Author: Lex Fridman Podcast

  • #124 – Stephen Wolfram: Fundamental Theory of Physics, Life, and the Universe

    Stephen Wolfram is a computer scientist, mathematician, and theoretical physicist. This is our second conversation on the podcast.

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    If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/podcast or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.

    Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

    OUTLINE:
    00:00 – Introduction
    07:14 – Key moments in history of physics
    12:43 – Philosophy of science
    14:37 – Science and computational reducibility
    22:08 – Predicting the pandemic
    38:58 – Sunburn moment with Wolfram Alpha
    39:46 – Computational irreducibility
    46:45 – Theory of everything
    52:41 – General relativity
    1:01:16 – Quantum mechanics
    1:06:46 – Unifying the laws of physics
    1:12:01 – Wolfram Physics Project
    1:29:53 – Emergence of time
    1:34:11 – Causal invariance
    1:53:03 – Deriving physics from simple rules on hypergraphs
    2:07:24 – Einstein equations
    2:13:04 – Simulating the physics of the universe
    2:17:28 – Hardware specs of the simulation
    2:24:37 – Quantum mechanics in Wolfram physics model
    2:42:46 – Double-slit experiment
    2:45:13 – Quantum computers
    2:53:21 – Getting started with Wolfram physics project
    3:14:46 – The rules that created our universe
    3:24:22 – Alien intelligences
    3:32:29 – Meta-mathematics
    3:37:58 – Why is math hard?
    3:52:55 – Sabine Hossenfelder and how beauty leads physics astray
    4:01:07 – Eric Weinstein and Geometric Unity
    4:06:17 – Travel faster than speed of light
    4:16:59 – Why does the universe exist at all

  • #123 – Manolis Kellis: Origin of Life, Humans, Ideas, Suffering, and Happiness

    Manolis Kellis is a professor at MIT and head of the MIT Computational Biology Group.

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    If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/podcast or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.

    Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

    OUTLINE:
    00:00 – Introduction
    06:20 – Epigenome
    10:28 – Evolution
    15:26 – Neanderthals
    27:15 – Origin of life on Earth
    43:44 – Life is a fight against physics
    49:56 – Life as a set of transformations
    51:35 – Time scales
    1:00:31 – Transformations of ideas in human civilization
    1:05:19 – Life is more than a rat race
    1:13:18 – Life sucks sometimes and that’s okay
    1:30:16 – Getting older
    1:36:21 – The best of MIT
    1:49:01 – Poem 1: The Snow
    2:01:52 – Love
    2:06:16 – Poem 2: The Tide Waters

  • #122 – David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering

    David Fravor is a navy pilot of 18 years and a primary witness in one of the most credible UFO sightings in history, video of which has been released by the Pentagon and reported on by the NY Times.

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    If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/podcast or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.

    Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

    OUTLINE:
    00:00 – Introduction
    07:13 – Top Gun
    12:06 – Navy pilot career
    24:14 – AI is the third brain of a jet fighter
    40:37 – Sully
    47:34 – Landing a jet fighter on a carrier
    53:18 – What’s it like to fly a jet fighter?
    1:05:22 – Greatest plane ever made
    1:11:04 – The Tic Tac UFO story
    1:49:16 – Intelligent extraterrestrial life
    1:53:30 – Why aren’t UFOs investigated more seriously
    1:59:52 – Tic Tac UFO details
    2:07:55 – What do you think the Tic Tac was?
    2:16:23 – SpaceX
    2:30:01 – Response to Mick West Debunking
    2:48:24 – Was the Tic Tac a secret military test?
    3:00:07 – Is the government in possession of alien spacecraft?
    3:25:28 – Interesting UFO sightings in history
    3:39:55 – Advice for Young People
    3:47:47 – Meaning of life

  • Lex Solo #3 – In Memory of My Grandmother

    My attempt to find the words to honor my grandmother, an amazing woman who is responsible for much of who I am, who taught me how to be a man, taught me about strength, about wisdom, about compassion, about love.

    If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/podcast or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.

    Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

    OUTLINE:
    00:00 – In memory of my grandmother
    02:00 – Lesson 1: Mental Toughness
    04:31 – Lesson 2: Strength
    07:25 – Lesson 3: Wisdom
    08:46 – Lesson 4: Believe in Yourself
    12:13 – Lesson 5: Love
    15:37 – Poem

  • #121 – Eugenia Kuyda: Friendship with an AI Companion

    Eugenia Kuyda co-founder of Replika, an AI companion. Please check out our sponsors to get a discount and to support this podcast:
    Dollar Shave Club: https://dollarshaveclub.com/lex
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    Episode links:
    Eugenia’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/ekuyda
    Replika’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/myreplika
    Replika’s Website: https://replika.ai

    If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/podcast or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.

    Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

    OUTLINE:
    00:00 – Introduction
    06:18 – Loneliness
    13:54 – Can AI alleviate loneliness?
    18:13 – Love
    20:49 – Russia in the 1990’s
    31:47 – Chernobyl
    41:35 – Communism
    49:21 – Losing a friend
    57:55 – Mortality
    1:10:41 – Replika origin story
    1:59:37 – Bringing people back to life with AI
    2:05:37 – Relationship with Replika
    2:18:27 – Can you form a connection with text alone?
    2:27:45 – Does an AI companion need a body?
    2:30:20 – Her
    2:37:24 – GPT-3 for conversation
    2:43:48 – We should be nice to AI
    2:46:52 – Book recommendations
    2:53:45 – Russian language
    2:58:41 – Meaning of life

  • Lex Solo #2 – The Future of Neuralink

    My thoughts on 8 possible long-term futures of Neuralink after attending the August 2020 progress update. This is a solo episode #2 of the podcast. Hopefully it’s interesting to some folks. The aim is for these episodes to be focused on a particular topic, at times challenging, at times personal, at times exciting to me on a technical and philosophical level like the episode today.

    If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/podcast or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.

    Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

    OUTLINE:
    00:00 – Introduction
    04:42 – 1. Alleviating Suffering
    07:25 – 2. Consciousness and Intelligence
    11:39 – 3. Augmented Body, Mind, and Reality
    13:42 – 4. Gaming & Virtual Reality
    16:25 – 5. Merging Tech & Biology
    19:40 – 6. Telepathy
    22:58 – 7. Memories & Immortality
    28:04 – 8. Merging with AI

  • #120 – François Chollet: Measures of Intelligence

    François Chollet is an AI researcher at Google and creator of Keras.

    Support this podcast by supporting our sponsors (and get discount):
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    Episode links:
    Francois’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/fchollet
    Francois’s Website: https://fchollet.com/
    On the Measure of Intelligence (paper): https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.01547

    If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/podcast or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.

    Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

    OUTLINE:
    00:00 – Introduction
    05:04 – Early influence
    06:23 – Language
    12:50 – Thinking with mind maps
    23:42 – Definition of intelligence
    42:24 – GPT-3
    53:07 – Semantic web
    57:22 – Autonomous driving
    1:09:30 – Tests of intelligence
    1:13:59 – Tests of human intelligence
    1:27:18 – IQ tests
    1:35:59 – ARC Challenge
    1:59:11 – Generalization
    2:09:50 – Turing Test
    2:20:44 – Hutter prize
    2:27:44 – Meaning of life

  • #119 – David Eagleman: Neuroplasticity and the Livewired Brain

    David Eagleman is a neuroscientist at Stanford.

    Support this podcast by supporting our sponsors:
    – Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex
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    Episode links:
    David’s Website: https://www.eagleman.com/
    David’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/davideagleman
    Livewired (book): https://amzn.to/3ba4ezv

    If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/podcast or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.

    Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

    OUTLINE:
    00:00 – Introduction
    05:05 – Livewired
    16:39 – Hardware vs software
    25:53 – Brain-computer interfaces
    35:12 – 2020 is a challenge for neuroplasticity
    46:08 – Free will
    50:43 – Nature of evil
    58:55 – Psychiatry
    1:06:28 – GPT-3
    1:13:31 – Intelligence in the brain
    1:21:51 – Neosensory
    1:31:27 – Book recommendations
    1:34:07 – Meaning of life
    1:36:53 – Advice for young people

  • New Name: Lex Fridman Podcast

    New podcast name. New Russian hitman thumbnail. Everything else stays the same. AI is still my passion, but this gives me a bit more freedom to talk to interesting folks from all over. Thanks for the support & the love.

    If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/podcast or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.

  • #118 – Grant Sanderson: Math, Manim, Neural Networks & Teaching with 3Blue1Brown

    Grant Sanderson is a math educator and creator of 3Blue1Brown.

    Support this podcast by supporting our sponsors:
    – Dollar Shave Club: https://dollarshaveclub.com/lex
    – DoorDash: download app & use code LEX
    – Cash App: download app & use code “LexPodcast”

    Episode links:
    3Blue1Brown: http://youtube.com/3blue1brown
    Grant’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/3blue1brown

    If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/podcast or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.

    Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

    OUTLINE:
    00:00 – Introduction
    05:13 – Richard Feynman
    09:41 – Learning deeply vs broadly
    13:56 – Telling a story with visualizations
    18:43 – Topology
    23:52 – Intuition about exponential growth
    32:28 – Elon Musk’s exponential view of the world
    40:09 – SpaceX and space exploration
    45:28 – Origins of the Internet
    49:50 – Does teaching on YouTube get lonely?
    54:31 – Daily routine
    1:00:20 – Social media
    1:10:38 – Online education in a time of COVID
    1:27:03 – Joe Rogan moving to Spotify
    1:32:09 – Neural networks
    1:38:30 – GPT-3
    1:46:52 – Manim
    1:51:01 – Python
    1:56:21 – Theory of everything
    2:03:53 – Meaning of life