#26 - David Shapiro - Why We Must Defeat Nihilism

Nihilism has become all too popular, and this man is on a mission to fix that! David is a philosopher and technologist focussed on understanding and healing what he calls the "Nihilism Crisis" - the crisis of meaning the world is currently suffering from, especially as it transitions into the AI age.

If you're interested in AI alignment, game theory, incentive design, Moloch and competition, this is very much a conversation for you. 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:05 - Defeating Moloch 00:08:02 - The Meaning Crisis

00:14:39 - The Third Attractor 00:15:29 - Post-Nihilism

00:19:17 - The Four Abandonments

00:30:13 - Complexity Destruction & Extremism 00:36:40 - Radical Alignment & Body-First Living

00:44:30 - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs 00:48:04 - Accelerationists & Self Abandonment

00:50:43 - Competition & Status Games

00:52:28 - AI & Why Silicon Valley's Vibe Seems Off

00:58:14 - Sam Altman as a High Priest?

00:59:02 - Summarizing Everything so Far 01:01:33 - Mythic Archetypes

01:07:50 - Liv's Favourite Axioms 01:11:35 - Neurodivergence 01:16:17 - Culture Wars 01:26:26 - Creating the Third Attractor State Links: ♾️ David's video: Moloch is Losing! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiCUbJAwmgk ♾️ Slate Star Codex https://slatestarcodex.com/ ♾️ John Vervaeke - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis https://johnvervaeke.com/series/awakening-from-the-meaning-crisis/ ♾️ Daniel Schmactenberger - Finding the Third Attractor State https://consilienceproject.org/media/daniel-schmachtenberger-in-search-of-the-third-attractor-part-1/ ♾️ “Good Enough” Parenting study https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190508134511.htm ♾️ The Status Game - Will Storr https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58642436-the-status-game

♾️ An Immanent Metaphysics https://www.amazon.com/Immanent-Metaphysics-Forrest-Landry/dp/B0CPSJ647N ♾️ Roger Walsh - Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes https://drrogerwalsh.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/LMH-Summary-for-California-Psychologist-2018-12-20.pdf ♾️ Self Determination Theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination_theory ♾️ Patricia Churchland - Brain Trust https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691180977/braintrust ♾️ William Ury - Power of the Positive No https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/182089/the-power-of-a-positive-no-by-william-ury/ ♾️ The Fourth Turning - William Strauss, Neil Howe https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/174648/the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss/ Credits: ♾️ Hosted by Liv Boeree ♾️ Produced & Edited by Raymond Wei ♾️ Audio Mix by Keir Schmidt #WinWinPodcast