Person
Eliezer Yudkowsky books: every book Eliezer Yudkowsky wrote and recommended
Across 4 podcasts. Every show Eliezer Yudkowsky appears on, in one place — not just one.
Books by Eliezer Yudkowsky
Eliezer Yudkowsky’s most recommended books
- Nanomedicine by Robert A. Freitas
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Natural selection. by Peter Robinson
- Adaptation and Natural Selection by George Christopher Williams
- Engines of Creation by K. Eric Drexler
- Great mambo chicken and the transhuman condition by Ed Regis
- Mind children by Hans Moravec
- Natural Selection by George Christopher Williams
- The transhuman condition by Keith Ansell-Pearson
Eliezer Yudkowsky is an American artificial intelligence researcher and writer on decision theory and ethics, known for popularizing ideas related to friendly artificial intelligence. He is the founder of and a research fellow at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), a private research nonprofit based in Berkeley, California. During podcast appearances, Yudkowsky has discussed and recommended several influential books across evolutionary biology, nanotechnology, and transhumanism. On the Lex Fridman Podcast, he recommended George Christopher Williams's adaptation and natural selection as a foundational text in evolutionary biology, using it to illustrate how alien optimization processes work. In the same conversation, he mentioned reading Ed Regis's Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition at around age twelve, describing his early exposure to transhumanist ideas and his perspective on mortality. Discussing molecular nanotechnology on EconTalk and the Modern Wisdom podcast, he referenced Robert A. Freitas's Nanomedicine to explain advanced technical capabilities and basic concepts. Additionally, on the Dwarkesh Podcast, he brought up George Williams's book to demonstrate that optimization criteria do not always yield aesthetically lovely results. Through these recommendations and discussions, Yudkowsky highlights literature that shaped his understanding of science, evolutionary theory, and the theoretical dangers of artificial intelligence.
Books recommended by Eliezer Yudkowsky
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Nanomedicine
Robert A.
Discussed“Robert Fritus Jr., Nan Medicine, Volume One, Basic Capabilities.”
Where to get it
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1984
George Orwell's classic dystopian novel 1984 presents a chilling vision of a totalitarian society characterized by perpetual surveillance, historical denial, and severe psychological manipulation.
Recommended“in particular like a a nice book if you've got the time to read it is adaptation and natural selection which is one of the founding books”
Where to get it
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Natural selection.
Adaptation and Natural Selection is a seminal work of evolutionary biology written by George C.
Recommended“in particular like a a nice book if you've got the time to read it is adaptation and natural selection which is one of the founding books”
Where to get it
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Adaptation and Natural Selection
Discussed“And the Williams Revolution as is sometimes called, is when George Williams wrote Adaptation and Natural Selection, a very influential book. Saying like that is not what this optimization criterion gives you.”
Where to get it
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Engines of Creation
Engines of Creation by K.
Discussed“I grew up reading books like great Mambo chicken in the transhuman condition and later on engines of creation and mine children um you know like age age 12 or thereabouts”
Where to get it
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Great mambo chicken and the transhuman condition
Discussed“I grew up reading books like great Mambo chicken in the transhuman condition and later on engines of creation and mine children um you know like age age 12 or thereabouts”
Where to get it
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Mind children
Discussed“I grew up reading books like great Mambo chicken in the transhuman condition and later on engines of creation and mine children um you know like age age 12 or thereabouts”
Where to get it
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Natural Selection
Discussed“And the Williams Revolution as is sometimes called, is when George Williams wrote Adaptation and Natural Selection, a very influential book. Saying like that is not what this optimization criterion gives you.”
Where to get it
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The transhuman condition
Discussed“I grew up reading books like great Mambo chicken in the transhuman condition and later on engines of creation and mine children um you know like age age 12 or thereabouts”
Where to get it
Appearances
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“And the whole reason why Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is popular is because people read it and picked up the rhythm seen in a character’s thoughts of a thing that was not in their schooling system”