Lex Fridman Podcast

Latest Episodes:

#123 – Manolis Kellis: Origin of Life, Humans, Ideas, Suffering, and Happiness Sep 12, 2020

Show notes

Manolis Kellis is a professor at MIT and head of the MIT Computational Biology Group.

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– Public Goods: https://publicgoods.com/lex and use code LEX
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Lex Fridman Podcast survey mentioned in the intro: https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/5833660/Lex-Fridman-Podcast-Survey

If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/podcast or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.

Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

OUTLINE:
00:00 – Introduction
06:20 – Epigenome
10:28 – Evolution
15:26 – Neanderthals
27:15 – Origin of life on Earth
43:44 – Life is a fight against physics
49:56 – Life as a set of transformations
51:35 – Time scales
1:00:31 – Transformations of ideas in human civilization
1:05:19 – Life is more than a rat race
1:13:18 – Life sucks sometimes and that’s okay
1:30:16 – Getting older
1:36:21 – The best of MIT
1:49:01 – Poem 1: The Snow
2:01:52 – Love
2:06:16 – Poem 2: The Tide Waters

#122 – David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering Sep 08, 2020

Show notes

David Fravor is a navy pilot of 18 years and a primary witness in one of the most credible UFO sightings in history, video of which has been released by the Pentagon and reported on by the NY Times.

Please check out our sponsors to get a discount and to support this podcast:
– Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex
– ExpressVPN: https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod
– BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex

Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

OUTLINE:
00:00 – Introduction
07:13 – Top Gun
12:06 – Navy pilot career
24:14 – AI is the third brain of a jet fighter
40:37 – Sully
47:34 – Landing a jet fighter on a carrier
53:18 – What’s it like to fly a jet fighter?
1:05:22 – Greatest plane ever made
1:11:04 – The Tic Tac UFO story
1:49:16 – Intelligent extraterrestrial life
1:53:30 – Why aren’t UFOs investigated more seriously
1:59:52 – Tic Tac UFO details
2:07:55 – What do you think the Tic Tac was?
2:16:23 – SpaceX
2:30:01 – Response to Mick West Debunking
2:48:24 – Was the Tic Tac a secret military test?
3:00:07 – Is the government in possession of alien spacecraft?
3:25:28 – Interesting UFO sightings in history
3:39:55 – Advice for Young People
3:47:47 – Meaning of life

Lex Solo #3 – In Memory of My Grandmother Sep 07, 2020

Show notes

My attempt to find the words to honor my grandmother, an amazing woman who is responsible for much of who I am, who taught me how to be a man, taught me about strength, about wisdom, about compassion, about love.

Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

OUTLINE:
00:00 – In memory of my grandmother
02:00 – Lesson 1: Mental Toughness
04:31 – Lesson 2: Strength
07:25 – Lesson 3: Wisdom
08:46 – Lesson 4: Believe in Yourself
12:13 – Lesson 5: Love
15:37 – Poem

#121 – Eugenia Kuyda: Friendship with an AI Companion Sep 05, 2020

Show notes

Eugenia Kuyda co-founder of Replika, an AI companion. Please check out our sponsors to get a discount and to support this podcast:
– Dollar Shave Club: https://dollarshaveclub.com/lex
– DoorDash: download app & use code LEX
– Cash App: download app & use code “LexPodcast”

Episode links:
Eugenia’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/ekuyda
Replika’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/myreplika
Replika’s Website: https://replika.ai

Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

OUTLINE:
00:00 – Introduction
06:18 – Loneliness
13:54 – Can AI alleviate loneliness?
18:13 – Love
20:49 – Russia in the 1990’s
31:47 – Chernobyl
41:35 – Communism
49:21 – Losing a friend
57:55 – Mortality
1:10:41 – Replika origin story
1:59:37 – Bringing people back to life with AI
2:05:37 – Relationship with Replika
2:18:27 – Can you form a connection with text alone?
2:27:45 – Does an AI companion need a body?
2:30:20 – Her
2:37:24 – GPT-3 for conversation
2:43:48 – We should be nice to AI
2:46:52 – Book recommendations
2:53:45 – Russian language
2:58:41 – Meaning of life

Lex Solo #2 – The Future of Neuralink Sep 01, 2020

Show notes

My thoughts on 8 possible long-term futures of Neuralink after attending the August 2020 progress update. This is a solo episode #2 of the podcast. Hopefully it’s interesting to some folks. The aim is for these episodes to be focused on a particular topic, at times challenging, at times personal, at times exciting to me on a technical and philosophical level like the episode today.

Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

OUTLINE:
00:00 – Introduction
04:42 – 1. Alleviating Suffering
07:25 – 2. Consciousness and Intelligence
11:39 – 3. Augmented Body, Mind, and Reality
13:42 – 4. Gaming & Virtual Reality
16:25 – 5. Merging Tech & Biology
19:40 – 6. Telepathy
22:58 – 7. Memories & Immortality
28:04 – 8. Merging with AI

#120 – François Chollet: Measures of Intelligence Aug 31, 2020

Show notes

François Chollet is an AI researcher at Google and creator of Keras.

Support this podcast by supporting our sponsors (and get discount):
– Babbel: https://babbel.com and use code LEX
– MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex
– Cash App: download app & use code “LexPodcast”

Episode links:
Francois’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/fchollet
Francois’s Website: https://fchollet.com/
On the Measure of Intelligence (paper): https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.01547

Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

OUTLINE:
00:00 – Introduction
05:04 – Early influence
06:23 – Language
12:50 – Thinking with mind maps
23:42 – Definition of intelligence
42:24 – GPT-3
53:07 – Semantic web
57:22 – Autonomous driving
1:09:30 – Tests of intelligence
1:13:59 – Tests of human intelligence
1:27:18 – IQ tests
1:35:59 – ARC Challenge
1:59:11 – Generalization
2:09:50 – Turing Test
2:20:44 – Hutter prize
2:27:44 – Meaning of life

#119 – David Eagleman: Neuroplasticity and the Livewired Brain Aug 26, 2020

Show notes

David Eagleman is a neuroscientist at Stanford.

Support this podcast by supporting our sponsors:
– Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex
– BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex
– Cash App: download app & use code “LexPodcast”

Episode links:
David’s Website: https://www.eagleman.com/
David’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/davideagleman
Livewired (book): https://amzn.to/3ba4ezv

Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

OUTLINE:
00:00 – Introduction
05:05 – Livewired
16:39 – Hardware vs software
25:53 – Brain-computer interfaces
35:12 – 2020 is a challenge for neuroplasticity
46:08 – Free will
50:43 – Nature of evil
58:55 – Psychiatry
1:06:28 – GPT-3
1:13:31 – Intelligence in the brain
1:21:51 – Neosensory
1:31:27 – Book recommendations
1:34:07 – Meaning of life
1:36:53 – Advice for young people

New Name: Lex Fridman Podcast Aug 24, 2020

Show notes

New podcast name. New Russian hitman thumbnail. Everything else stays the same. AI is still my passion, but this gives me a bit more freedom to talk to interesting folks from all over. Thanks for the support & the love.

#118 – Grant Sanderson: Math, Manim, Neural Networks & Teaching with 3Blue1Brown Aug 23, 2020

Show notes

Grant Sanderson is a math educator and creator of 3Blue1Brown.

Support this podcast by supporting our sponsors:
– Dollar Shave Club: https://dollarshaveclub.com/lex
– DoorDash: download app & use code LEX
– Cash App: download app & use code “LexPodcast”

Episode links:
3Blue1Brown: http://youtube.com/3blue1brown
Grant’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/3blue1brown

Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

OUTLINE:
00:00 – Introduction
05:13 – Richard Feynman
09:41 – Learning deeply vs broadly
13:56 – Telling a story with visualizations
18:43 – Topology
23:52 – Intuition about exponential growth
32:28 – Elon Musk’s exponential view of the world
40:09 – SpaceX and space exploration
45:28 – Origins of the Internet
49:50 – Does teaching on YouTube get lonely?
54:31 – Daily routine
1:00:20 – Social media
1:10:38 – Online education in a time of COVID
1:27:03 – Joe Rogan moving to Spotify
1:32:09 – Neural networks
1:38:30 – GPT-3
1:46:52 – Manim
1:51:01 – Python
1:56:21 – Theory of everything
2:03:53 – Meaning of life

#117 – Sheldon Solomon: Death and Meaning Aug 20, 2020

Show notes

Sheldon Solomon is a social psychologist, a philosopher, co-developer of Terror Management Theory, co-author of The Worm at the Core.

Please support this channel by supporting our sponsors:
– Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex
– ExpressVPN at https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod
– Cash App: download app & use code “LexPodcast”

Episode links:
Sheldon’s Website: https://www.skidmore.edu/psychology/faculty/solomon.php
The Worm at the Core (book): https://amzn.to/31hQAXH
Denial of Death (book): https://amzn.to/329Zxl4

Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

OUTLINE:
00:00 – Introduction
05:34 – Role of death in life
22:57 – Jordan Peterson
53:02 – Humans are both selfish and cooperative
56:57 – Civilization collapse
1:10:07 – Meditating on your mortality
1:16:10 – Kierkegaard and Heidegger
1:33:25 – Elon Musk
1:36:56 – Thinking deeply about death
1:45:53 – Religion
1:56:59 – Consciousness
2:03:39 – Why is Ernest Becker not better known
2:07:09 – AI and mortality
2:21:07 – Academia should welcome renegade thinkers
2:36:33 – Book recommendations
2:43:23 – Advice for young people
2:48:17 – Meaning of life

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