E18: Marc Andreessen on AI, Religion, SF, Longevity, and the NPC Meme
Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz sits down with Erik Torenberg and his Moment of Zen co-hosts Dan Romero and Antonio Garcia Martinez to discuss AI, religion, San Francisco politics, Eric Voegelin, and life extension. Subscribe to Moment of Zen: https://link.chtbl.com/moz If you’re looking for an ERP platform, check out our sponsor, NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/upstream -- We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. -- RECOMMENDED PODCAST: Every week investor and writer of the popular newsletter The Diff, Byrne Hobart, and co-host Erik Torenberg discuss today’s major inflection points in technology, business, and markets – and help listeners build a diversified portfolio of trends and ideas for the future. Subscribe to “The Riff” with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg: https://link.chtbl.com/theriff LINKS: Check out Upstream's first interview with Marc, about Marc's Intellectual Education : Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0bYfnuju3PhHFtSGgiMmoz?si=ecLDCrn_TLaYa7Bh8Q50qg Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marc-andreessen-on-his-intellectual-journey-the-past/id1678893467?i=1000605668194 Marc Andreessen, Fighting https://pmarca.substack.com/p/fighting Marc Andreessen, Why AI Will Save The World. https://pmarca.substack.com/p/why-ai-will-save-the-world Eric Voegelin, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Voegelin Book: Regime Change by Patrick J. Deneen https://www.amazon.com/Regime-Change-Toward-Postliberal-Future/dp/0593086902 TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Episode preview (02:30) The evolution of human entertainment from epic poetry to NPC Tiktoks (07:50) Violence is a choice (12:00) True democracy mandates military service as a virtue (16:05) Sponsor: NetSuite (17:22) Can San Francisco be fixed? (28:03) Marc's empirical argument for AI (31:45) Where Sam Harris gets it wrong (35:35) Eric Voegelin's concept of Immanetizing the Eschaton (41:40) What happens to religion after AI (48:54) What would Nietzsche say? (49:44) LLMs are already the subject of a religious war (53:28) What comes after liberalism (01:03:03) Based on Zuck's recent PR success, are alpha males back? (01:07:23) Men’s tailoring and the stripping of masculinity (01:09:50) Is Twitter’s influence the real world? Alana Newhouse on MOZ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmgtPetHBVw&t=349s (01:13:25 ) Is Left vs Right the central conflict of our time? (01:18:30) Life extension TWITTER: @pmarca (Marc) @eriktorenberg (Erik) @upstream__pod. Please support our sponsors: Beehiiv | Shopify Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox. 🐝to https://Beehiiv.com and use code "UPSTREAM" for 20% off your first three months. Shopify: https://shopify.com/torenberg for a $1/month trial period Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of all ecommerce in the US. And Shopify's the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries. From their all-in-one ecommerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/torenberg.