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Summary of Transcript:
The video is a conversation between Tom Bilyeu and Daniel Schmachtenberger about Schmachtenberger’s background and how he became interested in civilizations and self-improvement. Schmachtenberger explains that he was homeschooled in a way that allowed him to study what he was interested in and that his parents were interested in educational philosophy. They believed that children have a deep curiosity that should be facilitated by their education. Schmachtenberger also talks about his brother and how his parents had to adapt their teaching methods to fit his brother’s different learning style and interests. The conversation then shifts to the idea of creating an ideal school system and civilization that facilitates deep learning and facilitates the growth of healthy, happy individuals.
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Summary of Description:
Daniel Schmachtenberger, a founding member of The Consilience Project, aims to improve public sensemaking and dialogue in order to improve the health and development of individuals and society. He’s particularly interested in the topics of catastrophic and existential risk, civilization and institutional decay and collapse as well as progress, collective action problems, social organization theories, and the relevant domains in philosophy and science. He believes that advancing collective intelligence and capacity is foundational to the integrity of any civilization, and necessary to address the unique risks we currently face given the intersection of globalization and exponential technology. Tom Bilyeu interviews Schmachtenberger on the importance of stopping trying to be right, thinking in more complex ways, and why the real battlefield is the human mind. Schmachtenberger also highlights the problems with optimization, as well as the connections between social media, neural warfare, and the ways that our society has over-optimized.
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How to think about catastrophic risk, civilization collapse and collective action
Daniel Schmachtenberger, a founding member of The Consilience Project, holds a great fascination for ways of improving the health and development of individuals and society. From catastrophic and existential risk to civilization and institutional decay, Schmachtenberger believes that a virtuous relationship between health and development of individuals and society is key to addressing the unique risks posed by globalization and exponential technology. In his search for solutions, Schmachtenberger has taken to speaking publicly on many of these topics, hoping to popularize and deepen important conversations and engage more people in working towards their solutions.
Game theory and the problem with optimization
In this episode of Conversations with Tom, Schmachtenberger engages in a fascinating discussion with host Tom Bilyeu about why it’s so important to stop trying to be right and start thinking in more complex ways. Schmachtenberger speaks about the problems that arise from optimization, which he believes to be part of the underlying issue at the root of civilization collapse. He believes that civilization’s history can be understood through game theory as value can be extracted and lead to power, but not all kinds of value are equal. Some lead to power, while others cannot.
Schmachtenberger uses the example of the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate the problems with optimization, as he believes the pandemic has exposed the inherent fragility of the system. The duo discusses whether it’s possible to nudge people in the right direction and the connections between high school bullying and terrorism. Schmachtenberger advises that if one wants to be effective, they must focus on finding the right answers, rather than being right.
Social media and neural warfare
Schmachtenberger and Bilyeu discuss the ways in which social media leads to war, even though no one wants it. Schmachtenberger explains that people’s minds are the battlefield and that debates are often not about understanding but rather dogfights. He says that legitimate power is when an individual influences another to be more self-directed, but there are no authorities that are trustworthy enough to just assume they are right. Schmachtenberger advises that it’s wise to consider counter-responses, otherwise, one is just being emotionally hijacked.
Avoiding fundamentalism and becoming antifragile
Schmachtenberger explains how fundamentalism arises, as people become fundamentalist about things they are wrong about, and debates become pointless. The duo concludes by discussing how capitalism, the Trump campaign, and Christianity have all been antifragile so far. They say that if one wants to be right, they become very easy to control, and fragile egos are vulnerable. Instead, focusing on finding the right answers offers relief, as individuals become more difficult to control.
Moving forward
Schmachtenberger’s deep-rooted interest in public sensemaking and dialogue offers valuable insights into ways to improve the health and development of individuals and society. By engaging in these conversations, they can be popularized, deepened, and more people can be brought together to address the unique risks posed by globalization and exponential technology. The advice to focus on finding the right answers, rather than being right, offers a path forward towards creating a society that is more resilient to the challenges that lie ahead.
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Source Description
Daniel Schmachtenberger is a founding member of The Consilience Project, aimed at improving public sensemaking and dialogue.
The throughline of his interests has to do with ways of improving the health and development of individuals and society, with a virtuous relationship between the two as a goal.
Towards these ends, he’s had a particular interest in the topics of catastrophic and existential risk, civilization and institutional decay and collapse as well as progress, collective action problems, social organization theories, and the relevant domains in philosophy and science.
Motivated by the belief that advancing collective intelligence and capacity is foundational to the integrity of any civilization, and necessary to address the unique risks we currently face given the intersection of globalization and exponential technology, he has spoken publicly on many of these topics, hoping to popularize and deepen important conversations and engage more people in working towards their solutions. Many of these can be found here. Right now, we are living through times that have many people wondering about the end of the world. On this episode of Conversations with Tom, host Tom Bilyeu and guest Daniel Schmachtenberger engage in a fascinating discussion about social media, neural warfare, game theory, power itself, and the ways that our society has over-optimized. In particular, they talk about why it’s so important to stop trying to be right, why we need to start thinking in more complex ways, and why the real battlefield is the human mind.
SHOW NOTES:
Daniel was home-schooled, allowed to study whatever he thought was most important [0:30]
Daniel’s parents actually referred to his family as an “experiment” [3:40]
By the time a child goes to school, civilization has already been imprinted on them [6:04]
Daniel advocates that optimization is actually a part of the problem [8:37]
Daniel details exactly why trying to optimize leads to serious problems [13:14]
Daniel talks about how to understand civilization’s history through game theory [18:40]
Some kinds of value can be extracted and lead to power, and other kinds can’t [20:57]
Daniel uses the example of COVID-19 to illustrate the problems with optimization [25:48]
How can we think in complex ways that respect the interconnected nature of existence [30:41]
It’s much easier to break things than it is to build complex systems [35:39]
Tom and Daniel discuss whether it’s possible to nudge people in the right direction [38:16]
Social media will lead us to war even though no one wants it [46:01]
Daniel and Tom discuss the connections between high school bullying and terrorism [51:12]
If you aren’t considering counter-responses, you are just being emotionally hijacked [58:56]
People’s minds are the battlefield [1:04:17]
There are no authorities that are trustworthy enough to just assume they are right [1:09:59]
Do you want to be effective or do you want to be right? [1:15:15]
Daniel explains how people become fundamentalist about things they are wrong about [1:19:45]
Debates are often not about understanding. They are just dogfights. [1:28:48]
Legitimate power is when I am trying to influence someone to be more self-directed [1:32:03]
Tom explains the relief of focusing on finding the right answers instead of being right [1:35:35]
If you want to be right, you are very easy to control. Fragile egos are vulnerable. [1:39:55]
Capitalism, the Trump campaign and Christianity have all been antifragile so far [1:42:33]
FOLLOW DANIEL:
WEBSITE: https://neurohacker.com
INSTAGRAM: https://bit.ly/2UxGUo1
FACEBOOK: https://bit.ly/2UwYcBM
TWITTER: https://bit.ly/37iOrvZ
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