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Robin Hanson - The Long View and The Elephant in the Brain

Robin Hanson is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He is the author of The Elephant in the Brain and The Age of Em.

Dwarkesh PatelhostRobin HansonguestGuestguest

Aug 31, 20201h 40mWatch on YouTube ↗

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EPISODE INFO

Released: August 31, 2020
Duration: 1h 40m
Channel: Dwarkesh Podcast
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Robin Hanson is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He is the author of The Elephant in the Brain and The Age of Em. Robin's book: https://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Brain-Hidden-Motives-Everyday/dp/0190495995 Robin's website: http://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/home.html Robin's blog: https://www.overcomingbias.com/ Episode Website: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/robin-hanson Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3Rmz9MB Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Rm7RWS Follow Robin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/robinhanson Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:05 The long view 15:07 Subconscious vs conscious intelligence 20:28 Meditators 26:50 Signalling, norms, and motives 36:50 Conversation 42:54 2020 election nominees 49:25 Nerds in startups and social science 54:50 Academia and Robin 58:20 Dominance explains paternalism 1:09:32 Remote work 1:21:26 Advice for 20 yr old 1:28:05 Idea futures 1:32:13 Reforming institutions

SPEAKERS

Dwarkesh Patel
host
Robin Hanson
guest
Guest
guest
Narrator
other
Narrator
other

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Dwarkesh Podcast, featuring Dwarkesh Patel and Robin Hanson, Robin Hanson - The Long View and The Elephant in the Brain explores Robin Hanson on Long-Term Futurism, Hidden Motives, and Social Signaling Robin Hanson discusses why almost no individuals or institutions truly optimize for the very long term, arguing that evolutionary discounting and organizational politics prevent the emergence of genuine long-view agents—for now. He predicts that eventually some self-preserving organizational “units of selection” will arise, accumulate resources, and systematically plan for their own distant futures. Pivoting to his book *The Elephant in the Brain*, Hanson explains that much of human behavior is driven by hidden, often status- and loyalty-driven motives that our conscious “press secretary” mind rationalizes after the fact. He applies this hidden-motive lens to topics like meditation, conversation, signaling, parenting and paternalism, remote work, startups, academia, and institutional innovation, arguing that most systems are optimized for prestige and coalition politics rather than truth or social welfare.

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