Person
Every book Nick Bostrom recommended on podcasts
Nick Bostrom appears on major discussion platforms, including Modern Wisdom and the Lex Fridman Podcast, where he engages in deep explorations of artificial intelligence, existential risks, and future societal scenarios. During his podcast appearances, Bostrom has frequently referenced influential works of literature and philosophical texts to illustrate dystopian futures and theoretical concepts. In his conversation on Modern Wisdom, he pointed to well-known dystopian classics including George Orwell's 1984, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale as prime examples of fictional societies that most people would immediately recognize as undesirable, using them to anchor discussions around technological utopias and potential disasters. Additionally, during his appearance on the Lex Fridman Podcast, Bostrom discussed the intellectual lineage of the Doomsday argument, mentioning a book written in 1996 by philosopher John Leslie, which built upon initial theoretical concepts developed by physicist Brandon Carter. Through these scholarly references, Bostrom grounds his rigorous academic inquiries into speculative futures, existential threats, and macro-level philosophy within a broader literary and historical context, connecting contemporary technological anxieties to long-standing philosophical traditions and cautionary tales about human civilization.
Books recommended by Nick Bostrom
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1984
1984 by George Orwell is a classic dystopian novel depicting a totalitarian regime characterized by extreme government surveillance, historical negationism, and psychological manipulation.
Discussed“and and there's like a number of these that most people would like the you know 1984 Brave New World handmaid's taale like all of these”
Where to get it
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Brave New World
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a classic dystopian novel portraying a technologically controlled future society engineered for easy pleasure and societal sorting.
Discussed“and and there's like a number of these that most people would like the you know 1984 Brave New World handmaid's taale like all of these”
Where to get it
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The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a classic dystopian novel depicting a totalitarian society where women's rights are stripped away and fertile individuals are forced into reproductive servitude.
Discussed“and and there's like a number of these that most people would like the you know 1984 Brave New World handmaid's taale like all of these”
Where to get it
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The Works of the Reverend John Wesley, A. M.
Discussed“first discovered by Brandon Carter was a theoretical physicist and then developed by philosopher John Wesley I think it might have been discovered initially in the 70s or 80s and Lester wrote this book I think in 96”
Where to get it
Books Nick Bostrom wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Are We Headed For AI Utopia Or Disaster? - Nick Bostrom - #803 | Modern Wisdom | 2024-06-29 | 3 |
| #83 – Nick Bostrom: Simulation and Superintelligence | Lex Fridman Podcast | 2020-03-26 | 1 |
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“alignment problem which kind of was the focus of my previous book super intelligence came out in 2014 which is basically the challenge of how to make sure that as we develop increasingly capable AI systems and ultimately super intelligences how we can make sure that they are aligned”
“and maybe we can avoid going down the path of you know Brave New World or something um um but um this book deep Utopia let me promote it”
“and when I wrote the book super intelligence at that point I felt that was a kind of neglect of what would happen if AI succeeds and in particular a need to get a more granular understanding of where the pitfalls are so we can avoid them”