Myths and Problems: Recent Episodes
Erik Larson
I talk about the problem of grounding morals in rights talk and other preoccupations of the modern era that sort of skim the surface.
I give a discussion about the book I’m working on and venture into some social theory that I’ve been reading. I also talk a little bit more about Vico and a theory of history. And I finish by talking about a book called Postemotional Society.
In this extended episode, I clear up some confusions I had with Vico in my earlier podcast today. I address in more detail his view of language, and his view of history. I also ask some questions about democracy and counting.
I discuss podcasting, the philosopher Vico’s ideas and history and language, and the TikTok algorithm
I review some of the history of Web 2.0, explain the google innovation, and introduced an idea for a start up
I talk a little bit about the Napoleonic Turn, an article that I am attempting to get published on that topic, and then discuss the landscape for small data approaches to AI, what do we know and what do we not know?
I talk about science and tech thinking, a simple linear model of progress, and the differences between this and larger social and cultural change
I do my best describing what happened in 2007 in 2008 with the real estate market crash
I discuss different themes for the second book, covering artificial intelligence mythology, datification, “solutionism” and other ideas
A continuation of my exploration of enlightenment themes and our shrinking view of Personhood
I discuss the current approach to scientific discovery and innovation and the challenges and dangers of our current approach
I go through a short history of war and offer some problems for our modern understanding of it
I discuss Isaiah Berlin’s biographical sketch of Karl Marx and also explain ways in which Karl is no longer relevant and also potentially ways in which he still is
I describe it a little bit more depth how Frankenstein supports a kind of discussion of political monsters and in particular the French Revolution, eight a textual reading that was actually closer to Mary Shelley and the world she was living in then one might first assume
I talk about first the nature of mythology in a more general or literature framed sense. That I discuss whether in front infinite progress using science is actually one of these myths. What evidence do we have that we’re not thinking about science correctly?
I explain the basic problem of freedom and security as articulated by Isaiah Berlin. Some unresolved problems with political theory, some practical consequences in the French Revolution
I explain a little bit about the history of Cyprus and then get a small travelogue as I lived on the island for about a month and a half.
I think that I should fill in some gaps in the roots of Europe in particular the development of the Roman empire in BCE and also some of the early development in CE. So I will leave that up but I need to put out a “The roots of Europe Part Two” which I will do as soon as I finish the research.
I describe the beginning of what we now think of as Europe starting with ancient Greek and Roman civilization. Up to about 1500 A.D..
This is sort of a hodgepodge of ideas that were inspired from Menand’s book the free world.
I talk about the Myth coming out and some other issues in rationality and reason. This is part one of a two part podcast.
In the grips of a loss of Internet connectivity, I try to unpack some historical strands leading to our contemporary understanding and use of the web.
I talk about the three parts of philosophy that are relevant to doing in electoral history and also a good summary of philosophy itself. A good and useful summary of what philosophy is in brief.
I talk about the recent Netflix documentary the social dilemma and give an account of my own experience and observations in tech from roughly the year 2000.
I give an account of the events that started the siege of the Alamo in general history of the events surrounding the Texas Mexico war.
The episode is really just some thoughts I had on completing a paragraph in an article I’m writing about technological solutionism. However it expands into what I hope are some interesting thoughts on the pandemic and our attempts to manage it.
I talk about Yuval Harari’s distinction between scientific truths and cultural myths. I suggest that we have a major problem resolving this in the modern era.