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Seeing Clearly

Christian Gonzalez

Exploring different philosophical frames for understanding what is and what we ought to do. Hosted by Christian Gonzalez.

cxgonzalez.substack.com

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10 episodes
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Avg 1 hr 29 min
English

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Friday · 2 hr 1 min
Michael Johnson: “We SHOULD Make AI Conscious”
Michael Edward Johnson is a co-founder of the Qualia Research Institute and an independent researcher in the fields of consciousness, neuroscience and philosophy. Michael is, in my view, one of the most under appreciated thinkers around, so it brings me great pleasure to present this survey of his ideas to you all. We talk about mathematical theories of consciousness (dual-aspect monism), the symmetry theory of valence, panpsychism and super organism consciousness, vasocomputation, Buddhism, moral realism through valence realism, AI consciousness and AI alignment. If you found this podcast valuable, consider becoming a patron. My patrons help keep this show sustainable and ensure I can keep bringing you the most interesting thinkers in the highest quality possible. 0:00 — Highlights 0:51 — Intro 2:30 — Are the big labs incentivized to play down consciousness? 7:09 — What is consciousness? 10:03 — Dual-aspect monism 18:14 — Symmetry theory of valence 24:00 — Wait so panpsychism? 30:18 — The binding problem 34:08 — Is a corporation conscious? 42:51 — Vasocomputation, embodied bayesian priors, and trauma 49:50 — The self 50:57 — Why do latches stay closed? 54:29 — Cancer 55:27 — “The hand of the mind is the vascular system” 56:52 — Vasocomp. and predictive processing 59:04 — Tanha 1:02:50 — The multiple paths to Vasocomp. 1:04:46 — What is Enlightenment? 1:10:54 — How to open latches 1:18:00 — Empirical validation? 1:18:57 — Moral realism grounding in valence 1:32:38 — Objections to valence utilitarianism 1:40:32 — Is AI conscious? 1:49:58 — Is AI consciousness good for alignment? 1:57:38 — Michael’s longterm vision References Qualia Research Institute: https://qri.org/ Michael’s book Principia Qualia: https://opentheory.net/PrincipiaQualia.pdf Integrated Information Theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_information_theory Symmetry Theory of Valence: https://opentheory.net/2021/07/a-primer-on-the-symmetry-theory-of-valence/ Noether’s Theorem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noether’s_theorem Romeo Stevens’ X: https://x.com/RomeoStevens76 Nick Cammarata’s X: https://x.com/nickcammarata Michael (plus3happiness)’s X: https://x.com/Plus3Happiness The Feeling of Value: Moral Realism Grounded in Phenomenal Consciousness: https://amzn.to/4qQTo88 Reasons and Persons: https://amzn.to/4haQUhy Michael’s Socials Michael’s Blog: https://opentheory.net/ Michael Johnson’s X: https://x.com/johnsonmxe A beautiful overview of Michael’s core ideas: https://hyperspace.opentheory.net/ My Socials: X: http://x.com/cxgonzalez/ Substack: https://substack.com/@cxgonzalez Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c.x.gonzalez/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cxgonzalez Spotify: Apple Podcasts: Get full access to Seeing Clearly at cxgonzalez.substack.com/subscribe
July 30 · 1 hr 7 min
Debating MIRI President Nate Soares About AI Doom
In this episode of Seeing Clearly, MIRI President and co-author of If Everyone Builds It, Everyone Dies Nate Soares and I discuss existential risk from artificial super intelligence. We first run through the case for AI doom before I push back on some of his assumptions. Nate Soares is the President of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI) and co-author (with Eliezer Yudkowsky) of If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies Order Nate’s Book: https://amzn.to/4wpQXve 0:00 — Highlights 0:40 — Is super intelligence inevitable? 2:07 — The default outcome 3:09 — AI Scepticism vs. Takeoff 11:01 — What might ASI want? 17:37 — Why would ASI kill us all? 18:20 — Would ASI change its own goals? 23:21 — Would ideal humans values converge? 24:53 — The fundamental assumption in Rationalism 35:47 — Does moral realism imply alignment? 56:42 — p(moral convergence) 1:00:35 — Will ASI be an optimizer? 1:04:13 — Emotionally dealing with potential apocalypse Get full access to Seeing Clearly at cxgonzalez.substack.com/subscribe
July 15 · 1 hr 58 min
Michael Huemer explains his full argument for objective morality
In this episode of Seeing Clearly, professor Michael Huemer and I run through his argument for moral realism: the thesis that there are objective moral facts knowable via intuition. We cover every other metaethical theory and show why each of them fails and how moral realism responds to the most popular objections against the view. I did my best to pressure Professor Huemer by steel manning anti-realism every step of the way. Link to buy Michael Huemer’s book Ethical Intuitionism: https://amzn.to/4wDCTOl 1:01 — What is metaethics? 2:52 — The 5 metaethical theories 10:58 — Why are philosophers, and not linguists, talking about semantics? 13:36 — Why non-cognitivism (emotivism, prescriptivism) is wrong 19:11 — Why quasi-realism is wrong 24:09 — Why naturalism is wrong 27:49 — The Open Question argument and can we just deny it? 29:34 — Is the is/ought gap real? 33:11 — If normative facts depend entirely on descriptive facts, are they really different? 37:16 — Why subjectivism is wrong 54:04 — The Principle of Phenomenal Conservatism 56:41 — Why nihilism is wrong 58:11 — Isn’t it more intuitive to be a nihilist given a modern scientific worldview? 1:10:09 — What if someone just doesn’t have realist intuitions? 1:18:44 — Does evolution debunk morality? 1:25:42 — How could we possibly know “non-natural” moral facts? Can meditation help? 1:36:25 — If you’re wrong about morality, does anything bad actually happen? 1:39:16 — What are moral statements true *about*? 1:46:19 — Does the Form of the Good = a value attractor state? 1:48:48 — Do souls exist? Get full access to Seeing Clearly at cxgonzalez.substack.com/subscribe
May 26 · 44 min
This is the Worst Thing Humanity Does | Seeing Clearly Episode 7
Factory farming is humanity’s greatest sin. In this episode I speak with Itsi Weinstock, an animal welfare advocate at Senterra Funders. We talk about what’s really going on in factory farming, why it matters, and what you can do to help. 2:14 — Moral realism 4:41 — Itsi’s work 6:20 — Factory farming 12:07 — Value lock in from AGI 13:09 — How feasible is fighting economic forces? 14:18 — Legal challenges 15:14 — Moral progress 18:15 — The Christian argument for animal welfare 21:25 — Empathy isn’t what matters 22:57 — Strongest arguments against animal welfare 25:32 — What you can do to help 30:48 — Pascal Mugging by insects 33:32 — Recent wins for animal welfare 35:40 — Moonshots 39:05 — Working with the machine instead of against 40:58 — In 50 years, what went right/wrong? 43:29 — Call to action Donate: https://www.farmkind.giving/ Calculate cost to offset your diet: https://www.farmkind.giving/compassion-calculator Want to help with your time or money? Get in contact with Itsi directly itsi (at) senterrafunders.org Socials Substack (long form philosophy + memes): https://substack.com/@cxgonzalezX: https://x.com/cxgonzalez/ Instagram (short form philosophy): https://www.instagram.com/c.x.gonzalez/TikTok (short form philosophy): https://www.tiktok.com/@cxgonzalez Get full access to Seeing Clearly at cxgonzalez.substack.com/subscribe
April 24 · 1 hr 48 min
The Brain is a Reducing Valve | Seeing Clearly Episode 6
Watch UNRAVELING THE DREAM: Jake’s Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FrameProblems Jake’s X: https://x.com/jakeorthwein 1:08 — Origin of the film 4:00 — Bayesian brain, predictive processing, free energy principle 13:53 — Direct experience vs. symbolic thinking 25:46 — Buddhism and identity 30:38 — Emptiness vs metaphysics 39:17 — Is suffering all that matters? Meaning and Buddhist utilitarianism 1:01:38 — Valence realism vs. emptiness. What could make moral facts true? 1:11:57 — Jung and predictive processing 1:20:54 — Moving from rationalism to post-rationalism 1:32:07 — The grammar of wisdom traditions 1:40:17 — Fractal hierarchies Get full access to Seeing Clearly at cxgonzalez.substack.com/subscribe
March 30 · 1 hr 41 min
Has consciousness already been solved?
Dr. Ogi Ogas is a mathematical neuroscientist and, in his own words, a prophet. This is our conversation on God and consciousness. 1:44 — Who or what is God? 17:06 — Mind vs. matter, purpose vs. physics 27:05 — What does God want? 29:15 — Darwinism applied to super organism 31:06 — Fractal reality, hyper minds 36:40 — Moral intuition and psychological/spiritual development 48:56 — The ladder of purpose, utility function coupling through love 1:05:27 — The emergence of the first cities and the “I” 1:07:30 — What is consciousness? 1:16:49: — The hard problem of consciousness isn’t hard 1:36:46 — Purpose Get full access to Seeing Clearly at cxgonzalez.substack.com/subscribe
March 13 · 1 hr 4 min
[Podcast] Moral realism, Kantian ethics and veganism
In this episode we talk with Moral Law Within about God, secular morality, moral realism, reasons, intuitions, Kantian ethics, and more. Florence Bacus is a PhD student at Harvard studying Kantian ethics. 1:49 — God and religion 5:39 — What is truth? 8:15 — Morality without God 10:39 — Obligation 11:50 — Reasons 20:05 — Morality grounded in consciousness (Valence realism) 27:33 — Morality without God cont. 30:00 — Kantian ethics 36:44 — Why universalize? 42:18 — Kantian Contractualism 43:10 — 4 categories of moral theories 46:36 — Logic as bedrock 47:25 — Is everything intuition? 50:44 — What is philosophy? 52:53 — Are there objective moral facts? 56:29 — The Kantian argument for veganism 1:02:53 — Applying to grad school Get full access to Seeing Clearly at cxgonzalez.substack.com/subscribe
February 10 · 2 hr 9 min
Embodiment, flow, creating a golden age, Neo-Hermeticism, God — Seeing Clearly episode 3
Leona is a consciousness researcher, a practitioner of Non-Dual Shaiva Tantra and the Cofounder of The House of Hyperstition (hyperstitio.us). This was an enlivening conversation that only got better as the time flew by. We cover several fascinating topics earmarked below. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did participating in it. 1:06 — Embodied decision making, non-doing 35:36 — Chakras 43:00 — Translating and communicating woo concepts 48:55 — Acting from your body, not your mind 51:40 — When is conceptual thought useful? 55:58 — Flow-maxxing as a meta-desire 1:08:27 — Creating a golden age, distributed cognition 1:14:45 — Preserving agency within a fractal super organism 1:17:35 — Psychological development 1:19:15 — What is Neo-Hermeticism? Why this podcast? 1:30:08 — House of Hyperstition, social roles, healing 1:41:25 — The Self (top-down vs. bottom up) 1:47:10 — Good vs. bad egregores 1:51:58 — What is God? 2:00:27 — Divine coordination 2:04:42 — Love is gravity 2:06:52 — Virtue ethics Leona Twitter: https://x.com/dismaien House of Hyperstition: hyperstitio.us Christian Twitter: https://x.com/cxgonzalez Substack: https://substack.com/@cxgonzalez Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cxgonzalez Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c.x.gonzalez/ Relevant links Visualizing narratives: https://www.community-archive.org Neo-Hermeticism: Meta-rationality: https://metarationality.com Get full access to Seeing Clearly at cxgonzalez.substack.com/subscribe
January 14 · 1 hr 11 min
Predictive processing, morality, religion, tpot — Seeing Clearly episode 2
1:24 — Live music 3:33 — Predictive processing and normativity 17:41 — Identity 22:07 — Emotions as an error signal 24:40 — Is/ought gap 27:50 — Abstraction, conceptual scaffolding, pragmatism 31:47 — Morphic field, civilizational development 38:37 — Coordination as a coordination mechanism 43:14 — The Kingdom of God, moral convergence 45:06 — Superorganisms, coordination, and utility functions 47:21 — Bioelectricity as cellular intuition, morphic field 52:01 — Narratives, archetypes, the .story filetype 57:01 — Astrology and The Cycles, personality types 1:01:01 — Platonic Forms 1:02:17 — tpot, Community Archive Xiq’s made some generational twitter threads that you have to check out, I’m going to share some of my favorites here: Collective intelligence diagram: Translating spiritual concepts into computer science language: Predictive Processing and Jung: My substack post on Virtue, Archetypes, and the Narrative Self: https://substack.com/@cxgonzalez/p-159900848 Xiq (“Chic”): X: https://x.com/exgenesis/highlights Substack: https://substack.com/@xiqo Community Archive: https://www.community-archive.org Christian Gonzalez: X: https://x.com/cxgonzalez Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c.x.gonzalez TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cxgonzalez Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorldviewUpdatesPod Spotify: Apple Podcasts: Get full access to Seeing Clearly at cxgonzalez.substack.com/subscribe
January 6 · 1 hr 9 min
Rebuilding a high trust society, super organisms, fractal agency, Seeing Clearly episode 1
Richard Bartlett (@RichDecibles) is a community organizer and Vibe Mechanic at Casa Tilo. In this episode we discuss rebuilding a high trust society, bottom-up coordination, super organisms, purpose, personal development, Casa Tilo and more. 1:08 — Rebuilding a high trust society 5:45 — Bottom-up coordination, village life 7:56 — Microsolidarity as social physics 10:00 — Taxonomy of superorganisms 19:20 — Self-help is a scam 21:06 — Social roles, groups as error correcting 28:02 — The fractal self, IFS therapy 37:37 — The goal is maturity 40:22 — How to find meaningful work 45:15 — Doing vs. Becoming 48:58 — Casa Tilo 1:00:55 — Do egregores/superorganisms strip agency? 1:07:13 — Christianity and Vervaeke Rich X — https://x.com/RichDecibels Substack — https://substack.com/@richdecibels Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/richarddbartlett/ TikTok — https://www.tiktok.com/@rich_decibels Personal Website — https://richdecibels.com Stay at Casa Tilo — https://www.eltilo.casa Christian X — https://x.com/cxgonzalez Substack — https://substack.com/@cxgonzalez Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/c.x.gonzalez TikTok — https://www.tiktok.com/@cxgonzalez Get full access to Seeing Clearly at cxgonzalez.substack.com/subscribe

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