H.I. No. 95: Break Glass in Case of Emergency

"H.I. 95: Break Glass in Case of Emergency" is the 95th episode of Hello Internet, released on December 31, 2017.
== Official Description ==
Grey and Brady discuss The Book of Thunks
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== Show Notes ==
*Discuss this episode on the reddit
== Other ==
Hello, Internet its future gray here rushing to edit this episode before I have to go for this podcast. I think you should pause after each of the questions and find the answer for yourself before you let Brady or I convince you of what is the one true answer if you're listening with somebody else even better each of you should try to convince each other of what the true answer is before hearing Brady, and I talk about it.
Anyway, that's all I wanted to say I'm going to stop recording now, and literally press the export upload publish buttons as fast as I can to get this episode out to you, so. Have a lovely evening. I let the show begin so for the longest time we have had this sort of I wouldn't say fear, but concern in the back of our minds that one day we may come to record how their internet and just not have anything to say or run out of topics and things like that mhm it has never happened, and it hasn't really happened today either.
I don't think but just in case it does happen. I've had a break glass in case of emergency option sitting in. Drawer by my side for a couple of years now. This is a book has it really been sitting there for a couple of years. I guess it has you referenced it enough when we're doing our little pre-show chats.
I reckon it's just been sitting there so I today for a special episode. We've decided to break the glass and use my emergency podcasting options just. I don't know why I just because I'm sick of waiting other. We're gonna do it. It does feel like a thing. We'll never get to because every time we do go to record.
I think much more so for me. I have this deep fear of like what on Earth that we're going to talk about and. So many times I feel like we get to the show and we barely get to all the topics that we have because we get caught up in something. That's a total tangent right at the beginning, so it is an unfounded fear every time, but yes, it does feel like we'll never get to this book, otherwise, so let's just take a look at this book.
Okay. This is a book. I don't know where it came from or why I have it. I don't think I bought it. It doesn't look like something. I would have bought but it's called The Book of funks of thanks fun. So instead of thinks that replaced the I over the you that ok, that's by a chap named in Gilbert. I think it's bit of a toilet book.
I think it's supposed to be a conversation book, but I see it more as a toilet book that rarefied genre. Mm. It's full of just one line questions that are supposed to be. Thought-provoking or conversation starters It also says on here to annoy your friends, and I think a lot of these questions would be quite effective at annoying your friends.
That sounds like a very Brady book them. I don't like the annoying aspect of it anyway really cuz I think you are the king of asking. Needling annoying questions of people when you're interviewing them or when you're talking to me on a podcast I feel like you would like that part the most well some of them annoyin may now there are three hundred questions in this book.
Okay. Just before the show I went through with a marker, and I've put big red crosses next to ones that I think Mmm. I wouldn't mind asking gray that question so I'm going to go through this book. I'm going to go through all the questions that I've put crosses next to or at least I'm going to go through all the ones until we get sick of it row and we're going to see what you think about them.
Are you going to answer these questions as well breeding if you want me to depends what the question I would very much what I don't want to be just on the hook here that I need this to be a quitter situation. It's not like that. It's not that I will answer questions to if I feel I have something to contribute now.
There are a lot of questions in this book. I'm not going to ask because some of them really annoy me because they seem to come from a place of real science ignorance or just logic ignorance, so I'm ignoring all those months. Give me an example of this. I'll give you an example of one what weighs more a piece of blank paper or a piece of lined paper.
That's just an annoying question. Yeah, there are lots of questions like that and I feel. I need way more details to answer that question. Well that is a definite problem. You will have with every question anyway. We're gonna have to do with that gray. Isn't just as me as we come to it, but that a gray ISM.
I don't think so I think that's a reasonable thing to ask right. Let's go. That's so I've got the book here. You can probably hear the pages here there. We go some nice Foley work. Thank you. So the first one I put across next to just so happens to be number eight in the book. Of 350. Okay, if the cure for cancer meant constructing a huge Factory in Antarctica should we do it anyway?
I don't even resent how that's a question. Yes, what's the question? I don't think they make the stakes high enough in that question myself, you know like I could burn down the ring forest for a cure for cancer. So cure for cancer. I was thinking you know maybe destroying all of Antarctica would that be worth curing cancer.
Yeah, I think Antarctica under the ocean I mean cancer killed a lot of people. Yeah a lot of weight on that side of the scale. I think I'd be pretty hard pressed to think of anything that doesn't come close to species destroying that I wouldn't do to cure cancer ok, but you breaking. I think my threshold would be probably lower than yours ok, so lower than just doesn't destroy the species as your threshold.
Yeah, I like I don't know I think obliterating Antarctica all together. I don't know what isn't Arctica ever done for you not much. I'm going there soon. Oh yeah, but I would also like a cure for cancer, so I would cancel my trip, but make your again sir, would you answer change? Like before and after the trip like OU more hesitant to not destroy Antarctica before you've gone, but after you've gone.
Do you think you would be more willing to sink the entire continent, would you be willing to put several thousand sort of charismatic fauna. Species extinct in exchange for a cure for cancer as long as it meant humans could still live like you know get rid of all the elephants and the Lions and the cats and the dogs and dogs oh, oh I found your witness if that is my weakness isn't now I'll actually I feel like.
Could I look into the eyes of a single puppy and extinguish its life in exchange for a cure for cancer? I feel like I don't know if I could do that so what you wouldn't be willing to kill all the puppies in the world for a cure for cancer. Oh God. I don't know now I feel immediately like I need to punch you really don't pay to Antarctica and the rainforest then put a few puppies on the Block and suddenly it.
Yeah, now. It's a very different moral question wow that's horrible to realize that this is the way my brain is priority. I think new things oh man that becomes a much harder question. Yeah, I feel like then I need to know all sorts of details at the book is not going to have like does this mean we will never cure cancer or that.
We just won't have the Cure now like then. I need to start really law uring up on what the exact parameters of this question are but once you involve puppies. I'm going to become much more hesitant is what's going on. Here is Mister. Chump is in issue at the moment mr.. Chompers is not in your shot at the moment.
He's going to be returning to the house very shortly. He had a big bath from getting all muddy today, but he is not currently around well. Anyway. He probably have liked your answer anyway. I feel like a terrible person who met somebody Von to another question. Are you more of a success if you have had five top 40 hit records, but no number one.
Compared to someone who is a one-hit wonder who has just had one number one. Oh, man. That's easy. That's easy it depends entirely on how large the residuals are. Like was the tail end of this dispute alisya. It's not about consistency of quality are it's just about the money you make without the I guess that is the question well as complicated because I think it's a kid, I think when I first came across the concept of a one-hit wonder.
I always found that kind of sad. Yeah. Do you get that same feeling for like the concept of like a one hit wonder that there's something like a little sad about that think it's fluky the person success yeah. And that's one of the ways you could take this question yeah, but I feel like as I've gotten older like adult me doesn't have that same feeling with a one hit wonder like a one hit wonder is already incredibly successful.
Yeah, and like sure obviously anybody who's a one-hit wonder would prefer to be a two-hit Wonder, but being one-hit wonder is way better than being a zero hit wonder that may reframe the question that completely changes and in some ways. I think would reverse my answer okay, and that question would be would you rather?
Win a gold medal at the Olympics or win 13 silver medals over three different Olympics. But no golds.
for me they answer to that is easy. I'm going to bed you want the gold right yeah hmm because no one remembers silver medals in the world of Music. Well. It's not true to say no one remembers songs. They don't get to number one because a lot of very big songs Never technically got to number one, but you know a number one is a bit like a gold medal.
Isn't it yeah? This is touching upon like the power law in entertainment like a one-hit wonder is. 10 times more presence in people's minds than the next most popular song which is 10 times more present than the third most popular song and so what would you get down to the bottom of the Top 40 chart is like?
Oh? Yeah, those are songs people might recognize, but they're not super omnipresent in a person's mind. I was just thinking with the silver medals. I think there's something more impressive if you can get a bunch of silver medals in disparate fields. This this then again it like we're getting into the details here, but I think personally I feel like in my personality I would be happier being less successful in a wider area of fields than being super successful than one field like much to my surprise.
There is something that is. Attractive about being the kind of person who could win silver medals in a bunch of events even if you know like lots of people think that silver is first loser that it's not the same as a goal to the gold is like 10 times better than a silver in people's minds. I remember when I was a little boy went through a phase where my favorite color was silver.
You know when you say you have to have a favorite color and a favorite number. I always said my favorite color is silver and I was watching the Olympics with my dad one time and I was watching the. All ceremony and I said to my dad, you know what I love silver so much. I think I'd rather have a silver medal than a gold medal, and he just looked at me and said when you grow up.
You think differently and he was right right? He was right and while it's true like winning silver medals across disparate disciplines over a sustained period of time does show a far greater level of accomplishment hmm, and if you don't believe me there's an Australian who won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics that is the most cheeky undeserved gold medal in the history of gold medals.
You have to tell me what that is now. I'm now I'm curious. What is the most undeserved gold medal ever to set the same foot in the winter. X in some forms of speed skating. you have all these eliminations and things like that to get to the final, and then the final is for people. Okay, and this is Stratton actually got through to the final four people.
He shouldn't have even been in the fire because all the people in his semi-final fell over and he made it to the final. Okay, so then this was the Fire Live sent you the clip his name Steven Bradbury, OK, and he was against three other speed skaters that were way better than him, and they were going around this really tight track.
Okay, so this is a race. This is just like a pure speed race on the ice OK appeal erase pure race there were four other skaters. Actually there are five in the final, okay? He was sitting at the back not a hope in hell and he'd given up even trying. He was just sitting there watching them thinking.
This is amazing that I even made the final. And as the four others were vying for the medals. They got to the last corner, and they all crashed into each other phrases all the medical applications, and he disliked just. Coasted over the line on his own like thinking what the hell just happened, and the others would all trying to stand up and like put a toe over the line, so they could finish, and he was just like oh, I just want to Gold Medal, but you can never take that away from him and of course.
He's not as great a speed skater is someone who has won a bunch of Silver's overloads of Olympics, but he's still got his gold medal. That's amazing that he's the beneficiary of two flukes that is fluky. He was there in the first place and that shot is amazing because they they really do crash-like.
20 feet before the end of the field for the end of the race yeah, you see the other standing up and just trying to put like their skate over the line to finish, and he just let drifts past yeah, because then I'm just watching the replay here, and he's not even booking it for the Finish Line. He's gladly mentally checked.
It's like inertia. Just propels him over the Finish Line into the colpitts amazing. Haha wow strata goat for Australia go through Australia. I feel like this adds another level. To that question potentially, which is like getting a goal getting a bunch of Silver's or totally unintentionally getting a goal right like just blind luck stumbling on to success in this manner.
That's that's amazing well, Salt Lake 2002 fantastic ready for another question. Yep. He's a horse a vehicle. Is a horse a vehicle hmmm. Yeah horses a vehicle. I'm trying to stretch the edges of this. I think if you put a little girl on a big dog. That is not a vehicle cuz. There would be no driving like a big, Saint Bernard with the tiny child on top of it the child's doing no driving, but a human on a horse is doing driving.
So I'm going to say yes. The horse is a vehicle and that's the distinguishing characteristic there needs to be active driving agree or disagree don't even care. I think it's a stupid question. What do you mean? It's a stupid question? Here's a good question would it be okay to blast our rubbish into space?
Yeah, well again like the one with Antarctica. I'm trying to think my only objections would be pragmatic it was a video. I used to show my students when we did our little space module that I always loved which was a video that was tracking all of the objects that are currently around Earth yeah this included.
Here's the International Space Station. Here's all the satellites, and as you know there's a huge number of satellites. You just don't really think about it, but then it was also including all of the objects in. Face that could potentially be a threat to Future missions, then when you include that like it's an astounding number of objects like it looked like an angry swarm of bees.
Yeah, it's credible now. There is a weird. Problem of scale here right because space is real big and you're trying to look at an image on a screen and how big can that screw be like there's a funny way that it it looks fuller than it is yes of course, but still the number is enormous and the threat is real so my only concern about space garbage is how accurately can we fling it directly into the sun can we use the Sun?
As a garbage disposal system yeah, and if we could shoot it accurately then I would have no problem with it. I do remember actually doing this as a unit in one of my physics classes and university is how hard it is to actually hit the sun they give you are launching something. That is not self guiding is remarkably hard to get an object.
That would go into the Sun as opposed to getting captured in some kind of very long comet orbit and then causing other problems, so I would probably say. No, because it's very difficult to imagine a way that it is practical to do so space as garbage disposal. I would say let's not do that on practical grounds, but if we came up with like a propulsion system.
That was economical, and we could just blast things into space, but you couldn't go for the sun you just had to aim out of the solar system and just send them where they're going like a voyager probe you know. Wherever you end up you end up right you're not here, so it's just going to go where it goes and one day.
It'll get captured by some other star, okay, so we're just blindly launching into space. Yeah. Yeah, don't think too much about the actual practicalities. Is it ok to use the great beyond? As a place just to fling unwanted stuff everything now. I'm worried about drawing the attention of like a paperclip maximizing a hey.
I yeah is like where this garbage come from like a Gods Must Be Crazy situation here. Yeah, where this Falcon heavy rocket full of disposed soda cans come from like right it came from that planet. Yeah, I would still say though like putting the potential destruction of the human species decide I would be ok with it because space is just so empty.
It's almost functionally. Like throwing it into a black. Hole. You don't say as this last pure expanse that hasn't been sullied by McDonald's rappers. I will grant that right spaces unsullied presuming. They were the only ones around, but I don't think unsullied matters. If there's nobody there to experience it isn't this the argument used by people who want to drill for oil in Alaska and stuff people say.
Oh, we mustn't do all these Mining and Alaska, and then the little who are pro mining say well. There's no one there to look at all this beautiful stuff and these rare. Words anyway, I'm susceptible to that argument. I think I'm less susceptible to it in the drilling in Alaska case because of concern about externalities that it's like okay.
Yeah, sure if you're drilling goes. Okay, then everything's fine, but if it doesn't then it's no good, and we also like for entirely human selfish reasons we have an ecosystem here that we want to preserve for our own benefit. Space just doesn't seem to have any of those concerns to me. Yes, it is unsullied, but it's just.
Emptiness with no conscious experience whatsoever like it's very hard to imagine. What is the externality here of we've launched Rockets full of McDonnell Trappers into space. It's like, but there's nobody there to even. See it it's just like it disappears where I think the Earth is a closed enough system that you want to be more careful like if you're sinking a continent into the ocean you want to make sure you're really getting something good out of that.
We just want to be more careful with the changes that you're making. I'm gonna guess. You don't like sending trash into space as my prediction. I find out had you against sending it into the sun right, but no I don't like the idea, but I am. So where that the Apollo Astronauts one of the last things they did before reach takeoff was?
Chuckle their rubbish out the door including bags of way. It was there are other poo bags on the surface of the Moon and it's hard for me to get on to high horse on this one, but for that objectivity video of yours that I love talking with you about when we first discussing at the one where the Russians exploded the satellite full of little Russian coins officer force of the Moon there was like sort of like a sphere made of penance pray and then the pennant sort of scattered all over the surface when the settler impacted and do something.
I just I love about that idea is there's something so childish about that like oh we're gonna. But a bunch of coins that say we were here on the surface of the Moon nice. I like it is also. Just totally a kind of garbage. I would love it if they went and visited those sites when you know eventually we start going back to the moon, and they found those pennants they living awesome there will be real collector's items someday.
Yeah, they were but so Yer OK with the sun because the sun is just an incinerator. Yeah like an atomic level incinerator like we could throw nuclear waste into the Sun, but then you feel more uneasy when you're talking. About. The vast emptiness of space if it was just blasting sewage towards Alpha Centauri yeah pardon me would think God if crapped all over this planet now and crapping everywhere else as well.
I'm not sure I feel that we have the right to do it. I find that interesting because like to me the concept of Rights implies that there's. Someone whose rights are being infringed upon. Well. I don't think we know enough to know whether that's the case honor OK. I just feel like it's not our place.
You know. I know there are space treaties and Antarctic treaties, and it kind of all merges into that a bit, but I think it goes beyond that because I still think with our space treaties Antarctica's different, but with our space treaties. There is a certain arrogance involved in US deciding amongst ourselves as humans.
What can be done with space and how it's going to be carved up remind me. Read the red Mars series The Kim Stanley Robinson series. I only think afraid the first one. Yeah, I have tried many times to get through the second to I've never made it. I've given up on that as a life goal. I'm like. I'm never gonna make it through green Mars.
Let alone blue Mars. Yeah, but I really like them. I reread red Mars. Maybe just a couple years ago its holds up as a great science fiction book, but at this is like one of the main. Themes through that book that I think is interesting Lee handled is the idea of humans around Mars how much right to humans have to change Mars from what it is into what the humans wanted like this is a central political conflict that takes place in that book, and I think the book is a an interesting exploration of that idea.
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I think that's asked like asking if a baby on a desert island would see I guess the question they getting at more here, and this is a more interesting question rather than saying would it ever laugh would it ever find something funny. Like his humor learned. It's getting to be more subtle, but all I was going to say I think that I found interesting when my friends started having kids.
I think that never really crossed my mind before is that there comes a time when babies start to laugh? That there's like a period of time where a baby will not laugh that you get a little Trevor baby, and you do a big raspberry on it stomach, and there's just no response like the wires aren't hooked up correctly, and then when they get older at some point.
They're like. Oh, this is hilarious right like raspberries in the stomach are the funniest thing ever, but that's because they've seen you and everyone else laugh at it, but yeah was gonna say it like I do think there is something about the wires are getting hooked up together because a baby born on a deserted island that and then the becomes like a grown up.
Let's forget about all the logistics involved here. Yeah, I just man then one day. They see like a giraffe walking on ice and the giraffe like stumbles and falls over in a comical way. They're not going to find that funny. Okay, the more we talk the less certain. I'm getting because I'm thinking maybe this is much more like a language thing like this humor exist in the absence of other minds, but.
I feel like there's some part of humor at thats like the lowest part of humor, which is really connected to the idea of surprise right that humor is connected to surprise and a baby living as an adult is going to at some point on its Island B. Surprised by something and maybe that would trigger a laugh, but I don't know like and the more I talked the less convinced.
I am because there are those cases that you read about like no feral children who are sort of in the situation and the Really fascinating thing is it seems like for a lot of these cases requiring language skills is just almost impossible, and maybe there's something like that with humor that if there.
You don't have the concept of other Minds that you just don't develop this I. You a long time ago. I heard this idea about what is humor that I just love and I think about sometimes, but that humor is like a way that brains are. Like debugging other brains or that brains are figuring out the edges inside of other brains I feel like I don't quite know what that sentence even means, but there's something about it that strikes me as correct that like humor is an exploration of another mind in a different way than talking is like what makes someone.
Tells you something about their mind in a way that is very different from just talking to them and especially like with my wife. I feel like I can make my wife really laugh now. I like I have a good sense. Like jokes or things that will make her laugh, but there's no way to verbalize what that is it's like some other part of my brain has learned how to get this particular reaction out of her brain, so I don't know I think I have just talked myself out of this may be a baby would never laugh that this is something that is like language death.
I think I might be retracting my position. Well. It was fun watching you work through it this next question might be a bit more up your alley, okay? If a robot waiter brings you a drink should you say thank you? Well, that was a big sire like this is really like a conundrum for you it all hangs on the word should in the sentence right okay?
I came across a parent who had this concern that I found interesting. And the concern was that Siri and Alexa were turning their child into an inconsiderate asshole that is interesting because the child is just able to issue commands and the machines just do it. Yeah, and the machines have no need for any of the social pleasantries.
And that. Their perception was that this was bleeding over into other social interactions that this was not contained within the environment of like you're not really talking to Alexa like you're issuing a series of verbal communication with a robot that like the kid just wasn't clicking with that so that's the reason I hesitate there because.
They do you need to thank a robot obviously not do I ever say. Thank you to Siri know to have a say. Thank you to your toaster. Yeah, exactly right like there's no need to do that. There's nothing there. I feel like there's something about Society here like if you have a C-3PO looking robot something that is like sort of human looking that maybe it's not a bad idea to just reflexively keep the thank you.
Even though you know that the robot doesn't need it just to practice a habit. Yeah, like like as a habit now if the robot is like oh the table is a robot and the drinks just appear then it feels like they they come up through a little slot in the table, and then feel like okay. Well. This is there's nothing human here, but I feel like if it isn't anthropomorphic robot.
I could see being on the side of we as a society should agree that we're going to keep this Habit in so long. Is there still exists human waiters in other situations that it's like don't lose this but say you say we should say. Thank you to say three po, but not to data dammit. Oh god. Well again Brady you're gonna make me talk about Droid slavery somewhere difference again because our TTP is clearly gotcha creature with emotions and feelings Expressions, but if in the real world we built a robot that looked like R2 D2 who was going around on a floating flotilla in the desert Distributing drinks.
And we were reasonably confident that that robot had no consciousness. I feel like yeah, that's a little close to a Roomba with some drinks on top of it, and they like you know I have no need to thank the Roomba for Distributing these drinks, but if it's humanoid. I feel like there is something maybe.
Here, but again. I maybe extrapolating too far from a particular case, but I found that like an interesting thing that would never have crossed my mind before that that is making me think about this question a little bit differently. I just had a great idea for pieces style was merchandising hmm a Roomba that will fire a lightsaber across the room t.
Return of the Jedi Star from a little slot that opens up on its top is that what you want breeding? Well, I wouldn't say no you wouldn't think now. I've got a question. Okay, would you rather live under a democracy or Undead a dictatorship? Led by father Christmas? I've I need to know a lot about Father Christmas in the center.
I think you understand the general concept the Father Christmas. I mean there's not a bad bone in his body. I'm. I just I'm going to interpret this as Santa Claus because I think there's a like a slight difference between Father Christmas and Santa Claus, but like I miss that sounds like a far more interesting conversation to me.
What's the difference between Father Christmas and Santa Claus? Okay? This is like the memories from when I was doing the mentor video from years and years ago, but I was reading up on a whole bunch of stuff and at the conclusion that I remember coming to and so this may be a little bit shaky Internet.
It's been a long time, but my memory is that Father Christmas was much more like a. Spirits of adult Thanksgiving that Father Christmas was like a feast and happy times and wine and fun and that Father Christmas was not like a gift giving concept. No Father Christmas. Definitely gave me presents when I was little, but here's where I was going with this is that that this is a thing that starting in like the forties and fifties started to get completely subsumed by the concept of Santa.
That like Santa as the gift-giving thing is an idea that has taken over a lot of other cultures and that like Father Christmas used to be like a different thing, but now and for the life of everyone who has been alive in the UK Father Christmas is just like a different name for Santa like it's one of the thousand names of Santa yeah, but I feel like I don't understand Santa Claus political ideas.
I think this is what it's an interesting question if Santa Claus was taken from his cushy life in the North Pole, right. And his one day of work a year. Yeah, how would he run the world this? I think is the burning question settler sees everything, but he's not all-powerful presumably in the situation.
He has an army right he's a dictator he has keys that he Britney's to keep in power. I feel like I would keep the Democracy. You don't think Santa could hold it together. I just think that even if you have the power of all seeing site and all-knowing like a dictatorship is a. Okay, so if we're taking Santa Claus, and we're putting him in the real world and he's in charge of a dictatorship.
I feel like it's still a dangerous and precarious situation that even if you have the power of seeing everything. I'm not going to trust that to last a long time or to always be able to do good things. Even if that is the intention of Santa Claus, so I'm going to stick with the democracy. Instead of a dictatorship run by Santa there's just so much Goodwill toward, Santa Claus, though.
You can't imagine anyone ever trying to overthrow him its Santa. He's got a belly that shakes when he laughs oh, I guess that gives him plus 100 defense against mutinies like this. That was that belly does like so jolly and he's got even read knows who's going to throw our Santa. Yeah, but it one of his powers is not like a reality Distortion field like if if he came with like a foundation style like you will love me ability like then.
That's a different story, but I feel like his primary power is being able to read the minds of everyone simultaneously, and it's like I wonder if. Elected if he ran for office in a democracy. I'm pretty sure said they would win by a landslide it get most of the popular vote, but he might get undone by the Electoral College.
Yeah, but I wouldn't mind having some checks and balances on Santa Claus Librarians like that's the difference here. You can win an election, but maybe not just for gonna hand you the keys to power entirely. Do you use your imagination when you dream, and I Dreaming Zara favorite topic of yours?
And understand what that question means yeah, I don't really either. I just saw dream and thought I thought I better Pope gray. Yeah, I feel like that's a meaningless question if you do something wrong when you are drunk. Should you feel less guilty than if you had done at Stone Cold Sober? You got to answer this one, baby.
You answer this one because I feel like this is such a hard question this gets like the core of the universe this question here. I don't know the answer to that you don't know the answer to that. I think you know you equipped with less tools to make a good decision right, but you took those tools away from yourself when you decided to have a bunch of drinks.
Yeah. It's a bit like oh, I was driving a car while blindfolded. I was like huh, I guess it's less your fault that you got into an accident, but you put on a blindfold like it's looking at find fault there. Yeah with his question the reason why I really stumble over. It is because if I were to disassemble this question.
I think this question is actually asking. If you were to change the nature of you are you as responsible for your actions that very quickly gets into a thing where it's like. It's hard to know what to even say in this like if you've changed yourself to be a different person. Are you still responsible like yes?
And kind of now it it's I think this is why the law wrestles put this subject as well. I can't come down solidly on this. I will just say get something on the record here. There's a thing people do that. I think is a bad habit that people should get out of. I think some people have the idea that like when they're interacting with someone who is drunk that somehow that is the true person and I feel like that is as a strange and bad idea to have in people's minds that they feel like oh when the person gets drunk is like the veil is lifted onto the inner core of the person filters are removed.
Yeah that very concept of like. Oh, you're saying the things that you would say or that you you're thinking. Me, but now we can all see it because you're drunk. I feel like that is a bad idea for people to have in their minds. I think it's nonsensical like you're dealing with a person who's essentially a different person now.
It's not like you're seeing the core of the real person. I think that's of a strange and unhelpful idea that lots of people seem to have I don't think it's a strange thing to think it might be a wrong thing to think but I think it's strange I C logic to her. But it's kind of like if someone were to take a bunch of LSD like would you feel like you're seeing the core of the person while they're high on LSD.
I don't think people would think that I think people have a concept that oh, this is a person whose mind is now been dramatically. Changed I feel like we just don't have that same concept with something like alcohol. That's true, but it's also true that for example you may know things or have opinions that you don't share with me because you don't want to hurt my feelings, or you don't want me to find out for various reasons, and your intellect is telling you that and if that was taken away from you temporarily.
I could have access to that information. I'm not saying that would tell me anything true you, but it would be like I would. Find out information. I might not know otherwise. I guess maybe that is where that idea comes from that people can let something slip in a coherent way while they're drinking yeah that in LSD like all that's going to happen is if someone's going to be hugging you and telling you how you're a beautiful butterfly, and we're all one with the universe and you're like OK man.
That's great, but they're not like yeah spilling their secrets. Okay. I retract strange, but I stand by unhelpful yes. Is vandalizing a speed camera the same as vandalizing a lifebuoy by a river but? Well we OK for you, can you could vandalize a speed camera so that ok government can't give a bunch of fines to people speeding, okay, or you could vandalize like a lifebuoy by the river, which is really handy because it would save people's lives are those two acts of vandalism.
Equally bad you mean like this buoys that Mark where you're not supposed to swim past now. I think like a ring that you would throw out to someone to help them if they were drowning. OK, yep resumed by vandalized like you've made it non-functional. Yes, not like you've drawn a naughty picture on it now.
I feel like vandalizing that the Bowie is way worse. I think that's where the question is leading 1. I'm trying things like why do I feel like the buoys worse and like the direct one-on-one nature makes it feel worse like you fallen off of a cruise ship into the ocean someone goes to throw you a lifeline and LOL it falls to Pieces because some.
Has slashed at the bits that feels like it like a doubly bad situation while a spade camera while it can be life-saving indirectly. It's not quite so directly life-saving and is also revenue-raising for the government which is ability now surely. Not as things aren't used for Revenue. I also feel like there is a there's a vandalizing the speed camera is less bad because.
The speed cameras work because there are a lot of them. It's like you're attacking a single node in a network and. That speed camera its presence or absence is not necessarily going to have a big impact on does someone speed a lot or not, but the fact that there are a hundred speed cameras in the city on average may have some kind of suppression effect, although.
I even how effective that is may be debatable, but like somebody drowning and reaching out for a floating thing and the floating thing breaks. There's no debate about that. That's just. Undeniably bad and in a very clear and direct way, so yeah, it's like a speed camera is like a politician. No one likes it, but it's kind of necessary whereas the life for it is like Father Christmas Everyone likes about the Christmas right yeah, okay?
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I have a bunch there already. I know graders to. Some for current projects some for upcoming future ideas maybe something I'm planning to do maybe a year or two down the line, but I know I want the name now those future domain names by the way don't have to lay dormant. You can easily redirect them in the interim for example if you've got a plan to maybe one day do a lawfully approved base jump from the mighty black stump.
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I bet you like that question. That comes down to what do you mean by the word think? I'm just reading the words. What do you think do you think two things at the same time in your head? I don't think so consciously like conscious deliberate thought right. I mean obviously I can talk to you in juggle at the same time right but.
I don't know. I don't know how the brain works. I know of the lead Ranger there, but it's good say. I'm not sitting on the other end of this microphone Arena like a well. Let me pull out my PhD and dreams like nobody know. How brains work either like just a dude on the internet who's made a video about brains like I don't know.
I'm never aware of thinking two things at the same time. That's for sure your. Black of internal monologue also find weird, but um okay, so thinking two things at the same time what I'm thinking here is. I can talk to you right now while I am visualizing an elephant in my brain like does that count about as thinking two things at the same time to me though.
Maybe I'm wrong about this, but when you're visualizing the elephant and talking to me. You're not actually doing two things at the same time. You're just jumping between the two things over a microsecond by microsecond. Yeah, you think you're switching back and forth between the two hmm. I think at the exact moment you actually thinking of the clever thing you want to say to me.
You are momentarily. Using the elephant yeah, this is also gets really to the core of like I'm not convinced that talking is thinking because talking seems to be a thing that just happens certainly for US 95 episodes of them like I mean going to the very core of like what we started talking about the beginning of this podcast.
I like to talk about this as a topic with creative people, but it is a thing that you can make people aware of just in their regular life, which is like just pay attention while you're talking, and you will realize you have no idea how you're doing it it just. Thing that happens and that even when you think you're thinking about talking like you don't know where those thoughts like it is just an automatic process, and there is something about that realization, which is absolutely terrifying and it is.
10 times terrifying Wednesday like you do a podcast for a living because you have to come like face-to-face with the concept of one of the core things that you do for a living you fundamentally have no idea. How you do it. It. Just happens. This is what I mean like the question very quickly gets to the concept of like what is.
Thinking because I feel like I could easily say that talking isn't any kind of thinking that there's not any thinking that's occurring while talking is happening and that visualizing an elephant to me seems like this is what thinking is or closing my mouth, and then listening to the internal dialogue in my head that that's what thinking is and then if you're like OK thinking is the words that you hear in your head is like well, then that's very clear.
There's only ever one voice talking in your head, and if that's what thoughts are. Then no it's not possible to think about two things at once. There is a component to conversation that obviously isn't talking, but there is that part of you where you are thinking about what you will say next and you're even anticipating what that person will then say to what you're going to say so conversation is obviously very full of thought, but yeah the actual Talking part when you actually like put the foot down on the talking accelerator.
Yeah, it does become very strangely. Automated is something. I think I think I've mentioned this in Holly went to net before but I noticed it again the other day actually and I don't know whether I've ever told me if it happens to you, but if you happen to for some reason ever hear an old piece of you podcasting.
Do you find you? Always almost know exactly what you're going to say next and not because you remember what you said, but just because you're so predictable in your head like sometimes when I hear it a conversation that I've had with you in the past like the silly joke or the question that I asked next and other thing I say I very often anticipate, and I don't think it's because I remember the conversation because I don't I think it's just because I'm similar so predictable when I'm done with these episodes.
I don't think I have ever listened to a hello Internet episode after its Gone live. Unless I'm preparing for a show yeah, but even then I haven't done that very recently, but what I do have is a thing when I am editing. Let's say that the only thing. I'm doing is I'm looking at the screen. I'm looking at the waveforms.
I'm editing the podcast especially when I'm doing it for the first time, so I'm listening to the conversation exactly as it happened. I'm aware that I can get almost caught in a weird Loop. Where I had described it, but it's almost like my brain is just like a wagon going westward in these really well-worn tracks, and there's no ability to even turn off the tracks.
It's sometimes the thing I have to kind of break out of where it's like what happened to me. I feel like I just disappeared and this conversation is happening through my brain, and my brain is just this very predictable machine, which is like repeating the exact things that it is. In the past I gets it's very hard to describe, but it does feel like I Lose Myself and can kind of forget that I'm supposed to be here editing a podcast.
It's more like my brain has gone on some kind of autopilot because it's receiving the exact same inputs. And hearing the exact same outputs that it would produce so I think this is a similar experience to what you're talking about, but it's just yeah. Yeah, I think so too. I intentionally especially when I'm doing the first edits.
I intentionally want to have something visual to do which is very often like playing a video game because it helps keep me actually more focused on the conversation. I think that that's that's part of it is like break this little. Self similar pattern by having something else that you're paying attention to as like I can hear the podcast more clearly when I'm visually doing something else, and I think that's part of the reason why I was going to slightly modify this next question just to tone it down, but I think it's kind of its starkness and harshness is what makes the question work, so I'm going to read it as printed go for would you accept a heart transplant from a rapist?
I mean, I'm dying here right or I appreciate you not doing it recreationally like it's not. Creation heart transplant surgery. Yeah, yeah, I would do that I would have no problem with that because if you like it is a piece of meat. I wouldn't accept a brain transplant from a rapist, but not like if we could take a rapist and cut him up into all the different pieces and distribute them all to people and you could save lives with those pieces like I don't see how that's not good.
Let me ask you another question. That's a good answer. Let me change the question on you. If a rapist died and left all their money to you in their will and the money wasn't gained by illegal means right would you accept the money from a rapist? Yes, that's an easier one and I would say no, but money's money like heart is a mate.
Yeah. How hot is meat heart is Emeritus? Yes, it is true. You can use that as the title of the episode if you like oh you doing episode title fishing while we're doing it now. It's terrible radiation, but I'm thinking of multiple things at once here. You shouldn't be doing medication on the podcast recording.
I was also imagining an elephant as I said. The distinction here is okay, so I'm gonna take your modification modified again. Yep. I am a pauper. In need of life-saving surgery that I cannot pay for and a rapist dies and leaves me his money that I can use to pay for the surgery would I use the money to pay for the surgery?
Yes, even if it was ill-gotten money even if it was ill-gotten money. I would use the money that had been left to me. Yeah presumably that this is like not an illegal situation. I don't know exactly how that works. No not yet that no you're right. You're not breaking the law right if I am not breaking the law.
And like a rapist leaves me some money that I can use on a surgery to save my own life. I would totally do that but the situation is now it's like. I am cgp Grey podcaster YouTube Creator video game live streamer dog walker Duncan S. Talk Walker actually by sheer number of hours. That is now my heart is professional probably in that situation like a rapist dies and leaves me some money like that is just going immediately to a like a woman shelter right like I'm just redirecting that money straight away.
It's like yeah. Yeah, money is money, but the reason that the original scenario works is because it's a question about like saving your life. Its need yeah, it's what you say the needs must yeah, that's what makes the the difference in that scenario Fair answer, would you brainy? I am a bit squeamish about accepting a heart transplant from a rapist, but I also a bit squeamish about dying from heart disease when I don't have to so the Eternal void that awaiting.
Yeah stupid squeamish about that if someone changed your life for the better by lying to you. Would it be a good act God I say yes. Here's the problem. I have with that quite the the phrasing of that question. Yeah, these are Minds me of like um sometimes in movies when you you are given the like the all seeing perspective, and you know something for sure and when you're watching it like that changes.
How you perceive characters in a movie. It's like oh, but you know for sure this thing did or did not happen, so I feel like that question is starting out by positing like this will for sure. Always be a net positive if this person lies to you, and I feel like the real world is much more.
Complicated than that but I under the premise that this question is asking I think the answer is is yes, but I'm very hesitant to say that as like social stamp of approval for lying to make people feel better exactly. I think the answer is yes, but they took a tremendous risk. I think there are far far fewer situations where.
Even things like white lies, but like lying to make someone better. I think there are fewer ways that actually works than people think it works. That's why I feel hesitant about this. Just because it's like I don't want people to hear me like writing a check that I'm not really going to cash. I'm agreeing under very narrow circumstances this next question is a bit similar to something.
We've already discussed, and it's also high-stakes trolley problem here the trolley, bro. One if you could save the planet by wiping out half the population of the human race should you wait the planet? I don't know I guess they're saying is it ok to kill half the humans in the world if they're all going to die, otherwise do you mean the planet like we're saving Mother Earth because I'm not really interested in that, but I is my alternative.
We can move everybody to Mars and not save the planet then like well. Whatever it's just like Antarctica into the sea, it goes. Okay? Yeah, so you're taking. Had a bit as just at the Rock bit like if the question is would you kill half of everybody to save everybody like I can barely understand how the answer could possibly be no I wouldn't do that well some people would take the position that it's not my role to kill other humans yet learn half the humans, so if we're all going to die.
So be it was God's will well. You know you can die with them, or you can die for them that makes no sense. We're all going to die anyway if you can just have half the people die and half the people survive. That is obviously better the problem. I have with this is well as like once you start talking about the complete Extinction of everybody is like a tragedy without any parallel when you talk about the like the complete Extinction of conscious Human Experience from the universe.
There's like nothing you can possibly put on the opposite end of that scale except for maybe a puppy. It just too big. It's hard to imagine anything that could counterbalance that should your estate. Own the emails in your inbox ah man. Oh, I thought you just say yes of course next question. It's funny.
I have had this is like a thing for the show for a while back. I think there's there is so much weirdness in the digital world around people dying. I think the answer is legally it is the case that they can your emails and Things become just part of it, but there's I read a while back like Facebook has this whole process about like.
Moralizing pages and you know what is the process for when someone dies on Facebook like what is going to happen like your estate might think ah cgp Graves personal emails are really like Saucy and interesting or controversial we could turn these into a book and squeeze another. 500,000 pounds out of his estate and that's not very fair I knew because when you die you didn't want that to happen they were let your conversations yeah, they should just let disappear like you have not be capitalized and used and manipulated and liquidated and maybe a little extreme in this position, but I feel very strongly that a lot of our digital lives should be treated.
The same way that we treat thoughts in our heads. Yeah, I know that that is not practical for a whole bunch of reasons, but that is partly why like I pause there because there's something about like there's something about that question that feels a little bit like when you die should the complete.
Record of all of the thoughts you ever had in your life be available to your estate and as I well of course you know in one sense. I'm dead it doesn't really matter to me, but on the other senses like wow it feels like an incredible Invasion so much of an invasion that even though I will be dead it's like While.
I'm Alive that would feel like a whoa. I can't believe this is going to happen. So that's been weighing down on you because I was gonna say you're dead surely don't care, but you're saying its way down on you while you're alive so much that it shouldn't have been the case. There's also a society question.
Year like should the record of everyone's thoughts be available when that person dies, and I'm not sure that would be good for society either. I guess there is something about this which I just feel like a large number of like the stuff that lives on a person's phone is very similar in my head to the stuff that lives in the person's brain, and you and the course of your life.
Arm making decisions about what parts of that do you want to externalize or not you take a picture of saying an adorable Audrey, and then you make a decision about whether or not that adorable Audrey photo is going to be for you, or it's going to be for the world on Instagram and the state question their feels like does the world or your does your estate get to have access to all of the Audrey photos that you took and made some decision about.
Being for you during the course of your life as opposed to just the ones that you decide to put out in the world there, so I know I don't have a good answer, but I think that I think the legal answer is yes this question luck on the face of it might be one where you say I'm not going there, but maybe otherwise should stupid people be prevented from voting.
I'm happy to go there my position on this is if we lived in a perfect world. Only people who are informed on the topic should be voting on that topic but. I can't conceive of any way in the real world you could Implement anything like that that wouldn't be worse than the problem. You're trying to solve, so I'm going to give a hard no on preventing stupid people from voting because I just think that there's not anything that you could do that doesn't just immediately become another tool in the like gerrymandering voter suppression Arsenal Le politics.
Here's a hint. Question I don't understood come out the wrong way my question would be should stupid people be prevented from having babies. I don't mean because they'll have like a dumb, baby like I don't mean and that could mean you don't mean to because you're like Brady Himmler right now.
That's that's nice. I mean it more in the context of they could be bad parents. I sometimes see really bad parenting, and I I guess what I sometimes think is shouldn't people like have to get a license for this likely. Do you think losses to drive a car? We have to maybe a better way to ask the question that would upset less people?
Be should stupid people be allowed to have puppies because that's getting to the same problem at slightly lower Stakes, but I sometimes think people have been given responsibility for things in the world at a time when they don't seem equipped to exercise that responsibility it seems crazy to me that you don't even have to like take a like a course like an evening class or anything before you have a baby.
The shape of this problem has a lot of the same issues of like preventing stupid people from boat which like oh the details of this system really matter. Here's the thing I'm not even convinced that an evening course in parenting would teach anybody anything. That would actually be useful but. I think there's a non-trivial number of people who just couldn't even get their life together enough to be able to go to that evening class like we're just showing up to a thing on time is a skill that those people don't have and like maybe you can't like be somewhere on time.
You shouldn't have a kid. It's a bit like spoken to a few people. Who've done the test for the TSA pre-approved check thing in the United States. Yeah. Everybody's response is exactly the same where they talk about. Oh, this thing is ridiculous because all you have to do is like get to the airport, and you have to wait in a place you fill out a little form like you talk to a guy, and then they just approve you when you go home, and I had the same response to everyone these people like no you don't understand that is the test like getting to the airport being able to follow the instructions not flipping out when a guy asks you a couple of personal questions like that's the test feel like this is very much the former teacher in me like you don't.
And how many people can't follow instructions longer if instructions are the tests so there's something about that that feels like just set like the lowest possible bar for having kids like I feel like I couldn't be opposed to like. You just need to go somewhere to get a stamp right as as the moment the people are having kids have accomplished one thing.
Yeah, they have accomplished one thing. I mean yeah, you can't open a bank account without giving them your entire genome and entire internet search history and yet you can create a human being and rear it and bring it up without telling anyone anything sometimes. I feel really anxious when I look at babies because just today actually I was just walking down the street and there was a woman who had like swaddled a little baby.
And she had him on a back swaddle they can instead of on the front. He was just on the back. You know like along for the ride, and you know shopping day. Yeah, and whenever I look at this Baby's. I always just feel like you poor thing you have no control. Over anything you just hear that you are totally at the mercy of the external world like you can do nothing to help yourself.
It's that feeling that just makes me feel like it's crazy someone can just bring a life into the world and we have just zero checks on this and this new little person could not be more vulnerable like a puppy is less vulnerable than a human baby human babies can do. Nothing, if their socks are making their feet uncomfortable as I well that baby.
Just has to deal with it. It makes me anxious looking at babies, so I feel very sorry for them, and I feel like I want more protections for babies right more protections for babies. I can be any is resolution. Boy that last question sure was something in my experience nothing gets people riled up more than the systems of politics, and I'm willing to bet that a whole bunch of you think you do know how to make a system work.
That would have answered that last question well. If you have something you want to propose you know the best way to communicate with me about it. It's to build a Squarespace website for supporting your argument. That's the best way to communicate with me, and the best way to communicate with the world Squarespace has been such a long time supporter of hello Internet and the reason why is because they are just amazing if you want to make a website.
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I really should make a website go right now to Squarespace. Com hello, that's Square space.com. hello, which will give you a way to try Squarespace free for 14 days and receive 10% off your first purchase. Thanks to Squarespace for supporting the show. Here we go if McDonald's spent billions of dollars rescuing the tiger from Extinction should they be allowed to then sell a mock tiger Burger, so there are lots of tigers in the scenario yeah, I've basically made Tigers like cows well.
Have a lot of problems with the meat industrial complex hmm. I feel like factory farming is really indefensible, but more more Tigers better than oh God. I don't know like I don't have a problem in theory with tiger Burgers. It's a hard one to debase and that like I think you one of my videos had tiger Burgers as an example of something.
I feel like I've used this before somewhere. I don't know whatever anyway. I feel like the problem in my head is not the problem that this question is asking about right the problem. I'm having is do we want to introduce another species to factory farming life because presumably like when you're at McDonald scale.
This is the problem you come up against I would have concerns about having that many tigers on it act like you know you don't want them escaping from some. Bob and definitely like it like a Jurassic Park situation cynical look at least mcdonnell's got side cornet wondering if they could do it they didn't think if they shouldn't do that if tactical OK no thinking it through no, I'm coming down now, and I'm coming down very solidly on now because you're saving tigers from Extinction, but you're just creating a whole bunch of tigers that presumably are living miserable lives.
That seems like not an improvement in anyway. If what if they didn't factory farm the Tigers. It was just like a boutique specialty Burger. You could have that they caught from the wild occasionally as we've we have free range tigers that are living history reg tigers remain Tigers if they're free range Tigers, then I'm OK with it.
They living like a managed tiger lifestyle. We don't have a farm in Devon packed full of tigers that we're afraid of the doors are going to burst any day, so I like the question. There is like are the tigers living a happy life before from their perspective the lights just go out, and they never even know I love the idea of a tiger lifestyle.
I want to live a tiger lifestyle now. Hey Brady you're living the tiger lifestyle. Yes said it brother. I think this thing get really complicated though because the question is like. How happy are the tigers like? What are the tigers eating basically are we introducing more sorrow into the world because of all of the rabbits that the tigers are chasing down to eat.
I feel like I want to be feeding the Tigers synthetic lab-grown meat and then killing the Tigers for Tiger burgers and the Tigers get to live a full and happy life. That's like okay. I'm perfectly fine with that, but I think the question is posed. I would say no that McDonald's saving a species from Extinction, and then cultivating that species at the scale McDonald's would require would not be a trade-off worth making if you hate tiger mate from a tiger that only ever in its entire life 8 synthetic me.
Are you eating me? Yeah, of course? What do you mean? It's late? If you eat a cow whose only eaten grass its whole life. You're eating meat the cow is the machine that turns grasses account, and now I do get that I didn't think that but I just wondered if there was something more ethical evading an animal that only ever a synthetic stuff probably not actually no.
I think yeah if the comparison is the tiger eating live animals vs. Synthetic meets. I think eating a tiger that has eaten only synthetic meat is clearly more ethical. Would you rather be a dead celebrity or a living criminal am I a captured Criminal? The main jail. Does it change your answer?
Yeah? It does change my answer. I really think that living in jail is pretty terrible, but there's no chance of Escape or release whereas if you had dead celebrity made ya done deal my friend. Who is this and I like a Mayan death row mi in some kind of Shawshank prison. I am I Shawshank pretty terrible situation.
I might prefer to be a dead celebrity it depends. Scarce carries an exam like a white-collar criminal who's probably destroyed the lives of millions of people, but it's in a relatively. Cushy prison like well, then I'd rather back the dead celebrity, but if I'm a criminal who's in Shawshank then the no I think I'd rather be the dead celebrity.
There's no way Brady. You're not going to pick the dead celebrity. Yeah, I think you're probably right yeah, that's right. I know I know our Brady. Do you choose your personality now that doesn't even make any sense to talk about. I think you can shape your personality like especially if someone has like a discipline mine like you like you can control and cultivate aspects of you and overtime train yourself to oh yeah.
I totally agree with that. This is where I am I am a man who believes in two things the possibility of self-improvement and puppies and the impossibility of free will. I don't think that those two things are in contradiction like I've talked about it before I think there's a real moment in my life that I feel like I chose to have a different personality, and that was crossing the threshold of leaving high school and entering college and that was a very deliberate moment in my life where I made a change that was much for the better, but I still think that when you dig into that I still run up against this Free Will problem of what?
I was the kind of person who was able to do that and in a position where I would decide that that was the thing to do and so that is what I did. I don't think I chose to be the sort of person who could. Decide and successfully execute that change. I don't think you have any choice in your personality certainly people with a certain personality can choose their personality only people with a certain personality will be able to change their personality, but they're not even in a position necessarily to direct that change in the way that I think the question is asking could ask you one quick question.
I don't want to dig up and go over that time out of high school when you were to Cross Roads, and you feel like you made important. Swim, you know maybe we could do another time, but pretend. You didn't make the big decisions you made like say you chose path instead of path be just continued as I was yeah, what job do you think you'd be doing today?
Have a good question? I'm willing to bet that the job. I would be doing today is I would. Be a physics teacher in high school the difference between me. Eventually leaving that career and becoming self-employed and staying in that career can point very very directly towards the decisions of changing myself between high school and college so both paths took YouTube a physics teacher, but just different kinds of physics teachers one that could escape and one that couldn't yeah if I'm trying to like Game Theory out.
What is the most likely? Thing that the like the high school version of me would have done iced I can't think of a more probable path than that one the only other career that was even remotely on the horizon as possibility was like being an airline pilot, and I just don't think I would have been.
Dedicated enough to be able to do that so I think I would have ended up as a teacher as well. You didn't feel the need the Need for Speed. Let me tell you my thoughts about being an airline pilot. We're not centered around the Need for Speed. Now this is an interesting question, which you're either going.
Answer very dismissively, or you're going to Go Hmmm have a deeper thought on it. I'm enjoying all these Brady predictions by the way, you know it could one Army of robots fighting another Army of robots ever decide a war will the time come where a war is completely decided without humans entering battle or conflict or violence.
I think is the question okay? There's two things here, I think. Not in the world that that we're currently imagining. I think you know in a war between nation states like a war fundamentally involves. Human loss and so when you're talking about a war being decided I can imagine a situation where there is a war in quotes.
Between two Nations where there's nations are essentially at a kind of technological stalemate. You know the Russia has drones, but the US has fantastic anti drones, and there's like a angry swarm of drones over the Pacific Ocean just forever right like not making any progress forward or backward, and then that it becomes like oh, that's just a thing in the world.
What's that? That's the great drone War? It's been going on for a hundred years, and it never moved one way or the other and then that's just not decided it's not Universal paper clips. For real. Yeah, yeah, so I feel like in nation-state Wars there have to be human casualties involved that is what forces a nation-state to capitulate so I feel like they're always been to be humans involved even if they're only involvement is as a like a body count to make one side say oh, we're surrendering now on the other side of that though like imagining a future without humans where there are just rival paperclip optimizers battling with.
Other for control of the universe is like oh, yeah, well obviously, that's the future it's only a matter of time until that occurs Wars between robots can be decided among those robots, but if its nation-state Wars. I think humans have to be involved in in some way the way that was coming into my head and that what got me thinking about was all these stories, and I don't even know if they're true stories or they dislike Legend and this never actually happened.
So you can tell me, but you know how you're here all these old-fashioned stories of two armies let meeting on a plane and instead of just like beating the crap out of each other they each send their top Warrior to have like a one-on-one fight, and whoever wins that fight wins the battle I have never heard of this ever.
I think it must be like Greek legend and stuff like that like it was it happens in a I feel like this happened in Freud's. Yeah, yeah, so I never really happened because I always think that such a silly thing because whoever loses would just go bugger that charge headlight out of War would kick off anyway so when I saw that robot question.
That's what I was thinking. I was imagining to nation-state saying okay. There's a nice empty space over there. Let's go and send out to robot armies and whoever wins. But you know wins the war yeah, but I just don't think that would stick because in the losers will be like charge is missing the point of what a war is for like a war occurs when you can't come to a diplomatic solution and agreeing that you're going to abide by the results of this robot boxing match is a diplomatic solution if you can agree to that you can agree to other things you can agree.
Whether border will be drawn. Yeah, exactly, so like this concept of what? War is like I think you don't understand. What war is like well like War means. We've run out of options except the physical ones does war main. There's no longer any honor. Because what this is all about is a willingness to honor honor and agreement so War reaches a point where you no one can agree anything with any honor.
I think honor is a strange word here. I feel like it's much more. Just like you cannot trust the other party to abide by agreements even if they seem to be willing to agree. I says gonna kill them instead yeah, that's like. That's what it is. I think that's I think that's what's going on there.
Could a computer write a poem well. Yeah. Yeah easy like computers do that right now, but is it a poem If there's not a certain intent or emotion behind it a poem exists in the mind of the reader not in the right. Yeah, it exists in the mind of the reader not in the writer ok. On that case the of course the answer is yes all these questions about like what are we talking about here right is like the I'm not sure I agree that part may exist in the mind of the reader and not the writer.
Maybe it needs to exist in both, but actually something that is a little bit more relevant to our careers. I don't know if you've seen them, but I've noticed a lot of these videos that are they usually from news sites and their videos, but their videos that just have like stock image in the background and then captions that are running.
Through the basic facts about some situation in the news yeah, they're becoming more and more common now. Yeah, yeah, you know why they're more common it's because they're bought created. You know I know a lot of people who are making humans, who are making these things now the thing that hasn't occurred to me is that these people are being prepared to be put out of a job, and they don't even realize that they're just where they're just getting people used to the idea of these things and also what those people may be doing without.
Realizing it is that they are creating part of the data set upon which the robots are being trained like the existence of these human made videos is part of the data set that the company owns, Which then they're feeding into like they're Markov generator behind the scenes, but there's really an interesting thing and when I when I found out that a huge number of these are produced by robots is like.
Oh that makes perfect sense. I like it makes absolute sense. This is why I'm seeing these all over the place. There's these ways that you can be a be testing them against each other, too. To find which ones are most effective blah blah blah blah blah, but would you say that the robot has made a video?
I think a robot can make a video yes, but let me read this definition of poem. I just found OK a poem is a piece of writing in which the expression of feelings and ideas. This is given intensity by particular attention to diction Rhythm and imagery now. I think a computer as I understand them now can handle the diction Rhythm and imagery, but can they have the expression of feelings and ideas that the poem is based on Ya by that definition and by what we think of as robots today?
No a robot couldn't write a poem. I'm thinking of this in terms of the way. I think about art that what like what does it mean to say that the thing is art? And as always notoriously tricky and my my fallback is is mostly like art has to invoke some feeling from the viewer. That's what are. Is so by my definition I feel like yeah an unconscious thing can produce artwork, which includes poems, but by that definition of what a poem is then clearly we'd have to come to the other conclusion that no a robot can't write a poem because it is not attempting to express anything, but I just don't think that's a good definition a fair enough.
It was just the first one. I found suited my needs are we More Alive than a tree no fair enough. I think alive is a binary. You are or are not alive putting aside the very tricky definition of light. What does it mean to be alive like yeah? We're gonna blow right past that and just say there's a thing that we can agree upon, which is the concept of aliveness that is a binary State?
That's not a floating-point integer. We are literally only halfway through the book, so we're only about halfway through my questions, but I think we'd better stop, and we can use the second half of the book. I'll put the second half of the book back behind the glass from behind a glass yet great.
Here's one final 1/2 Mile. Does your dog think about you when you're at work? Or not around because you and I both work from home. Let's say if we work away from home, and if you owned a dog right do dogs think about their owners when their owners are at work. Well. What do you think really part of me?
Can't imagine a scenario where they kind of forget you exist and then when you turn up. It's like oh my God. I completely forgot that person exists. This is the best thing ever that would explain why they're so incredibly happy when you get home because they had forgotten you existed, then you just come back to life.
I don't know this comes back to what we discussed. Recently about how just how human dogs are certainly lowly knows he has my car from Miles Away who cuz she's always at the window when I pull up, but you know again, that could just be a learned response to a certain sound, but I think they do you think if you could read inside the dogs heads.
They would know that you exist when they don't see you there certainly an anxiety for something. That's missing move that is sated by your. Reappearance. whether or not they can visualize what that thing is like whether they just feel an anxiety or they fit their feeling and anxiety that saying. I wish Brady was here.
I just ready was back. He's simply nice. I don't know I think they probably do. Well, what do you think for me? This is very simple? Yeah? I don't care what the answer is I choose to believe that the dogs miss you when you're gone.
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