David Deutsch & Steven Pinker (First Ever Public Dialogue) — AGI, P(Doom), & The Enemies of Progress

At a time when the Enlightenment is under attack from without and within, I bring together two of the most thoughtful defenders of progress and reason, for their first ever public dialogue.

Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. I think of him as providing the strongest empirical defence of the Enlightenment (as seen in his book Enlightenment Now).

David Deutsch is a British physicist at the University of Oxford, and the father of quantum computing. I think of him as having produced the most compelling first principles defence of the Enlightenment (as seen in his book The Beginning of Infinity).

*LISTEN ON:*

*ADD ME ON:*

*TIMESTAMPS*
(00:00:00) - Introduction
(00:03:09) - Is AGI even possible?
(00:10:17) - Scientific method will constrain runaway superintelligence
(00:11:56) - Does AGI need agency to be 'creative'?
(00:28:31) - Will AGIs be sentient?
(00:37:06) - AGI & AI safety
(00:47:44) - P(doom) & subjective probabilities
(00:53:21) - Prediction markets
(01:01:43) - Universal explainers & The Language Instinct
(01:04:43) - Universal explainers & heritability of behavioural traits
(01:27:59) - Differential technological development
(01:36:09) - What explains the Great Stagnation?
(01:46:13) - Should presumed physical limits to growth make us pessimistic?

[DaboooogA]

Thank you - excellent future-minded discussion.

[persistenthomology]

THANK YOU for not excessively interrupting and letting the flow of the conversation proceed naturally!

[MaximB]

Quite impressed with Deutsch, can't help but feel he has the deepest understanding on these issues.

[ChuckSilva]

Mind=BLOWN!!!! My two favorite thinkers, thinking about thinking!!!! Thank you

[JustinSpratt]

huge flex getting both of these gents on the pod at same time. respect.

[cbskwkdnslwhanznamdm]

Surely one of the best chats of all of human history

[smiiikes]

Extremely well produced podcast. You picked the two best people to talk to each other, knew exactly the right questions to ask them, and the editing is seamless. THANK YOU!

[rizlarich]

Thanks for bringing these two together

[MarcelBlattner]

Just great! Kudos to the moderator. You did an excellent job of letting the discussion flow.

[nomad]

Half an hour in and all I can say is thank you so so much. This is one of the most amazing conversations I have ever heard, probably the most amazing one

[desert_sky_guy]

OMG how the hell did I never see your channel until now? And what I stumbled on was two of my favorite human beings talking about the things I find most interesting. 🤩🤩🤩

[kavorka]

I read David's The Fabric of Reality ~1998, that's 26-27 years ago! Currently I'm re-reading Pinker's How the Mind Works in the advent of modern AI. Of course Pinker's Rationality, The Better Angels of Our Nature (a masterpiece), Enlightenment Now are a must read to understand progress and critical thinking. Two amazing people.

[aussieamigo]

Thanks so much to all involved for sharing your time and fascinating insights across a range of subjects with us.

[josephpatterson]

This was one of the best conversations I have ever listened to. It was awesome! thanks

[RonPineault]

This is amazing. Thanks for doing this. It’s cool because when I first heard Deutsch on Sam Harris like 8 years ago, Sam said Pinker said Dutesch is one of Pinkers favourite minds alive. Great pairing

[devbites]

An absolutely fascinating free-flowing conversation. Thanks for sharing this!

[oliverjamito]

Thank you Pops David and Steven for attending unto our OWN! Love you too! Likewise my Heir Joe keep the sincere conversations going = sincere answers will be given. Love you beloved without shame but with boldness!

[grahamjoss]

wow, thanks so much for doing this and sharing !
keep spreading the love!

[pickaxingoneuropa]

A lot more people need to watch this. This is a wonderful discussion👍🐋

[El_Diablo_]

Damn good convo.

53:00 probabilistic reasoning doesn’t make sense when talking about an unknown fact.

1:32:00 nuclear bomb alternate reality