Episode · Modern Wisdom · 2023-03-06
Chris Williamson & Jonathan Anomaly: books mentioned on Modern Wisdom #598
The Wild Ethics Of Human Genetic Enhancement - Dr Jonathan Anomaly - #598
Dr Jonathan Anomaly is a philosopher who writes about the social implications of emerging biotechnologies, teaches classes in ethics and game theory, and helped design the Philosophy, Politics and Economics program at Duke University. The ability to select from potential embryos is already here.
Jonathan Anomaly recommended Life At The Speed Of Light From The Double Helix To The Dawn Of Digital Life by J. Craig Venter, and discussed Hereditary Genius by Francis Galton and The Case Against Perfection by Michael J. Sandel. Chris Williamson recommended The Precipice by Toby Ord, and discussed The Genetic Lottery by Kathryn Paige Harden.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Hereditary Genius
Hereditary Genius by Francis Galton is an 1869 book that attempts to rank people by lettered classes while arguing that human intelligence and success are entirely heritable.
Discussed“and his cousin Francis Galton who studied the ready of specific traits that we care about in humans intelligence so he wrote a book called hereditary genius but also just banal traits like height and skin color and hair texture and stuff like that”
Where to get it
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Life At The Speed Of Light From The Double Helix To The Dawn Of Digital Life
Life At The Speed Of Light From The Double Helix To The Dawn Of Digital Life by J.
Recommended“and in fact one book about the future of this is by Craig Venter who was the first to sequence the human genome in the year 2000 and he does a lot of what's called synthetic biology now but his book is called life at the speed of light”
Where to get it
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The Genetic Lottery
The Genetic Lottery by Kathryn Paige Harden is a book that examines behavioral genetics and the influence of genes on human behavior.
Discussed“this conversation kind of reminds me a little bit of um Catherine page Harden's book the genetic lottery so behavioral geneticist but somebody who's from very strongly from the left”
Where to get it
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The Precipice
The Precipice by Toby Ord is a comprehensive examination of existential risks and the future of humanity, assessing the various perils that could threaten the survival of civilization.
Recommended“and then I read um the precipice by Toby ORD it's one of my five best books that I've ever read my entire life”
Where to get it
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The Case Against Perfection
The Case Against Perfection by Michael J.
Discussed“old argument from Michael sandel at Harvard against using these Technologies was hypothetical at the time it's called the case against Perfection”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“I read super intelligence by Nick Boston when it first came out and then I read um the precipice by Toby ORD”