Manifold

Steve Hsu
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Manifold

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Join him for wide-ranging conversations with leading writers, scientists, technologists, academics, entrepreneurs, investors, and more.

  1. 6 DAYS AGO

    Letter from Shanghai: Reflections on China in 2024 — #73

    (00:00) - Overview: 3 weeks in China (02:33) - The China knowledge problem: Grappling with Reality (06:54) - Physics seminars in Shanghai and Beijing (15:54) - Chinese academia, challenges in scientific culture (22:43) - Yu Min: Two Bombs, One Satellite (27:02) - He Jiankui and gene editing, plus the future of biotech in China (33:32) - China's AI and chip war strategy. Impact of U.S. policies on semiconductor industry (35:46) - Quiet confidence in China's technological advancements (37:17) - Discovering my father's history in Yunnan, etched in stone (41:04) - Climbing Jade Mountain on election night: Trump Triumph (48:31) - Shanghai modern infrastructure and technology (51:16) - High-speed rail in China (53:12) - Visit China - or at least watch some travel videos on YouTube!     Links to X posts made during my trip - check out the whole timeline during this period.   PPP and US vs PRC Real GDP https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1851653168158949492   PhD student asks me whether Jews control US politics: https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1852179736035778768   Note to retards, on "Chicoms": https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1852195575434715645   Yu Min and the Chinese H-bomb: https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1852497112635671016 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1852497765353558371   Me and He Jiankui: https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1852693355601199262   Dali: https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1853239642075648356 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1853247317840629820 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1853301562480718195   Lijiang: https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1854395254105047484 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1854503079669838057   MAGA on the Mountain: https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1854015799901495674   Business-class lie flat seats on HSR: https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1855042439280791977   Kumming: https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1855050351755641106 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1855409317937098864 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1855748351855071433 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1856215080637215222 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1856239700362834006 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1856533059509653578 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1856634646160683273   Shanghai: https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1857282310099386857 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1857391783770276314 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1857574060122845381 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1857653348557603255 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1858033981276467535   Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure. -- Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

    1 hr

  2. 7 NOV

    Letter from Beijing, with Han Feizi — #72

    Han Feizi is the pseudonym of a columnist for Asia Times, who covers the Chinese economy, technology, and US-China competition. The author lives in Beijing, and has an extensive background in finance and investment banking. Han Feizi's articles for Asia Times: https://asiatimes.com/author/han-feizi/   Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to the guest: Han Feizi01:39 What it's like in Beijing right now 06:38 Modern Conveniences in Beijing 12:11 What the economy feels like for ordinary people 19:09 China's economic structure: consumption, infrastructure investment, Michael Pettis 30:32 Currency Valuation and PPP: real PRC is significantly larger than US economy 31:45 US high living standards and manufacturing competitiveness 34:13 Globalization and its discontents 40:15 Reversing globalization and the myth of American exceptionalism 45:58 China's increasingly high quality standards and quality of life 58:09 Whither China? Xi Jinping Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure. -- Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

    1h 2m

  3. 24 OCT

    Seeking Truth From Facts: Israel and Iran, Missile Defense, China Economic Development

    This is a crossover episode with the Seeking Truth From Facts podcast.   (00:00) - Iranian missile attack vs Israel and missile defense (13:10) - Is there potential for a 1973-style oil crisis? (21:41) - Is NATO getting tired of the proxy war in Ukraine? (25:43) - Why has Europe declined relatively since 2008 and what are the consequences of said decline? (30:13) - Is procyclical European fiscal policy to blame? (34:51) - Has China's infrastructure boom been a white elephant? (41:37) - China's energy grid and solar energy transision (46:57) - Will India catch up to or overtake China? (57:06) - Is liberal democracy really necessary for long-term economic prosperity? (01:00:14) - How did Lee Kuan Yew transform Singapore?   Links:   Iran ballistic missiles and missile defense https://stevehsu.substack.com/p/iran-vs-israel-implications-for-missile   Pershing 2 Missile https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1843450614552113316   Russia-Ukraine war and Iran blowback https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1844551899103863154   India development https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1814994391502667953 https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1815047688829706279 Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure. -- Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

    1h 5m

  4. 10 OCT

    Samo Burja: Intellectuals, Culture. and the Technosphere — #70

    Samo Burja founded Bismarck Analysis, a consulting firm that investigates the political and institutional landscape of society. He is a Senior Research Fellow in Political Science at the Foresight Institute where he advises on how institutions can shape the future of technology. Since 2024, he has chaired the editorial board of Palladium Magazine, a non-partisan publication that explores the future of governance and society through international journalism, long-form analysis, and social philosophy. From 2020 to 2023, he was a Research Fellow at the Long Now Foundation where he studied how institutions can endure for centuries and millennia. Samo writes and speaks on history, institutions, and strategy with a focus on exceptional leaders that create new social and political forms. Image has systematized this approach as “Great Founder Theory.” Steve and Samo discuss: (00:00) - Introduction (01:38) - Meet Samo Burja: Founder of Bismarck Analysis (03:17) - Palladium Magazine: A West Coast Publication (06:37) - The Unique Culture of Silicon Valley (12:53) - Inside Bismarck Analysis: Services and Clients (21:35) - The Role of Technology in Global Innovation (32:13) - The Influence of Rationalists and Effective Altruists (48:07) - European Tech Policies and Global Competition (49:28) - The Role of Taiwan and China in Tech Manufacturing (51:12) - Geopolitical Dynamics and Strategic Alliances (52:49) - China's Provincial Power and Industrial Strategy (56:02) - Urbanization and Demography, Ancient Society (59:41) - Intellectual Pursuits and Cultural Dynamics (01:04:09) - Intellectuals, SF, and Global Influence (01:13:45) - Fertility Rates, Urbanization, and Forgotten Migration (01:22:24) - Interest in Cultural Dynamics and Population Rates (01:26:03) - Daily Life as an Intellectual Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure. -- Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

    1h 37m

  5. 26 SEPT

    Deus Ex Machina: A Man, Machines, and God

    This is a crossover episode in which https://x.com/loubohan interviews me for his podcast Deus Ex Machina. I was obviously in an exuberant mood for this interview - it's one of my favorites! Deus Ex Machina podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7mXUfNJdNnOjGfu6VGactr?si=Y3j1OZG4QsGdPhXd8dKsrw… Timestamps: (00:00) - Growing up in Iowa. Athletics, Chinese culture. KMT and military family background. (11:48) - Hearing about the Cultural Revolution from my dad: his family experienced it firsthand in Zhejiang. Meanwhile, US experts and academics were entirely deluded about reality in PRC (20:55) - "Experts" are often miscalibrated (35:03) - Physicists and finance. Was Charlie Munger right to say it's a waste of talent to channel top brains into finance? (45:15) - Hedgehogs, Foxes, and Eagles. Polymathy. (48:41) - Development of modern China as the greatest story of the last 50 years. My first visit to China: the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in 1992. US-China competition and the future of Asian Americans. (56:52) - Genomic Prediction. Genomics of cognitive ability. Leftists holding back genetic science. PING = NIH-funded Pediatric Imagining, Neurocognition, and Genetics study. Stephen J. Gould was a fraud. Asian culture (pragmatic realism) and resistance to woken... (01:05:20) - Physics and Free Will. Meat machines programmed by evolution to have an illusion of self? (01:10:04) - Copenhagen Interpretation of QM: Is there true randomness in Physics? Many Worlds, Foundations of QM, and groupthink in modern physics. (01:19:09) - Christianity, raised as a Methodist by my mother, whose family has been Christian since the 19th century. Religious Experience vs Physics viewpoint. Meat machines programmed by evolution to have mystical religious feelings? (01:21:28) - Raising children, family, happiness, the meaning of life in view of my father's life (01:24:34) - The meaning of life, "All is Vanity" (Ecclesiastes), Religion Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure. – Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

    1h 30m

  6. 12 SEPT

    Seeking Truth From Facts: Alf & Steve Hsu — #68

    This is a crossover episode in which Alf of the Seeking Truth from Facts podcast interviews Steve Hsu about the Chinese economy and political system, and US-China competition. Seeking Truth From Facts podcast: https://substack.com/@seekingtruthfromfacts/p-148705853 Steve and Alf discuss: (00:00) - Introduction to the Podcast Collaboration (00:48) - Steve Hsu's Background and Expertise (02:22) - US-China Geopolitical Dynamics (28:44) - China's Political System: Meritocracy vs. Autocracy (32:23) - China's Path to Liberalization: Past, Present, and Future (45:57) - Geopolitical Dynamics: China, Russia, and the West Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.– Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

    55 min

  7. 29 AUG

    Letter from Reykjavik: Genomics, Chess, Hyperscaling genAI, and Quantum Black Holes — #67

    This is a short episode recorded at the end of a trip to Caltech (LA), Frankfurt, and Reykjavik. Black hole information and replica wormholes at Caltech (talk slides):https://stevehsu.substack.com/p/black-hole-information-and-replica 00:00 Intro: summer in Iceland 02:04 deCODE genetics  05:52 Chess: Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik 11:56 Hyperscaling genAI 23:11 Synthetic data and Hyperscaling 24:26 Is the Transformer architecture enough for AGI? 29:45 Quantum black holes Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure. -- Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

    36 min

  8. 15 AUG

    Robin Hanson: Prediction Markets, the Future of Civilization, and Polymathy — #66

    Robin Hanson is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He has worked in a variety of fields, including Physics, AI, Economics, and Futurism. Follow him at https://x.com/robinhanson "When the typical economist tells me about his latest research, my standard reaction is 'Eh, maybe.' Then I forget about it. When Robin Hanson tells me about his latest research, my standard reaction is 'No way! Impossible!' Then I think about it for years." -- Prof. Bryan Caplan, GMU 0:00 Introduction 00:34 Welcome and Manifest conference introduction 03:12 Robin Hanson: Education and Early Influences 08:38 Transition from Physics+AI to Social Science and Economics 22:02 Prediction Markets: Potential and Challenges 28:37 Cultural Drift and Challenges to Modern Society 40:49 Fertility and Demography 48:37 Life as a Polymath 59:27 Future of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation Question 01:09:29 Audience Q&A Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure. -- Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

    1h 21m
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About

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Join him for wide-ranging conversations with leading writers, scientists, technologists, academics, entrepreneurs, investors, and more.

Information

  • Creator
    Steve Hsu
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2024
  • Episodes
    124
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Steve Hsu - All Rights Reserved
  • Show Website
    Manifold

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