Random Talkers

This week we review Skin In The Game: Hidden Asymmetries In Daily Life by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Taleb may hate (professional) book reviewers, but we both really enjoyed this book: the man is never dull! Timestamps below: 0:08 - Taleb is angry on Twitter... 0:59 ...but calm and collected here Part 1: Intellectuals vs Risk-Takers 3:11 - The Intellectual Yet Idiot 6:43 - Taleb on education 11:22 - Why duels are good 12:44 - Trump’s appeal Part 2: The Power of Intransigent Minorities 15:06 - Why lemonade is kosher 17:40 - NIMBYs, regulation, and early adopters Part 3: Taleb Is A Conservative 20:21 - The precautionary principle 21:37 - Are GMOs dangerous? 26:18 - How religion helps us survive Part 4: Academics Need Skin In The Game 32:34 - Equality and hypocrisy 35:08 - Why Thomas Picketty is wrong 38:00 - Taleb hates economists 44:26 - Final thoughts Check out Random Talkers on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/RandomTalkers Consider buying us a coffee (all donations go to better mics): www.buymeacoffee.com/randomtalkers

This week we review "Blockchain Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction in 25 Steps" by Daniel Drescher. Blockchain hype may have waned, but we're still aboard the blocktrain destined for untold crypto riches. Look below for timestamps: Part 1: How The Blockchain Works 1:55 - The blockchain is a plain old transaction ledger... 2:34 - ...but with no central authority 5:00 - To write to it you must solve math problems 6:58 - Transactions are verified using cryptography 8:17 - Distributed consensus enables consistency Part 2: Blockchain Flaws and Exploits 11:40 - 51 Percent Attacks 13:58 - Excessive power consumption 15:40 - Dependence on private keys 16:50 - Transactions can't be reversed 17:45 - The blockchain is so slooooooooow Part 3: Blockchain Applications 19:50 - Money transfers 20:57 - Disintermediation and eliminating middle-men 22:28 - Smart contracts 25:24 - Corporations and the private, permissioned blockchain 27:30 - Blockchain and the shipping industry 29:08 - Tokens and incentivizing network effects 30:10 - DISRUPTION (may be a few years away) 33:30 - Expect incumbents to fight back Check out Random Talkers on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/RandomTalkers Consider buying us a coffee (all donations go to better mics): www.buymeacoffee.com/randomtalkers

This week we review "Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy" by Cathy O'Neil. From terrible teacher evaluations to dodgy credit decisions, algorithms make plenty of mistakes - but are they really worse than the alternative? Timestamps: 0:23 - Three traits of a bad model 1:48 - Terrible teacher evaluations 6:50 - Personality tests and hiring 11:50 - Bad algorithms disproportionately hurt the poor 15:45 - Clopening and schedule optimization 18:19 - Life before algorithms: redlining 25:11 - Limits to model accuracy 26:21 - The rigor of sports analytics is not a panacea 28:07 - Predictions vs. privacy 32:37 - The stop and frisk analogy 35:35 - China's social credit system and research ethics Check out Random Talkers on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RandomTalkers Consider buying us a coffee (all donations go to better mics): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/randomtalkers

This week your Random Talkers Matt and Adam review Ray Kurzweil's epic 2004 treatise, “The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.” This book has everything, from nanobot-fueled virtual reality to the enticing possibility of life and no death. Timestamps below: 1:47 - Exponential growth fuels Kurzweil's bold predictions 5:43 - Always look for S-curves 7:41 - Do we really need to reverse engineer the brain? 10:12 - Genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics are key 16:54 - The Singularity and living forever 19:22 - Will you be “you” after the Singularity? 26:58 - What happens if and when everything goes horribly wrong 29:26 - Asymmetric risk tolerance, self-driving cars, and the conundrum of regulation 35:20 - Final thoughts If you'd like to support the show, consider buying us a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/randomtalkers You can check out this episode and more on the Random Talkers YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/c/RandomTalkers. Peruse our old segments, leave an Internet comment, and admire the new soundwave effect Adam spent far too long making.

This week we delve into the universal basic income debate. As machine learning and artificial intelligence disrupt entire industries and automate jobs away, will a no strings attached guaranteed income be the only solution? We analyze UBI's effect on incentives, social cohesion, inflation, and more. If you'd like to support the show, consider buying us a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/randomtalkers You can check out this episode and more on the Random Talkers YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/c/RandomTalkers. Peruse our old segments, leave an Internet comment, and admire Adam’s somewhat competent video editing skills.

This week Matt and Adam review THE MASTER ALGORITHM by Pedro Domingos, a book about a universal algorithm capable of extracting ALL KNOWLEDGE from data. Seems useful, right? Your hosts are not convinced... If you'd like to support the show, consider buying us a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/randomtalkers. You can check out this episode and more on the Random Talkers YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/c/RandomTalkers. Peruse our old segments, leave an Internet comment, or maybe just admire Matt’s amazingly consistent outfit choices.

This week’s episode is focused on China. First, we discuss China’s burgeoning social credit system, whereby citizens can be rated on their ability to pay bills, their college degrees, and even their choice in friends. While social credit might seem like a dystopian nightmare a la Black Mirror, Matt thinks the system could be rather useful! Next (13:45), we review Michele Wucker’s THE GRAY RHINO. A favorite of Chinese government leadership, this book tells us not to ignore obvious dangers hiding in plain sight… Check out this episode and more on the Random Talkers YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/c/RandomTalkers. Peruse our old segments, leave an Internet comment, or maybe just admire Matt’s amazingly consistent outfit choices. Thank you for your support!

It’s a crypto special! With our BTC holdings crashing, your hosts instead turn to the blockchain. Are there many practical applications for this new technology, and might it even return us to the decentralized idealism of the early Internet? Next (8:17), we review “American Kingpin” by Nick Bilton, which recounts the rise and fall of Ross Ulbricht and the Silk Road. For the uninitiated, the Silk Road was an anonymous online marketplace primarily used to buy and sell drugs…while also being one of the first uses for Bitcoin. We breakdown how Ross’s unusual background empowered him to found the site, and how some early mistakes would lead to his eventual downfall. Check out this episode and more on the Random Talkers YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/RandomTalkers. Peruse our old segments, leave an Internet comment, or maybe just admire Matt’s amazingly consistent outfit choices. Thank you for your support!

This week we breakdown "The Innovator's Solution," the 2003 follow-up to Clayton Christensen's business classic “The Innovator's Dilemma." Fifteen years on, do Christensen’s theories on growth and disruption still hold true? Adam is a believer. Matt?…not so much Check out this episode and more on the Random Talkers YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnne2uminGtDqMzFZb_U5g. Peruse our old segments, leave an Internet comment, or maybe just admire Matt’s amazingly consistent outfit choices. Thank you for your support! Coming up next week: the future of the (disruptive?!) blockchain

The show has returned! This week we review “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz. Ben is a founding partner at Andreessen Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley’s most renowned venture capital firms. But this book isn’t about glamorous VC success stories. No, it’s about Ben’s CEO career before a16z, when everything usually seemed to be going wrong. Check out this episode and more on the Random Talkers YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnne2uminGtDqMzFZb_U5g. Peruse our old segments, leave an Internet comment, or maybe just admire Matt’s amazingly consistent outfit choices. Thank you for your support! Coming up next time: We review “The Innovator’s Solution” by Clayton Christensen.

It’s our final episode of the year! This week we bring you two book reviews. First up: ”If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens ... WHERE IS EVERYBODY?" by Stephen Webb. This work analyzes 75 possible explanations to the Fermi Paradox, a conundrum that’s been flummoxing space observers for over 60 years. Next (7:00), we go beneath the ocean for “Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness” by Peter Gregory-Smith. Gregory-Smith is the rare philosophy professor who would rather go scuba diving than sit in an ivory tower. It turns out octopus and aliens have more in common than you might expect… Finally, for all our recent segments in video form (with some extra info added), make sure to check out the Random Talkers YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnne2uminGtDqMzFZb_U5g.

Our book review this week is “Delivering Happiness” by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. Tony eschewed any ghostwriters for this book, and in their stead he’s delivered an entertaining tale of entrepreneurial ups and downs. Next (6:19), it’s the Random Talkers Bitcoin analysis for which all cryptocurrency investors have surely been waiting! We discuss whether Bitcoin can ever displace the government-backed currencies we use today, and we ponder how impending regulation may affect crypto adoption. For more info, check out each segment’s video on the Random Talkers YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnne2uminGtDqMzFZb_U5g. Thank you for your support!

This week we review Peter Thiel’s “Zero To One.” The book has a neat origin story: when Thiel taught a class on startups at Stanford in 2012, Blake Masters, a student, took detailed notes and posted them online. When the notes went viral, Masters worked with Thiel to craft them into an entire book! The finished project is an interesting mix of down-to-earth startup advice and grandiose visions for the future. Next (6:10), we analyze FCC chairman Ajit Pai’s recent proposals to rollback net neutrality regulations. It’s a contentious segment! One of us thinks opposition concerns are overblown, while the other sees net neutrality as vital to the future of the internet. For unknown reasons we also decided to end this episode with debate style closing statements...

This week’s book review is “The Everything Store” by Brad Stone. Stone’s book tells the story of Jeff Bezos and Amazon, taking us from humble beginnings as a Seattle bookseller through its ascent into the e-commerce, media, and cloud computing colossus of today. Bezos doesn’t always come off well in the book (his wife actually gave it a one star review on Amazon) but we found “The Everything Store” an interesting read even four years after publication. In our second segment (7.42), we react to the stunning progress of Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving project. How can self-driving cars be programmed to drive ethically, and which countries will likely see the fastest adoption?

We start this episode by reviewing Nick Bostrom's “Superintelligence”, a book about what happens when artificial intelligence becomes smarter than humans. How dangerous is “superintelligent” AI, will it arrive sometime soon, and is there anything we can (or should) do to stop it? Next (7:31), it’s time for something completely different: a dissection of ESPN’s short-lived partnership with Barstool Sports. While we feel for the hosts of Pardon My Take, it’s hard to see how dealing with Dave Portnoy was ever a good move for the worldwide leader. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnne2uminGtDqMzFZb_U5g