Life is fundamentally tragic | Max Tegmark and Lex Fridman

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GUEST BIO:
Max Tegmark is a physicist and AI researcher at MIT.

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[xszander]

This is the real value of youtube! The smartest people on the planet sharing their knowledge in a understandable manner. Man we are lucky to be alive.

[dalesharpy]

“You live as long as you are remembered” was a quote I heard.

[mindgrapes]

Ironically, the belief that life is tragic because it's a gift but not long enough is really a very optimistic worldview.

If the worst thing in life is it being 'game over', then life is amazingly good. But equally there are probably millions of people in history, and billions of animals (if they could communicate) that would say there are many experiences worse than not being able to fully experience the beauty of existence- seeing life as a fundamentally good sandbox game may be a very rare view based on the extremely good luck of being well-educated, healthy and successful in the 21st Century Western World.

[DrewWooton]

This is profoundly good. Thank you both for sharing your gifts with the world!

[fritchben]

This is so profound. Teachers live two lifetimes. One is their own and the other is through the impressions they made on their students. As an educator, that gives me chills.

[IAmMrQ]

I've learned something throughout my 43yrs and coping with countless tragedies, .. the more love in your life, the less tragic life seems. But life is much harder, especially during difficulties, when you're hardly supported by people who genuinely love you.

[guyfawkes]

I wouldn't wish immortality on my worst enemy. A big part of what makes living special is experiencing things for the first time. The novelty of things and our naivety towards it can only be experienced once in a lifetime. You would eventually do everything as an immortal and life would become so boring and repetitive.

[adamsmith]

The tragic outlook is at the heart of conservative thought.

[alexjbriiones]

Max Tegmark is such an inspiring teacher. Yes, I see a little of Richard Feynman when he describes our mortality and ephemeral moments on earth. What if, we are really immortal and we come back for a short sojourn as different beings? Call it reincarnation or the path to nirvana. I only wish.

[dougsie]

After watching the full podcast I've realized that Max is one of the greatest thinkers of our generation and one of the greatest teachers as well.
Lex has a great podcast too. It's one of the best if not THE best. (as long as he doesn't do the podcast from inside a giant toaster.)

[aztca]

When you waste too much time thinking about death you stop living.

[BubbleoniaRising]

In Our Mathematical Universe, Max describes a level IV multiverse in terms of both physics and poetry. As a mid life person with no real background in cosmology I was enthralled and I fell in love with cosmology -- not as a scholar or student -- but as an experiencer. That moment has never left me and still inspires me to grope at my own crude understanding of the universe around me continuously. I can't download your expertise but I can use it as a stepping stone toward wonder. That's close enough.

[akshaytakkar]

I feel like every time Lex asks a guest if they are afraid of death, he wants them to straight up look him in the eye and say yes with a pause and then explain further.

[conexionneuronal]

The fact that we die could be liberating also

[LeonGalindoStenutz]

Haven't heard the content yet, and not sure if i will, as much as I love listening to Max & Lex together ... time is so short and with each & every passing day YouTube and the Internet have tens of thousands of additional hours of content are added to the internet (a fundamental problem for AI to solve?) so one has to be increasingly selective what to listen to.

From my own experience, i know that when i am in a moment of negativity if i choose to show up and express myself publicly, the negativity will come forth in what i say, do (or simply in my behavior). So important to be aware of, and careful with this. And worse, to use titles to attract viewers that could be interpreted as clickbait and/or genuinely reflect a sentiment that may or may not be true -- but can influence tens of thousands of people (in this case alone -- over 30, 000 viewers and counting).

Though we haven';t met and i've had far more time to see online content by both Maxand Lex ( i in turn have shared very little online yet so this is a bit unfair to comment in a one-sided manner) i do want to say that, in the best, most respectful, virile, and a deep sense of the word, I identify with and deeply love the work, values, and intensity with which both Lex and Max throw themselves into their common passions -- AI/AGI; the internet and humanity; existential challenges; making the world a better place... and more.

On that note: If we fall into deep pessimism, or worse, depression, anguish, TRAGEDY, and other negative polarities -- AND ASSUME THAT LIFE & REALITY ARE FUNDAMENTALLY NEGATIVE AND TRAGIC, we will move the world in that direction -- one person, one thought, one video, audio, podcast, article, theorem, algorithm, framework, ideology, network, and social movement at a time. Better (i suggest warmly and lovingly) to err towards optimism, hope, goodness, and continuing to put in all the effort we can to "bend reality" -- to generate reality -- towards more positive outcomes. Possible, and necessary, if we are to not merely inherit, but more significantly, co-create, a better, livable world together.

And if we fail ... well, at least we gave it a shot. :)-


Love to all the good people out there -- and to all people in general.
May all beings be happy. May all beings be at peace. May all beings ('artificial' ones included) be well.

[redmed]

As woody allen said, I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.

[vethum]

You’re not information. You’re the existence in the now, feeling and perceiving. Memories are overrated. You can’t survive by leaving record of your thoughts. You survive by actually continuing to feel and perceive.

[Riomancer]

It's perplexing how all these guests seem to try and conveniently zoom out in order to give their finite lives some enduring meaning in the medium term, yet completely fail to acknowledge that over the long term, nothing will persist. It's quite sad, pathetic even, to witness this complete inability of so many smart people to detach from their ego and face the pointlessness of all existence. Trying to give any meaning to life or the universe in general is an exercise in futility. Enjoy the ride and stop worrying about your legacy; it'll disintegrate sooner or later, like everything else.

[redmed]

There is too much emphasis on death these days. The lesson most of the world does not seem to learn about death is to make life we have as best as possible not only for yourselves but also the people around you.

[ufcprophet]

What a luxury it is to ponder about the end of life, how sad it is and the meaning of it and all. Most humans fight daily to stay alive and these are not questions they have luxury of to ponder. Death is a great equalizer and regardless how much money, fame you have or how much you love life, we all meet our friend death.