Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg

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Should we try to live forever? (with Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston)
Why do humans live as long as they do? Since whales have literally tons more cells than humans, why don't they develop cancers at much higher rates than humans? What can the genetic trade-offs we observe in other organisms teach us about increasing human longevity? Will we eventually be able to put people into some kind of stasis? What is the state of such technology? What counts as being dead? How much brain damage can a person sustain before they're no longer the same person? Is lowering temperature the same thing as slowing time? What does it mean to turn organic tissue into "glass"? Would clones of me be the same person as me? How should we feel about death? What is "palliative" philosophy? Why are people generally supportive of curing diseases but less supportive of increasing human lifespan? Will humans as a species reach 2100 A.D.?Dr. Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston is a neuroscientist at Monash University, Australia, where he investigates methods for characterising the nature of conscious experiences. In 2019, he obtained his PhD from The University of Melbourne, where he researched how genetic and environmental factors affect cognition. His research interests range from the decline, preservation, and rescue of cognitive function at different stages of the lifespan, through to comparing different people's conscious experience of colour. By contributing to research that clarifies the neurobiological, cognitive, and philosophical basis of what it is to be a person, he hopes to accelerate the development of medical infrastructure that will help prevent him and everyone else from dying. Read his writings on Substack, follow him on Bluesky or X / Twitter, email him at [email protected], or learn more about him on his website.Further readingThe Future Loves You: How and Why We Should Abolish Death, by Ariel Zeleznikow-JohnstonStaffSpencer Greenberg — Host / DirectorJosh Castle — ProducerRyan Kessler — Audio EngineerUri Bram — FactotumWeAmplify — TranscriptionistsIgor Scaldini — Marketing ConsultantMusicBroke for FreeJosh WoodwardLee RosevereQuiet Music for Tiny Robotswowamusiczapsplat.comAffiliatesClearer ThinkingGuidedTrackMind EasePositlyUpLift[Read more]
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Trying to convince Spencer to be a utilitarian (with Tyler John)
Read the full transcript here. How has utilitarianism evolved from early Chinese Mohism to the formulations of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill? On what points did Bentham and Mill agree and disagree? How has utilitarianism shaped Effective Altruism? Does utilitarianism only ever evaluate actions, or does it also evaluate people? Does the "veil of ignorance" actually help to build the case for utilitarianism? What's wrong with just trying to maximize expected value? Does acceptance of utilitarianism require acceptance of moral realism? Can introspection change a person's intrinsic values? How does utilitarianism intersect with artificial intelligence?Tyler John is a Visiting Scholar at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and an advisor to several philanthropists. His research interests are in leveraging philanthropy for the common good, ethics for advanced AI, and international AI security. Tyler was previously the Head of Research and Programme Officer in Emerging Technology Governance at Longview Philanthropy, where he advised philanthropists on over $60m in grants related to AI safety, biosecurity, and long-term economic growth trajectories. Tyler earned his PhD in philosophy from Rutgers University — New Brunswick, where he researched mechanism design to promote the interests of future generations, political legitimacy, rights and consequentialism, animal ethics, and the foundations of cost-effectiveness analysis. Follow him on X / Twitter at @tyler_m_john.Further readingAn Introduction to UtilitarianismIntrinsic Values Test by Clearer ThinkingBlue Dot Impact80,000 Hours StaffSpencer Greenberg — Host / DirectorJosh Castle — ProducerRyan Kessler — Audio EngineerUri Bram — FactotumWeAmplify — TranscriptionistsIgor Scaldini — Marketing ConsultantMusicBroke for FreeJosh WoodwardLee RosevereQuiet Music for Tiny Robotswowamusiczapsplat.comAffiliatesClearer ThinkingGuidedTrackMind EasePositlyUpLift[Read more]
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A conversation with an autistic person (with Megan Neff)
Read the full transcript here. What does autism feel like from the inside? Do autistic people lack empathy? What is context insensitivity? What are some ways special interests can manifest in autistic people? What are some less common ways stimming can manifest? What are the main components of autism? Can you be diagnosed with autism if you meet all the diagnostic criteria but didn't have any symptoms in childhood? Is autism only a problem in relation to neurotypical people? Is there a link between IQ and autism? What does the DSM fail to capture about autism? Is there some underlying commonality among all the seemingly disparate symptoms of autism? How have the label and diagnosis changed as the field of psychology has grown and improved? Thinking about autism as a spectrum is better than thinking about it as a binary, but is there an even better way to think about it? How does gender intersect with autism? How does ADHD intersect with autism? How valid is self-diagnosis? How can you better interact with autistic people in your life? What should you do if you think you might have autism?Dr. Megan Anna Neff is a clinical psychologist, author, and founder of Neurodivergent Insights. She is the author of Self-Care for Autistic People and The Autistic Burnout Workbook. Dr. Neff contributes regularly to Psychology Today and has been featured in outlets like CNN, PBS, ABC, and The Los Angeles Times. After discovering her own neurodivergence at age 37, she became passionate about raising awareness of non-stereotypical presentations of autism and ADHD. Through Neurodivergent Insights, she creates educational and wellness resources for the neurodivergent community, while also co-hosting the Divergent Conversations podcast. Learn more about her at her website, neurodivergentinsights.org, or email her at [email protected] reading"How Do I Know if I’m Autistic in Adulthood?" by Megan NeffDivergent Conversations (podcast)Episode 48: “What is Autism?” (Part 1): Understanding Autistic CommunicationEmbrace AutismIs This Autism? StaffSpencer Greenberg — Host / DirectorJosh Castle — ProducerRyan Kessler — Audio EngineerUri Bram — FactotumWeAmplify — TranscriptionistsIgor Scaldini — Marketing ConsultantMusicBroke for FreeJosh WoodwardLee RosevereQuiet Music for Tiny Robotswowamusiczapsplat.comAffiliatesClearer ThinkingGuidedTrackMind EasePositlyUpLift[Read more]
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AI: Autonomous or controllable? Pick one (with Anthony Aguirre)
Read the full transcript here. Is AI that's both superintelligent and aligned even possible? Does increased intelligence necessarily entail decreased controllability? What's the difference between "safe" and "under control"? There seems to be a fundamental tension between autonomy and control, so is it conceivable that we could create superintelligent AIs that are both autonomous enough to do things that matter and also controllable enough for us to manage them? Is general intelligence needed for anything that matters? What kinds of regulations on AI might help to ensure a safe future? Should we stop working towards superintelligent AI completely? How hard would it be to implement a global ban on superintelligent AI development? What might good epistemic infrastructure look like? What's the right way to think about entropy? What kinds of questions are prediction markets best suited to answer? How can we move from having good predictions to making good decisions? Are we living in a simulation? Is it a good idea to make AI models open-source?Anthony Aguirre is the Executive Director of the Future of Life Institute, an NGO examining the implications of transformative technologies, particularly AI. He is also the Faggin Professor of the Physics of Information at UC Santa Cruz, where his research spans foundational physics to AI policy. Aguirre co-founded Metaculus, a platform leveraging collective intelligence to forecast science and technology developments, and the Foundational Questions Institute, supporting fundamental physics research. Aguirre did his PhD at Harvard University and Postdoctoral work as a member at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Learn more about him at his website, anthony-aguirre.com; follow him on X / Twitter at @anthonynaguirre, or email him at [email protected] readingKeep The Future HumanThe Future of Life Institute"Unification of observational entropy with maximum entropy principles" by Joseph Schindler, Philipp Strasberg, Niklas Galke, Andreas Winter, and Michael G. Jabbour StaffSpencer Greenberg — Host / DirectorJosh Castle — ProducerRyan Kessler — Audio EngineerUri Bram — FactotumWeAmplify — TranscriptionistsIgor Scaldini — Marketing ConsultantMusicBroke for FreeJosh WoodwardLee RosevereQuiet Music for Tiny Robotswowamusiczapsplat.comAffiliatesClearer ThinkingGuidedTrackMind EasePositlyUpLift[Read more]
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How much does global population decline matter? (with Dean Spears)
Read the full transcript here. What is the current global birth rate? What factors have contributed, or are currently contributing, to this rate? What outcomes will we experience as a result, and when? How accurate are demographers' projections on this topic? How much of a problem is local over-population? Could a low global birth rate eventually be overcome by high birth rates within a few specific groups? Why does any of this matter? How is average age in the US changing? What should the American government do to address this change, if anything? Is there a correlation between religiosity and birth rates? How are birth rates connected to the culture wars in the US? Will artificial wombs someday help to stabilize the global population? What's the "right" or "best" size of the global population? Could global depopulation solve climate change?Dean Spears is an economic demographer at the University of Texas at Austin and a founding executive director of r.i.c.e., a nonprofit working for children’s health in rural north India. He is the author of After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People. See more of Dean’s research at deanspears.net. StaffSpencer Greenberg — Host / DirectorJosh Castle — ProducerRyan Kessler — Audio EngineerUri Bram — FactotumWeAmplify — TranscriptionistsIgor Scaldini — Marketing ConsultantMusicBroke for FreeJosh WoodwardLee RosevereQuiet Music for Tiny Robotswowamusiczapsplat.comAffiliatesClearer ThinkingGuidedTrackMind EasePositlyUpLift[Read more]
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Clearer Thinking is a podcast about ideas that truly matter. If you enjoy learning about powerful, practical concepts and frameworks, wish you had more deep, intellectual conversations in your life, or are looking for non-BS self-improvement, then we think you'll love this podcast! Each week we invite a brilliant guest to bring four important ideas to discuss for an in-depth conversation. Topics include psychology, society, behavior change, philosophy, science, artificial intelligence, math, economics, self-help, mental health, and technology. We focus on ideas that can be applied right now to make your life better or to help you better understand yourself and the world, aiming to teach you the best mental tools to enhance your learning, self-improvement efforts, and decision-making. • We take on important, thorny questions like: • What's the best way to help a friend or loved one going through a difficult time? How can we make our worldviews more accurate? How can we hone the accuracy of our thinking? What are the advantages of using our "gut" to make decisions? And when should we expect careful, analytical reflection to be more effective? Why do societies sometimes collapse? And what can we do to reduce the chance that ours collapses? Why is the world today so much worse than it could be? And what can we do to make it better? What are the good and bad parts of tradition? And are there more meaningful and ethical ways of carrying out important rituals, such as honoring the dead? How can we move beyond zero-sum, adversarial negotiations and create more positive-sum interactions?

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