[Podcast] Anders Sandberg on the Fermi Paradox, Transhumanism, and so much more

By finm @ 2021-10-01T13:34 (+14)

This is a linkpost to https://hearthisidea.com/episodes/anders

Anders Sandberg is a researcher, futurist, transhumanist and author. He holds a PhD in computational neuroscience from Stockholm University, and is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. His research covers human enhancement, exploratory engineering, and 'grand futures' for humanity.

In our (audio) interview, we discuss:

• The Fermi Paradox: if the universe is so big, where are all the aliens?
  • The Drake equation
  • Using "Bayes' theorem" to update on UFO reports
  • What the timing of evolutionary transitions on Earth tells us about the rarity of intelligent life in the universe
• What is 'transhumanism'?
  • The case for ending ageing
  • The 'reversal test' for eliminating status quo bias
  • The intellectual history of transhumanism
• Online communities and movement growth
  • How mechanisms for discussion (forums, blogs, Twitter, email) shape what gets discussed
  • Why hype curves apply to social movements as well as new technologies
  • Why successful political or moral movements often emerge out of nowhere, and why aspiring social movements should aim to influence the next generation, not the current one
• Much more!
  • How memes evolve
  • Why fridges are underrated
  • How to move entire stars using aluminium foil

In the (text) article, we summarise and illustrate these key ideas; providing both more detail and further readings for listeners who want to find out more.

I'm posting this in case anyone wanted to share their thoughts on the topics covered in this episode. This is in the spirit of MichaelA's suggestion of posting all EA-relevant content here on the forum. Cheers!