Lex Fridman Podcast
#191 – Daniel Schmachtenberger: Steering Civilization Away from Self-Destruction
14 Jun 2021
Daniel Schmachtenberger is a philosopher interested understanding the rise and fall of societies and individuals. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Ground News: https://ground.news/lex - NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/lex to get free product tour - Four Sigmatic: https://foursigmatic.com/lex and use code LexPod to get up to 60% off - Magic Spoon: https://magicspoon.com/lex and use code LEX to get $5 off - BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off EPISODE LINKS: Daniel's Website: https://civilizationemerging.com/ The Consilience Project: https://consilienceproject.org/ PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: - Check out the sponsors above, it's the best way to support this podcast - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman OUTLINE: Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) - Introduction (08:05) - Aliens and UFOs (26:50) - Collective intelligence of human civilization (34:46) - Consciousness (46:08) - How much computation does the human brain perform? (49:47) - Humans vs ants (57:04) - Humans are apex predators (1:04:08) - Girard's Mimetic Theory of Desire (1:24:05) - We can never completely understand reality (1:27:29) - Self-terminating systems (1:37:52) - Catastrophic risk (2:08:04) - Adding more love to the world (2:35:29) - How to build a better world (2:52:41) - Meaning of life (3:00:23) - Death (3:06:04) - The role of government in society (3:23:29) - Exponential growth of technology (4:09:10) - Lessons from my father (4:14:46) - Even suffering is filled with beauty
No persons identified in this episode.
This episode hasn't been transcribed yet
Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.
Popular episodes get transcribed faster
Other episodes from Lex Fridman Podcast
Transcribed and ready to explore now
#484 – Dan Houser: GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar, Absurd & Future of Gaming
31 Oct 2025
Lex Fridman Podcast
#483 – Julia Shaw: Criminal Psychology of Murder, Serial Killers, Memory & Sex
14 Oct 2025
Lex Fridman Podcast
#482 – Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature
01 Oct 2025
Lex Fridman Podcast
#481 – Norman Ohler: Hitler, Nazis, Drugs, WW2, Blitzkrieg, LSD, MKUltra & CIA
19 Sep 2025
Lex Fridman Podcast
#480 – Dave Hone: T-Rex, Dinosaurs, Extinction, Evolution, and Jurassic Park
04 Sep 2025
Lex Fridman Podcast
#479 – Dave Plummer: Programming, Autism, and Old-School Microsoft Stories
29 Aug 2025
Lex Fridman Podcast