Charles C. Mann - Americas Before Columbus & Scientific Wizardry

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

September 14, 2022

Duration

1h 32m

Channel

Dwarkesh Podcast

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

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

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Charles C. Mann

  guest

• Dwarkesh Patel

  host

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Dwarkesh Podcast, featuring Charles C. Mann and Dwarkesh Patel, Charles C. Mann - Americas Before Columbus & Scientific Wizardry explores charles C. Mann on Contingent History, Collapse, and Technological Salvation Charles C. Mann discusses how much of the post‑1492 world was historically “baked in” versus contingent, emphasizing disease disparities, political fragility, and elite collaboration between colonizers and local powers.

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