It's a great day for an existential crisis! What are the odds that you ever existed at all? Find that out and more on our latest foray into the insanity of existence! BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack References: Nick Bostrom AI TED Talk https://youtu.be/MnT1xgZgkpk All Tomorrows episode inspiration (not directly related)- https://youtu.be/YbuulUQzHRU Deepmind destroying Atari - https://www.infoq.com/news/2020/05/deepmind-ai-atari/ Warming cities -  https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2017/nov/03/three-degree-world-cities-drowned-global-warming The following music was used for this media project: Music: Relaxing Piano Improvisation by Alexander Nakarada Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/5978-relaxing-piano-improvisation License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Artist website: https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com/ Music: Evacuation by Sascha Ende Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/8118-evacuation License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Artist website: https://www.sascha-ende.de Music: Journey Of Hope by Alexander Nakarada Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4718-journey-of-hope License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Artist website: https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

There's no real answer for the question of why we are here. At least not one that we know. Sure, the big bang, evolution, emperors and economies. But that doesn't answer the question of why. Why are we here? Well, we emerged. From what - that is the question. As always, thanks for listening. It means a lot to me that someone, somewhere can hear my thoughts. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Resources: Aristotle: https://se-scholar.com/se-blog/2017/6/23/who-said-the-whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts Space and the distances between: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_travel Emptiness of atoms: https://education.jlab.org/qa/how-much-of-an-atom-is-empty-space.html Exurb1a and hard logicality: https://youtu.be/EH-z9gE2uGY Machine learning: https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/machine-learning.html Crashcourse neural networks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV3ZY6tJiA0 Honeybee honeycombs: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep28341 Music: The Descent by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4490-the-descent License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Anguish by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3373-anguish License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Magic Tavern by Alexander Nakarada Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/9139-magic-tavern License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Leaving Home by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4708-leaving-home License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

When the robot overlords come for me, tell them I'm out grabbing a byte. I joke, but artificial intelligence may legitimately mean the end of life as we know it if we're not careful. In this series I'll be investigating the many facets of AI and what the future may hold for humanity. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Resources: Uyghur genocide, perpetuated by the government of China:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59595952  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/world/asia/china-surveillance-xinjiang.html CRISPR gene editing: https://www.newscientist.com/definition/what-is-crispr/ AlphaFold AI protein folding project: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/alphafold-a-solution-to-a-50-year-old-grand-challenge-in-biology Deep Blue chess AI project: https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/deepblue/ Prions and mad cow disease: https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/all-about-bse-mad-cow-disease Tesla’s AI: https://www.tesla.com/AI Sam Harris TED Talk: https://youtu.be/8nt3edWLgIg Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36576608-flowers-for-algernon Brief history of the universe: https://www.space.com/52-the-expanding-universe-from-the-big-bang-to-today.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_No_Mouth,_and_I_Must_Scream Kardashev scale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale A significant portion of the video was inspired by CGP Grey’s video on AI, it is definitely worth a watch: https://youtu.be/7Pq-S557XQU Music: Deep Relaxation Preview by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5726-deep-relaxation-preview License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Healing by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3860-healing License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

There is little doubt in my mind that artificial intelligence is the most fascinating, utterly confusing, and potentially dangerous development mankind will go through. In the near future, we will need to face ethical questions of such kind as, do we grant personhood to AI? How do we determine who qualifies as a person and therefore is afforded ‘human rights’? What restrictions, if any, are necessary on personhood and artificial intelligence to ensure the flourishing and continuation of life? What I believe lies at the very heart of this discussion, is consciousness. Consciousness as subjective experience of the world seems to be more or less how we determine right from wrong. We find it immoral to cause harm to a subjectively experiencing entity, from babies to puppies, so long as we agree that they are in fact capable of subjective experience. Will AI develop this felt experience? And how will we tell? These questions, and more, I hope to address in this new series. Take care guys. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Music credits: Impact Prelude by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/7565-impact-prelude License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Quite a messy episode. Freedom of speech is messy. Even so, I hope to convince you of the truth of what Voltaire stood for. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Links- Voltaire's Treatise on Tolerance:  https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/voltaire1763.pdf Life and times of Voltaire: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/voltaire/ Voltaire's Candide: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19942/19942-h/19942-h.htm Hong Kong autonomy: https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/China-retreats-from-50-year-pledge-of-Hong-Kong-autonomy2 Mao ZeDong's sparrow drive: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0306422018800259 Whorf hypothesis: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/sapir-whorf-hypothesis George Orwell's 1984: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021.txt Music credits: Waltz (Tschikovsky Op. 40) by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4605-waltz-tschikovsky-op-40- License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Pride by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4239-pride License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Leaving Home by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4708-leaving-home License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

As with many of Plato's works, it is legitimately impossible to overstate the impact and significance of Plato's Republic on our society, development, and life in general. As I explore the smallest fraction of the wisdom within, I relay and relate my thoughts on the January 6th attack on the Capitol Building of the United States of America. Perhaps there is something we can learn from Plato that may help us through this time. Or perhaps not. But if there is even the slightest chance that something can save our republic, I believe it is absolutely worth a try. Read Plato's Republic at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1497/1497-h/1497-h.htm BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Music credits: Relent by Kevin MacLeod - volume adjustments Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4274-relent License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Canon In D For Two Renaissance Harps by Kevin MacLeod - volume adjustments Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/6958-canon-in-d-for-two-renaissance-harps License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Energizing by Kevin MacLeod - volume adjustments Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5709-energizing License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Adding The Sun by Kevin MacLeod - volume adjustments Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5708-adding-the-sun License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Truth in the Stones by Kevin MacLeod - volume adjustments Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4550-truth-in-the-stones License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Hermann Hesse wrote in German, but the concepts within are indescribable in any language. Watch and listen to my struggle to understand. And please, if you can...enlighten us. Video link: https://youtu.be/PeBec7wzgGM Read Siddhartha from Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2500/2500-h/2500-h.htm Listen to the audiobook from LibriVox: https://librivox.org/siddhartha-by-hermann-hesse/ BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack

In Defense of Sam Harris. Politics are not the most important thing in my life; that spot is reserved for philosophy. Sam Harris found himself in a defensive political game for much of the past few years, which is really a shame as his academic work seems to me much more important a place for Sam to put his PhD brain to use. In this episode I argue that taking breaks from political life is important if you wish to not be entirely consumed by it. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Sam Harris and Dave Rubin on the Rubin Report: https://youtu.be/zQqxlzHJrU0 Sam Harris on Bill Maher with special guest Batman (Ben Affleck): https://youtu.be/vln9D81eO60 Music credits: Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3522-cold-funk License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - fade in/out Sax, Rock, and Roll by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4324-sax-rock-and-roll License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - fade in/out --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Love it or hate it, we are all here today because of capitalism. There are few if any global systems more well-developed than our markets and free trade. Listen to my personal philosophy, the general philosophy of capitalism, and its modern foundations in the writings of Adam Smith in this rather more controversial podcast episode. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Learn more about the topics discussed: Biography of Adam Smith: https://www.investopedia.com/updates/adam-smith-wealth-of-nations/ Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3300/3300-h/3300-h.htm Locke’s Second Treatise on Government: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7370/7370-h/7370-h.htm Capitalism: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalism.asp Global poverty statistics: https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty? Music credits: Peace of Mind by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4199-peace-of-mind License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Canon In D For Two Harps by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/6959-canon-in-d-for-two-harps License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ SCP-x5x (Outer Thoughts) by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/6735-scp-x5x-outer-thoughts- License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

What does it mean to be a liberal? The grandfather of liberalism, John Locke, will tell you it boils down to three fundamental principles of human existence: the right to life, liberty, and property. It is no exaggeration to say that John Locke laid the foundations of freedom for the world to follow. Listen to my rundown of the more poignant points of his philosophy. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Learn more about the topics discussed- Read Locke's Two Treatises of Civil Government: https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/john-locke-two-treatises-1689#lf0057_head_003 Sir Robert Filmer, Locke's ideological opponent: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Filmer Marduk and Babylon:  https://www.ancient.eu/Marduk/ Dr. Jordan Peterson's lecture encompassing Marduk: https://youtu.be/R_GPAl_q2QQ The Mandate of Heaven in Chinese culture: https://www.ancient.eu/Mandate_of_Heaven/ Music credits: Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out White by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4626-white License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out Samba Isobel by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4316-samba-isobel License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out Sad Trio by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4314-sad-trio License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app