Evolve Faster with Scott Ely

EF34 is an Ask Me Anything about Episode EF11 (When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future). For the first time, something is breathing down humanity's neck in as evolution accelerates. So will humanity see this as a challenge to further evolve, or will we get overwhelmed by the unprecedented capability of our machines? Do we stand a chance when for everything humanity took centuries to perfect, AI can master in days or weeks? Can our ape-like brains even comprehend what might be around the next curve of this Next Evolution?

EF33 is a Behind The Podcast about Episode EF11 (When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future). The driving question of this episode is ... Can machines think, be creative or fall in love? It's obvious we're witnessing the dawn of artificial intelligence (AI). As the generation living through and directing this big change, we have to feel both excited and nervous. What will the next step be? Will machines become a new race with their own rights to live, love and create? How might the change — potentially a quantum leap — affect humanity?

EF32 is an Ask Me Anything about Episode EF10 ((The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering). The driving question of this episode (and this BTP) for you to think through is ... Does happiness define the good? The eighth episode of the first season of the Evolve Faster Podcast Episode is driven by the big question Does happiness define the good. We want to be happy, yet there are only a few people who can honestly claim that. So are we hardwired to sadness or simply bad at our job?

EF31 is a Behind The Podcast about Episode EF10 (The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering). The driving question of this episode (and this BTP) for you to think through is ... Does happiness define the good? We need to be happy to feel good. Even a 4-year-old child knows this somewhere in the chaos of their still-evolving mind. Thus, it seems logical the closer we are to becoming happy 24/7, the better. But when was the last time you met someone who achieved this? And have you ever thought through the practicalities of such a scenario?

EF30 is an Ask Me Anything about Episode EF9 (I Feel, Therefore I am: Capsized on the River Emotion). The driving question of this episode (and this AMA) for you to think through is ... Can rationality and emotions coexist? We wish we don’t feel pain, sorrow or sadness. But what if somehow we managed to remove every single emotion. Could we really exist? The seventh episode of the first season of the Evolve Faster Podcast Episode is driven by the big question Can rationality and emotions coexist. We wish we don’t feel pain, sorrow or sadness. But what if somehow we managed to remove every single emotion. Could we really exist?

EF29 is a Behind The Podcast about Episode EF9 (I Feel, Therefore I am: Capsized on the River Emotion). The driving question of this episode (and this AMA) for you to think through is ... Can rationality and emotions coexist? We tend to put people (and ourselves) into two groups: people who are rational, and people who are emotional. So what should you strive being? A rational or emotional person? Rationality is usually more encouraged as too many emotions can blur your mind. But is it that simple?

EF28 is an Ask Me Anything about Episode EF8 (Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost). The sixth episode of the first season of the Evolve Faster Podcast Episode is driven by the big question Who Am I? Many people use drugs to make quick “fixes” to their identity. But if there was a drug that could instantly change you once and for all, would you take it?

EF27 is a Behind The Podcast of Episode EF8 (Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost). The driving question of this episode is ... Can you change your identity? Or the shorter philosophical classic, who are you? Although you know your name, vital statistics, and other necessary information — you likely still ask yourself from time to time 'who am I?' What do we mean when we ask this seemingly simple, but infinitely deep, question? And is it possible that the answer could change over time, implying that your identity can evolve?

EF26 is an Ask Me Anything about Episode EF7 (Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric). The driving question of this episode (and this AMA) for you to think through is ... can we trust reason? In an online world now overcome with fake news, reason and rational thinking would seem to be an obvious bet for an antidote. But how many times did you find yourself in a situation where your reasoning was unreasonable to somebody else? Does this mean it’s not a consistent tool we can trust in all situations? Or are there other skills you need to develop in your critical thinking toolbelt in order to fight fire with rhetorical fire?

EF25 is a Behind The Podcast (BTP) looking back at Episode EF7 (Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric). The driving question of this episode is ... can we trust reason? Since perfected by the ancient Greeks, rhetoric has slowly devolved from a respected art into a manipulative tool used in marketing, politics and any other walk of life where mental and verbal coercion pays. Rhetoric, propaganda and the strategic use of logical fallacies are mental and verbal manipulations similar to the dark arts of black magic, in that they create smoke and mirrors to change minds to believe mistruths. And unlike a magician who deceives to entertain, these dark wizards act maliciously in pursuit of profit and power over others.

This is an Ask Me Anything (AMA) about Episode EF6 (Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom). The driving question of this episode is ... is wisdom necessary for leading a satisfying life? It certainly seems useful, but what exactly do you get from it? And does prudence require you to know more than the basic math back from elementary school? Or maybe, wisdom trumps traditional knowledge and a person can be wise no matter the number of books read?

Is it possible to learn to be wise? This is a Behind The Podcast (BTP) of Episode EF6 (Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom). The driving question of this episode (and this BTP) for you to think through is ... what is wisdom?

Truman, an ordinary man with a regular job, is caught lying in a country where lying is illegal. Thanks to his actions, he ends up facing a mandatory Truth Course to get him back on the track. Terrified, Truman slowly realizes the truth is not what we all grew accustomed to believe. Is it possible that truth is nothing more than a piece of clay molded by someone's interests? Time is running out for Truman, and the sculptor of truth might just hold the power to mold his future. To try and understand the truth about truth itself, we'll look at correspondence theory, coherence theory, pragmatism and truth-seeking components of the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Each argument will give us a unique approach to just what the truth might be. But if there can only be one truth, which one is correct? The one molded by your hands, or someone else's hands? And if forced to face an absolute truth, would you be able to accept all its consequences?

This is a Behind The Podcast (BTP) of Episode EF5 (Season 1, Episode 3 of the Evolve Faster Podcast) titled The Truth is Clay in the Hands of a Sculptor. The driving question of this episode (and this BTP) for you to think through is … what is the truth? Without knowing the truth, what can we do? Somewhere deep in our DNA, there's a code that says we always need to seek honesty, we need to fight for trustworthiness. So we do our best to seek justice we all believe to be the same. When we attack someone for telling a supposed “lie”, we don’t do it because we want to hurt the person. Instead, we’re doing it because we want him or her to be “right” as well. Because, if there’s a single correct path and you are already on that path, then it’s logical you must help anyone who isn’t.

Episode EF20 is an Ask Me Anything (AMA) looking back at Episode EF4, which was Season 1, Episode 2 of the Evolve Faster Podcast titled 'The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide.' That episode of the first season of the Evolve Faster Podcast Episode was driven by the big question 'How can we know anything?'