Evolve Faster with Scott Ely

Latest Episodes:

EF19 (BTP-EF4): Head Transplantations and Finding Inspiration for Speculative Fiction — Behind the Podcast of Episode EF4 Jun 25, 2019

Show notes

The driving question of this episode (and this BTP) for you to think through is ... How can you know anything? It’s a fascinating question that actually has surprisingly little research or philosophical investigation. You’re about to listen to a Behind the Podcast (BTP) of Episode EF4, which was Season 1, Episode 2 of the Evolve Faster Podcast titled The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide.

EF18 (AMA-EF3): The Mystical Allure of Converting to Buddhism and Speculating about Quantum Mechanics— Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3 Jun 18, 2019

Show notes

The first episode of the first season of the Evolve Faster Podcast Episode is driven by the big question What Am I Supposed To Do. We as human beings are known for making bad decisions in the moments of desperation. And what crisis than the existential crisis? Possibilities are limitless, correct answers next to none and there is no how-to manual. Ready to start?

EF17 (BTP-EF3): What Am I Supposed To Do, Free Will and Other Everyday Problems — Behind the Podcast of Episode EF3 Jun 11, 2019

Show notes

The first episode of the first season of the Evolve Faster Podcast Episode starts with the big question that’s always lurking in your head: “What Am I Supposed To Do?” And it’s not referring to your lunch plans. Instead, it’s asking what will you until the inevitable day comes when you’re 6 feet underground to make sure you live a satisfying life of meaning? And let’s assume there’s no lunch down there to worry about anyway.

(EF16) BTP: On Creative Writing, Video Games and the Future of the Evolve Faster Podcast (About Antonio Rozich) Jun 04, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, we go behind the scenes where Scott Ely talks to Antonio Rozich — his creative collaborator and co-writer on most of the episodes — on how they met, what it takes to be a creative writer and other odd background stories from creating Season One of Evolve Faster Podcast. From joint eureka moments to pointless yet heated arguments over if a character should go left or right on a river fork, this interview dissects how creativity can sometimes be better as both a shared and an individual process.

EF15 (AMA): Ask Me Anything — About Scott Ely and Evolving a Philosophy of Life May 29, 2019

Show notes

Welcome to the first Ask me Anything (AMA) Episode, which will be loosely framed around the question ... Who controls your narrative? Evolve Faster is my laboratory to write and think about ideas in an attempt to learn to be a better human…which can be surprisingly difficult. But with a series of minor mindset shifts, it doesn’t have to be so hard.

EF14 (BTP): Behind the Evolve Faster Podcast — The Making of a Speculative Fiction Meets Philosophical Nonfiction Podcast May 21, 2019

Show notes

Pose yourself this thought experiment: What if you could start over with a brain unhindered by evolutionary hangovers? A fresh life with no societal baggage and an aspirational soul with a complete focus towards finding meaning to your existence? In other words, what if that nagging question—what in the hell am I supposed to do?—was easy to answer?

EF13 (S1-E11): The Bloody Fingerprint of Creativity May 07, 2019

Show notes

Facing serious amnesia, Eric Clemens with the help of Dr. Eden Harper tries to recollect his lost memories. Dr. Harper takes an unconventional road not only to help Eric track his past, but to create a foundation for his future as well. As they dig deeper and deeper, Eric has to face demons he didn’t even know existed. This episode of the Evolve Faster Podcast will investigate what art is and how do we perceive the concept of creating art. Through psychological theories ranging from William James to Carl Jung with a neuroscientific backup, the goal is to demystify the long-living mystery as it turns out--what art is and what we believe it to be are two entirely different ideas. Even more important, people who are capable to create art might not just be a chosen few.

EF12 (S1-E10): Wired to Fail: Leveling Up in the Game of Life Apr 23, 2019

Show notes

Infuriated by the risk-averse approach of his company, Vihaan Raid decides to design his latest game on his own. A widely renowned game developer known to the gaming world as “Koji,” believes he can entirely change how humans see life with his radical new video game concept. He teams up with a respected psychologist to make sure his vision will manipulate the human psyche as he suspects it will—a critical factor to the game’s potential. As Koji slowly reveals secretive details of his mysterious concept, Isaac becomes more and more suspicious of the game’s true intentions. Fear is engrained in all of us, but as Erich Fromm described, there are two main types. First are sadomasochistic characters who kill the fear by being dependent on either controlling or being controlled. Second is the revolutionary character who embraces the fear of being a free human. Similarly, the famous philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche thought there is little to no difference between success and failure when it comes to their functionality. Human mind is engraved with a false belief that success is heaven and failure is hell. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Sigmund Freud believed our unconscious thoughts and desires define us. So maybe, heaven is a place where the unconscious desires define us, but not control us and hell… well, just look at the commercials.

EF11 (S1-E9): When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future Apr 09, 2019

Show notes

Aldford Herbert, a famous science fiction writer, is on the brink of finishing his latest novel about a realistic, dark future of artificial intelligence. A stroke of luck provides him with an opportunity to talk to Cynthia Butler, the mastermind behind the world’s most bleeding edge AI company. Aldford sees this as the perfect opportunity to secretly learn how precise his fictional predictions might be. What he doesn't know is that Cynthia might just have a mysterious, and even more insidious agenda than his own. This episode of the Evolve Faster Podcast will investigate AI development from perspectives of deep learning to related neuroscience and several key technological advances in between. Technology and AI is rapidly evolving at a rate much faster than humanity ever did or could hope for. It's not about if AI will achieve consciousness, but when will we be at least fooled into thinking it has? But does the rapid development automatically mean the end of humankind as we know it? Or is there an alternative route where co-existence is a brighter version of life as it is today?

EF10 (S1-E8): The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering Mar 26, 2019

Show notes

Coming from a wealthy family, most others would only dream of the life Alex leads. Every moment is another silver platter where he is handed all the best education, can have his pick of expensive items and to experience seemingly infinite joys. Although grateful for everything, Alex can't shake the reality he isn't happy or fulfilled by any of this at all—nor could he really even define what happiness would look like for him. But why? What could possibly be missing when having everything you want? “It's not about the destination; it's about the journey.” This trite expression is one of the modern favorites in a bin of overused cliches we tell ourselves when we start to lack that next hit of happiness. But is it really trite or just misunderstood? Being a cliche doesn't necessarily make something wrong. Instead, that comes when we don’t actually change things in order to live by the message of such wise life lessons. From Ancient India and Greece, to modern Western Culture, we can find countless theories on what happiness is and how to attain it. So why is our ability to attain it no better today—and, by some measures, on the decline—even after thousands of years of intellectual progress?

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