Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg
Episodes
Accessing pure consciousness at any moment (with Loch Kelly)
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is "awakening"? What is a "stateless" state? What is nonduality? Why and how do some spiritual practitioners ...
Fight, flight, freeze, fawn (with Sasha Raskin)
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. When does positivity become toxic? When is it appropriate (or not) to give advice? Can depression really be healed...
The science of addiction (with Crystal Dilworth)
10 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why do people get addicted to cigarettes? Should people use nicotine as a stimulant (without smoking it, of course...
Evidence, reason, and compassion for all sentient beings (with Jamie Woodhouse)
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we encourage people to increase their critical thinking and reliance on evidence in the current informatio...
Can the economy grow indefinitely? (with Alyssa Vance)
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How is the economy like a differential equation? Can the economy grow indefinitely? Are there economic attractor s...
How many minds do you have? (with Kaj Sotala)
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are the advantages of viewing the mind through the multi-agent model as opposed to (say) the rational / optim...
Are you a wamb or a nerd? (with Tom Chivers)
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is a "wamb"? What are the differences between wambs and nerds? When is it appropriate (or not) to decouple co...
Behind the scenes of the online dating world (with Tom Quisel)
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How do men and women differ in their approach to online dating? How do online dating services deal with the fact t...
The clash between social justice and anti-wokeness (with Amber Dawn and Holly Elmore)
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Is it okay for anyone to have opinions about marginalized communities even if they're not a part of those communit...
Tyler's three laws and twelve rules (with Tyler Cowen)
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why might it be the case that "all propositions about real interest rates are wrong"? What, if anything, are most ...
Freezing to (not) death: cryonics and the quest for immortality (with Max Marty)
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is cryonics? And how does it work? What do we know right now about reversing death? And what would we have to...
The pre/trans fallacy, and why you should learn the skill of coaching (with Eben Pagan)
01 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is the vertical conception of cognitive development? Do developmental stages always occur in a predictable or...
What does humanity need to survive after a global catastrophe? (with David Denkenberger)
24 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What kinds of catastrophic risks could drastically impact global food supply or large-scale electricity supply? Wh...
To be successful, should you focus on your strengths or your weaknesses? (with Anna Paley)
17 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. To increase our chances of success (in whatever domain and using definition of success), should we focus on boosti...
When is suffering good? (with Paul Bloom)
11 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. When (if ever) can suffering be good? Is there an optimal ratio of pleasure to pain? What is motivational pluralis...
What causes progress? And how can we stop it from slowing? (with Jason Crawford)
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is progress? How do we (and should we) measure progress? What are the most important questions to ask in prog...
Clearer paths and sharper ideas (with Lynette Bye)
28 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are "forward-chaining" and "backward-chaining", and how do they connect with theory of change? What sorts of ...
How to measure impact, and why we may have all been doing it wrong (with Michael Plant)
24 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Researchers in the Effective Altruism movement often view their work through a utilitarian lens, so why haven't th...
Major and minor scales of consciousness (with Andrés Gomez Emilsson)
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Should pleasure and pain be measured on logarithmic scales? How might such a scale affect utilitarian calculations...
The art of being a creative person (with Georgia Shreve)
07 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is positive psychology? What is the PERMA model? From a creativity standpoint, is there a connection between ...
An interview with an A.I. (with GPT-3 and Jeremy Nixon)
30 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is machine learning? What are neural networks? How can humans interpret the meaning or functionality of the v...
Beyond cognitive biases: improving judgment by reducing noise (with Daniel Kahneman)
23 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we apply the theory of measurement accuracy to human judgments? How can cognitive biases affect both the b...
How to use your career to have a large impact (with Ben Todd)
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is 80,000 Hours, and why is it so important? Does doing the most good in the world require being completely s...
Why does psychotherapy work (when it works at all)? (with Scott Miller)
08 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we make psychotherapy more effective? How much confidence should psychotherapists have in the efficacy of ...
How broken is social science? (with Matt Grossman)
02 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What makes studying humans harder than studying other parts of the universe? Is social science currently improving...
How to communicate better with the people in your life (with Sara Ness)
28 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are the "relating" languages? What strategies do we use when interacting with each other under various condit...
How to hack your own brain (with Elizabeth Ricker)
21 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why should we be doing more experiments on our own lives? How should we approach and get started with self-experim...
Why do civilizations collapse? And is ours next? (with Samo Burja)
19 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is "long" history? Why don't historians usually focus on what happened before recorded human history? What (i...
Utopia on earth and morality without guilt (with Joe Carlsmith)
11 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are some of the challenges of defining utopia? What should a utopia look like? What are concrete versus subli...
How do you leverage your limitations? (with Oliver Burkeman)
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we leverage our own limitations? Why does converting the average human lifespan from years to other units ...
The secrets of effective learning (with Andy Matuschak)
29 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we accelerate learning? Is spaced repetition the best way to absorb information over the long term? Do we ...
Exploring your shadow and healing your traumas (with Aurora Quinn-Elmore)
25 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is metamodernism? How does metamodernism relate to spiral dynamics? What does it look like to apply a metamod...
Dances with robots (with Catie Cuan)
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is a choreographic interface? Is dance for everyone? What is dance for? What can dancers learn from roboticis...
Heaven and hell on earth: a trip to the limits of human consciousness (with Anthony David Adams)
18 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is "metaphysical geometry"? What do we get out of surrendering to the idea of death? Why do some people find ...
How can we save the world? (with Toby Ord)
15 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is "the precipice"? Which kinds of risks (natural or technological) pose the greatest threats to humanity spe...
Risk-Driven Development and Decentralization (with Satvik Beri)
11 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is risk-driven development? How should we weigh advice, best practices, and common sense in a domain? What ma...
Statistics Intuitions and Social Science Reproducibility (with Stuart Buck)
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How should math be taught in primary and secondary schools? How much is science denialism caused by statistics ill...
Genomics and Health Outcomes (with Noor Siddiqui)
04 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why has there been such an explosion of progress in genomics recently? What's the right way to think about how gen...
Rationality and Cognitive Science (with Anna Riedl)
01 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is the Great Rationality Debate? What are axiomatic rationality and ecological rationality? How irrational ar...
Self-Improvement and Behavior Change (with James Norris)
26 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can you live your best life? What's a good definition of "wisdom"? What are some possible taxonomies of life o...
Everyday Statistics and Climate Change Strategies (with Cassandra Xia)
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are "shed" and "cake" projects? And how can you avoid "shed" projects? What is the "jobs to be done" framewor...
Conscious Processes and Intelligence (with Richard Nisbett)
19 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What sorts of things do the conscious and unconscious parts of our minds do? How we can make people more intellige...
Educational Restructuring and Investing (with Matt Greenfield)
17 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we restructure schools around student needs? What sorts of skills do people actually need in the 21st cent...
Chinese Culture and Love Addiction (with Ava King)
12 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How is Chinese culture different from American culture? For what reasons do Chinese people get plastic surgery, an...
User Engagement and Expert Intuition (with Rob Haisfield)
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How do you design a product to handle user failure? How do you keep users motivated even when they fail? How do yo...
Psychological Models and Parenting (with Divia Eden)
05 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is the Internal Family Systems model? What kinds of information do our emotions give us? How many agents live...
Productive Conversations and Feedback Loops (with Julia Carvalho)
03 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we become better leaders? How can we give better feedback to others? How can we be better listeners? How c...
EA Efficacy and Community Norms (with Stefan Schubert)
30 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can people be more effective in their altruism? Is it better for people to give to good causes in urgent situa...
Explanatory Depth and Growth Mindset (with Daniel Greene)
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is the illusion of explanatory depth? Are there forms of debate or dialogue that actually help people to chan...
AI Safety and Solutions (with Robert Miles)
22 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why is YouTube such a great way to communicate research findings? Why is AI safety (or alignment) a problem? Why i...
Online and IRL Relationships (with Steve Dean)
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. To what extent do we put ourselves, each other, and our relationships in fixed, sharply-defined boxes? Do we exude...
Utilitarianism and Its Flavors (with Nick Beckstead)
16 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is utilitarianism? And what are the different flavors of utilitarianism? What are some alternatives to uti...
Cults and Social Needs (with Alice Mottola)
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is a cult? What do people seem to mean when they use the word "cult"? Do cults always have a charismatic and/...
History and Longevity (with Will Eden)
08 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are the benefits of studying history? How do we find useful historical analyses? Can learning about history s...
Knowledge Management and Deugenesis (with Jeremy Nixon)
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is "The Index"? What are some benefits of externally compiling and organizing one's knowledge? When is spaced...
Crypto Pros and Cons (with Sam Bankman-Fried)
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What's the current state of cryptocurrency? What are the good and bad aspects of crypto? To what extent have the p...
Behavior Change and Interpersonal Connection (with Ting Jiang)
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How does a behavioral scientist apply her knowledge to her own life? What fraction of our behaviors are deliberati...
Scout and Soldier Mindsets (with Julia Galef)
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are "scout" and "soldier" mindsets? How can we have productive disagreements even when one person isn't in sc...
Social Science and Science Journalism (with Jesse Singal)
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Should we trust social science research? What is the open science movement? What is the "file drawer" effect? How ...
Search Data and Self-Improvement (with Seth Stephens-Davidowitz)
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What can we learn about people from search data? What does search data reveal about human nature that surveys and ...
Poker and Productivity (with Chris Sparks)
24 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What can people learn from playing poker? What makes someone good at playing games? What is the OODA loop? What is...
Moral Discourse and the Value of Philosophy (with Ronny Fernandez)
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is normative hedonism? What's the difference between wanting something and wanting to want something? Should ...
Superintelligence and Consciousness (with Roman Yampolskiy)
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is superintelligence? Can a superintelligence be controlled? Why aren't people (especially academics, compute...
Meditation and Ontology (with Daniel Ingram)
03 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why should we meditate? What are the typical developmental stages as one progresses along the contemplative path? ...
Rationality Education and Dating (with Jacob Falkovich)
24 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What's the best way to teach rationality? How do you communicate rationalist principles to people who aren't alrea...
Preference Falsification and Postmodernism (with Michael Vassar)
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How much preference falsification is occurring in society? What's the difference between conflict theory and mista...
Moral Foundations Theory and Constructive Dialogue (with Caroline Mehl)
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is the Moral Foundations Theory? Is the MFT a model that's only intended to describe human behavior and psych...
Past / Future Selves and Intrinsic Values (with Simone Collins)
03 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How well do we identify with our past and future selves? What are some of the ways we can develop self-awareness a...
Happiness and Hedonic Adaptation (with Rob Smith)
27 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why do we seem to get less and less pleasure from some things over time? And what can we do about it? Are there di...
Decision-Making Under Uncertainty and Entrepreneurship (with Miles Lasater)
20 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we better make decisions under uncertainty? What are some of the different ways of being uncertain? What a...
Sexuality and Dominance Hierarchies (with Malcolm Collins)
13 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Are our brains equipped to handle the increasing velocity of information exchange? What's going on psychologically...
Self-Improvement and Research Ethics (with Rob Wiblin)
07 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are the best strategies for improving ourselves? How are line managers useful? Why does Rob prefer long-form ...
Antagonistic Learning and Civilization (with Duncan Sabien)
29 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why do "antagonistic" teachers exist in popular culture but not in the classroom? What happens to student outcomes...
Worldviews and Framing (with Elizabeth Kim)
22 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How are ideologies like snowglobes? What is "convert communication"? What are some algorithms for creativity? How ...
Intelligence and Creativity (with Scott Barry Kaufman)
15 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are the various components of intelligence? How does intelligence relate to IQ? Can IQ be trained or improved...
Scientific Progress and the Replication Crisis (with Geoff Anders)
09 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. NOTE: The beginning of this conversation touches on some of the same themes that were discussed in the recent epis...
Enlightenment and Sex Work (with Aella)
02 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is enlightenment? What are the different kinds or definitions of enlightenment? What was Aella's religious up...
Scientific Progress and Political Feedback Loops (with Michael Nielsen)
24 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Is scientific progress speeding up or slowing down? What are the best strategies for funding research? What is "pa...
52 Living Ideas and the Four Systems Model (with Shrikant Rangnekar)
17 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is 52 Living Ideas? How does the Four Systems Model help to classify parts of human nature? What tools do civ...
Learning and Governance (with Emerson Spartz)
10 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What's the best way to learn? Why is learning how to learn "the most important skill"? When should we explore, and...
Liberalism and Conservatism (with Cassandra Xia and Hank Racette)
04 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why do liberals and conservatives disagree so vehemently? Why are things so polarized in the US right now? What ar...
Psychedelics and Comedy (with Sarah Rose Siskind)
27 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are the pros and cons of taking psychedelics? What goes into creating a good setting for psychedelic use? How...
Comfort Languages and Nuanced Thinking (with Kat Woods)
20 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What's the best way to help someone who's going through a difficult situation? What are the four states of distres...
Life Experiments and Philosophical Thinking (with Arden Koehler)
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is 80,000 Hours? What sorts of people should become entrepreneurs? How can you run cheap experiments on yours...
Death and Story-Telling (with A.J. Jacobs)
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Are there more meaningful and ethical ways of honoring the dead than our traditional rituals? Why is it useful to ...
Education and Charity (with Uri Bram)
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Are universities a cult? Do charitable interventions like de-worming work? How much should we trust the conclusion...
Negotiation and Psychological Immune Systems (with Julie Kheyfets)
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we move beyond zero-sum, adversarial negotiations? What are some tools we can use to overcome physical and...
THINKERS Workshop (with Spencer Greenberg)
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why is it important to learn about cognitive biases? What are the various modes of nuanced thinking? What kind of ...
Lines of Retreat and Incomplete Maps (with Anna Salamon)
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What does it mean to leave lines of retreat in social contexts? How can we make sense of the current state of the ...
Forgiveness and E-Prime (with Josh Castle)
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is the goal of this podcast? How does a person become a polymath? What are the conceptual difficulties surrou...
Meditation and Enlightenment (with Jeremy Stevenson)
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What's a good definition of meditation that cuts through all the dogma and differing methodology? What are the tec...
Aesthetics and Polyamory (with Sam Rosen)
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we improve art museums? Does aesthetics need something equivalent to the effective altruism movement? What...
Learning and Goal-Setting (with Michael Simmons)
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How much time should we set aside for learning? What are the most effective ways of portraying and communicating i...