Very Bad Wizards2 Aug 2022

Episode 242: Losing My Religion

David and Tamler find themselves unable to attach rational meaning to a single act in their entire lives. Let's say we publish more articles and books. What then? What about our kids? They're going off to college. Why? What for? We think about the future of the podcast. Let's say we get bought out by Spotify and become more famous than Joe Rogan, Dolly Parton, and even Yoel Inbar -- more famous than all the podcasters in the world. So what?

And we can find absolutely no reply.

Plus, we take a test to determine whether we can we tell an AI apart from an analytic philosopher. When should we start getting scared of what AIs are gonna do to us, or what we're doing to them?

*Note: the main segment is on the first half of Tolstoy's great memoir "A Confession," but you don't need to be familiar with the text to appreciate the discussion for this one.

Episoder(346)

The Lotus Eaters Episode 3: The Halfway House to Humanity [unlocked]

Tamler and David discuss books 5 & 6 of The Odyssey, where we follow Odysseus as he finally leaves Calypso's Island and returns to the realm of the human. We also finally pick a name for the podcast. ...

13 Aug 41min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 2: Intangible as Wind [unlocked]

Welcome to The Lotus Eaters! This is part 2 of our 12 part series on Homer's Odyssey that will be released every Thursday. The series was supported by our Patreon community, but we are now making it a...

6 Aug 54min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 1: The Journey Begins [unlocked]

Welcome to The Lotus Eaters! This is part 1 of our 12 part series on Homer's Odyssey that will be released every Thursday. The series was supported by our Patreon community, but we are now making it a...

6 Aug 1h

Episode 338: The Lotus Eaters (Nolan's "The Odyssey")

Dropping this a week early - after completing a 12-part series on Homer's Odyssey for our beloved Patreon supporters, we now dive into Christopher Nolan's version of this epic tale. We're mixed on the...

4 Aug 1h 1min

Episode 337: First Contact? (Tarkovsky's "Solaris")

First it was a book, then it was a groundbreaking movie… that's right it's Solaris. After having discussed the Stanislaw Lem novel in the previous episode, David and Tamler try to make contact with An...

28 Jul 1h 45min

Episode 336: That Oceanic Feeling (Stanisław Lem's "Solaris")

David and Tamler tackle the first half of the VBW Madness topic tournament winner, Stanislaw Lem's science fiction masterpiece, Solaris, about a mysterious ocean planet that resists all attempts to un...

14 Jul 1h 35min

Episode 335: The Wright Stuff

The great Robert Wright returns to the podcast to talk about his new book The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. We debate the magnitude of AI's potential impact, the n...

30 Jun 1h 30min

Episode 334: Let's Get Metaphysical

What are the legitimate ways to inquire about the nature of the universe? We have science, metaphysics, phenomenological inquiry, but what about mystical and meditative practices? David and Tamler tal...

16 Jun 1h 20min