45: More Knowledge, More Problems. The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch Made You Think

“It is inevitable that we face problems but no particular problem is inevitable we survive and thrive by solving each problem as it comes up, and since the human ability to transform nature is limited only by the laws of physics none of the endless stream of problems will ever constitute an impassable barrier”
In this episode of Made You Think, Neil and Nat discuss The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch. It’s a playful, meandering book on explanations that transform the world, covering evolution, physics, philosophy, politics, ecology, money, memetics, epistemology, history. It ties everything to the central idea that with enough knowledge anything possible, is achievable.
“Every putative physical transformation to be performed in a given time with given resources or under any other conditions is either impossible because it is forbidden by the laws of nature or achievable given the right knowledge.”
We cover a wide range of topics, including:
Wrapping our brains around the concepts of advanced topics like infinity Thinking of problems as a gap in our knowledge that can be solved The repeating cycle of problem > solution > new problem Tangents on Aquatic Apes, Egyptology and Sphinxes Universality of systems Optimistic vs Pessimistic view points And so much more! Please enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch.
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episode on Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter for a similar kind of book covering a wide range of topics. Also our episode on Leverage Points by Donella Meadows for how we should approach complex systems.
Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we’re running, special events, and more.
Links from the Episode Mentioned in the show Lindy Effect [3:20] Multiverse Concept [5:03] Quantum Entanglement [5:05] Theory of relativity [5:13] Infinity [5:25] Cholera [8:17] Empiricism [11:38] Fallibilism [15:02] The Mediocrity Principle [18:50] Anthropocentrism [19:00] Geocentrism [19:38] Garden of Eden [20:35] Rare Earth Hypothesis [20:40] Anthropomorphism [22:20] Quantum Theory [26:22] Aquatic Apes [30:43] Darwin’s Dangerous Idea [31:32] Confirmation Bias [31:50] Universality [33:22] Roman Numerals [33:30] Hieroglyphics [35:42] Reductionism [39:50] Lady Lovelace’s Objection [42:00] Chinese Room [48:00] Turing Test [48:02] DARPA [48:15] Netflix - Eddie Murphy Shows [50:55] Chris Rock - Controversial stand up [51:25] Chris Rock - Gun Control stand up [51:50] AlphaGo [52:43] MadeYouThink Podcast - Patreon Support [54:10] Death of the Universe [56:10] DMT [59:30] Neuralink [59:47] Neural lace [59:48] Malthus [1:01:04] X Prize [1:07:50] The Jungle - Characters [1:08:35] Sphinx [1:10:17] Joe Rogan Experience Podcast - Sphinx Episode [1:10:17] Semmelweis Reflex [1:15:30] Kevin Simler - Crony Belief [1:20:25] The China Study [1:23:30] Dos Toros [1:27:05] Toms Shoes [1:28:52] Postmodernism [1:29:30] XKCD Comic - Purity of Fields [1:34:01] Books mentioned The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter [1:22] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) The Jungle by Upton Sinclair [3:36] (Nat’s notes) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand [3:39] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Darwin’s Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett [3:56] (book episode) The Denial of Death [8:55] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley [9:44] I Am A Strange Loop - Douglas Hofstadter [17:20] (Podcast Episode) Rare Earth by Donald Brownlee [20:25] Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari [24:23] (Nat’s notes) (book episode part 1 & part 2) The Secret by Rhonda Byrne [25:56] The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle [39:40] Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb [41:55] (Nat’s notes) (Neil’s notes) (book episode) Homo Deus by Yuval Harari [43:45] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) The Elephant in the Brain by Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson [43:50] Th