Charles C. Mann - Americas Before Columbus & Scientific Wizardry

Charles C. Mann is the author of my favorite history books, including 1491: New Revelations of America before Columbus. 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, and The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World. We discuss why Native American civilizations collapsed, why he disagrees with Will MacAskill about longtermism, why there aren’t any successful slave revolts, how Bitcoin is like the Chinese Silver Trade, & how geoengineering can help us solve climate change. Episode website + Transcript: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/charles-mann Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3RJ8uKF Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3DkU7I9 Follow Charles Mann: https://twitter.com/CharlesCMann Follow me: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp TIMESTAMPS 0:00:00 Preview 0:01:04 Epidemically Alternate Realities 0:01:29 Weak Points in Empires 0:04:32 Slave Revolts 0:09:47 Slavery Ban 0:13:50 Contingency & The Pyramids 0:19:17 Teotihuacan 0:21:06 New Book Thesis 0:26:24 Gender Ratios and Silicon Valley 0:32:19 Technological Stupidity in the New World 0:42:28 Religious Demoralization 0:44:28 Critiques of Civilization Collapse Theories 0:49:30 Virginia Company + Hubris 0:53:56 China’s Silver Trade 1:03:28 Wizards vs. Prophets 1:08:20 In Defense of Regulatory Delays 0:12:51 Geoengineering 0:17:16 Finding New Wizards 0:19:11 Agroforestry is Underrated 1:19:11 Longtermism & Free Markets