Salvador Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Sam Kuypers is a physicist and researcher at the Conjecture Institute, working at the intersection of quantum theory, epistemology, and AI alignment. His work explores the deep structure of knowledge, the philosophy of time, and how models of understanding evolve, follow Sam on Twitter

We talk about quantum information, how theories evolve, the failures of conventional education, and why clarity in epistemology matters more than ever. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:25 – How science builds explanations vs just data

04:51 – Why quantum theory still confuses people

07:17 – Absurdity in textbook interpretations of collapse

09:43 – Why time and causality remain misunderstood

12:09 – Openness of the future and causality in physics

14:35 – The arrow of time and symmetric equations

17:01 – What realism really means in science

19:27 – Quantum theory as deeply explanatory

21:53 – Quantum entanglement and the problem of locality

24:18 – Probability, measurement, and subjective views

26:44 – Why alternate versions of reality can’t interact

29:10 – Education as guessing, criticizing, and learning

31:36 – Genuine knowledge vs passive absorption

34:02 – ChatGPT and the future of learning

36:28 – Unschooling and child-led epistemology

38:54 – Reviving forgotten epistemological frameworks

41:20 – Why the best theories aren’t widely accepted

43:46 – Epistemological mistakes and the mission at Conjecture

Henry Holtz is a meditation teacher and engineer exploring non-duality, consciousness, and the paradoxes of awakening. His work brings together deep spiritual insight with direct, embodied experience, follow Henry on Twitter

We talk about the nature of awareness, the illusion of self, the trap of seeking, and how spiritual awakening unfolds through deep honesty and surrender. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:50 – The shift from “I am the thinker” to “thoughts arise in me”

05:40 – How meditation reveals what was always the case

08:30 – Chasing spiritual states vs recognizing the present

11:20 – The illusion of a future enlightenment

14:10 – How self-improvement becomes another ego game

17:00 – Is there ever an endpoint to the spiritual path?

19:50 – Practice vs surrender and the apartment metaphor

22:40 – How meditation helps in daily life and engineering

25:30 – Stress, discipline, and clarity at work

28:20 – The “dark night of the soul” and spiritual depression

31:10 – Letting go of self-improvement and facing sadness

34:00 – Stability, grounding, and small daily actions

36:50 – The illusion of self and what the robber sees

39:40 – The mind’s frameworks can’t contain reality

42:30 – Spiritual traps: idolizing teachers and bypassing the present

45:20 – Searching for awareness while looking from it

48:10 – The deeper paradoxes of perception and being

51:00 – What is the default mode network and its spiritual role?

BJ Campbell is the author of the Handwaving Freakoutery Substack and a systems engineer with deep experience in data analysis. His writing explores media dynamics, gun policy, polarization, and the complex incentives behind cultural panic, follow BJ on Twitter

We talk about how freakouts form, how institutions lose trust, the mechanics of mass persuasion, and what we can do when truth breaks down. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:29 – The origin of “freakoutery” and viral moral panic

05:04 – How trust breaks and narratives take over

07:31 – Role of experts and institutional decay

09:58 – Why media can’t afford to be accurate

12:23 – Gun violence, data misuse, and tribal conclusions

14:50 – BJ’s breakdown of CDC messaging failure

17:18 – Do both sides cherry-pick gun data?

19:46 – Why no one really wants an honest debate

22:12 – The incentive systems of media and politics

24:39 – Are we already in a soft civil war?

27:06 – Public health as a rhetorical weapon

29:33 – How memes win and outcompete facts

31:59 – Algorithms and narrative feedback loops

34:26 – Chaos as performance and control

36:52 – Information overload and digital stress

39:19 – Epistemology and the limits of modeling

41:46 – Collapse of authority and search for coherence

44:13 – How to rebuild trust without central control

46:40 – Models, culture, and long-term thinking

49:07 – What optimism looks like under breakdown

51:34 – Freakoutery, faith, and the next wave

54:01 – Final thoughts on rebuilding rationality

Michael Strong is an educational entrepreneur, author, and co-founder of several ventures focused on liberating human potential — including the Academy of Thought and Industry and The Socratic Experience. He writes about innovation in education, startup cities, and moral development, follow Michael on Twitter

We talk about how schooling shapes society, what freedom means in practice, and why creating better institutional environments matters more than reforming broken ones. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:51 – The moral vision behind Socratic dialogue

05:42 – School as an obedience-training system

08:33 – The pain and purpose of adolescent development

11:24 – Why most schools kill intrinsic motivation

14:15 – Reimagining schools through freedom and trust

17:06 – Human capital and educational entrepreneurship

19:57 – Startup cities as moral ecosystems

22:48 – The importance of good rules vs lots of rules

25:39 – Why real liberty includes responsibility

28:30 – Institutions that align with human flourishing

31:21 – Virtue ethics, Aristotle, and thriving students

34:12 – How to scale good ideas without bureaucracy

37:03 – The future of self-directed learning

39:54 – Unschooling, discipline, and long-term outcomes

42:45 – Building a moral culture without coercion

45:36 – School as simulation vs engagement with reality

48:27 – The spiritual dimension of creative work

51:18 – Final thoughts on education, meaning, and freedom

Garett Jones is an economist at George Mason University and the author of Hive Mind, 10% Less Democracy, and The Culture Transplant. His work explores how intelligence, institutions, and ancestry shape national prosperity — often in surprising ways, follow Garett on Twitter

We talk about national IQ, smarter governance, immigration policy, and why “less democracy” might sometimes mean better results. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

03:11 – Smart people build better institutions that help everyone

06:22 – IQ gaps, immigration, and intergenerational convergence

09:33 – IVF, embryo selection, and boosting intelligence

12:44 – Should we optimize our children’s genetics?

15:55 – Axelrod, cooperation, and designing better institutions

19:06 – What does “10% less democracy” really mean?

22:17 – Making the case for longer political terms and elite control

25:28 – Populism, Trump, and democratic decisions

28:39 – Education, cosmopolitanism, and political tolerance

31:50 – Why Europe is less market-friendly than the U.S.

35:01 – Does democracy really cause economic growth?

38:12 – Governance, boards, and the myth of top-down control

41:23 – Iceland, open borders, and testing migration theory

44:34 – Capitalism, communism, and cultural risk

47:45 – Guest worker models and citizenship debates

50:56 – Global elite summits and influence networks

54:07 – Teaching general principles that stick

57:18 – Public choice and win-win cooperation over 10,000 years

Johan Norberg is a Swedish author and historian of ideas. He’s a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author of Progress, In Defense of Global Capitalism, The Capitalist Manifesto and more recently Peak Human. His work explores the roots of prosperity, the case for open societies, and why freedom leads to human flourishing, follow Johan on Twitter

We talk about what really drives progress, how innovation emerges, the false promises of degrowth, and why optimism is a moral stance. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:31 – Why trade and openness drive innovation

05:03 – The mindset of responsibility and agency

07:36 – Capitalism, sustainability, and environmental progress

10:10 – Why human flourishing isn’t guaranteed

12:42 – How human creativity builds prosperity

15:17 – What profit really means in free markets

17:51 – Risk-taking and the power of entrepreneurship

20:27 – The decline of global inequality

23:03 – Can markets handle externalities fairly?

25:41 – Why regulation doesn’t mean anti-market

28:15 – Cultural mixing and progress through diversity

30:54 – Embracing uncertainty instead of fearing it

33:20 – Against utopia: why hope must stay grounded

35:59 – Degrowth and the real moral risks of stopping progress

38:36 – Lockdowns, poverty, and policy trade-offs

41:10 – The future of work, leisure, and meaning

43:45 – Green growth and energy optimism

46:12 – Literature, imagination, and moral insight

48:50 – Final reflections on freedom and fallibility

Avi Kahan is a writer and thinker exploring the relationship between science, metaphysics, and religious thought. His work touches on Judaism, psychology, and the philosophical foundations of belief.

We talk about the metaphysics of God, the psychological architecture of religion, how science can take on religious roles, and why faith persists in the modern world. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:48 – God as a mental model and personal conviction

05:36 – Upbringing, exposure, and identity shaping

08:25 – Jewish history, struggle, and cultural continuity

11:13 – Jesus and the Inquisition story

14:01 – Leadership, law, and religious structure

16:50 – Religion and the suppression of doubt

19:38 – Greek gods and metaphysical abstractions

22:26 – Prayer, science, and embodied rituals

25:15 – Freud, Jung, and metaphysical psychology

28:03 – Can science itself become a religion?

30:52 – Scientific awe and religious feeling

33:40 – Why religion won’t die

36:28 – Religious cohesion across major traditions

39:17 – Community, healing, and harm through religion

42:05 – Optimism and human progress

44:53 – Connection, communication, and modern unity

47:42 – Moral convergence and global values

50:30 – Aristotle, Antiochus, and metaphysical struggle

Leigh Brasington is a meditation teacher in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition and the author of Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhānas. He was authorized to teach by Ayya Khema and is known for his deep knowledge of jhāna practice and insight meditation.

We talk about altered states of concentration, awakening without dogma, what it feels like to perceive without ego, and how practice transforms life. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:37 – Seeing reality beyond the ego

05:15 – Learning the jhānas with Ayya Khema

07:53 – Insight that follows deep concentration

10:31 – What real meditation absorption feels like

13:09 – Leigh’s critique of lighter jhāna methods

15:47 – Retreat environments and access to jhānas

18:25 – Teaching online vs in-person

21:03 – What helps students succeed

23:41 – Stories from students’ breakthroughs

26:18 – Is jhāna possible for everyone?

28:56 – Why we procrastinate on practice

31:34 – Insight meditation and Satipaṭṭhāna

34:12 – How meditation shapes happiness

36:50 – Is full awakening really possible?

39:28 – Letting go of the sense of self

42:06 – Dependent origination explained

44:44 – Emptiness and early perception

47:22 – Final reflections and recommended books

Max More is a philosopher, futurist, and one of the world’s most influential advocates for cryonics and life extension. He’s the former CEO of Alcor and a leading thinker on transhumanism, personal identity, and long-term survival, follow Max on Twitter

We talk about cryopreservation, memory, the limits of death, technological ethics, and why future generations might live radically longer and freer lives. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:37 – How memory works through death and anesthesia

05:15 – What happens to the body before legal death

07:53 – Ending the inevitability of aging

10:31 – How many people are signed up for cryopreservation?

13:09 – What embryos teach us about freezing humans

15:47 – How the procedure works: cryoprotectants and vitrification

18:25 – Clinical death and revival windows

21:03 – How advanced technology defines death

23:41 – Governance and the future of cryonics organizations

26:18 – Skepticism vs honest uncertainty

28:56 – Sci-fi myths and public misunderstanding

31:34 – Why Max sees biostasis as rational

34:12 – The precautionary principle and political risk-aversion

36:50 – What the IPCC really says about climate change

39:28 – Living in extreme conditions without panic

42:06 – Financial preparedness for uncertain futures

44:44 – What kind of world could revive you?

47:22 – Reprogramming mood and personality in the future

Richard Y. Chappell is a moral philosopher and Associate Professor at the University of Miami. He works on effective altruism, utilitarianism, moral realism, digital minds, and the ethics of the far future. He co-authored An Introduction to Utilitarianism and writes at the blog Good Thoughts, follow Richard on Twitter

We talk about doing good effectively, moral truth, AI consciousness, and why compassion needs reason. Topics and ideas are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

0:00 – Intro

0:24 – What is effective altruism?

4:08 – Longtermism & future risks

9:34 – Beneficentrism vs utilitarianism

14:56 – Donating 10%

17:16 – Emotions vs reason

19:09 – Writing with MacAskill

20:28 – What is moral realism?

24:35 – Liberalism vs relativism

25:12 – Why normativity matters

26:30 – Reason vs evolution

28:50 – Conscious AI

30:28 – Who counts morally?

33:55 – Mechanistic minds?

34:52 – Books that shaped him

35:24 – Defining personhood

37:30 – Should philosophers reach people?

40:43 – Status quo bias

43:07 – The meaning of life