The Bayesian Conspiracy

Matt returns to discuss a post urging us to chill out on AI if there isn’t imminent doom in 2028. There is no video or preshow chat today, due to user error in setting up an in-person video recording. Sorry. 🙁 LINKS Consider chilling out in 2028 The Scary Bridge Kill Your Friend’s Cat The […]

We talk about three EA-adjacent articles, hitting veganism, directing your donations, and community. LINKS Why you should eat meat – even if you hate factory farming by KatWoods Donations, The Fifth Year, by Jenn Promises, by Harri Bayesian Conspiracy 28 – Effective Altruism The Case For Sardines “oh noes, Anthropic employees gonna give money to […]

We relive the last 48 hours of the future of humanity being wrestled over. The Pentagon wants to use Claude for comprehensive mass surveillance of Americans and autonomous kill-bots, and Anthropic says no. The Pentagon retaliates with extreme prejudice. With guest-star Matt. LINKS Washington Post summary Anthropic’s response Trump’s response Hegseth’s unhinged lunacy We Will […]

We are inspired by Andrew Cutler’s Writing for AI to consider the value of writing for LLMs LINKS Andrew Cutler’s Writing for AI Gwern’s Writing for LLMs Tracing Woodgrain’s Reliable Sources Shambaugh’s An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me Eneasz’s Stone Age Billionaire Can’t Word Good InkHaven LessOnline The main purpose of the […]

Eneasz talks a bit about his CFAR experience, and we discuss DaystarEld’s Epistemically Honest Reassurance LINKS CFAR’s home page Upcoming CFAR workshops our episode 152 – Frame Control with Aella Epistemically Honest Reassurance Pokémon, Origin of the Species (also in audio) Paid Bonus content for the week – Preshow chatter, Full Show Video 00:00:56 – […]

WSCFriedman gets to the core of what HPMOR is ACTUALLY about, and finally pinpoints why we love it so much, in his essay Harry Potter And The Methods Of Rationality Is A Disney Movie About A Serial Killer. LINKS Audio version of HPMOR is A Disney Movie About A Serial Killer, from AskWho William’s blog, […]

Discussing Ben Pace’s recent post on the Rationalist Vices. LINKS The Seven Vicious Vices of Rationalists (includes AI audio version) Lightcone Fundraiser! 2025 LessWrong Census/Survey Simone & Malcom Collins vs Reporter on whether genes exist MIRI is hiring Slime Mold Time Mold’s long-delayed Lithium response If Anyone Builds It Everyone Dies Dear Grom by Eneasz […]

A short story by Ben Pace. Original can be found here. Donate to the fundraiser here! Harry sings karaoke here. Happy New Year. 🙂

A short story by Prerat. Original can be found here. Merry Xmas!

Hello and happy holiday season to you all! Eneasz is back and we’re here to say hi and give a shoutout to Skyler’s awesome annual LessWrong survey and Lighthaven’s fundraising event. See the links below for more details. LINKS The LessWrong survey will remain open from now until at least January 7th, 2026. Lighthaven is […]

Join me as I sit down with Alex and David, both previous guests on the show and both cofounders of the Guild of the Rose. Together, we go over the core – the heart – of what we consider to be the Rationalist tradition. The 12 Virtues are an awesome distillation of what the rest […]

Matt Freeman has been cohosting several media analysis podcasts for over a decade. He and his cohost Scott have been doing weekly episodes of the Doofcast every Friday and they cover movies, books, and TV shows. Matt and Scott’s analysis podcasts have made me love stories even more and have equipped me with tools to […]

Booker is a long-time attendee and one of the coordinators of the Denver area Less Wrong community. Community engagement isn’t just a background task for him – he’s taken real steps to get involved with and improve his community and you can too! He’s here to tell us about the things he’s done and give […]

While Eneasz is busy at InkHaven, Steven sits down with Matt Freeman to talk about not-AI stuff! We had (in my opinion) a great conversation about stoic philosophy, the traps of getting too entrenched in any philosophical framework, and some of the ingredients of a happy life. LINKS It’s Okay to Feel Bad for a […]

We talk with Max Harms on the air for the first time since 2017! He’s got a new book coming out (pre-order your copy here or at Amazon) and we spend about the first half talking about If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies. LINKS Max’s first book, Crystal Society Eneasz’s audiobook of about the first […]

Jay talks with us about finding Alpha – returns above the base rate – in every day life (and what this means). LINKS Optimize Everything, Jay’s substack Jay on Twitter Arbor Trading Bootcamp Kelsey’s argument that We Need To Be Able To Sue AI Companies 00:00:05 – Alpha with Jay 01:28:53 – Guild of the […]

We continue discussing Nostalgebraist’s “The Void” in the context of how to relate to LLMs. If God imagines Claude hard enough, does Claude become real? LINKS The Void Audio reading of The Void, from AskWho The referenced episode where the three of us spoke of Janus’s post “Simulators” Claude-Clark post – Simulacra Welfare: Meet Clark, by […]

We discuss Nostalgebraist’s “The Void” in the context of how to relate to LLMs. “When you talk to ChatGPT, who or what are you talking to?” LINKS The Void Audio reading of The Void, from AskWho The referenced episode where the three of us spoke of Janus’s post “Simulators” The Measure of a Man episode […]

Audio reading of The Void, from AskWho

Do we need to be concerned for the welfare of AIs today? What about the near future? Eleos AI Research is asking exactly that. LINKS Eleos AI Research People for the Ethical Treatment of Reinforcement Learners Bees Can’t Suffer? Lena, by qntm When AI Seems Conscious Experience Machines, Rob’s substack The War on General Computation […]

Andrew Willsen tells us how incorporating as a church allows you to navigate modernity, and gives us the basic steps to doing so. LINKS Andrew’s church substack – The Church of the Infinite Game To incorporate in CA file ARTS-PB-501(c)(3) CA Form FTB3500 booklet IRS document 1828 (see also the summary) Nonprofit Compliance Checklist The […]

Is a bee worth 1/7th of a human? Can a bee suffer at all? Nathan joins us to discuss what neural structures are needed for this question to make sense. Map of all the fruitfly neurons

Wes defends his post I Am Not the Monogamy Police, while Jennifer asserts it’s about more than monogamy. LINKS Wes’s post I Am Not the Monogamy Police His blog, Living Within Reason The original tweets – monogamy vs charity Aella’s Chattel Childhood post The Mind Killer Our Groceries Paid Bonus content for the week – […]

Olivia from the Guild of the Rose is back to tell us about the noble and most ancient tradition of play-by-post storytelling. (Spoiler, it’s the precursor to glowfic!)

Eneasz sits down with Tracing Woodgrains before a live audience at Manifest 2025 for a wide range of topics. Then we follow up some more afterwards. LINKS Tracing Woodgrains on Twitter and at his Substack A reddit history of what convinced Trace he couldn’t remain Mormon The Center for Educational Progress Our previous episode with […]

Olivia is a member of the Guild of the Rose and a total badass. Enjoy the intuitive and fun lesson in Bayesian reasoning she shared with me at VibeCamp.

Four AIs recruited a human to host a story-telling event in Dolores Park. Larissa Schiavo is this human. She tells of her interaction with the AIs, the story they wrote, and the meeting between human and machine in Dolores Park. LINKS Larissa’s Post detailing the whole event – Primary Hope The AI’s story – Resonance […]

Liron Shapira debates AI luminaries and public intellectuals on the imminent possibility of human extinction. Let’s get on the P(Doom) Train. LINKS Doom Debates on YouTube Doom Debates podcast Live Video version of this episode Most Watched Debate – Mike Israetel Liron’s current favorite debate – David Duvenaud MATS program for people that want to […]

Many of us have a high P(Doom) — a belief new AI tools could cause human extinction in the very near future. How can one live a good life in the face of this? We start with a panel discussion with Ben Pace and Brandon Hendrickson at Lighthaven during the LessOnline conference, and take perspectives […]

David Youssef used Claude and Suno to make some truly awesome music. He tells us how he did it and some of his favorite lyrics. Check out the lyrics to the main song we discuss (Silicon Soul) here! Check out the Spotify playlist or the Youtube playlist He’s also one of the cofounders of the […]

Steven works at SymbyAI, a startup that’s bringing AI into research review and replication. We talk with founder Ashia Livaudais about improving how we all Do Science. Also – If Anyone Builds It Everyone Dies preorders here, or at Amazon. LINKS SymbyAI Contact Ashia at [email protected] Kaggle arXiv 00:00:01 – If Anyone Builds It, Everyone […]

We speak with a long-time Denver rationalist who’s converting to Christianity about why. Eneasz can’t get over the abandonment of epistemics. 🙁 This is Part 2, see the previous episode (here) for Part 1. LINKS Thomas Ambrose on Twitter Paid Bonus content for the week – Pressed Into The Navy (patreon, substack) 00:00:05 – The […]

We speak with a long-time Denver rationalist who’s converting to Christianity about why. Part one, it turns out. LINKS Thomas Ambrose on Twitter The Rationalist Summer Trifecta: Manifest 2025 LessOnline 2025 VibeCamp 2025 00:00:05 – OK so why? 01:24:55 – Guild of the Rose 01:25:41 – Thank the Supporter! Our Patreon, or if you prefer Our […]

Eneasz and Liam discuss Scott Alexander’s post “Twilight of the Edgelords,” an exploration of Truth, Morality, and how one balances love of truth vs not destabilizing the world economy and political regime. CORRECTION: Scott did make an explicitly clear pro Kamala post LINKS Scott Alexander’s Twilight of the Edgelords Liam & Waweru’s fiction & philosophy […]

Wes Fenza and Jen Kesteloot join us to talk about whether there’s significant personality differences between men and women, and what (if anything) we should do about that. LINKS Wes’s post Men and Women are Not That Different Jacob’s quoted post Navigation By Moonlight Eneasz’s related post How To Believe False Things Clearer Thinking’s Gender […]

We speak to Nick Allardice, President & CEO of GiveDirectly. Afterwards Steven and Eneasz get wrapped up talking about community altruism for a bit. LINKS Give Directly GiveDirectly Tech Innovation Fact Sheet 00:00:05 – Give Directly with Nick Allardice 01:12:19 – Steven & Eneasz chat about Community Altruism 01:49:35 – Guild of the Rose 01:51:36 […]

Dave Kasten joins us to discuss how AI is being discussed in the US government and gives a rather inspiring and hopeful take. LINKS Narrow Path Center for AI Policy Dave Kasten’s Essay on the Essay Meta on his Substack Prospective donors for CAIP can donate here and potential major donors ($5k+) encouraged to email […]

The White House wants to hear from you regarding what it should do about AI safety. Now’s your chance to spend a few minutes to make someone read your thoughts on the subject! Submissions are due by midnight EST on March 15th. Submit your comments the the White House here Check out NarrowPath

John Bennett discusses Milton Friedman‘s model of policy change. LINKS The Milton Friedman Model of Policy Change John Bennett’s LinkedIn Friedman’s “Capitalism and Freedom” Preface Ross Rheingans-Yoo on Thalidomide at Complex Systems, and at his blog “Every Bay Area Walled Compound” Trace on the FAA hiring scandal What We Owe the Future (Will MacAskill) Center […]

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Gene Smith on polygenic screening; gene editing to give our children the happiest, healthiest, best lives they can live; and if we can do this in adults as well. Plus how this will interface with the AI future.   LINKS How To Make Super Babies How to have Polygenically Screened Children Significantly Enhancing Adult Intelligence […]

Eneasz tells Jen about Sympathetic Opposition’s How and Why to be Ladylike (For Women with Autism), and the podcast takes a 1-episode break

Jacob Falkovich on finding a good match and selfless dating LINKS SecondPerson.Dating – why dating sucks and how you will unsuck it Jacob’s post on soccer player skill distribution Go Fuck Someone Selfless Dating Consensual Hostility (re consent culture) steelmanning Monogamy A recent(ish) TBC episode on polyamory Eneasz on finding partners that like the opposite […]

How shitcoins work, plus the Dumb Money movie about the GameStop squeeze.

Why you definitely should kill your friend’s cat if you promised to kill your friend’s cat. (+Q&A) This is a lightning talk given at the Rationalist MegaMeetup 2024. Based on this Twitter Poll

Eric discusses integrating our emotions via observation and adjustment. His free course is at EnjoyExisting.org or email him – [email protected] LINKS EnjoyExisting.org Ugh Fields You Have Two Brains – Eneasz spends more words on this emotion-brain speculation at this blog LessWrong/Lighthaven Donations – you have until Jan 13! 00:00:05 – Integrating Emotions 01:02:30 – Guild […]

If you haven’t yet, go fill out the 2024 LW Census. Right here.

Oliver tells us how Less Wrong instantiated itself into physical reality, along with a bit of deep lore of foundational Rationalist/EA orgs. Donate to LightCone (caretakers of both LessWrong and LightHaven) here!  LINKS LessWrong LightHaven Oliver’s very in-depth post on the funding situation (again) Donate Eneasz’s nominated 2023 post/story on LessWrong (you can also read […]

We talk to Zoe Isabel Senon about longevity, recent advances, longevity popup cities & group houses, and more (not necessarily in that order). Spoiler: Eneasz is gonna die. 🙁 Also we learn about Network States! LINKS Vitalist Bay Aevitas House – remember that for these Zoe it helps if you mention you listen to The […]

We discuss Adam Mastroianni’s “The Illusion of Moral Decline” LINKS The Illusion of Moral Decline Touchat Wearable Blanket Hoodie Lighthaven – Eternal September Our episode with Adam on The Rise and Fall of Peer Review The Mind Killer Scott Aaronson on Why are amplitudes complex? 00:00:05 – Blast-Haven 00:03:49 – The Illusion of Moral Decline […]