People

Eric Weinstein

Related people

• Peter Thiel
• Stewart Alsop III

Episodes

• Stewart Alsop Iii Explores the Life in Silicon Valley Through a Conversation Between Peter Thiel and Eric Weinstein July 26, 2019Smash Notes

Notes

• ▶ Why Does Eric Weinstein Say Scientists Hold Back Science and Mathematicians Hold Back Math? All-In · Is Claude Conscious? Pope Rejects, Model Welfare Movement, OpenAI's Math Backlash, France Riots · at 54:44 Share Transcript

  Scientists hold back science and mathematicians hold back math. Experts construct systems to pace the frontier and to gatekeep the work so only experts determine progress in the field.

  Eric Weinstein has been saying as much for a long time. Sabine Hossenfelder published a video yesterday about how experts were wrong. One scientist at one of the big energy labs building a giant super collider said super collider systems are giant welfare systems for scientists. Scientists focus on writing grants to get money to keep themselves employed even if the work is not productive and does not deliver a new product to the world.

  David Friedberg calls it a shining-the-light moment for AI. Deeply specia

• ▶ What Does Eric Weinstein Say the Portal Is? The Portal · 2: What Is the Portal? · at 27:12 Share Transcript

  Eric Weinstein says the Portal is a search for a way out of the stasis people have been living in. On the show The Portal, he argues that an intellectual bubble has defined ordinary life since the early 1970s, and that almost everyone grew up inside a set of shared misconceptions about the world. The project is to pop that bubble and see what is outside.

  He is not offering a finished replacement. If the old central story no longer holds, new systems will have to be invented, and he does not yet know what they are. He is hopeful because the show has reached major candidates, including Andrew Yang, places where an unfamiliar idea might get a hearing.

• ▶ How Can We Enable Ground-breaking Innovation The Portal · 2: What Is the Portal? · at 22:45 Share Transcript

  According to Eric Weinstein, our survival depends on the theoretical physicists. As their occupation continues to be underpaid, now is a great time to enable them to dream of the future, and invent it while at it.

• ▶ Why Is Eric Weinstein Frustrated With the Way Science Is Presented Today The Portal · 2: What Is the Portal? · at 16:51 Share Transcript

  Top quality scientist often dumb-down subjects in order make their complex ideas seem reachable for the general audience. This is problematic because it creates a state where once the audience doesn't understand something, their understanding of it is immediately influenced by the broadcaster.

  Instead, we should not assume and let the audience dig in and figure out the intricate complexities on their own, enabling the audience to participate on a higher level of consciousness.

• ▶ Who Is Funding the Portal Podcast by Eric Weinstein The Portal · 2: What Is the Portal? · at 14:22 Share Transcript

  The Portal was offered to be fully supported by a wealthy billionaire, but they decided against it, hoping to struggle with advertising like other podcasters, in hopes to find a healthy and sustainable revenue stream that can be applied to a larger group of creators.

• ▶ What Is the Portal Podcast About The Portal · 2: What Is the Portal? · at 1:12 Share Transcript

  The Portal is a podcast by Eric Weinstein where he tries to explain the world around us, and to break the bubble we live in. Eric attempt to look beyond the intellectual laziness on traditional media, and to understand the viewpoints of people who are seeking ground-breaking ideas, meant to upend our future.

• ▶ How Can You Learn to Think Different Smash Notes · Stewart Alsop Iii Explores the Life in Silicon Valley Through a Conversation Between Peter Thiel and Eric Weinstein July 26, 2019 · at 15:20 Share Transcript

  If you want the diversity of thought and experience, don't go to university. To learn what other people are not learning, you have to put yourself in a place where you are not surrounded by people with the same groupthink. Leave the bubble and explore.

• ▶ What Can Be Done About the Homeless People in San Francisco Smash Notes · Stewart Alsop Iii Explores the Life in Silicon Valley Through a Conversation Between Peter Thiel and Eric Weinstein July 26, 2019 · at 9:55 Share Transcript

  According to the discussion between Stewart Alsop III and Vinay Gupta , it is quite easy for people in San Francisco to put homeless people into the "us vs. them" groups and pretend the problem does not exist. At the end of the day though, poor people with health problems are prosecuted by the society, and it is important for the wealthy to realize that, to get out of the bubble, and to assist people who cannot help themselves, given the circumstances.

• ▶ Could Silicon Valley's Success Be the Cause for Its Downfall Smash Notes · Stewart Alsop Iii Explores the Life in Silicon Valley Through a Conversation Between Peter Thiel and Eric Weinstein July 26, 2019 · at 7:50 Share Transcript

  While the economy is doing well, people in technology circles fall under a false impression that technology is the answer to all of humanity's problems and they, tech founders and employees, are the winners. This notion is then further reinforced by the groups outside of the Valley who are cheering for tech and associated growth, making people in the bubble feel right. This newly acquired empowerment and wealth then turn tech people's focus on attaining more wealth, instead of solving problem they'd originally set out to solve, and as a result, cause their long-term success to dwindle.

• ▶ What Is the Problem With Ideological Conversion of Engineers in Silicon Valley Smash Notes · Stewart Alsop Iii Explores the Life in Silicon Valley Through a Conversation Between Peter Thiel and Eric Weinstein July 26, 2019 · at 5:55 Share Transcript

  According to Stewart Alsop, we humans always tend to put other people in boxes, turning a society into "Us vs. Them" situation.

  It could be very helpful for the people in Silicon Valley to get out for a while and to see the world for what it is, which is a place drastically different from the bubble within the valley.

  This transformative experience could help open one's eyes and to change how we treat and respond to people who are not like ourselves.

• ▶ What Was Different Between 1920s and the Progress in Innovation Today Smash Notes · Stewart Alsop Iii Explores the Life in Silicon Valley Through a Conversation Between Peter Thiel and Eric Weinstein July 26, 2019 · at 2:05 Share Transcript

  According to Peter Thiel, 1920s and 1930s was driven largely by a boom in technological and scientific progress. Even though the growth was badly mismanaged, the drivers for growth were solid. Meanwhile in today's world, we do a decent job at managing the economy, but technological growth is actually stagnating, while the big tech companies are still marketing themselves like the driver for the future.

• ▶ What Are Peter Thiel and Eric Weinstein Think About the Progress Smash Notes · Stewart Alsop Iii Explores the Life in Silicon Valley Through a Conversation Between Peter Thiel and Eric Weinstein July 26, 2019 · at 0:55 Share Transcript

  In their discussion on the Portal, Peter and Eric discuss how the progress of innovation is stalling. We are no longer seeing the astounding growth that drove America in say the 1920s, and instead we only have innovation in bits.

• ▶ Who Is Stewart Alsop III Smash Notes · Stewart Alsop Iii Explores the Life in Silicon Valley Through a Conversation Between Peter Thiel and Eric Weinstein July 26, 2019 · at 0:00 Share Transcript

  Stewart Alsop III is an American entrepreneur and the host of the Crazy Wisdom Podcast .

  He joins us on Smash Notes this week to talk about life in Silicon Valley through the lens of his own podcast, as well as the conversation between Peter Thiel and Eric Weinstein on the Portal.