2root2: Recent Episodes

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We talk about a new direction we're taking with the podcast. We discuss the renaming of the channel and task.

We discuss QuantU, the learning platform we've been building for the past several years and talk about the future direction the podcast and channel will be taking.

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This week we discuss second-order thinking and delve into the following questions:

1. What is first-order thinking?

2. What is second-order thinking?

3. What is the Law of Unintended Consequences?

4. Can you ever just do one thing?

5. Is everything interconnected?

6. What are areas where second-order thinking is particularly useful?

7. What are common pitfalls and danger zones when doing second-order thinking?

8. What are some things you cannot use second-order thinking for?

Side-Topic Question:

1. How do trust and trustworthiness relate to second-order thinking?

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In this episode, we explore one of the most powerful tools of the human mind - the thought experiment. 

We tackle the following questions:

1. What is a thought experiment?

2. What are the abilities or strengths or capabilities of a thought experiment?

3. What are its weaknesses?

4. What is its main value?

5. How do you conduct a thought experiment?

6. What are some areas where thought experiments are most useful?

7. When running a physically impossible thought experiment, how can we keep it grounded in reality?

8. When running a historical counter-factual thought experiment, how can we draw conclusions, and what are valid conclusions from such a chaotic system?

9. What is the advantage of "Intuiting the Non-Intuitive" in a thought experiment?

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In this episode we discuss the ideas behind first principles thinking (FPT) and two of the main methods for applying FPT.  

Some of the questions we try to answer are:  

1. What is first principles thinking (FPT)?

2. What are the two main techniques for FPT?

3. What are some other techniques?

4. What are some examples of FPT?

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In this episode, we talk about the Circle of Competence mental model.  

Outline:  

1. What is a circle of competence?

2. How do you know when you have one?

3. How do you build and maintain one? 

- desire to learn

- monitoring 

- feedback

1. How do you operate outside of one?

- watch out for incentives

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In this episode, we discuss mental maps/models. We talk about how models can be used to reach goals, specifically how models have 4 key attributes:  

1. They can explain or help understand something

2. They can make predictions

3. They can optimize or remove errors in a process

4. They can help generate new more accurate models. 

Some of the questions we tackle are: 

1. What is a map?

2. If Maps/Models are flawed, then why use them?

3. What is the relationship between maps/models and the territory they are mapping/modeling?

4. What are the key features of models?

5. What is the mind projection fallacy?

6. What are some major pitfalls when using maps/models?

7. How do you choose good models? How do you evaluate any given model?

8. How can we effectively apply and use maps/models?

9. Why are maps important?

10. Is it possible to create a perfect map? What about a practically perfect one?  

Links to some of the topics we discuss:

1. The map is not the territory: https://www.lesswrong.com/tag/the-map-is-not-the-territory

2. The mind projection fallacy: https://www.lesswrong.com/tag/mind-projection-fallacy

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In this first episode we talk about blind spots and understanding reality. We discuss general barriers to understanding such as ego-induced denial, and how to help mitigate having the wrong perspective, problems arising from your own biology and ego, as well as having too large of a distance between yourself and the topic you are trying to understand.  

We also briefly give some examples of what mental models are such as gravity and Occam's razor. Finally, throughout we try to give a few tips for how you can learn to understand the reality around yourself better.