solo, or not to go see Solo? Are today’s Star Wars fans like the Star Trek […]

Aliens

Aliens Among Us

Is it possible that life here began out there? The Panspermia hypothesis suggests that it did: Panspermia (from Ancient Greek πᾶν (pan), meaning ‘all’, and σπέρμα (sperma), meaning ‘seed’) is the hypothesis that life exists […]

Exploring Possibilities

Yanny, Laurel, and the Mandela Effect

Why would the the Yanny-Laurel phenomenon tell us anything about the Mandela Effect? They have nothing in common! Or do they? Let’s start with a quick recap: Mandela Effect Yanny-Laurel Of course, Yanny-Laurel relates to […]

Artificial Intelligence

Is AI the Biggest Thing Ever?

Google CEO Sundar Pichai certainly seems to think so. Artificial intelligence could be our saviour, according to the CEO of Google AI is probably the most important thing humanity has ever worked on. I think […]

Artificial Intelligence

Five Myths About A.I.

Even when he’s not on the show with us, futurist Thomas Frey provides us with lots of interesting subject matter for discussion. His folks at Impact Labs have published an interesting essay on Five Myths […]

Artificial Intelligence

Three Races: Aging, Space, and AI

There are many technological races taking place right now. Three of them have been fairly regular topics of discussion on this show: The Space Race The Race Against Aging The AI Race Which of these […]

Exploring Possibilities

What Can We NOT Rule Out?

Is humanity the first technological species to exist in this solar system (or even on this planet?) The quick and easy answer is yes, but maybe we don’t know that for sure. Prior Indigenous Technological […]

Podcasts

Turn Up the Funny

Flipping our emotional switches, Part 2 We are getting closer to identifying the individual emotional switches in the brain. What might this imply for future strategies for managing our emotions? If we are now getting […]

Exploring Possibilities

Turn off the Fear

Flipping the emotional switches, Part 1 We are getting closer to identifying the individual emotional switches in the brain. What might this imply for future strategies for managing our emotions? Researchers Find Fear and Courage […]

Abundance

Universal Basic Super Powers

Universal Basic Happiness, Part 3 (Plus geekout Avengers review!) VR puts us in the digital world, where scarcity doesn’t exist. It is one way of getting to post-scarcity and will probably play an important role […]

Abundance

Universal Basic Reality

Universal Basic Happiness, Part 2 As we continue our discussion of possible solutions to various inequalities, Phil outlines one possible way e could make everybody — that’s EVERYBODY — completely happy. Wireheading: This Strange Experiment from […]

Abundance

Universal Basic Sex

Universal Basic Happiness, Part 1 Last Weekend, Robin Hanson stirred things up by inquiring why the people concerned about income inequality aren’t worried about other forms of inequality: Those w/ less access to sex plausibly […]