LIV BOEREE: Explaining Moloch, the mysterious game theory force breaking the world (plus a fix!)

Liv Boeree (world poker champion; astrophysicist; game theorist) is on a mission to explain why we are all trapped in a zero-sum, race to the bottom…with climate, AI, social media and politics. Why do we keep digging up resources, consuming carbon, getting stuck in nasty online spats and building robots that could kill us? Why don’t we just STOP?? Why CAN’T we just STOP?!It’s because of "moloch" – a game theory "force" that sees us do something we know is bad for us - because everyone else is doing it and if stop we’ll be disadvantaged - until we wind up ruining everything for everyone. I’ve been exploring this concept for a while and invited Liv to talk about her antidote to “competition gone wrong”, which I think will intuitively gel for many of you. In this chat we talk about the death spiral of beauty filters, why AI is repeating the nuclear arms race and the joy we share for steadfastly searching for a win-win solution that will see us in a race to the TOP.SHOW NOTESSubscribe to Liv’s SubstackFollow Liv on Instagram and via her YouTube ChannelRead my original Substack post about Moloch Listen to the Wild episode with Meg Wheatley on civilisation collapseWatch the beauty fillers video Liv produced The Moloch Trap of AI Beauty Filters and Is the Media Moloch Driving Us Mad? Read Scott Alexander’s Moloch essay we talk aboutIf you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" pageFor more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it’s where I interact the most!Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious LifeLet’s connect on Instagram and WeAre8 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

Sarah Wilson chats wild ideas for a fired up life.The multi-New York Times bestselling author, activist, minimalist and former news journalist who founded the global phenomenon ‘I Quit Sugar’ travelled the world for 10 years (living out of one bag) to explore the freshest ways to live fully…and to save this one wild and precious life we have together.She riffs with philosophers, creatives, poets, scientists (and at least one nun!) on the Big Questions that haunt us. What goes through the mind of a prisoner on death row? How does Sia invent her art? Will we die from climate change and can our rage save us? Is being Australian a mental health crisis? Join Sarah as she wrestles a path to the answers… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.