The Christian Transhumanist Podcast

Explore Christianity and Transhumanism, diving deep into the relationship between religion, technology, and the future of the human race—with provocative guests from the leading edges of science and theology.

iTunes email RSS

Ep 37: Robin Hanson & The Elephant in the Brain

(download)

Robin Hanson explores a future of robotic human uploads, helps us worry about The Great Filter, gives us strategies for living in a Simulation, and casually points out the Elephant in the Brain.

Bio:

Robin Hanson is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University and a research associate of the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University. He is the author of The Age of Em: Work, Love and Life when Robots Rule the Earth and
The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life, with co-author Kevin Simler.

Topics:

  • Is Robin a "sex redistribution professor"?
  • The Elephant in the Brain
    • Why do we hide our actual motives from ourselves?
    • Ignorance as a strategy
    • The log in the eye — Jesus' version of the elephant in the brain
    • Is the "elephant" an evolutionary version of the Christian concept of a "fallen nature"?
    • Does anyone believe in creationism?
  • Where does religion come from?
  • What will life be like when robots rule the earth?
  • Why human brains will probably be with us for a very long time
  • The Great Filter
    • Read about The Great Filter, or watch the TEDx talk
    • What stands between dead matter, and expanding lasting life?
    • "Something out there is killing everything, and you're likely next."
  • How to live in a simulation


Books & Links:


(Watch the video of this conversation)


Ep 37: Robin Hanson & The Elephant in the Brain
Micah Redding
2018-05-15 14:03:00
01:26:24