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“Wealth is not a number. I don’t think it can be characterized very well by a number. It is the set of all transformations that you are capable of bringing about. That is your wealth. And if optimism is true, then there’s no limit to wealth.“

— David Deutsch

David Deutsch (@DavidDeutschOxf) is a visiting professor of physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation, a part of the Clarendon Laboratory at Oxford University, and an honorary fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. He works on fundamental issues in physics, particularly the quantum theory of computation and information and especially constructor theory, which he is proposing as a new way of formulating laws of nature. He is the author of The Fabric of Reality and The Beginning of Infinity, and he is an advocate of the philosophy of Karl Popper. 

Naval Ravikant (@naval) is the co-founder of Airchat and AngelList. He has invested in more than 100 companies, including many mega-successes, such as Twitter, Uber, Notion, Opendoor, Postmates, and Wish. You can see his latest musings on Airchat, and subscribe to Naval, his podcast on wealth and happiness, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find his blog at nav.al.

For more Naval-plus-Tim, check out my wildly popular interview with him from 2015 (nominated for “Podcast of the Year”) and our conversation from 2020. 

Naval also co-piloted the interviews with Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin and famed investor Chris Dixon. 

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform .

Brought to you by  LinkedIn Jobs  recruitment platform with 900M+ users,  FreshBooks  cloud-based small business accounting software, and  Athletic Greens’s AG1  all-in-one nutritional supplement.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#662: David Deutsch and Naval Ravikant — The Fabric of Reality, The Importance of Disobedience, The Inevitability of Artificial General Intelligence, Finding Good Problems, Redefining Wealth, Foundations of True Knowledge, Harnessing Optimism, Quantum Computing, and More

This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. 

Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and 5 free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.

This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. Whether you are looking to hire now for a critical role or thinking about needs that you may have in the future, LinkedIn Jobs can help. LinkedIn screens candidates for the hard and soft skills you’re looking for and puts your job in front of candidates looking for job opportunities that match what you have to offer.

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This episode is brought to you by FreshBooks. I’ve been talking about FreshBooks—an all-in-one invoicing + payments + accounting solution—for years now. Many entrepreneurs, as well as the contractors and freelancers that I work with, use it all the time.

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Want to hear another episode that ponders the nature of reality? Have a listen to my conversation with Professor Donald Hoffman, in which we discuss the science of consciousness, how perception may influence the physical world, the holographic model of the universe, panpsychism (and influential panpsychists), cosmological polytope, the use of hallucinogenic drugs to tap into deeper reality and interact with conscious agents, QBism, the probability of zero that humans evolved to see reality in full, and much more.

#585: Professor Donald Hoffman — The Case Against Reality, Beyond Spacetime, Rethinking Death, Panpsychism, QBism, and More

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with David Deutsch:

Website | Twitter

Connect with Naval Ravikant:

Website | Twitter | Airchat

The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes — And Its Implications by David Deutsch | AmazonThe Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World by David Deutsch | AmazonThe Beginning of Infinity, Part 1 (with Brett Hall) | Naval PodcastThe Beginning of Infinity, Part 2 (with Brett Hall) | Naval PodcastDavid Deutsch: Knowledge Creation and the Human Race | Naval PodcastDavid Deutsch: Chemical Scum That Dream of Distant Quasars | TED TalkThe Best Theory of Knowledge and Progress | Critical Rationalism HubToKCast | Brett HallScience | Airchat (Where Brett and Naval Discuss David’s work)Philosophy and the Real World: An Introduction to Karl Popper by Bryan Magee | AmazonAaron Stupple’s Chapter-by-Chapter Commentary on Philosophy and the Real World | AirchatThe Science of Can and Can’t: A Physicist’s Journey through the Land of Counterfactuals by Chiara Marletto | AmazonInterviews with Chiara Marletto, David Deutsch, and Others About Constructor Theory | Logan ChipkinA New View of Children | Taking Children SeriouslyThe Four Strands of the Fabric of Reality | David DeutschThe Theory Of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe by Stephen W. Hawking | AmazonComputing Machinery and Intelligence by A.M. Turing | MindChurch–Turing–Deutsch Principle | WikipediaMultiverse | WikipediaGenetic Evolution Was a Prelude to Memetic Evolution (with Brett Hall) [Clip] | Naval PodcastEpistemology | Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyScientific Method | Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyIf You Say ‘Science Is Right,’ You’re Wrong | Scientific AmericanFamous Scientific Theories That Were Proven Wrong | Grunge1946 and All That | LSESummary of Popper’s Lectures at the LSE | Critical Rationalism BlogKarl Popper’s Falsification | BBC Radio 4“Summary: It’s Not Yet Known. But It Will Be.” | David Deutsch, TwitterLamarckism | Wikipedia“Lamarckism! 33 Years After It Had Become Untenable.” | David Deutsch, TwitterThe Many-Worlds Theory, Explained | The MIT Press ReaderCopenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics | Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyWhat is a Qubit? | Quantum Inspire‘Father of Quantum Computing’ Wins $3M Physics Prize | The GuardianShor’s Algorithm | IBM QuantumHow to Use Occam’s Razor without Getting Cut | Farnam StreetDavid Deutsch: A New Way to Explain Explanation | TED Talk“The Elephant’s Child” from Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling | Lit2Go ETC“Science Must Begin with Myths…” -Karl R. Popper | GoodreadsCommon Sense | The Chicago School of Media TheoryIseult Gillespie: The Myth of Hades and Persephone | TED-EdWhat is Earth’s Axial Tilt? | Universe TodayThe Infinite Optimism of Physicist David Deutsch | Scientific American Blog NetworkDeus Ex Machina Explained | FandorHow to Travel Faster Than Light | FermilabHumans vs. Robots: The Difference Between AI and AGI | Becoming Human: Artificial Intelligence MagazineParadox of Tolerance: To Tolerate or Not to Tolerate? | Academy 4SCQuarantine by Greg Egan | AmazonUnended Quest: An Intellectual Autobiography by Karl Popper | AmazonDavid Deutsch: After Billions of Years of Monotony, the Universe Is Waking Up | TED TalkQuantum Computing Expert Explains How Humans Could Control the Whole Galaxy | InverseHow Do Crystals Form and Grow? | Geology PageThe Origin of Atmospheric Oxygen on Earth: The Innovation of Oxygenic Photosynthesis | PNASAntonio Stoppani’s ‘Anthropozoic’ in the Context of the Anthropocene | The British Journal for the History of ScienceWealth is Knowledge | David DeutschThe Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl R. Popper | AmazonThe Logic of Scientific Discovery by Karl R. Popper | Amazon2004: What’s Your Law? | Edge.orgA New Approach to Formulating Fundamental Laws in Physics | Constructor TheoryCalvin and Hobbes: Calvin Meet Calvin Meet Calvin | GoComicsRESOURCES PROVIDED BY NAVAL RAVIKANT Critical Rationalism Hub : A hub of relevant resources to learn all about our Critical Rationalism.ToKCast by Brett Hall: A podcast promoting optimism, unbounded progress and creative critical thinking using the best known explanations from fundamental physics and philosophy. Brett and Naval’s Podcasts on The Beginning of Infinity, Part 1, Part 2, and interview with David Deutsch.Airchat Science Channel where Brett and Naval discuss David’s work. Philosophy and the Real World: An Introduction to Karl Popper by Bryan MageeAaron Stupple’s room on Airchat goes through the book chapter-by-chapter with unique commentary.The Science of Can and Can’t: A Physicist’s Journey through the Land of Counterfactuals by Chiara Marletto  Logan Chipkin’s interviews with Chiara Marletto and other physicists working on constructor theoryTaking Children Seriously website: Everything TCS related from what to do during a unique situation to the deep underlying explanation binding such a parenting style.Talk by David Deutsch: Chemical Scum That Dream of Distant Quasars SHOW NOTES[08:03] The impact The Fabric of Reality and The Beginning of Infinity have had on Naval.[10:07] The four strands.[13:04] Dispelling common misconceptions about science.[19:26] How does knowledge grow?[24:26] The benefits of understanding the four strands.[32:47] How quantum computing arose from trying to test a multiverse theory.[37:40] What a good explanation looks like.[42:43] How do conjecture and criticism give us a basis for optimism?[48:38] Translating knowledge into action.[51:20] Artificial intelligence (AI) vs. artificial general intelligence (AGI).[56:54] AGI is people! But how do we ensure it’ll be good people?[1:03:03] What’s taking AGI so long to get here?[1:08:59] Chemical scum that dream of distant quasars.[1:17:47] Are humans central to the universe, or just a sideshow?[1:20:17] Wealth and resources.[1:25:30] Recommended thinkers.[1:28:05] Taking Children Seriously, ToKCast, Critical Rationalists, and Popper 101.[1:31:55] David’s most interesting problems right now.[1:39:24] Parting thoughts.MORE DAVID DEUTSCH QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“In many ways, our institutions are wiser than we are. “
— David Deutsch

“AI [artificial intelligence] has nothing to do with AGI [artificial general intelligence]. It’s a completely different technology and it is in many ways the opposite of AGI … An AGI can do anything, whereas an AI can only do the narrow thing that it’s supposed to do.”
— David Deutsch

“Even the most careful scientific observation is all theory-laden, and theories are inherently fallible.”
— David Deutsch

“Good explanations begin with bad explanations. And you get there—between the bad explanation and the good explanation—by criticism, by conjecturing variance of the story, and then criticizing both them and the original story, and then choosing the one that survives the criticism, and then you can move on from there to a better thing.”
— David Deutsch

“Knowledge can live inside our DNA and our genes, and the genes that are correct and useful get replicated — not just in the universe, but possibly even in the multiverse.”
— David Deutsch

“Wealth is not a number. I don’t think it can be characterized very well by a number. It is the set of all transformations that you are capable of bringing about. That is your wealth. And if optimism is true, then there’s no limit to wealth.“
— David Deutsch

PEOPLE MENTIONEDKarl PopperRichard DawkinsAlan TuringAlonzo ChurchHugh Everett IIIDaniel DennettJean-Baptiste LamarckCharles DarwinStephen Jay GouldErwin SchrödingerNiels BohrJohn von NeumannPeter ShorRichard P. FeynmanRudyard KiplingGregor MendelPersephoneHadesNikeZeusAdolf HitlerGreg EganImmanuel KantAntonio StoppaniMichael FaradayWilliam GodwinThomas Babington MacaulayBryan MageeBrett HallSocratesPlatoChiara MarlettoLogan Chipkin

The post David Deutsch and Naval Ravikant — The Fabric of Reality, The Importance of Disobedience, The Inevitability of Artificial General Intelligence, Finding Good Problems, Redefining Wealth, Foundations of True Knowledge, Harnessing Optimism, Quantum Computing, and More (#662) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.