Daniel Schmachtenberger: Steering Civilization Away from Self-Destruction | Lex Fridman Podcast #191

Daniel Schmachtenberger is a philosopher and founding member of The Consilience Project. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
– Ground News: https://ground.news/lex
– NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/lex to get free product tour
– Four Sigmatic: https://foursigmatic.com/lex and use code LexPod to get up to 60% off
– Magic Spoon: https://magicspoon.com/lex and use code LEX to get $5 off
– BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off

EPISODE LINKS:
Daniel’s Website: https://civilizationemerging.com/
The Consilience Project: https://consilienceproject.org/

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4
Clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41

OUTLINE:
0:00 – Introduction
1:31 – Aliens and UFOs
20:15 – Collective intelligence of human civilization
28:12 – Consciousness
39:33 – How much computation does the human brain perform?
43:12 – Humans vs ants
50:30 – Humans are apex predators
57:34 – Girard’s Mimetic Theory of Desire
1:17:31 – We can never completely understand reality
1:20:54 – Self-terminating systems
1:31:18 – Catastrophic risk
2:01:30 – Adding more love to the world
2:28:55 – How to build a better world
2:46:07 – Meaning of life
2:53:49 – Death
2:59:29 – The role of government in society
3:16:54 – Exponential growth of technology
4:02:35 – Lessons from my father
4:08:11 – Even suffering is filled with beauty

SOCIAL:
– Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
– Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman
– Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman
– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman

Written by Lex Fridman