The Local Maximum with Max Sklar

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 89 - Building Liberland! How to claim Your own Sovereign Territory with Vit Jedlicka Oct 22, 2019

Show notes

Max interviews Vit Jedlicka, president and founder of Liberland, which is a project to create a new country on unclaimed territory between Serbia and Croatia.
Liberland was founded as a free republic with the goal of building new institutions to safeguard personal and economic freedom in a way that isn’t being done in any country including the western democracies today.
We discuss the legal and organizational challenges in pursuing this project, as well as the technologies - blockchain, mobile communication, and geo-location - that make this possible.
Also present is Thomas Walls, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Liberland.
Localmaxradio.com/89
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit localmaximum.substack.com

Ep. 88 - Occam's Razor, Hanlon's Razor, and Layers of Conspiracy Oct 15, 2019

Show notes

Today's Concept of the Week is Occam's Razor, along with other related ideas like Hanlon's Razor.
- The Dragon in My Garage
- Fermi Estimation
- Why your iPhone is probably not recording all your conversations; but if it was what how it might do it.
- How early is too early for Halloween?
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit localmaximum.substack.com

Ep. 87 - Deep Learning and AI with Mark Ryan Oct 08, 2019

Show notes

This week’s guest is Mark Ryan, author of the upcoming book Deep Learning with Structured Data.
We cover:
- How machine learning has come to dominate Artificial Intelligence over the last few decades
- How the deep learning, which can solve problems like natural language understanding and image recognition - is becoming more and more practical, and gets results even in more traditional datasets
- How to learn to become a machine learning engineer through online tutorials and frameworks
- Where this is going in the future, and discussions on superintelligence and the technological singularity
Get 40% off the book with the discount code podlocalmax19, at Manning Publishing: https://www.manning.com/books/deep-learning-with-structured-data
localmaxradio.com/87
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit localmaximum.substack.com

Ep. 86 - Audio Augmented Reality and More Metaculus Predictions Oct 01, 2019

Show notes

On the news that Amazon wants to put Alexa into wearable devices, we discuss the idea that the focus in consumer tech has moved to sound, including voice controls, augmented reality, and podcasting.
Max gives an update on the Betaworks Hearing Voices conference that highlighted the latest tech, demos, and ideas in this area.
Plus - we follow up on previous episodes, including Aaron’s predictions on the Metaculus engine, and how Max missed a subway stop because he was reading Reddit.
localmaxradio.com/86
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit localmaximum.substack.com

Ep. 85 - Metaculus: Aggregating emotions, expertise, and data into Prediction Engine Sep 24, 2019

Show notes

Part 2 of Max's discussion with Anthony Aguirre, cofounder of the Metaculus prediction engine. Topics include:
- The difference between making short term, long term, and theoretical predictions
- The human mind and human emotions - as imperfect as they are - being world's best tool for prediction making
- Calibrating your probabilities, on an individual and group level
- Predictions of humor-detecting AI, waking up after being cryogenically frozen, and political developments
localmaxradio.com/85
metaculus.com
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit localmaximum.substack.com

Ep. 84 - Big Questions about the Universe with Anthony Aguirre Sep 17, 2019

Show notes

Max talks to cosmologist Anthony Aguirre about the fundamental nature of the universe, with the following questions:
Is the Space Discrete or Continuous?
How does our physics differ from Virtual Reality, or the model we have in our brain?
What is Fourier space?
What does it mean that the universe is made of information?
Is there a fundamental bit?
In most cases, things aren’t what they seem! Check out Anthony’s Book on the subject: Cosmological Koans.
localmaxradio.com/84
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit localmaximum.substack.com

Ep. 83 - Bitcoin Energy Alarmists, Musk and Ma in Different AI Universes, and Gab picks a fight Sep 10, 2019

Show notes

Max follows through on his promise to take down the big lie about Bitcoin - that it’ll consume all our energy and destroy the earth. He goes through the simple math that shows this won’t be a problem, and talk about how Bitcoin can encourage better energy technology.
Jack Ma and Elon Musk were recently in a debate/discussion about AI in Shanghai, and they are in such opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to their philosophical outlook! We talk about what they said, and where they agreed.
Finally, Max starts by responding to Gab CEO Andrew Torba, who threw shade at Foursquare in a recent blogpost.
localmaxradio.com/83
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit localmaximum.substack.com

Ep. 82 - Learning Should Be Free! Henry Abramson on Teaching Jewish History to the Global Classroom Sep 03, 2019

Show notes

Henry Abramson, Dean of Touro College in Brooklyn, tells us about how he took his Jewish History Lectures online. We talk a bit about the historical shift in communication, information, and education that the internet and YouTube represent and his dealings with feedback, trolling, and algorithms.
Finally, we learn about his biggest influences, and some specific lectures and why the internet has gravitated towards them.
localmaxradio.com/82
henryabramson.com
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit localmaximum.substack.com

Ep. 81 - Junk Science, Click Bait, and Meaningless Experiments Aug 27, 2019

Show notes

Ever feel like there’s something wrong with all the news and information you consume, even when you get it from professional scientists and doctors?
We tackle the reproducibility crisis in science today starting with taking a look at some mudslinging between high profile online academics Andrew Gelman and Cass Sunstein.
We also talk about the probable over-publishing of studies in stock market prediction and elsewhere, and scientists reading too much when interpreting results to fit their narrative and ideology.
localmaxradio.com/81
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit localmaximum.substack.com

Ep. 80 - Tumblr and Fall: Challenges for the Quirky and Creative Platform Aug 20, 2019

Show notes

The recent sale of the creative and niche site Tumblr to Wordpress from Verizon shows an over 99% loss of value from it’s original sale to Yahoo in 2013. We look back at the phases Tumblr’s been through, and how this fits with the larger social, technological, and business trends.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit localmaximum.substack.com

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