Evolve Faster with Scott Ely

Scott Ely

Would you cut off your head to change the world? What if lying were illegal? Would you take a drug to change your identity? Is death a challenge or something to fear? Scott Ely takes us down a rabbit hole of speculative fiction with psychological twists and philosophical turns to reimagine the big questions of life. These Twilight Zone-style cautionary tales also challenge you to find your place in a rapidly evolving world. Create your reality ... before it creates you. https://EvolveFaster.com

  • 37 minutes 48 seconds
    EF49 (S2-E10): The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future
    The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future PLAY

    EF49 (S2-E10): The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future

    PLAY | DOWNLOAD Humanity’s relationship to the future is like falling dominoes, where the momentum of the present surges forward to create what’s next. But since our actions enact this cause-effect chain, does this mean the future is knowable? Or do humans not even matter in this cosmic cycle? More...

    The big question driving episode EF49 is … Is the future unknowable? And do humans even matter?

    In the year 2045, a physicist named Sam Payne is creating increasingly large black holes on demand using an advanced particle accelerator. At the end of a 30-yr quest to understand the nature of reality and our existence, she is convinced the answer lies on the other side of these dark portals. As she rips through the fabric of space-time of her world, confidence in her plan crumbles as everything she — and the rest of humanity — holds dear edges towards the abyss. Will she meet her maker? And how far is too far in search of the truth?

    Although the distant future is unknowable, we try to predict, or rather, create, how the future will look. Unlike philosophical theories that deal with the present and the past, futurism benefits far less from current or previous knowledge. A small, influential, tech-obsessed class is focusing the evolutionary trajectory of humanity towards an artificial intelligence-based, transhuman existence. But will this solve our problems and lead to a superior existence, or just exacerbate and reframe our issues into a more high-tech box? And does our obsession of what’s to come blind us of the point of being alive — and being human — in the present?

    Into The Rabbit Hole

    SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to Ray Kurzweil. See the EF49 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more. 

    ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

    SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

    PODCAST |ABOUT | SUBSCRIBE

    • Season One: The journey begins as we embark on 11 episodes on big questions relating to MIND. What is the truth? Can we trust reason? Why do we have emotions? Does happiness define the good? What is identity? What is creativity?

    • (EF1) Trailer: The Evolve Faster Podcast (Extended) Trailer

    • (EF2) Intro: Life is a Near Death Experience: Welcome to The Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF3) S1-E1: All Aboard the Experience Machine: Destination…Unknown (Season One, Episode One)

    • (EF4) S1-E2: The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide (Season One, Episode Two)

    • (EF5) S1-E3: The Truth is Clay in the Hands of a Sculptor (Season One, Episode Three)

    • (EF6) S1-E4: Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom (Season One, Episode Four)

    • (EF7) S1-E5: Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric (Season One, Episode Five)

    • (EF8) S1-E6: Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost (Season One, Episode Six)

    • (EF9) S1-E7: I Feel Therefore I am: Capsized by the River Emotion (Season One, Episode Seven)

    • (EF10) S1-E8: The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering (Season One, Episode Eight)

    • (EF11) S1-E9: When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future (Season One, Episode Nine)

    • (EF12) S1-E10: Wired to Fail: Leveling Up in the Game of Life (Season One, Episode Ten)

    • (EF13) S1-E11: The Bloody Fingerprint of Creativity (Season One, Episode Eleven)

    • (EF14) BTP: Behind the Evolve Faster Podcast - The Making of a Speculative Fiction Meets Philosophical Nonfiction Podcast

    • (EF15) AMA: Ask Me Anything: About Scott Ely and Evolving a Philosophy for Life

    • (EF16) BTP: On Creative Writing, Video Games and the Future of the Evolve Faster Podcast (About Antonio Rozich)

    • (EF17) BTP-EF3: What Am I Supposed To Do Free Will and Other Everyday Problems Behind the Podcast of Episode EF3

    • (EF18) AMA-EF3: The Mystical Allure of Converting to Buddhism and Speculating about Quantum Mechanics Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF19) BTP-EF4: Head Transplantation and Finding Inspiration for Speculative Fiction - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF4

    • (EF20) AMA-EF4: The Declining Value of Information and Taking Risks to Determine What is the Truth Ask Me Anything of Episode EF4

    • (EF21) BTP-EF5: Should Lying be Made Illegal and the Importance of Figuring Out Why You Believe What you Believe --Behind the Podcast of Episode EF5

    • (EF22) AMA-EF5: Defeating Fake News and Critical Thinking as the Superpower the World Needs Most Ask Me Anything of Episode EF5

    • (EF23) BTP-EF6: Scaling Mount Wisdom Without Suffocating Under an Avalanche of Ego Behind The Podcast of Episode EF6

    • (EF24) AMA-EF6: Is Less Really More When it Comes to the Pursuit of Wisdom or is Ignorance Bliss - Ask Me Anything of Episode EF6

    • (EF25) BTP-EF7: The Power of Propaganda and Rhetoric to Divide Us and the Quest for a Better World - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF7

    • (EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF27) BTP-EF8: Who are You and is it Possible to Upgrade Your Identity as an Adult? - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF8

    • (EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

    • (EF29) BTP-EF9: Waging War Between Reason and Emotions and the Importance of Leaving Things Unresolved Behind the Podcast of Episode EF9

    • (EF30) AMA-EF9: Emotional Manipulation Tribalism and Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Think Before you Feel - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF9

    • (EF31) BTP-EF10: Dharma Modifying Negative Thinking and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Happiness by Embracing Suffering - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF10

    • (EF32) AMA-EF10: Mind Control Through a Well Chosen Tattoo and the Unlikely Case of Being Happy Enough - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF33) BTP-EF11: The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Creativity - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF11

    • (EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

    • (EF35) BTP-EF12: Cryptocurrencies Gaming and Leveraging Failure to Help Us Define Who We Are - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF12

    • (EF36) AMA-EF12: Pyrrhic Victory and Finding the 10% of Your Mind that Defines Who You Are - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF12

    • (EF37) BTP-EF13: Where Creativity Comes From and How to Find Your Uniquely Bloody Fingerprint - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF13

    • (EF38) AMA-EF13: Flow, Creative Improvisation and Other Altered States of Consciousness Ask Me Anything for Episode EF13

    • (EF39) S2-E0: LIFE, UPGRADED: Welcome to Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF40) S2-E1: Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass

    • (EF41) S2-E2: Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future

    • (EF42) S2-E3: Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment

    • (EF43) S2-E4: Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature

    • (EF44) S2-E5: Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion

    • (EF45) S2-E6: Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work

    • (EF46) S2-E7: Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice

    • (EF47) S2-E8: Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception

    • (EF48) S2-E9: Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life

    • (EF49) S2-E10: The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future

    26 May 2020, 3:00 pm
  • 28 minutes 19 seconds
    EF48 (S2-E9): Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life
    Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life PLAY

    EF48 (S2-E9): Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life

    PLAY | DOWNLOAD Experiencing life through the eyes of a child is to see the world with an intensity and excitement to learn long since lost in most adults. Do the secrets to life fulfillment exist in this simple mindset shift? And would this help define what is a good life? More...

    The big question driving episode EF49 is … What is the good life?

    Sam Payne, a physicist, finally discovers the true origin of the universe after sacrificing most of her life to the endeavor. But the discovery has vast repercussions which shake the foundation of Sam’s sanity. In light of the drastic nature of her existential dread, Sam is unsure how to even define what a good life would look like for her now. She finds a glimpse of hope in the curious, enigmatic mindset of her 5-year-old daughter, Maya.

    The hope and desire to live a good life is ingrained in every human. But the day you’re born is also the day you start to die, so the quicker you can arrive at some reasonable and attainable definition of the good life for yourself, the more fulfilling your life will be. But in an existence without obvious meaning, and a society heavily focused on meaningless goals like wealth and fame, how can you uncover an answer for yourself to such a simple question? Is it possible the mindset of seeing the world through a child’s eyes could provide critical insight to that which is otherwise concealed by the challenges and distractions of adult life?

    Into The Rabbit Hole

    SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to Nick Bostrom. See the EF48 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more. 

    ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

    SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

    PODCAST |ABOUT | SUBSCRIBE

    • Season One: The journey begins as we embark on 11 episodes on big questions relating to MIND. What is the truth? Can we trust reason? Why do we have emotions? Does happiness define the good? What is identity? What is creativity?

    • (EF1) Trailer: The Evolve Faster Podcast (Extended) Trailer

    • (EF2) Intro: Life is a Near Death Experience: Welcome to The Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF3) S1-E1: All Aboard the Experience Machine: Destination…Unknown (Season One, Episode One)

    • (EF4) S1-E2: The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide (Season One, Episode Two)

    • (EF5) S1-E3: The Truth is Clay in the Hands of a Sculptor (Season One, Episode Three)

    • (EF6) S1-E4: Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom (Season One, Episode Four)

    • (EF7) S1-E5: Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric (Season One, Episode Five)

    • (EF8) S1-E6: Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost (Season One, Episode Six)

    • (EF9) S1-E7: I Feel Therefore I am: Capsized by the River Emotion (Season One, Episode Seven)

    • (EF10) S1-E8: The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering (Season One, Episode Eight)

    • (EF11) S1-E9: When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future (Season One, Episode Nine)

    • (EF12) S1-E10: Wired to Fail: Leveling Up in the Game of Life (Season One, Episode Ten)

    • (EF13) S1-E11: The Bloody Fingerprint of Creativity (Season One, Episode Eleven)

    • (EF14) BTP: Behind the Evolve Faster Podcast - The Making of a Speculative Fiction Meets Philosophical Nonfiction Podcast

    • (EF15) AMA: Ask Me Anything: About Scott Ely and Evolving a Philosophy for Life

    • (EF16) BTP: On Creative Writing, Video Games and the Future of the Evolve Faster Podcast (About Antonio Rozich)

    • (EF17) BTP-EF3: What Am I Supposed To Do Free Will and Other Everyday Problems Behind the Podcast of Episode EF3

    • (EF18) AMA-EF3: The Mystical Allure of Converting to Buddhism and Speculating about Quantum Mechanics Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF19) BTP-EF4: Head Transplantation and Finding Inspiration for Speculative Fiction - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF4

    • (EF20) AMA-EF4: The Declining Value of Information and Taking Risks to Determine What is the Truth Ask Me Anything of Episode EF4

    • (EF21) BTP-EF5: Should Lying be Made Illegal and the Importance of Figuring Out Why You Believe What you Believe --Behind the Podcast of Episode EF5

    • (EF22) AMA-EF5: Defeating Fake News and Critical Thinking as the Superpower the World Needs Most Ask Me Anything of Episode EF5

    • (EF23) BTP-EF6: Scaling Mount Wisdom Without Suffocating Under an Avalanche of Ego Behind The Podcast of Episode EF6

    • (EF24) AMA-EF6: Is Less Really More When it Comes to the Pursuit of Wisdom or is Ignorance Bliss - Ask Me Anything of Episode EF6

    • (EF25) BTP-EF7: The Power of Propaganda and Rhetoric to Divide Us and the Quest for a Better World - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF7

    • (EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF27) BTP-EF8: Who are You and is it Possible to Upgrade Your Identity as an Adult? - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF8

    • (EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

    • (EF29) BTP-EF9: Waging War Between Reason and Emotions and the Importance of Leaving Things Unresolved Behind the Podcast of Episode EF9

    • (EF30) AMA-EF9: Emotional Manipulation Tribalism and Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Think Before you Feel - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF9

    • (EF31) BTP-EF10: Dharma Modifying Negative Thinking and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Happiness by Embracing Suffering - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF10

    • (EF32) AMA-EF10: Mind Control Through a Well Chosen Tattoo and the Unlikely Case of Being Happy Enough - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF33) BTP-EF11: The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Creativity - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF11

    • (EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

    • (EF35) BTP-EF12: Cryptocurrencies Gaming and Leveraging Failure to Help Us Define Who We Are - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF12

    • (EF36) AMA-EF12: Pyrrhic Victory and Finding the 10% of Your Mind that Defines Who You Are - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF12

    • (EF37) BTP-EF13: Where Creativity Comes From and How to Find Your Uniquely Bloody Fingerprint - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF13

    • (EF38) AMA-EF13: Flow, Creative Improvisation and Other Altered States of Consciousness Ask Me Anything for Episode EF13

    • (EF39) S2-E0: LIFE, UPGRADED: Welcome to Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF40) S2-E1: Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass

    • (EF41) S2-E2: Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future

    • (EF42) S2-E3: Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment

    • (EF43) S2-E4: Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature

    • (EF44) S2-E5: Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion

    • (EF45) S2-E6: Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work

    • (EF46) S2-E7: Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice

    • (EF47) S2-E8: Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception

    • (EF48) S2-E9: Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life

    • (EF49) S2-E10: The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future

    12 May 2020, 11:00 am
  • 35 minutes 5 seconds
    EF47 (S2-E8): Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception
    Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception PLAY

    EF47 (S2-E8): Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception

    PLAY | DOWNLOAD Investigating human limitations beyond the veil of perception is as disconcerting as looking at an image repeating into itself in an infinite regress. What would it mean to have a complete grasp of the entire picture? And would that define for us what is reality? More...

    The big question driving episode EF47 is … What is reality?

    Sam Payne is a physicist on the verge of discovering the true nature of reality when her project gets shut down abruptly. But a suspicious gift enables her to go underground to an illegal world of virtual work, in order to try and recruit rogue scientists to restart her research. As the risks pile up, Sam realizes what she’s been seeking for the last three decades of her career has been hidden in plain sight all along. But the answer is also far more dangerous than she could have imagined.

    We perceive our day to day experience as the one-and-only, true reality. But the truth is, our perception of reality is very different than that of a catfish, bat, or dog; which can respectively taste, hear and smell far more acutely than we could possibly imagine. So what is the true reality, beyond this seemingly impenetrable veil of perception that shrouds human sensory capabilities? Is it something we can even comprehend using the limited wetware of the human brain? Or does such a thing as reality even exist?

    Into The Rabbit Hole

    SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to Sean Carroll. See the EF47 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more. 

    ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

    SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

    PODCAST |ABOUT | SUBSCRIBE

    • Season One: The journey begins as we embark on 11 episodes on big questions relating to MIND. What is the truth? Can we trust reason? Why do we have emotions? Does happiness define the good? What is identity? What is creativity?

    • (EF1) Trailer: The Evolve Faster Podcast (Extended) Trailer

    • (EF2) Intro: Life is a Near Death Experience: Welcome to The Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF3) S1-E1: All Aboard the Experience Machine: Destination…Unknown (Season One, Episode One)

    • (EF4) S1-E2: The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide (Season One, Episode Two)

    • (EF5) S1-E3: The Truth is Clay in the Hands of a Sculptor (Season One, Episode Three)

    • (EF6) S1-E4: Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom (Season One, Episode Four)

    • (EF7) S1-E5: Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric (Season One, Episode Five)

    • (EF8) S1-E6: Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost (Season One, Episode Six)

    • (EF9) S1-E7: I Feel Therefore I am: Capsized by the River Emotion (Season One, Episode Seven)

    • (EF10) S1-E8: The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering (Season One, Episode Eight)

    • (EF11) S1-E9: When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future (Season One, Episode Nine)

    • (EF12) S1-E10: Wired to Fail: Leveling Up in the Game of Life (Season One, Episode Ten)

    • (EF13) S1-E11: The Bloody Fingerprint of Creativity (Season One, Episode Eleven)

    • (EF14) BTP: Behind the Evolve Faster Podcast - The Making of a Speculative Fiction Meets Philosophical Nonfiction Podcast

    • (EF15) AMA: Ask Me Anything: About Scott Ely and Evolving a Philosophy for Life

    • (EF16) BTP: On Creative Writing, Video Games and the Future of the Evolve Faster Podcast (About Antonio Rozich)

    • (EF17) BTP-EF3: What Am I Supposed To Do Free Will and Other Everyday Problems Behind the Podcast of Episode EF3

    • (EF18) AMA-EF3: The Mystical Allure of Converting to Buddhism and Speculating about Quantum Mechanics Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF19) BTP-EF4: Head Transplantation and Finding Inspiration for Speculative Fiction - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF4

    • (EF20) AMA-EF4: The Declining Value of Information and Taking Risks to Determine What is the Truth Ask Me Anything of Episode EF4

    • (EF21) BTP-EF5: Should Lying be Made Illegal and the Importance of Figuring Out Why You Believe What you Believe --Behind the Podcast of Episode EF5

    • (EF22) AMA-EF5: Defeating Fake News and Critical Thinking as the Superpower the World Needs Most Ask Me Anything of Episode EF5

    • (EF23) BTP-EF6: Scaling Mount Wisdom Without Suffocating Under an Avalanche of Ego Behind The Podcast of Episode EF6

    • (EF24) AMA-EF6: Is Less Really More When it Comes to the Pursuit of Wisdom or is Ignorance Bliss - Ask Me Anything of Episode EF6

    • (EF25) BTP-EF7: The Power of Propaganda and Rhetoric to Divide Us and the Quest for a Better World - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF7

    • (EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF27) BTP-EF8: Who are You and is it Possible to Upgrade Your Identity as an Adult? - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF8

    • (EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

    • (EF29) BTP-EF9: Waging War Between Reason and Emotions and the Importance of Leaving Things Unresolved Behind the Podcast of Episode EF9

    • (EF30) AMA-EF9: Emotional Manipulation Tribalism and Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Think Before you Feel - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF9

    • (EF31) BTP-EF10: Dharma Modifying Negative Thinking and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Happiness by Embracing Suffering - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF10

    • (EF32) AMA-EF10: Mind Control Through a Well Chosen Tattoo and the Unlikely Case of Being Happy Enough - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF33) BTP-EF11: The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Creativity - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF11

    • (EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

    • (EF35) BTP-EF12: Cryptocurrencies Gaming and Leveraging Failure to Help Us Define Who We Are - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF12

    • (EF36) AMA-EF12: Pyrrhic Victory and Finding the 10% of Your Mind that Defines Who You Are - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF12

    • (EF37) BTP-EF13: Where Creativity Comes From and How to Find Your Uniquely Bloody Fingerprint - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF13

    • (EF38) AMA-EF13: Flow, Creative Improvisation and Other Altered States of Consciousness Ask Me Anything for Episode EF13

    • (EF39) S2-E0: LIFE, UPGRADED: Welcome to Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF40) S2-E1: Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass

    • (EF41) S2-E2: Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future

    • (EF42) S2-E3: Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment

    • (EF43) S2-E4: Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature

    • (EF44) S2-E5: Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion

    • (EF45) S2-E6: Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work

    • (EF46) S2-E7: Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice

    • (EF47) S2-E8: Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception

    • (EF48) S2-E9: Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life

    • (EF49) S2-E10: The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future

    28 April 2020, 2:00 pm
  • 30 minutes 1 second
    EF46 (S2-E7): Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice
    Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice PLAY

    EF46 (S2-E7): Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice

    PLAY | DOWNLOAD Like a rigged scale of justice, life in society and within cultures is inherently unfair. But what if there were ways to live true to yourself while also being compassionate to everyone? And is a just world even possible? More...

    The big question driving episode EF49 is … Is a just world even possible?

    Put in an impossible position early in her career, Mary Payne was forced to make a choice between saving a single identifiable victim or helping an entire community of nameless people. The decision haunts her entire life. Many years later in old age, Mary is faced with another trolley bearing down on her where she will once again be forced to make a difficult decision on which track to send it. But unlike before, this time her life sits in the balance on one of the tracks. 

    In theories about a just society, good deeds are expected to be rewarded and bad deeds punished. But is it really so easy to define what is a good versus bad deed? Can empathy for one human being, and the reward that comes with it, blind you from the same effort being able to help many others instead? Using Paul Bloom’s theory of rational compassion, we will explore what means to be a good person and why genuine good can easily get prosecuted in an unjust society. What would you do with your hand on the switch and a trolley bearing down on two tracks, both with grave consequences? Is there any real possibility for a just world when some decisions have only bad outcomes? Or is life and society just inherently unfair?

    Into The Rabbit Hole

    SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to Paul Bloom. See the EF46 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more. 

    ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

    SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

    PODCAST |ABOUT | SUBSCRIBE

    • Season One: The journey begins as we embark on 11 episodes on big questions relating to MIND. What is the truth? Can we trust reason? Why do we have emotions? Does happiness define the good? What is identity? What is creativity?

    • (EF1) Trailer: The Evolve Faster Podcast (Extended) Trailer

    • (EF2) Intro: Life is a Near Death Experience: Welcome to The Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF3) S1-E1: All Aboard the Experience Machine: Destination…Unknown (Season One, Episode One)

    • (EF4) S1-E2: The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide (Season One, Episode Two)

    • (EF5) S1-E3: The Truth is Clay in the Hands of a Sculptor (Season One, Episode Three)

    • (EF6) S1-E4: Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom (Season One, Episode Four)

    • (EF7) S1-E5: Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric (Season One, Episode Five)

    • (EF8) S1-E6: Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost (Season One, Episode Six)

    • (EF9) S1-E7: I Feel Therefore I am: Capsized by the River Emotion (Season One, Episode Seven)

    • (EF10) S1-E8: The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering (Season One, Episode Eight)

    • (EF11) S1-E9: When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future (Season One, Episode Nine)

    • (EF12) S1-E10: Wired to Fail: Leveling Up in the Game of Life (Season One, Episode Ten)

    • (EF13) S1-E11: The Bloody Fingerprint of Creativity (Season One, Episode Eleven)

    • (EF14) BTP: Behind the Evolve Faster Podcast - The Making of a Speculative Fiction Meets Philosophical Nonfiction Podcast

    • (EF15) AMA: Ask Me Anything: About Scott Ely and Evolving a Philosophy for Life

    • (EF16) BTP: On Creative Writing, Video Games and the Future of the Evolve Faster Podcast (About Antonio Rozich)

    • (EF17) BTP-EF3: What Am I Supposed To Do Free Will and Other Everyday Problems Behind the Podcast of Episode EF3

    • (EF18) AMA-EF3: The Mystical Allure of Converting to Buddhism and Speculating about Quantum Mechanics Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF19) BTP-EF4: Head Transplantation and Finding Inspiration for Speculative Fiction - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF4

    • (EF20) AMA-EF4: The Declining Value of Information and Taking Risks to Determine What is the Truth Ask Me Anything of Episode EF4

    • (EF21) BTP-EF5: Should Lying be Made Illegal and the Importance of Figuring Out Why You Believe What you Believe --Behind the Podcast of Episode EF5

    • (EF22) AMA-EF5: Defeating Fake News and Critical Thinking as the Superpower the World Needs Most Ask Me Anything of Episode EF5

    • (EF23) BTP-EF6: Scaling Mount Wisdom Without Suffocating Under an Avalanche of Ego Behind The Podcast of Episode EF6

    • (EF24) AMA-EF6: Is Less Really More When it Comes to the Pursuit of Wisdom or is Ignorance Bliss - Ask Me Anything of Episode EF6

    • (EF25) BTP-EF7: The Power of Propaganda and Rhetoric to Divide Us and the Quest for a Better World - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF7

    • (EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF27) BTP-EF8: Who are You and is it Possible to Upgrade Your Identity as an Adult? - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF8

    • (EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

    • (EF29) BTP-EF9: Waging War Between Reason and Emotions and the Importance of Leaving Things Unresolved Behind the Podcast of Episode EF9

    • (EF30) AMA-EF9: Emotional Manipulation Tribalism and Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Think Before you Feel - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF9

    • (EF31) BTP-EF10: Dharma Modifying Negative Thinking and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Happiness by Embracing Suffering - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF10

    • (EF32) AMA-EF10: Mind Control Through a Well Chosen Tattoo and the Unlikely Case of Being Happy Enough - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF33) BTP-EF11: The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Creativity - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF11

    • (EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

    • (EF35) BTP-EF12: Cryptocurrencies Gaming and Leveraging Failure to Help Us Define Who We Are - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF12

    • (EF36) AMA-EF12: Pyrrhic Victory and Finding the 10% of Your Mind that Defines Who You Are - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF12

    • (EF37) BTP-EF13: Where Creativity Comes From and How to Find Your Uniquely Bloody Fingerprint - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF13

    • (EF38) AMA-EF13: Flow, Creative Improvisation and Other Altered States of Consciousness Ask Me Anything for Episode EF13

    • (EF39) S2-E0: LIFE, UPGRADED: Welcome to Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF40) S2-E1: Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass

    • (EF41) S2-E2: Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future

    • (EF42) S2-E3: Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment

    • (EF43) S2-E4: Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature

    • (EF44) S2-E5: Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion

    • (EF45) S2-E6: Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work

    • (EF46) S2-E7: Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice

    • (EF47) S2-E8: Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception

    • (EF48) S2-E9: Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life

    • (EF49) S2-E10: The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future

    14 April 2020, 2:00 pm
  • 41 minutes 19 seconds
    EF45 (S2-E6): Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work
    Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work PLAY

    EF45 (S2-E5): Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work

    PLAY | DOWNLOAD Cocooned in webs of lies about happiness and freedom, many people overwork, chained to careers they despise. Would a society without work function and also make people happier? Or would it fail because work is one of the most meaningful human pursuits? More...

    The big question driving episode EF45 is … What is the meaning of work?

    In a post-work society governed by an artificial intelligence corporation, John Weber is the creator of an illegal virtual world called Silk that is cloaked in secrecy. Accused that Silk is causing VR overdoses that leave players in debt or even dead, Weber is forced to negotiate with the government’s representative, Karl Shultz. Although the premise for the meeting is to find a mutually beneficial resolution, it quickly becomes clear that both parties have more nefarious ulterior motives. 

    Although many people wish they didn’t have to work, we rarely think about how important work is to our well being outside of the obvious financial benefits. What if the problem isn’t the work itself, but the way the system is organized? If there was a way to create a perfectly equal society — like the one John Rawls proposed in his brilliant Veil of Ignorance thought experiment — would people pursue careers around the things they loved instead of just chasing money? And would this have the power to reinvent society around an entirely new type of capitalism of shared value, instead of individual gain?

    Into The Rabbit Hole

    SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to John Rawls. See the EF45 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more. 

    ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

    SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

    PODCAST |ABOUT | SUBSCRIBE

    • Season One: The journey begins as we embark on 11 episodes on big questions relating to MIND. What is the truth? Can we trust reason? Why do we have emotions? Does happiness define the good? What is identity? What is creativity?

    • (EF1) Trailer: The Evolve Faster Podcast (Extended) Trailer

    • (EF2) Intro: Life is a Near Death Experience: Welcome to The Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF3) S1-E1: All Aboard the Experience Machine: Destination…Unknown (Season One, Episode One)

    • (EF4) S1-E2: The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide (Season One, Episode Two)

    • (EF5) S1-E3: The Truth is Clay in the Hands of a Sculptor (Season One, Episode Three)

    • (EF6) S1-E4: Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom (Season One, Episode Four)

    • (EF7) S1-E5: Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric (Season One, Episode Five)

    • (EF8) S1-E6: Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost (Season One, Episode Six)

    • (EF9) S1-E7: I Feel Therefore I am: Capsized by the River Emotion (Season One, Episode Seven)

    • (EF10) S1-E8: The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering (Season One, Episode Eight)

    • (EF11) S1-E9: When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future (Season One, Episode Nine)

    • (EF12) S1-E10: Wired to Fail: Leveling Up in the Game of Life (Season One, Episode Ten)

    • (EF13) S1-E11: The Bloody Fingerprint of Creativity (Season One, Episode Eleven)

    • (EF14) BTP: Behind the Evolve Faster Podcast - The Making of a Speculative Fiction Meets Philosophical Nonfiction Podcast

    • (EF15) AMA: Ask Me Anything: About Scott Ely and Evolving a Philosophy for Life

    • (EF16) BTP: On Creative Writing, Video Games and the Future of the Evolve Faster Podcast (About Antonio Rozich)

    • (EF17) BTP-EF3: What Am I Supposed To Do Free Will and Other Everyday Problems Behind the Podcast of Episode EF3

    • (EF18) AMA-EF3: The Mystical Allure of Converting to Buddhism and Speculating about Quantum Mechanics Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF19) BTP-EF4: Head Transplantation and Finding Inspiration for Speculative Fiction - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF4

    • (EF20) AMA-EF4: The Declining Value of Information and Taking Risks to Determine What is the Truth Ask Me Anything of Episode EF4

    • (EF21) BTP-EF5: Should Lying be Made Illegal and the Importance of Figuring Out Why You Believe What you Believe --Behind the Podcast of Episode EF5

    • (EF22) AMA-EF5: Defeating Fake News and Critical Thinking as the Superpower the World Needs Most Ask Me Anything of Episode EF5

    • (EF23) BTP-EF6: Scaling Mount Wisdom Without Suffocating Under an Avalanche of Ego Behind The Podcast of Episode EF6

    • (EF24) AMA-EF6: Is Less Really More When it Comes to the Pursuit of Wisdom or is Ignorance Bliss - Ask Me Anything of Episode EF6

    • (EF25) BTP-EF7: The Power of Propaganda and Rhetoric to Divide Us and the Quest for a Better World - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF7

    • (EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF27) BTP-EF8: Who are You and is it Possible to Upgrade Your Identity as an Adult? - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF8

    • (EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

    • (EF29) BTP-EF9: Waging War Between Reason and Emotions and the Importance of Leaving Things Unresolved Behind the Podcast of Episode EF9

    • (EF30) AMA-EF9: Emotional Manipulation Tribalism and Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Think Before you Feel - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF9

    • (EF31) BTP-EF10: Dharma Modifying Negative Thinking and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Happiness by Embracing Suffering - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF10

    • (EF32) AMA-EF10: Mind Control Through a Well Chosen Tattoo and the Unlikely Case of Being Happy Enough - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF33) BTP-EF11: The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Creativity - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF11

    • (EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

    • (EF35) BTP-EF12: Cryptocurrencies Gaming and Leveraging Failure to Help Us Define Who We Are - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF12

    • (EF36) AMA-EF12: Pyrrhic Victory and Finding the 10% of Your Mind that Defines Who You Are - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF12

    • (EF37) BTP-EF13: Where Creativity Comes From and How to Find Your Uniquely Bloody Fingerprint - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF13

    • (EF38) AMA-EF13: Flow, Creative Improvisation and Other Altered States of Consciousness Ask Me Anything for Episode EF13

    • (EF39) S2-E0: LIFE, UPGRADED: Welcome to Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF40) S2-E1: Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass

    • (EF41) S2-E2: Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future

    • (EF42) S2-E3: Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment

    • (EF43) S2-E4: Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature

    • (EF44) S2-E5: Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion

    • (EF45) S2-E6: Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work

    • (EF46) S2-E7: Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice

    • (EF47) S2-E8: Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception

    • (EF48) S2-E9: Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life

    • (EF49) S2-E10: The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future

    31 March 2020, 3:00 pm
  • 32 minutes 58 seconds
    EF44 (S2-E5): Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion
    Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion PLAY

    EF44 (S2-E5): Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion

    PLAY | DOWNLOAD Society and culture can be shackles locking us in a mental prison cell. Iconoclastic thinking is a sure way to break the chains and reveal the truth, but it is risky. Does this make ‘why this stuff and not some other stuff’ the most dangerous question you can ask? More...

    The big question driving Episode EF44 is … why this stuff and not some other stuff?

    Sam Payne is a renowned physicist investigating the nature of reality at an advanced particle accelerator. Immediately after making a groundbreaking discovery, the research mysteriously gets shut down. Without a team or a lab, Sam’s life’s work is at risk of disappearing behind chained doors. But as Sam is forced to decide if willing to break the chains on the ‘stuff’ of this reality, things continue to get even more perplexing.

    Life in society imposes rules you are expected to follow. Some rules exist to keep society from devolving into anarchy. Yet upon deeper reflection, it’s clear that many other rules are arbitrary and designed to either limit your possibilities or enable a select few to profit. Only the iconoclasts of our civilization command the fearless vision to ask one of the most dangerous questions: ‘Why this stuff and not some other stuff?’ It is a unique quality — possessed and acted upon by rare individuals like Copernicus, Thomas Paine and Charles Darwin — which usually results in the iconoclast burning at the stake during their lifetime, and then, revered in retrospect.

    Into The Rabbit Hole

    SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to Michio Kaku. See the EF44 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more. 

    ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

    SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

    PODCAST |ABOUT | SUBSCRIBE

    • Season One: The journey begins as we embark on 11 episodes on big questions relating to MIND. What is the truth? Can we trust reason? Why do we have emotions? Does happiness define the good? What is identity? What is creativity?

    • (EF1) Trailer: The Evolve Faster Podcast (Extended) Trailer

    • (EF2) Intro: Life is a Near Death Experience: Welcome to The Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF3) S1-E1: All Aboard the Experience Machine: Destination…Unknown (Season One, Episode One)

    • (EF4) S1-E2: The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide (Season One, Episode Two)

    • (EF5) S1-E3: The Truth is Clay in the Hands of a Sculptor (Season One, Episode Three)

    • (EF6) S1-E4: Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom (Season One, Episode Four)

    • (EF7) S1-E5: Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric (Season One, Episode Five)

    • (EF8) S1-E6: Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost (Season One, Episode Six)

    • (EF9) S1-E7: I Feel Therefore I am: Capsized by the River Emotion (Season One, Episode Seven)

    • (EF10) S1-E8: The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering (Season One, Episode Eight)

    • (EF11) S1-E9: When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future (Season One, Episode Nine)

    • (EF12) S1-E10: Wired to Fail: Leveling Up in the Game of Life (Season One, Episode Ten)

    • (EF13) S1-E11: The Bloody Fingerprint of Creativity (Season One, Episode Eleven)

    • (EF14) BTP: Behind the Evolve Faster Podcast - The Making of a Speculative Fiction Meets Philosophical Nonfiction Podcast

    • (EF15) AMA: Ask Me Anything: About Scott Ely and Evolving a Philosophy for Life

    • (EF16) BTP: On Creative Writing, Video Games and the Future of the Evolve Faster Podcast (About Antonio Rozich)

    • (EF17) BTP-EF3: What Am I Supposed To Do Free Will and Other Everyday Problems Behind the Podcast of Episode EF3

    • (EF18) AMA-EF3: The Mystical Allure of Converting to Buddhism and Speculating about Quantum Mechanics Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF19) BTP-EF4: Head Transplantation and Finding Inspiration for Speculative Fiction - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF4

    • (EF20) AMA-EF4: The Declining Value of Information and Taking Risks to Determine What is the Truth Ask Me Anything of Episode EF4

    • (EF21) BTP-EF5: Should Lying be Made Illegal and the Importance of Figuring Out Why You Believe What you Believe --Behind the Podcast of Episode EF5

    • (EF22) AMA-EF5: Defeating Fake News and Critical Thinking as the Superpower the World Needs Most Ask Me Anything of Episode EF5

    • (EF23) BTP-EF6: Scaling Mount Wisdom Without Suffocating Under an Avalanche of Ego Behind The Podcast of Episode EF6

    • (EF24) AMA-EF6: Is Less Really More When it Comes to the Pursuit of Wisdom or is Ignorance Bliss - Ask Me Anything of Episode EF6

    • (EF25) BTP-EF7: The Power of Propaganda and Rhetoric to Divide Us and the Quest for a Better World - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF7

    • (EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF27) BTP-EF8: Who are You and is it Possible to Upgrade Your Identity as an Adult? - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF8

    • (EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

    • (EF29) BTP-EF9: Waging War Between Reason and Emotions and the Importance of Leaving Things Unresolved Behind the Podcast of Episode EF9

    • (EF30) AMA-EF9: Emotional Manipulation Tribalism and Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Think Before you Feel - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF9

    • (EF31) BTP-EF10: Dharma Modifying Negative Thinking and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Happiness by Embracing Suffering - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF10

    • (EF32) AMA-EF10: Mind Control Through a Well Chosen Tattoo and the Unlikely Case of Being Happy Enough - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF33) BTP-EF11: The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Creativity - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF11

    • (EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

    • (EF35) BTP-EF12: Cryptocurrencies Gaming and Leveraging Failure to Help Us Define Who We Are - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF12

    • (EF36) AMA-EF12: Pyrrhic Victory and Finding the 10% of Your Mind that Defines Who You Are - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF12

    • (EF37) BTP-EF13: Where Creativity Comes From and How to Find Your Uniquely Bloody Fingerprint - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF13

    • (EF38) AMA-EF13: Flow, Creative Improvisation and Other Altered States of Consciousness Ask Me Anything for Episode EF13

    • (EF39) S2-E0: LIFE, UPGRADED: Welcome to Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF40) S2-E1: Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass

    • (EF41) S2-E2: Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future

    • (EF42) S2-E3: Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment

    • (EF43) S2-E4: Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature

    • (EF44) S2-E5: Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion

    • (EF45) S2-E6: Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work

    • (EF46) S2-E7: Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice

    • (EF47) S2-E8: Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception

    • (EF48) S2-E9: Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life

    • (EF49) S2-E10: The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future

    17 March 2020, 1:00 pm
  • 43 minutes 25 seconds
    EF43 (S2-E4): Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature
    Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature PLAY

    EF43 (S2-E4): Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature

    PLAY | DOWNLOAD The urges of human nature are like fire: they can cook your food or burn your house down. Is evil perceived consistently across people, or should the situation, culture, and individual psychology have a say in its characterization? And does this help define what is evil? More...

    The big question driving episode EF43 is … why do we have evil urges?

    Michael Fleming, a crestfallen journalist, interviews an infamous euthanasia doctor named Dr. Theodor Payne. Initially, Michael’s goal appears to be proving that Payne’s deeds are pure evil, with the implication that he should be prosecuted for performing over 1,000 assisted deaths. But as the two men collide, the line between good and evil becomes blurry, and hidden agendas become clear. Will the nature of evil be revealed?

    We’d like to think it should be easy to identify who, or what, is evil. Occasionaly, the distincion is simple; if you commit a violent act of murder without cause and have ill intent, you’re evil. But as we move away from obvious malicious acts, and multiple nuanced perspectives are revealed, it becomes increasingly difficult to characterize such things either pure evil or true good. Friedrich Nietzsche theorized that good and evil aren’t separate entities, but different actions driven by the same needs and impulses. How do we rationally act and override our snap judgements in order to give proper attention to decide what is, or isn’t, actually evil?

    Into The Rabbit Hole

    SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to Jack Kevorkian. See the EF43 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more. 

    ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

    SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

    PODCAST |ABOUT | SUBSCRIBE

    • Season One: The journey begins as we embark on 11 episodes on big questions relating to MIND. What is the truth? Can we trust reason? Why do we have emotions? Does happiness define the good? What is identity? What is creativity?

    • (EF1) Trailer: The Evolve Faster Podcast (Extended) Trailer

    • (EF2) Intro: Life is a Near Death Experience: Welcome to The Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF3) S1-E1: All Aboard the Experience Machine: Destination…Unknown (Season One, Episode One)

    • (EF4) S1-E2: The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide (Season One, Episode Two)

    • (EF5) S1-E3: The Truth is Clay in the Hands of a Sculptor (Season One, Episode Three)

    • (EF6) S1-E4: Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom (Season One, Episode Four)

    • (EF7) S1-E5: Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric (Season One, Episode Five)

    • (EF8) S1-E6: Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost (Season One, Episode Six)

    • (EF9) S1-E7: I Feel Therefore I am: Capsized by the River Emotion (Season One, Episode Seven)

    • (EF10) S1-E8: The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering (Season One, Episode Eight)

    • (EF11) S1-E9: When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future (Season One, Episode Nine)

    • (EF12) S1-E10: Wired to Fail: Leveling Up in the Game of Life (Season One, Episode Ten)

    • (EF13) S1-E11: The Bloody Fingerprint of Creativity (Season One, Episode Eleven)

    • (EF14) BTP: Behind the Evolve Faster Podcast - The Making of a Speculative Fiction Meets Philosophical Nonfiction Podcast

    • (EF15) AMA: Ask Me Anything: About Scott Ely and Evolving a Philosophy for Life

    • (EF16) BTP: On Creative Writing, Video Games and the Future of the Evolve Faster Podcast (About Antonio Rozich)

    • (EF17) BTP-EF3: What Am I Supposed To Do Free Will and Other Everyday Problems Behind the Podcast of Episode EF3

    • (EF18) AMA-EF3: The Mystical Allure of Converting to Buddhism and Speculating about Quantum Mechanics Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF19) BTP-EF4: Head Transplantation and Finding Inspiration for Speculative Fiction - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF4

    • (EF20) AMA-EF4: The Declining Value of Information and Taking Risks to Determine What is the Truth Ask Me Anything of Episode EF4

    • (EF21) BTP-EF5: Should Lying be Made Illegal and the Importance of Figuring Out Why You Believe What you Believe --Behind the Podcast of Episode EF5

    • (EF22) AMA-EF5: Defeating Fake News and Critical Thinking as the Superpower the World Needs Most Ask Me Anything of Episode EF5

    • (EF23) BTP-EF6: Scaling Mount Wisdom Without Suffocating Under an Avalanche of Ego Behind The Podcast of Episode EF6

    • (EF24) AMA-EF6: Is Less Really More When it Comes to the Pursuit of Wisdom or is Ignorance Bliss - Ask Me Anything of Episode EF6

    • (EF25) BTP-EF7: The Power of Propaganda and Rhetoric to Divide Us and the Quest for a Better World - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF7

    • (EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF27) BTP-EF8: Who are You and is it Possible to Upgrade Your Identity as an Adult? - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF8

    • (EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

    • (EF29) BTP-EF9: Waging War Between Reason and Emotions and the Importance of Leaving Things Unresolved Behind the Podcast of Episode EF9

    • (EF30) AMA-EF9: Emotional Manipulation Tribalism and Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Think Before you Feel - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF9

    • (EF31) BTP-EF10: Dharma Modifying Negative Thinking and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Happiness by Embracing Suffering - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF10

    • (EF32) AMA-EF10: Mind Control Through a Well Chosen Tattoo and the Unlikely Case of Being Happy Enough - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF33) BTP-EF11: The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Creativity - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF11

    • (EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

    • (EF35) BTP-EF12: Cryptocurrencies Gaming and Leveraging Failure to Help Us Define Who We Are - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF12

    • (EF36) AMA-EF12: Pyrrhic Victory and Finding the 10% of Your Mind that Defines Who You Are - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF12

    • (EF37) BTP-EF13: Where Creativity Comes From and How to Find Your Uniquely Bloody Fingerprint - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF13

    • (EF38) AMA-EF13: Flow, Creative Improvisation and Other Altered States of Consciousness Ask Me Anything for Episode EF13

    • (EF39) S2-E0: LIFE, UPGRADED: Welcome to Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF40) S2-E1: Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass

    • (EF41) S2-E2: Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future

    • (EF42) S2-E3: Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment

    • (EF43) S2-E4: Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature

    • (EF44) S2-E5: Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion

    • (EF45) S2-E6: Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work

    • (EF46) S2-E7: Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice

    • (EF47) S2-E8: Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception

    • (EF48) S2-E9: Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life

    • (EF49) S2-E10: The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future

    3 March 2020, 1:00 pm
  • 32 minutes 36 seconds
    EF42 (S2-E3): Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment
    Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment PLAY

    (EF42) S2-E3: Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment

    PLAY | DOWNLOAD Going against society has the empowering feeling of standing alone on the top of a mountain. But is it even possible to climb to such heights without falling into the lonely pit of self-delusion? And what does it really mean to be an individual? More...

    The big question driving Episode EF42 is … What does it mean to be an individual?

    Sam Payne is finishing her Ph.D. in physics under the advisement of a professor making a controversial claim as to why the Big Bang wasn’t the beginning of the universe. The professor’s new theory of everything posits a universal force that is being interpreted as proof that God exists. Sam gets caught in the crossfire between the professor and the angry mob of protesting college students who believe he is trying to bring Creationism to universities. On a knife’s edge in life and career, the increasing pressure on Sam’s individualism is insisting on a drastic plan. Will Sam have the guts to carry it out?

    Humanity’s rise to the top of the food chain is due to our success as social creatures, so it can be confusing to sync that reality with our drive to also be individuals. With deep introspection into what got you to this point in life, can you actually define what it means to be a real individual? How would you prove you have what it takes? Are you capable of creating completely new ideas that aren’t influenced by your predecessors, as Transcendental philosophers like Walden and Thoreau? Or maybe you think you must climb the mountain alone to create a better world, as Ayn Rand believed?

    Into The Rabbit Hole

    SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to Justin Vernon. See the EF42 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more. 

    ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

    SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

    PODCAST |ABOUT | SUBSCRIBE

    • Season One: The journey begins as we embark on 11 episodes on big questions relating to MIND. What is the truth? Can we trust reason? Why do we have emotions? Does happiness define the good? What is identity? What is creativity?

    • (EF1) Trailer: The Evolve Faster Podcast (Extended) Trailer

    • (EF2) Intro: Life is a Near Death Experience: Welcome to The Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF3) S1-E1: All Aboard the Experience Machine: Destination…Unknown (Season One, Episode One)

    • (EF4) S1-E2: The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide (Season One, Episode Two)

    • (EF5) S1-E3: The Truth is Clay in the Hands of a Sculptor (Season One, Episode Three)

    • (EF6) S1-E4: Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom (Season One, Episode Four)

    • (EF7) S1-E5: Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric (Season One, Episode Five)

    • (EF8) S1-E6: Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost (Season One, Episode Six)

    • (EF9) S1-E7: I Feel Therefore I am: Capsized by the River Emotion (Season One, Episode Seven)

    • (EF10) S1-E8: The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering (Season One, Episode Eight)

    • (EF11) S1-E9: When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future (Season One, Episode Nine)

    • (EF12) S1-E10: Wired to Fail: Leveling Up in the Game of Life (Season One, Episode Ten)

    • (EF13) S1-E11: The Bloody Fingerprint of Creativity (Season One, Episode Eleven)

    • (EF14) BTP: Behind the Evolve Faster Podcast - The Making of a Speculative Fiction Meets Philosophical Nonfiction Podcast

    • (EF15) AMA: Ask Me Anything: About Scott Ely and Evolving a Philosophy for Life

    • (EF16) BTP: On Creative Writing, Video Games and the Future of the Evolve Faster Podcast (About Antonio Rozich)

    • (EF17) BTP-EF3: What Am I Supposed To Do Free Will and Other Everyday Problems Behind the Podcast of Episode EF3

    • (EF18) AMA-EF3: The Mystical Allure of Converting to Buddhism and Speculating about Quantum Mechanics Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF19) BTP-EF4: Head Transplantation and Finding Inspiration for Speculative Fiction - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF4

    • (EF20) AMA-EF4: The Declining Value of Information and Taking Risks to Determine What is the Truth Ask Me Anything of Episode EF4

    • (EF21) BTP-EF5: Should Lying be Made Illegal and the Importance of Figuring Out Why You Believe What you Believe --Behind the Podcast of Episode EF5

    • (EF22) AMA-EF5: Defeating Fake News and Critical Thinking as the Superpower the World Needs Most Ask Me Anything of Episode EF5

    • (EF23) BTP-EF6: Scaling Mount Wisdom Without Suffocating Under an Avalanche of Ego Behind The Podcast of Episode EF6

    • (EF24) AMA-EF6: Is Less Really More When it Comes to the Pursuit of Wisdom or is Ignorance Bliss - Ask Me Anything of Episode EF6

    • (EF25) BTP-EF7: The Power of Propaganda and Rhetoric to Divide Us and the Quest for a Better World - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF7

    • (EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF27) BTP-EF8: Who are You and is it Possible to Upgrade Your Identity as an Adult? - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF8

    • (EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

    • (EF29) BTP-EF9: Waging War Between Reason and Emotions and the Importance of Leaving Things Unresolved Behind the Podcast of Episode EF9

    • (EF30) AMA-EF9: Emotional Manipulation Tribalism and Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Think Before you Feel - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF9

    • (EF31) BTP-EF10: Dharma Modifying Negative Thinking and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Happiness by Embracing Suffering - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF10

    • (EF32) AMA-EF10: Mind Control Through a Well Chosen Tattoo and the Unlikely Case of Being Happy Enough - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF33) BTP-EF11: The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Creativity - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF11

    • (EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

    • (EF35) BTP-EF12: Cryptocurrencies Gaming and Leveraging Failure to Help Us Define Who We Are - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF12

    • (EF36) AMA-EF12: Pyrrhic Victory and Finding the 10% of Your Mind that Defines Who You Are - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF12

    • (EF37) BTP-EF13: Where Creativity Comes From and How to Find Your Uniquely Bloody Fingerprint - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF13

    • (EF38) AMA-EF13: Flow, Creative Improvisation and Other Altered States of Consciousness Ask Me Anything for Episode EF13

    • (EF39) S2-E0: LIFE, UPGRADED: Welcome to Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF40) S2-E1: Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass

    • (EF41) S2-E2: Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future

    • (EF42) S2-E3: Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment

    • (EF43) S2-E4: Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature

    • (EF44) S2-E5: Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion

    • (EF45) S2-E6: Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work

    • (EF46) S2-E7: Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice

    • (EF47) S2-E8: Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception

    • (EF48) S2-E9: Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life

    • (EF49) S2-E10: The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future

    18 February 2020, 1:00 pm
  • 42 minutes 30 seconds
    EF41 (S2-E2): Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future
    EF41 (S2-E2): Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future PLAY

    (EF41) S2-E2: Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future

    PLAY | DOWNLOAD Technology is like a powerful drug that can either improve you or make you miserable and dependent. Is it our evolutionary fate that we will become superhuman? Or is the codebase of human nature inherently too fallible for the story of transhumanism to end well? More...

    The Big Question driving Episode EF41 is … why are humans so fallible?

    Will Storia is a graduate student whose Ph.D. work in history and evolutionary psychology is evolving into a manifesto about radically changing the trajectory of civilization.  On his show, The Next Evolution, he argues to a global audience that we are at the edge of an abyss, about to hand off what remains of our humanity to machines. His latest guest is John Weber, a revolutionary techie, who believes technology will solve all of humanity’s problems. As they publicly clash with the world watching, Will worries how people might twist his ideas; because it’s increasingly obvious that John’s transhuman ideology has already become a religion.

    To explore if technology might be the quick solution for every problem humanity is facing, we must look deep into the core of what makes us tick — human nature. Transhumanism will likely exponentially multiply all of our human weaknesses. Does the hard-wired human desire to seek power over others pose a serious problem for our inevitable evolution of wanting to be superhuman? Also, Yuval Noah Harari believes dataism — the trend towards reducing humans down to our data and trusting AI to make all our decisions — has civilization on a crash course with becoming useless. Is this our fate? Or will technology open doors to new heights for humanity?

    Into The Rabbit Hole

    SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to Yuval Noah Harari. See the EF41 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more. 

    ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

    SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

    PODCAST |ABOUT | SUBSCRIBE

    • Season One: The journey begins as we embark on 11 episodes on big questions relating to MIND. What is the truth? Can we trust reason? Why do we have emotions? Does happiness define the good? What is identity? What is creativity?

    • (EF1) Trailer: The Evolve Faster Podcast (Extended) Trailer

    • (EF2) Intro: Life is a Near Death Experience: Welcome to The Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF3) S1-E1: All Aboard the Experience Machine: Destination…Unknown (Season One, Episode One)

    • (EF4) S1-E2: The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide (Season One, Episode Two)

    • (EF5) S1-E3: The Truth is Clay in the Hands of a Sculptor (Season One, Episode Three)

    • (EF6) S1-E4: Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom (Season One, Episode Four)

    • (EF7) S1-E5: Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric (Season One, Episode Five)

    • (EF8) S1-E6: Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost (Season One, Episode Six)

    • (EF9) S1-E7: I Feel Therefore I am: Capsized by the River Emotion (Season One, Episode Seven)

    • (EF10) S1-E8: The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering (Season One, Episode Eight)

    • (EF11) S1-E9: When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future (Season One, Episode Nine)

    • (EF12) S1-E10: Wired to Fail: Leveling Up in the Game of Life (Season One, Episode Ten)

    • (EF13) S1-E11: The Bloody Fingerprint of Creativity (Season One, Episode Eleven)

    • (EF14) BTP: Behind the Evolve Faster Podcast - The Making of a Speculative Fiction Meets Philosophical Nonfiction Podcast

    • (EF15) AMA: Ask Me Anything: About Scott Ely and Evolving a Philosophy for Life

    • (EF16) BTP: On Creative Writing, Video Games and the Future of the Evolve Faster Podcast (About Antonio Rozich)

    • (EF17) BTP-EF3: What Am I Supposed To Do Free Will and Other Everyday Problems Behind the Podcast of Episode EF3

    • (EF18) AMA-EF3: The Mystical Allure of Converting to Buddhism and Speculating about Quantum Mechanics Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF19) BTP-EF4: Head Transplantation and Finding Inspiration for Speculative Fiction - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF4

    • (EF20) AMA-EF4: The Declining Value of Information and Taking Risks to Determine What is the Truth Ask Me Anything of Episode EF4

    • (EF21) BTP-EF5: Should Lying be Made Illegal and the Importance of Figuring Out Why You Believe What you Believe --Behind the Podcast of Episode EF5

    • (EF22) AMA-EF5: Defeating Fake News and Critical Thinking as the Superpower the World Needs Most Ask Me Anything of Episode EF5

    • (EF23) BTP-EF6: Scaling Mount Wisdom Without Suffocating Under an Avalanche of Ego Behind The Podcast of Episode EF6

    • (EF24) AMA-EF6: Is Less Really More When it Comes to the Pursuit of Wisdom or is Ignorance Bliss - Ask Me Anything of Episode EF6

    • (EF25) BTP-EF7: The Power of Propaganda and Rhetoric to Divide Us and the Quest for a Better World - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF7

    • (EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF27) BTP-EF8: Who are You and is it Possible to Upgrade Your Identity as an Adult? - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF8

    • (EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

    • (EF29) BTP-EF9: Waging War Between Reason and Emotions and the Importance of Leaving Things Unresolved Behind the Podcast of Episode EF9

    • (EF30) AMA-EF9: Emotional Manipulation Tribalism and Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Think Before you Feel - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF9

    • (EF31) BTP-EF10: Dharma Modifying Negative Thinking and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Happiness by Embracing Suffering - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF10

    • (EF32) AMA-EF10: Mind Control Through a Well Chosen Tattoo and the Unlikely Case of Being Happy Enough - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF33) BTP-EF11: The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Creativity - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF11

    • (EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

    • (EF35) BTP-EF12: Cryptocurrencies Gaming and Leveraging Failure to Help Us Define Who We Are - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF12

    • (EF36) AMA-EF12: Pyrrhic Victory and Finding the 10% of Your Mind that Defines Who You Are - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF12

    • (EF37) BTP-EF13: Where Creativity Comes From and How to Find Your Uniquely Bloody Fingerprint - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF13

    • (EF38) AMA-EF13: Flow, Creative Improvisation and Other Altered States of Consciousness Ask Me Anything for Episode EF13

    • (EF39) S2-E0: LIFE, UPGRADED: Welcome to Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF40) S2-E1: Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass

    • (EF41) S2-E2: Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future

    • (EF42) S2-E3: Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment

    • (EF43) S2-E4: Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature

    • (EF44) S2-E5: Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion

    • (EF45) S2-E6: Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work

    • (EF46) S2-E7: Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice

    • (EF47) S2-E8: Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception

    • (EF48) S2-E9: Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life

    • (EF49) S2-E10: The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future

    4 February 2020, 12:00 pm
  • 38 minutes 22 seconds
    EF40 (S2-E1): Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass
    Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass PLAY

    EF40 (S2-E1): Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass

    PLAY | DOWNLOAD Finding your place in society can feel like being forced to replicate the movements of others in a mirror. Does our technology buy us freedom from conforming, or dehumanize us? And do individuals really need society and culture anyway? More...

    The big question driving Episode EF40 is … Do we need society and culture?

    EPISODE EF40 SUMMARY

    Sam, a 16-year-old from the South, organizes a school walkout to protest the technological trends leading society towards an AI-run government-owned by corporate tech royalty. Will this lead to a near future of radical inequality between the transhuman haves and have-nots? Facing backlash from the previous generation which refuses to look itself the mirror to see the truth, Sam learns that social conformity hasn’t changed since at least the 14th-century witch hunts. Instead of getting burned on a stake, will Sam get devoured by cultural pressures where everyone is expected to wear their given mask and mimic one another in the social mirror?

    To understand if humanity needs society and culture, we must first understand your ties to society as an individual. Using Edmund Burke’s theory of Social Contract, and what sociologist Émile Durkheim sees as the difference between laws and norms, we will hope to dissect the core of what it means to live in society. More importantly, what are your possibilities, if any, for rewriting the terms of the contract you’re given at birth?

    Into The Rabbit Hole

    SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to Greta Thunberg. See the EF40 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more. 

    ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

    SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

    PODCAST |ABOUT | SUBSCRIBE

    • Season One: The journey begins as we embark on 11 episodes on big questions relating to MIND. What is the truth? Can we trust reason? Why do we have emotions? Does happiness define the good? What is identity? What is creativity?

    • (EF1) Trailer: The Evolve Faster Podcast (Extended) Trailer

    • (EF2) Intro: Life is a Near Death Experience: Welcome to The Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF3) S1-E1: All Aboard the Experience Machine: Destination…Unknown (Season One, Episode One)

    • (EF4) S1-E2: The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide (Season One, Episode Two)

    • (EF5) S1-E3: The Truth is Clay in the Hands of a Sculptor (Season One, Episode Three)

    • (EF6) S1-E4: Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom (Season One, Episode Four)

    • (EF7) S1-E5: Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric (Season One, Episode Five)

    • (EF8) S1-E6: Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost (Season One, Episode Six)

    • (EF9) S1-E7: I Feel Therefore I am: Capsized by the River Emotion (Season One, Episode Seven)

    • (EF10) S1-E8: The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering (Season One, Episode Eight)

    • (EF11) S1-E9: When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future (Season One, Episode Nine)

    • (EF12) S1-E10: Wired to Fail: Leveling Up in the Game of Life (Season One, Episode Ten)

    • (EF13) S1-E11: The Bloody Fingerprint of Creativity (Season One, Episode Eleven)

    • (EF14) BTP: Behind the Evolve Faster Podcast - The Making of a Speculative Fiction Meets Philosophical Nonfiction Podcast

    • (EF15) AMA: Ask Me Anything: About Scott Ely and Evolving a Philosophy for Life

    • (EF16) BTP: On Creative Writing, Video Games and the Future of the Evolve Faster Podcast (About Antonio Rozich)

    • (EF17) BTP-EF3: What Am I Supposed To Do Free Will and Other Everyday Problems Behind the Podcast of Episode EF3

    • (EF18) AMA-EF3: The Mystical Allure of Converting to Buddhism and Speculating about Quantum Mechanics Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF19) BTP-EF4: Head Transplantation and Finding Inspiration for Speculative Fiction - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF4

    • (EF20) AMA-EF4: The Declining Value of Information and Taking Risks to Determine What is the Truth Ask Me Anything of Episode EF4

    • (EF21) BTP-EF5: Should Lying be Made Illegal and the Importance of Figuring Out Why You Believe What you Believe --Behind the Podcast of Episode EF5

    • (EF22) AMA-EF5: Defeating Fake News and Critical Thinking as the Superpower the World Needs Most Ask Me Anything of Episode EF5

    • (EF23) BTP-EF6: Scaling Mount Wisdom Without Suffocating Under an Avalanche of Ego Behind The Podcast of Episode EF6

    • (EF24) AMA-EF6: Is Less Really More When it Comes to the Pursuit of Wisdom or is Ignorance Bliss - Ask Me Anything of Episode EF6

    • (EF25) BTP-EF7: The Power of Propaganda and Rhetoric to Divide Us and the Quest for a Better World - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF7

    • (EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF27) BTP-EF8: Who are You and is it Possible to Upgrade Your Identity as an Adult? - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF8

    • (EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

    • (EF29) BTP-EF9: Waging War Between Reason and Emotions and the Importance of Leaving Things Unresolved Behind the Podcast of Episode EF9

    • (EF30) AMA-EF9: Emotional Manipulation Tribalism and Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Think Before you Feel - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF9

    • (EF31) BTP-EF10: Dharma Modifying Negative Thinking and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Happiness by Embracing Suffering - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF10

    • (EF32) AMA-EF10: Mind Control Through a Well Chosen Tattoo and the Unlikely Case of Being Happy Enough - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

    • (EF33) BTP-EF11: The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Creativity - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF11

    • (EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

    • (EF35) BTP-EF12: Cryptocurrencies Gaming and Leveraging Failure to Help Us Define Who We Are - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF12

    • (EF36) AMA-EF12: Pyrrhic Victory and Finding the 10% of Your Mind that Defines Who You Are - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF12

    • (EF37) BTP-EF13: Where Creativity Comes From and How to Find Your Uniquely Bloody Fingerprint - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF13

    • (EF38) AMA-EF13: Flow, Creative Improvisation and Other Altered States of Consciousness Ask Me Anything for Episode EF13

    • (EF39) S2-E0: LIFE, UPGRADED: Welcome to Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast

    • (EF40) S2-E1: Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass

    • (EF41) S2-E2: Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future

    • (EF42) S2-E3: Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment

    • (EF43) S2-E4: Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature

    • (EF44) S2-E5: Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion

    • (EF45) S2-E6: Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work

    • (EF46) S2-E7: Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice

    • (EF47) S2-E8: Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception

    • (EF48) S2-E9: Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life

    • (EF49) S2-E10: The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future

    21 January 2020, 1:00 pm
  • 10 minutes 22 seconds
    EF39 (S2-E0): LIFE, UPGRADED: Welcome to Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast
    Welcome to Life, Upgraded. On 1/21/2020, ten new cautionary tales of speculative fiction begin to drop every other week. The goal of Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast is to help you explore the contracts you’ve unwittingly signed with society and its layers of cultural institutions. Then it will be up to you to decide if it’s time to tear up and rewrite any of them. Season Two is about LIFE. Humanity rose to the top of the food chain because of our ability to cooperate and communicate; but life in society also causes much of the anguish and suffering that exists in the human condition. This season is also a philosophical meditation about the next 25 years. It doesn’t take radical extrapolation of the trends we’re already on to envision how overdependence on technology might go awry, putting risk our humanity’s last remaining stronghold: actually being human.
    7 January 2020, 1:00 pm
  • More Episodes? Get the App
© MoonFM 2024. All rights reserved.