Infinite Loops

Julian Gough sums up his career as follows: “I just sit in my room and write.” Well, I think being an acclaimed children’s author, novelist, stage playwright, poet and top-ten Irish musician is a little more impressive than he’s letting on… Oh, and I didn’t even mention that he wrote the ending to the computer game Minecraft! His current project, The Egg and The Rock, puts all of this to shame. This book, which Julian is writing in public on Substack, seeks to do no less than redescribe the universe, arguing that is not some random, dead, purposeless sack of chemicals, but instead a living, evolving organism. Julian joins me to discuss why the arc of human evolution bends towards man-made black holes, the hidden catastrophe at the heart of materialist science, the strange life of subterranean ice aliens, and MUCH more! This was such an interesting conversation - I can’t wait for you to hear it. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack. Important Links: Julian’s Website The Egg and The Rock Julian’s Twitter Show Notes: “I just sit in my room and write” Why write a book in public? Materialism & science’s hidden catastrophe “The scientific method is in conflict with human nature” The faulty assumption at the heart of cosmology Big bangs, supermassive black holes & Darwinian evolution: A ~30 minute masterclass in cosmological natural selection “I'm predicting very, very large amounts of life in this universe” The strange life of subterranean ice aliens Could we spot man-made black holes? Bringing consciousness into physics Pulling back the curtain Julian as World Emperor MORE! Books & Articles Mentioned: The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science; by Robert Anton Wilson Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge; by Paul Feyerabend What the Tortoise Said to Achilles; by Lewis Carroll The Life of the Cosmos; by Lee Smolin What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell; by Erwin Schrödinger Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology; by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky The Bhagavad Gita Did the Universe evolve?; by Lee Smolin The Great Filter - Are We Almost Past It?; by Robin Hanson

Ben Reinhardt is the founder of Speculative Technologies “a nonprofit industrial research lab that’s working to unlock a wonderful, abundant future through technologies that don’t have a home in other institutions.” He has previously worked at NASA and Bay Area startups/VC firms, founded a startup building robotics for eldercare, and helped entrepreneurs start companies in Singapore. Oh, and he has a Ph.D. in space robotics from Cornell University and is one of the few people with a B.Sc. in history! Ben, who brings his expertise in emerging technologies to the OSV advisory council, joins the show to discuss why tech people don’t do philanthropy, when to trust a credential, why there aren’t more government moonshot programs, why academia is beholden to the new, and MUCH more! I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack. Important Links: Speculative Technologies Ben’s Twitter Ben’s LinkedIn Show Notes: Speculative Technologies: the four-stage roadmap How early VC funding can affect incentives From ‘eureka!’ to getting it out into the world Market failure & institutional consolidation Where are the moonshot programs? The skills needed to run a research program Why tech people don’t do philanthropy Turning philanthropy into a status game The hidden importance of materials & manufacturing When to trust a credential Agency & American culture Lean ideas vs. fat ideas Why academia is beholden to novelty Ben as World Emperor MORE! Books Mentioned: What Works on Wall Street, Fourth Edition: The Classic Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time; by Jim O’Shaughnessy The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations that Transform the World; by David Deutsch The Road; by Cormac McCarthy The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (A Little) Craziness and (A Lot of) Success in America; by John D. Gartner The Coffee Can portfolio; by Robert G. Kirby

My guest on Infinite Loops this week knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur from the time he was buying and selling things on eBay. Jay Reno claims he didn’t know what the word ‘arbitrage’ meant back then, but if you tug on the colourful threads of his career, you’d reveal the kind of tenacity and resourcefulness that allows special founders like him to repeatedly find value in places that have long been deserted by everybody else. If you listen in on today’s episode, it will become apparent why O’Shaughnessy Ventures invested in Jay and his current venture. Jay is the CEO and Founder of Pointhound, which helps people find amazing deals on flights and travel using their credit card points and miles. He’s also a partner at 645 ventures. Among other fun pursuits, he’s spent the last ten years building all sorts of cool things; like a same-day grocery delivery service, a craft coffee company, a restaurant and bar reservation app, and a furniture rental service for city dwellers. We spent our conversation talking about his advice for first-time founders; his learnings from building Pointhound; the whimsical world of credit card point programmes; his thoughts on consumer psychology; and much more! For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack. Important Links: Jay’s Twitter Jay’s LinkedIn 645 Ventures Pointhound HQ Show Notes: How To Bring Your Idea To Life The Virtues of the Y-Combinator Model Picking the Right Investor Pointhound & The Points Game On Consumer Psychology and Trying New Things Removing the Invisible Barrier Product Cycles and User Feedback Slow Down to Speed Up The Common Pitfalls in Building Consumer Products The Credit Card Prestige Factor The Cashback Conundrum The Future of Pointhound Jay, The Emperor of The World Books & Articles Mentioned: My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla; by Nikola Tesla Mistakes were Made. (And, Yes, by Me.); by Jim O’Shaughnessy

My guest today is Michael Garfield, a paleontologist, futurist, writer, podcast host and strategic advisor whose “mind-jazz” performances — essays, music and fine art — bridge the worlds of art, science and philosophy. This year, Michael received a $10k O’Shaughnessy Grant for his “Humans On the Loop” discussion series, which explores the nature of agency, power, responsibility and wisdom in the age of automation. This whirlwind discussion is impossible to sum up in a couple of sentences (just look at the number of books & articles mentioned!) Ultimately, it is a conversation about a subject I think about every day: how we can live curious, collaborative and fulfilling lives in our deeply weird, complex, probabilistic world. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack. Important Links: Michael’s Website Humans On The Loop Twitter Future Fossils Substack Show Notes: What is “mind jazz”? Humans “ON” the loop? The Red Queen hypothesis and the power of weirdness Probabilistic thinking & the perils of optimization Context collapse, pernicious convenience & coordination at scale How organisations learn Michael as World Emperor MORE! Books, Articles & Podcasts Mentioned: The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves; by W. Brian Arthur Pharmako-AI; by K Allado-McDowell The Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century; by Howard Bloom The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom One Summer: America, 1927; by Bill Bryson Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There; by Lewis Carroll The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World; by David Deutsch Scale Theory: A Nondisciplinary Inquiry; by Joshua DiCaglio Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders and the Rise of Social Engineering; by Malcolm Gladwell The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous; by Joseph Henrich Do Conversation: There's No Such Thing as Small Talk; by Robert Poynton Reality Hunger: A Manifesto; by David Shields The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture; by William Irwin Thompson The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science; by Robert Anton Wilson Designing Neural Media; by K Allado-McDowell Pace Layering: How Complex Systems Learn and Keep Learning; by Steward Brand Losing Humanity: The Case against Killer Robots; by Bonnie Docherty What happens with digital rights management in the real world?; by Cory Doctorow The Evolution of Surveillance Part 1: Burgess Shale to Google Glass; by Michael Garfield An Introduction to Extitutional Theory; by Jessy Kate Schingler 175 - C. Thi Nguyen on The Seductions of Clarity, Weaponized Games, and Agency as Art; Future Fossils with Michael Garfield 🎶⚔️👏🏼 205 - Greg Thomas & Stephanie Lepp on Jazz Leadership & Antagonistic Cooperation; Future Fossils with Michael Garfield 🌏🚜🫀212 - Manfred Laubichler & Geoffrey West on Life In The Anthropocene & Living Inside The Technosphere; Future Fossils with Michael Garfield