ReConsider

Erik Fogg
  • 4.8 (119)
  • Philosophy
  • Updated Biweekly

A podcast to examine your life, because the unexamined life is not worth living. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 2d ago

    [2.7] A Primate Contemplates Superintelligence

    Over time, we have been able to cognize in totally novel ways. We have been able to teach these novel cognitions to our fellow humans. We can teach some of them to other great apes. We can teach dogs some language and concepts. We can't teach anything to rats. Today, your favorite podcasting primate contemplates what superintelligent AI could look like or mean. How can we relate to something that is 2x, 5x, 100x smarter than we are? How will it relate to us? SOURCES: Leslie, Curious: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends on It (2014)Terrace, Nim Chimpsky research (Columbia, 1970s)McGilchrist, The Master and His Emissary (2009) Jaspers, The Origin and Goal of History (1949) Luria, Cognitive Development: Its Cultural and Social Foundations (Harvard University Press, 1976)Flynn & Weiss (2007) McGinn, "Can We Solve the Mind-Body Problem?", Mind 98 (1989) Nagel, "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" (1974)Good, "Speculations Concerning the First Ultraintelligent Machine," Advances in Computers vol. 6 (1965) Vinge, "The Coming Technological Singularity" (1993) Bostrom, Superintelligence (2014) Urban, "The AI Revolution" (Wait But Why, 2015) Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    [2.7] A Primate Contemplates Superintelligence

  2. Aug 10

    [2.6] The One Wisdom

    Today we explore wisdom. Not the "don't put tomatoes in a fruit salad" kind. Serious business wisdom. It turns out, the wise tend to converge on understanding the world in a similar way. In the 20th century, philosophical titans saw this convergence. They look back to the original seers of wisdom and see in them parallels that run so deep, that upon deep contemplation of these philosophies, they found a "highest common factor," including among: Epicteus, Marcus Aurelius, and the StoicsPlato, and various Neoplatonists such as PlotinusSpinoza, SchopenhauerPossibly Hegel, Wittgenstein, though they are famously difficult to interpretJiddu KrishnamurtiLao Tzu, who authored the Tao Te ChingALso Chuang Tzu and Lieh TzuJewish philosophers such as Philo of AlexandriaSufi mystics of Islam, most famously Jalal al-Din RumiJesus of NazarethSt. PaulMeister Eckhart, the mystic Christian St. Jon of the CrossHinduism:The Sages of the UpanishadsAdi Shankara’s The Crest-Jewel of WisdomThe Bhagavad GitaThe BuddhaParticularly Zen masters who followedVarious SutrasThe Bardo Thodol It is the Perennial Philosophy. I call it the One Wisdom. Huxley called it the “Highest Common Factor” of universal truth. SOURCES Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus. 1942. Huxley, Aldous. The Perennial Philosophy. Harper & Row, 1945. John of the Cross, St. Dark Night of the Soul (La noche oscura del alma). Jung, C. G. Letters, Volume 1: 1906–1950. Princeton University Press. Kahan, Dan. Identity-protective cognition research (cross-referenced, this project). Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (Liuzu Tan Jing). Polanyi, Michael. Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy. University of Chicago Press, 1958. Polanyi, Michael. The Tacit Dimension. Doubleday, 1966. Tolle, Eckhart. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. Dutton, 2005. Tao Te Ching (Laozi). Watts, Alan. Become What You Are. Shambhala, 1995 (essays, 1930s–1950s). Watts, Alan. Out of Your Mind: Tricksters, Interdependence, and the Cosmic Game of Hide-and-Seek. Sounds True, 2017. Watts, Alan. The Wisdom of Insecurity. Pantheon, 1951. Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. 1921. Wright, Robert. Why Buddhism Is True. Simon & Schuster, 2017. Xiangyan Zhixian — traditional Chan/Zen biographical account (Tang dynasty, c. 820–898). Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu), "On the Equality of Things" ("Discussion on Making All Things Equal"). Bible. Job 42:5–6; Luke 15:11–32 (KJV). Bhagavad Gita, 2.47. Ovid. Metamorphoses. McGilchrist, Iain. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. Yale University Press, 2009. Miles Kington. Quoted in The Independent (UK), Mar 28, 2003.  Joseph Campbell. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Pantheon, 1949 — "Freedom to Live," Stage 17.  Eckhart Tolle. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. New World Library, 1997  Ramana Maharshi, quoted in Ram Dass, "Dying Is Absolutely Safe" Alan Watts, Become Who You Are.  Sam Harris, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion.  Dalai Lama & Paul Ekman, Emotional Awareness: Overcoming the Obstacles to Psychological Balance and Compassion. Times Books, 2008 Emmet Fox, The Sermon on the Mount Ernest Kurtz & Katherine Ketcham, The Spirituality of Imperfection. Bantam Byron Katie, Loving What Is. Harmony, 2002.  Diana Chapman & Jim Dethmer (with Kaley Klemp), The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership. 2014. Epictetus, Discourses / Enchiridion. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations. Plato, Republic Plotinus, The Enneads. Spinoza, Ethics Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation. Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit.  Jiddu Krishnamurti, Freedom from the Known  Philo of Alexandria, On the Creation of the World.  1 Corinthians 1:20, 1:25, 3:19 — "the wisdom of the world is foolishness" John 14:6 — "I am the way, the truth, and the life."  John 8:12 — "I am the light of the world." Galatians 2:20 or 2 Corinthians 5:17 -- "in Christ" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    [2.6] The One Wisdom

  3. Aug 3

    [2.5] The End of Education

    We explore the state of education just before the rise of AI, compare it to today, and extrapolate into the future. Sources Tyler Jagt, "My Students Can't Read," Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026. NAEP Long-Term Trend AssessmentPew Research, "Reading for fun has become less common," 2021.James S. Coleman et al., Equality of Educational Opportunity ("The Coleman Report"), US Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1966Kathryn Borman & Monique Dowling, Teachers College Record, 2010.Dan Goldhaber, "The Mystery of Good Teaching," Education Next, 2002 Steven Rivkin, Eric Hanushek & John Kain, teacher-effects study, Econometrica, 2005. Xitao Fan & Michael Chen, parental-involvement meta-analysis, Educational Psychology Review, 2001 World Bank, "Vietnam's Human Capital: Education Success and Future Challenges," 2020 (PISA science outperformance on low per-pupil spend). OECD, "Does Money Buy Strong Performance in PISA?", PISA in Focus No. 13, 2012 (no score/spending relationship above ~$35k cumulative per-student spend). NCES, Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 236.55 (US per-pupil spending, $6,873 → $17,495 real dollars, 1970-71 to 2020-21)Boston Globe, 2001 coverage of Harvard grading ("laughing stock of the Ivy League"; 91% of seniors graduating with honors). Harvard Crimson, Oct. 5, 2023 (~79-80% of 2020-21 grades in the A range)Anemona Hartocollis, "Harvard Students Skip Class and Still Get High Grades, Faculty Say," New York Times, Oct. 6, 2025. Gallup, confidence-in-higher-education tracking, July 2023 and July 2024 releases (57% in 2015 → 36% in 2023/24; Republican confidence ~56%→~19-20%, Democratic decline much smaller)Pew Research, Aug. 2019 (share saying colleges have a negative effect on the country, 26%→38%, 2012-2019, driven almost entirely by Republicans/leaners)Challenge Success (Stanford, Denise Pope), Fall 2018 surveyMark Galloway, cheating in advantaged-community schools, Ethics & Behavior, 2012Stacy Dale & Alan Krueger, "Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College," NBER WP 7322, Aug. 1999; Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2002. Follow-up: NBER WP 17159, Jun. 2011; Journal of Human Resources, 2014.ProPublica & The Chronicle of Higher Education, "The Newest College Admissions Ploy: Paying to Make Your Teen a 'Peer-Reviewed' Author," May 2023.Nataliya Kosmyna et al., "Your Brain on ChatGPT," MIT Media Lab, arXiv:2506.08872, 2025. Hao-Ping (Hank) Lee et al., "The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking," CHI 2025, peer-reviewed, n=319. Turnitin AI-detection data, 2023-2026 (>80% AI-written flags: ~3% early 2023 → ~15% early 2026).Inside Higher Ed / Generation Lab Student Voice survey, Aug. 2025Rose Horowitch, "The Elite College Students Who Can't Read Books," The Atlantic, Oct. 2024. "Hilarius Bookbinder," "The Average College Student Is Illiterate," Persuasion, Mar. 2025. Tyler Jagt, "My Students Can't Read," Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026. NAEP 2024 12th-grade reading assessment, released Sept. 2025 (lowest since assessment began). Erik Brynjolfsson, Bharat Chandar & Ruyu Chen (Stanford Digital Economy Lab), "Canaries in the Coal Mine?," Nov. 2025, ADP payroll dataIndeed Hiring Lab, entry-level software postings2U, coding-bootcamp partnership shutdown, Dec. 2024.Southern New Hampshire University, bootcamp closure, 2023, citing AI adoption.World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report, 2023 & 2025 McKinsey Global Institute, "Skill Shift," 2018 Stefan Bauschard, "Education is a Wicked Problem in AI" Brian Miller, "Farewell, Peak Literacy, We Hardly Knew You," Front Porch Republic, Nov. 2023. James Marriott, The New Dark Ages: The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    [2.5] The End of Education

  4. Jul 27

    [2.4] You Sit Upon a Throne of Lies

    It's amazing how useful illusion is for surviving in a cave, and staggering how destructive it is to our lives. The Buddha saw this 2500 years ago. Modern science sees it more clearly than ever. In this episode I did not even get into the Fundamental Attribution Error or the vast suite of cognitive biases and logical fallacies to which we are prone. But we are not doomed to live like this! SOURCES Yes, I read these! Brickman, Coates & Janoff-Bulman (1978), J. Personality & Social Psychology 36. Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness (2006)  Gazzaniga & LeDoux, The Integrated Mind (1978). Kurzban, Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind (2010) Wright, Why Buddhism Is True (2017)  Fadiman & Gruber, Your Symphony of Selves (2020)  Hunt, Marx, Lipson & Young (2018), J. Social & Clinical Psychology 37. Allcott, Braghieri, Eichmeyer & Gentzkow (2020), American Economic Review 110(3). Scitovsky, The Joyless Economy (1976). Wrigley & Schofield, The Population History of England 1541–1871 (1981) Killingsworth & Gilbert (2010), Science 330. Kasser, The High Price of Materialism (2002). Einstein–Born correspondence (1926); Bohr–Einstein debate. McGilchrist, The Master and His Emissary (2009); McGilchrist Substack, Apr 2026 (Kastner 2024 paper). Mercier & Sperber, "Why Do Humans Reason?" (2011), Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Haidt, The Righteous Mind (2012)  Trivers, The Folly of Fools (2011) Kahan, "Ideology, Motivated Reasoning, and Cognitive Reflection" (2012) Dunbar, Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language (1996); Dunbar, Duncan & Marriott (1997). Hardin & Higgins (1996); Higgins & Rholes (1978); Echterhoff, Higgins & Levine (2009), Perspectives on Psychological Science Kopietz et al. (2010), Social Cognition Festinger, When Prophecy Fails (1956). Plato, Apology 38a5–6; Republic Book VII (514a–520a) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    [2.4] You Sit Upon a Throne of Lies

  5. Jul 20

    [2.3] Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

    As AI's capability grows, what once-human tasks will it be able to do, by when? What will those displaced humans do? We look to the automation revolutions of the past to see what the historical pattern has been, and explore in what ways AI is different that could change the pattern. The pattern will change. The implications are immense. Sources Leontief's horse. Wassily Leontief, 1983, National Academy of Engineering symposium The Long-Term Impact of Technology on Employment and Unemployment. Quote and horse-population figures via Brynjolfsson & McAfee, "Will Humans Go the Way of Horses?", Foreign Affairs (2015): https://www.foreignaffairs.com/world/will-humans-go-way-horses Software developer pay. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Software Developers (SOC 15-1252): https://www.bls.gov/oes/2021/may/oes151252.htm · https://www.bls.gov/oes/2022/may/oes151252.htm · https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes151252.htm · Occupational Outlook Handbook: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm · Total-comp figure: Levels.fyi (2026). AI timelines (experts). Katja Grace et al., "Thousands of AI Authors on the Future of AI" (2023 survey, 2,778 researchers): https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.02843 · https://aiimpacts.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Thousands_of_AI_authors_on_the_future_of_AI.pdf AI timelines (forecasters). Metaculus (community forecasts; live figures): "first general AI system" https://www.metaculus.com/questions/5121/ · "weakly general AI" https://www.metaculus.com/questions/3479/ Goldman Sachs. "An AI Job Apocalypse?", Goldman Sachs Research, June 25, 2026: https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/top-of-mind/an-ai-job-apocalypse (Goldman's own view is that the disruption is temporary.) Occupational exposure. Tyna Eloundou, Sam Manning, Pamela Mishkin, Daniel Rock, "GPTs are GPTs," Science 384 (2024): https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj0998 · working paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130 Entry-level cracks. Stanford Digital Economy Lab, "Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of AI" (Nov 2025): https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/app/uploads/2025/11/CanariesintheCoalMine_Nov25.pdf Current labor data. Maxim Massenkoff & Peter McCrory, "Labor Market Impacts of AI: A New Measure and Early Evidence," Anthropic (Mar 5, 2026): https://www.anthropic.com/research/labor-market-impacts (Note: Anthropic funds both the models and this research.) Depression unemployment anchor. U.S. unemployment peaked near 25% in 1933 (verify exact figure before citing on air). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    [2.3] Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

  6. Jul 13

    [2.2] Obliviscere Mori

    How much of your life -- and everyone's -- is a compulsive, futile effort to deny your own death? What happens when you see what's really happening? Sources Leontief’s horse. Wassily Leontief, 1983, National Academy of Engineering symposium Humans and Horses. Brynjolfsson & McAfee, “Will Humans Go the Way of Horses?”, Foreign Affairs (2015): https://www.foreignaffairs.com/world/will-humans-go-way-horses Software developer pay. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Software Developers (SOC 15-1252): https://www.bls.gov/oes/2021/may/oes151252.htm · https://www.bls.gov/oes/2022/may/oes151252.htm · https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes151252.htm · Occupational Outlook Handbook: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm Total-comp figure: Levels.fyi (2026). AI timelines (experts). Katja Grace et al., “Thousands of AI Authors on the Future of AI” (2023 survey, 2,778 researchers): https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.02843 · https://aiimpacts.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Thousands_of_AI_authors_on_the_future_of_AI.pdf Goldman Sachs. “An AI Job Apocalypse?”, Goldman Sachs Research, June 25, 2026: https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/top-of-mind/an-ai-job-apocalypse (Goldman’s own view is that the disruption is temporary.) Occupational exposure. Tyna Eloundou, Sam Manning, Pamela Mishkin, Daniel Rock, “GPTs are GPTs,” *Science* 384 (2024): https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj0998 · working paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130 Stanford Digital Economy Lab, “Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of AI” (Nov 2025): https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/app/uploads/2025/11/CanariesintheCoalMine_Nov25.pdf Current labor data. Maxim Massenkoff & Peter McCrory, “Labor Market Impacts of AI: A New Measure and Early Evidence,” Anthropic (Mar 5, 2026): https://www.anthropic.com/research/labor-market-impacts  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    [2.2] Obliviscere Mori

  7. Jul 6

    [2.1] Exponential Growth is a SOB

    Look over the growth if AI's capability in the past 3 years, and the past year. What is it going to look like in 3 years, and what are the implications for all of us? Some visions of the future of AI by some researchers on the cutting edge: https://ai-2027.com/ Dario Amodei, Machines of Loving Grace (October 2024) Leopold Aschenbrenner, Situational Awareness: The Decade Ahead (June 2024) Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies (2025) Nick Bostrom, Deep Utopia (2024) The skeptics: Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI as Normal Technology (2025) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    [2.1] Exponential Growth is a SOB

  8. Jun 1

    [2.0] An Introduction to ReConsider 2.0

    A brief guide on how to get the most out of the new ReConsider Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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About

A podcast to examine your life, because the unexamined life is not worth living. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Erik Fogg
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    191
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Erik Fogg
  • Show Website
    ReConsider

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