Socrates

The Economist Asks: How could veganism change the world?

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Interest in vegan food and its associated health benefits has been booming across the rich world. A global retreat from meat could have a far-reaching environmental impact.

By 2050 the world’s population could approach 10 billion – and around 60% more food could be needed to feed everyone. The environmental impacts of the food system are daunting its responsible for about a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions and uses about 70% of all freshwater resources, and it occupies about 40% of the Earth’s land surface.

Food rated emissions could increase to 50 percent by 2050 and fill up the total emissions budget that we have in order to avoid dangerous levels of climate change.

Interest in vegan food has been booming across the rich world. A major study has put the diet to the test – analyzing an imagined scenario in which the world goes vegan by 2050. If everybody went vegan by 2050 we estimated that food-related greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by 3/4.

Cows are the biggest emission contributors. Bugs in their digestive system produce methane and deforestation for their pasture releases carbon dioxide – these gases warm the planet. If cows were a country, they’d be the third largest greenhouse gas emitter.

Send Socrates to the Arctic: Vote for Nikola Danaylov for Fjallraven Polar

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Hey friends,

Please help me lead a dog-sled-team above the Arctic Circle in the wilderness between Norway and Sweden. 😉

All you need to do is vote for me and share this with your email list or anywhere else and ask people to vote for me in Fjällräven Polar 2019:

http://rewritingthehumanstory.com

Thank you very much in advance!

Dr. Joseph Mercola on Health and Longevity: Take Health into Your Own Hands

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With 15 million unique visitors per month, Dr. Joseph Mercola is the founder of the largest health and wellness website on the internet. His life’s mission is to cure rather than treat disease and Dr. Mercola has not only published extensively but also treated successfully a variety of chronic health conditions with natural methods such as diet, exercise, and sleep. Joseph also lives his own message by being strong and healthy himself – just check out this video of him doing pullups with a 45-pound weight.

During our 90-minute interview with Dr. Joseph Mercola, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: why he is a physician first-and-foremost; his activism against dental (mercury) amalgam; osteopathic medicine; food and toxins; electromagnetic radiation; the free radical theory of aging; processed foods and optimal eating time; intermittent and longer fasting; good fats and bad fats; my experience with coconut oil; the long-term dangers of vegan and keto diet; supplements and smart drugs.

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

Who is Dr. Joseph Mercola?

I was born and raised in the inner city of Chicago, IL. I had a normal childhood, and it was in my school years that I truly took an interest in health and wellness. In my early twenties, I worked as a pharm tech at a physician’s office. I worked at the Illinois Eye Bank to harvest donated eyes to be used for cornea transplants. I also worked at the Kidney Bank.

I first began seeing patients at my private wellness clinic in Schaumburg, IL, in 1985. I was a sole practitioner. It was filled with routine checkups, school physical exams, and seeing chronically ill patients. I was prescribing drugs, but realized that they were not working.

I began exploring the world of natural medicine in the early 1990s. After seeing drastic improvements when my patients modified their diet and became more physically active, I changed the way I practiced medicine.

My passion is to transform the traditional medical paradigm in the United States, and that consumes most of my free time. For 40 years since 1968, I was an active runner; I completed the Chicago Marathon in just over three hours, among other accomplishments. I have also been a computer hobbyist since 1985, with an interest in the Internet that dates back to the early ‘90s.

In 2009, I was named the top Ultimate Wellness Game Changer by the Huffington Post, an honor that celebrates “100 innovators, visionaries, and leaders in 10 categories who are harnessing the power of new media to reshape their fields and change the world.” HuffPost readers voted me to the top to receive this special award.

Joscha Bach: We need to understand the nature of AI to understand who we are

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Joscha Bach is one of those rare people whose primary motivation is unbound curiosity and inspiration. He clearly loves what he does and you can’t help but notice his radiating passion and youthful exuberance. Joscha has an impressively wide and deep knowledge in a variety of scientific, philosophical and artistic disciplines and I had to do my best just to keep up with Bach’s brilliant fast-paced mind and stream of consciousness. I enjoyed our conversation immensely and hope you love it too.

During our 130-minute interview with Joscha Bach, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: the space between academia and professorship; if organisms are algorithms, philosophy, and ethics; growing up in East Germany; science, art, evolution and the meaning of life; mathematics, computing and the limits thereof; the usefulness of useless knowledge; climate change and “the demise of humanity;” artificial intelligence and consciousness; why we are stories in a movie that the brain is creating, the difference between scholars and scientists…

Just some of my favorite quotes from Joscha Bach are:

“If you take this as a computer game metaphor, this is like the best level for humanity to play. And this best level happens to be the last level for humanity to play, as it happens against the backdrop of a dying world. But it’s still the best level.”

“Intelligence is the ability to make models. What is a model? A model is something that explains information. Information is discernable differences at your systemic interface. And the meaning of information is the relationships you discover to changes in other information.”

“Some people think that a simulation can’t be conscious and only a physical system can. But they got it completely backward: a physical system cannot be conscious. Only a simulation can be conscious. Consciousness is a simulated property of the simulated self.”

“The practice of AI is in a way statistics on steroids. It’s experimental statistics. It’s identifying new functions to model reality.”

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

Who is Joscha Bach?

Joscha Bach, Ph.D. is a cognitive scientist focused on cognitive architectures, mental representation, emotion, social modeling, and learning. He earned his Ph.D. in cognitive science from the University of Osnabrück, Germany. He is especially interested in the philosophy of AI, and in using computational models and conceptual tools to understand our minds and what makes us human. Joscha has taught computer science, AI, and cognitive science at the Humboldt-University of Berlin, the Institute for Cognitive Science at Osnabrück, and the MIT Media Lab, and authored the book “Principles of Synthetic Intelligence” (Oxford University Press). He currently works at the Harvard Program for Evolutionary Dynamics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Dr. Michael Greger on How Not to Age

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There are two people who caused me to become vegan and switch to a whole-plant-based diet. The first is Prof. Peter Singer who put the idea in my head many years ago when I started studying ethics. The second person is Dr. Michael Greger whose books How not to Die and The How Not To Die Cookbook are a must-read for anyone interested in evidence-based healthy living and healthy longevity. And so it has been a two-year-dream of mine to one day interview Dr. Greger on my podcast. Well, yesterday was that day and I am happy to publish this short but informative and entertaining interview with Michael Greger.

Dr. Michael Greger does hundreds of interviews per year and could only schedule 30 min for our conversation but we still managed to cover a variety of interesting topics such as: starting off as a math geek; why he became a lifestyle medicine physician and founded NutritionFacts.org; eating healthy as our best current bet to live healthier and longer life; his future book How Not to Age; the alien concepts of evidence-based medicine and nutrition; the optimal human diet; HealthData.org as the largest study of human risk factors for disease; the healthiest and most longevity promoting foods; the benefits of calorie restriction; Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen App…

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

How Not to Die (book trailer)

Who is Dr. Michael Greger?

Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM is a physician, New York Times bestselling author, and internationally recognized professional speaker on a number of important public health issues. Dr. Greger has lectured at the Conference on World Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the International Bird Flu Summit, among countless other symposia and institutions; testified before Congress; has appeared on shows such as The Colbert Report and The Dr. Oz Show; and was invited as an expert witness in defense of Oprah Winfrey at the infamous “meat defamation” trial. In 2017, he was honored with the ACLM Lifestyle Medicine Trailblazer Award.

Dr. Greger’s most recent scientific publications in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Critical Reviews in Microbiology, Family and Community Health, and the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition, and Public Health explore the public health implications of industrialized animal agriculture.

Dr. Greger is also licensed as a general practitioner specializing in clinical nutrition and is a founding member and Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He was featured on the Healthy Living Channel promoting his latest nutrition DVDs and honored to teach part of Dr. T. Colin Campbell’s esteemed nutrition course at Cornell University. Dr. Greger’s nutrition work can be found at NutritionFacts.org, which is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit charity.

He is the author of Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching and Carbophobia: The Scary Truth Behind America’s Low Carb Craze. Both of his latest books, How Not to Die and the How Not to Die Cookbook, became instant New York Times Best Sellers. View the book trailer here. Dr. Greger is a graduate of the Cornell University School of Agriculture and the Tufts University School of Medicine.

Dr. Greger is proud to be a Council of Directors member of the global voice for lifestyle as medicine, the True Health Initiative (THI). This is a growing coalition of more than 360 world experts representing 35 countries. It is an unprecedented assembly that includes physicians, University Deans, former Surgeon Generals, Olympic athletes, chefs, environmental professionals and a diverse group of nutritionists. Together they offer clarity over confusion and support the foundational principles of healthy eating and healthy living.

Stuart Russell on Artificial Intelligence: What if we succeed?

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Stuart Russell is a professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley as well as co-author of the most popular textbook in the field – Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Given that it has been translated into 13 languages and is used in more than 1,300 universities in 118 countries, I can hardly think of anyone more qualified or more appropriate to discuss issues related to AI or the technological singularity. Unfortunately, we had problems with our internet connection and, consequently, the video recording is among the worst I have ever published. Thus this episode may be a good candidate to listen to as an audio file only. However, given how prominent Prof. Russel is and how generous he was with his time, I thought it would be a sad loss if I didn’t publish the video also, poor quality as it is.

During our 90 min conversation with Stuart Russell we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: his love for physics and computer science; human preferences, expected utility and decision making; why his textbook on AI was “unreasonably successful”; his dream that AI will contribute to a Golden Age of Humanity; aligning human and AI objectives; the proper definition of Artificial Intelligence; Machine Learning vs Deep Learning; debugging and the King Midas problem; the control problem and Russell’s 3 Laws; provably safe mathematical systems and the nature of intelligence; the technological singularity; Artificial General Intelligence and consciousness…

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

Who is Start Russell?

Stuart Russell is a professor (and formerly chair) of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at University of California at Berkeley. His book Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (with Peter Norvig) is the standard text in AI; it has been translated into 13 languages and is used in more than 1,300 universities in 118 countries. His research covers a wide range of topics in artificial intelligence including machine learning, probabilistic reasoning, knowledge representation, planning, real-time decision making, multitarget tracking, computer vision, computational physiology, global seismic monitoring, and philosophical foundations.

He also works for the United Nations, developing a new global seismic monitoring system for the nuclear-test-ban treaty. His current concerns include the threat of autonomous weapons and the long-term future of artificial intelligence and its relation to humanity.

Roman Yampolskiy on Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security

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There are those of us who philosophize and debate the finer points surrounding the dangers of artificial intelligence. And then there are those who dare go in the trenches and get their hands dirty by doing the actual work that may just end up making the difference. So if AI turns out to be like the terminator then Prof. Roman Yampolskiy may turn out to be like John Connor – but better. Because instead of fighting by using guns and brawn he is utilizing computer science, human intelligence, and code. Whether that turns out to be the case and whether Yampolskiy will be successful or not is to be seen. But at this point, I was very happy to have Roman back on my podcast for our third interview. [See his previous interviews here and here.]

During our 80-minute conversation with Prof. Yampolskiy, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: AI in the media; why we’re all living in our own bubbles; the rise of interest in AI safety and ethics; the possibility of a 9.11 type of an AI event; why progress is at best making “safer” AI rather than “safe” AI; human and artificial stupidity; the need for an AI emergency task force; machine vs deep learning; technology and AI as a magnifying mirror; technological unemployment; his latest book Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security.

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

Who is Roman Yampolskiy?

Dr. Roman V. Yampolskiy is a Tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science at the Speed School of Engineering, University of Louisville. He is the founding and current director of the Cyber Security Lab and an author of many books including Artificial Superintelligence: a Futuristic Approach.

Yampolskiy is a Senior member of IEEE and AGI; Member of Kentucky Academy of Science, former Research Advisor for MIRI and Associate of GCRI.

Roman Yampolskiy holds a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University at Buffalo. He was a recipient of a four year National Science Foundation fellowship. Dr. Yampolskiy’s main areas of interest are AI Safety, Artificial Intelligence, Behavioral Biometrics, and Cybersecurity.

Dr. Yampolskiy is an author of over 150 publications including multiple journal articles and books. His research has been cited by 2000+ scientists and profiled in popular magazines both American and foreign, dozens of websites, on radio and TV and other media reports in some 30 languages.

Nikola Danaylov on the Always Another Way Podcast: The World is Transformed by Asking Questions

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A couple of weeks ago I did an interview on the Always Another Way Podcast. Now, let’s be clear that this was a different kind of interview I did here, so if you want to hear primarily my views on AI, the Singularity, transhumanism, and other advanced technologies, then, this one is not for you. So don’t waste your time.

However, if you want to hear me a bit more on why I believe that the world is transformed by asking questions, on how we make progress, on what is technology, what is human and how I evolved into those views of mine then you may actually enjoy it. I myself felt rather refreshed doing an interview on a topic I don’t talk often about by an interviewer who clearly did her homework and was not afraid to go into new territory.

Beyond Bionics: How the Future of Prosthetics is Redefining Humanity

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Bionic technology is removing physical barriers faced by disabled people while raising profound ethical questions of what it is to be human. From DIY prosthetics realized through 3D printing technology to customized AI-driven limbs, science is at the forefront of many life-enhancing innovations.

Gerd Leonhard on AI and Digital Ethics

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It’s been ten years now since I came up with my thesis that Technology is Not Enough. That ethics is a good operating system to help us debug not only our technology but also our society. And so it makes me very happy to find other travelers on the same journey, especially if they are further ahead than me 😉

This is Gerd Leonhard’s latest short film sharing some thoughts on his #1 speaking topic: humans versus/with machines, artificial intelligence and the future of humanity in a world where machines can hear, see, speak, learn and ‘think’.

On the one hand, artificial intelligence (AI) clearly has the capacity to improve our lives in pretty much every aspect, from energy to medical to smart cities; on the other end, it could fundamentally change who we are as humans, and what we think of as ‘human’. It could be a great destroyer of jobs but it could also free us from unsatisfying routines. But if machines become truly ‘intelligent’ what will be left for us to do… you may ask.

I think it will all come down to what I call digital ethics i.e. how will we use technology to our collective human benefit (i.e. embrace it but don’t become it), and how will we deal with the yet mostly unknown externalities caused by exponential technological change. Technology will have almost unlimited power in less than 20 years, at which point the key question will be WHY and WHO, not if or how. Do we need a global digital ethics counsel on AI, and if so, how would we realize it?

“Oracle of Silicon Valley” Tim O’Reilly on WTF: Do Work That Matters

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Inc Magazine called Tim O’Reilly the “Oracle of Silicon Valley.” Wired called him “The Trend Spotter.” Others have noted that “the Internet was built on O’Reilly books.” All in all, Tim O’Reilly is as perfect of a guest for my Singularity.FM podcast as I can ever imagine. So, I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.

During our 90 min conversation with Tim O’Reilly we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: why Tim sees himself as a change-maker; the change he is after; the aesthetic and the useful; the importance of story; Tim’s background in Latin and Ancient Greek; his thesis on Mysticism and Logic in Plato’s Dialogues; ethics as a way of debugging technology and society; reality and truth; why he is not a singularity fan; whether we can influence the future or not; why technology is not enough; his book WTF: What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us; Uber and Lyft; runaway AI; the Emperor Has No Clothes and serving the wrong algorithm; rewriting the human story…

My favorite quote that I will take away from this interview with Tim O’Reilly is:

“Economic determinism is probably the cardinal sin of the present moment.”

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

Who is Tim O’Reilly?

Tim O’Reilly, San Francisco, California, 2017.

Tim O’Reilly is the founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, Inc. His original business plan was simply “interesting work for interesting people,” and that’s worked out pretty well. O’Reilly Media delivers online learning, publishes books, runs conferences, urges companies to create more value than they capture, and tries to change the world by spreading and amplifying the knowledge of innovators.

Tim has a history of convening conversations that reshape the computer industry. In 1998, he organized the meeting where the term “open source software” was agreed on, and helped the business world understand its importance. In 2004, with the Web 2.0 Summit, he defined how “Web 2.0” represented not only the resurgence of the web after the dot com bust, but a new model for the computer industry, based on big data, collective intelligence, and the internet as a platform. In 2009, with his “Gov 2.0 Summit,” he framed a conversation about the modernization of government technology that has shaped policy and spawned initiatives at the Federal, State, and local level, and around the world. He has now turned his attention to implications of AI, the on-demand economy, and other technologies that are transforming the nature of work and the future shape of the business world. This is the subject of his new book from Harper Business, WTF: What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us.

In addition to his role at O’Reilly Media, Tim is a partner at early stage venture firm O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures (OATV) and on the boards of Maker Media (which was spun out from O’Reilly Media in 2012), Code for America, PeerJ, Civis Analytics, and PopVox.

At the Heart of Intelligence: A Film by Gerd Leonhard & Telia Finland

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At the Heart of Intelligence is an emotionally compelling and well-made short film discussing artificial intelligence. It was produced in collaboration between popular futurist Gerd Leonhard and Telia Finland. The movie employes powerful visuals, fantastic music and high-quality production but not at the expense of also asking some vital questions about intelligence – in general, and artificial intelligence – in particular. Hope you enjoy it.

Synopsis: What will happen to humans when machines get more and more intelligent? Futurist Gerd Leonhard and the Helsinki Data Center are figuring it all out…