The Methods of Rationality Podcast

Epizódy

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  Kindness To Kin 23.03.2026 35min

  Kindness to Kin, by Eliezer Yudkowsky Original text here  
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  A Harried Meeting (audio) 31.12.2025 11min

  A short story by Ben Pace. Original can be found here. Donate to the fundraiser here! Harry sings karaoke here. Happy New Year. :)
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  Unum 9: Carol’s Got a Nuke! 29.12.2025 1h 14min

  Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about the season one finale of Pluribus. Rest assured that we can’t harm you without your consent (though we can look for loopholes to force you to join our club). Remember, your choices are your own. Thanks for listening, everyone. Brian and I plan to do more stuff between now and season 2 so stay tuned. :)
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  House elves are crystalized cosmic power 25.12.2025 5min

  A short story by Prerat. Original can be found here. Merry Xmas!
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  Unum 8: Cuddle Puddle 22.12.2025 1h 24min

  Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about episode 8 of Pluribus. You’re welcome to join us in our giant cuddle puddle. Don’t worry, it’s way less sexy than it sounds. Remember, your choices are your own.
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  Unum 7: Chekhov’s Spiky Palm Tree 15.12.2025 49min

  Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about episode 7 of Pluribus. Please don’t walk through 100 kilometers of deadly jungle – we’re happy to give you a ride. Remember, your choices are your own. This episode had some scheduling issues around recording and a nicely timed tech problem. It’s not our best work. If somehow this happens to be your first episode, I encourage you to try another one. ;)
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  Unum 06: John Cena Said We Don’t Have to Eat People 11.12.2025 1h 4min

  Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about episode 6 of Pluribus. You’re welcome to consume human-derived protein, but we don’t think that’s likely. Remember, your choices are your own.
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  Unum 05: It’s Not You, It’s We 08.12.2025 1h 3min

  Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about episode 5 of Pluribus. We hope you enjoy this exploration of the complexities of handling the unassimilated. Remember, your choices are your own.
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  Unum 04: Can I Get My Heroin To Go? 04.12.2025 1h 10min

  Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about episode 4 of Pluribus. We hope you enjoy this exploration of the complexities of handling the unassimilated. Remember, your choices are your own.
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  Unum 03: Would You Like a Cup of Coffee With Your Nuke? 01.12.2025 1h 1min

  Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about episode 3 of Pluribus. We hope you enjoy this exploration of the complexities of handling the unassimilated. Remember, your choices are your own.
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  Unum 02: A Meeting of the Minds 26.11.2025 1h 4min

  Welcome back to Unum! Steven and Brian discuss the second episode, gush about their favorite parts, and have fun speculating wildly about what “reasonable” people might do in this situation. The format of this show will be full spoilers for the episode we’re covering and we’ll do an accelerated release schedule to catch up with the show. We hope you have fun!
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  Unum 01: The Day The World Ended 24.11.2025 57min

  Welcome to Unum! Steven loved Pluribus so much that he needed to talk about it and Brian was on board to join! The format of this show will be full spoilers for the episode we’re covering and we’ll do an accelerated release schedule to catch up with the show. We hope you have fun!
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  Blindsided 12: I Prefer a World Where Someone’s Home 11.08.2025 1h 44min

  Join Brian and Steven as we wrap up our journey through the awesome and thought provoking world of Blindsight. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. The starting quote for this episode is: “You cannot prevent and prepare for war at the same time.” —Einstein The end quote for this episode is… Nothing. Thanks for listening and thank you to Peter Watts for writing this wonderful mind fuck of a story!
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  Blindsided 11: Consciousness Is a Bug, Not a Feature 04.08.2025 1h 16min

  Join Brian and Steven as the scramblers and the vampire demon challenge the value of the very essence of of what makes us us. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. The starting quote for this episode is: “If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn’t.” —Emerson M. Pugh This episode’s discussion ends at the quote:“You cannot prevent and prepare for war at the same time.” —Einstein The last quote in the book is: Species used to go extinct. Now they go on hiatus.” —Deborah MacLennan, Tables of our Reconstruction But we’ll be reading the notes and references too.
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  Blindsided 10: Ow! What the Hell?? 28.07.2025 1h 6min

  Brian and Steven continue their journey into space madness. Buckle up – this one gets nuts! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote for this episode is: “If I can but make the words awake the feeling” —Ian Anderson, Stand Up This episode’s discussion ends at the quote: “If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn’t.” —Emerson M. Pugh For next week, stop reading when you get to the quote: “You cannot prevent and prepare for war at the same time.” —Einstein
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  Blindsided 09: Is It Wrong to Torture a Roomba? 22.07.2025 1h 8min

  Join Brian and Steven as we put jumper cables on this roomba to see if it feels pain! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote for this episode is: “Why should man expect his prayer for mercy to be heard by What is above him when he shows no mercy to what is under him?” —Pierre Troubetzkoy This episode’s discussion ends at the quote: “If I can but make the words awake the feeling” —Ian Anderson, Stand Up For next week, stop reading when you get to the quote: “If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn’t.” —Emerson M. Pugh
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  Blindsided 08: We Got A Live One! 15.07.2025 1h 20min

  Join Brian and Steven as we wrangle up some aliens of dubious sentience so we can confine them and do some mad science at them! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote for this episode is: “Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them” —Einstein This episode’s discussion ends at the quote: “Why should man expect his prayer for mercy to be heard by What is above him when he shows no mercy to what is under him?” —Pierre Troubetzkoy For next week, stop reading when you get to the quote: “If I can but make the words awake the feeling” —Ian Anderson, Stand Up
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  Blindsided 07: Competitive Ecology 07.07.2025 1h 11min

  Hold on tight – Brian and Steven throw themselves back into the mysterious alien spacecraft after punching a hole in it with antimatter! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote for this episode is: “You have eyes, but you do not see” —Jesus the Nazorean This episode’s discussion ends at the quote: “Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them” —Einstein For next week, stop reading when you get to the quote: “Why should man expect his prayer for mercy to be heard by What is above him when he shows no mercy to what is under him?” —Pierre Troubetzkoy
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  Blindsided 06: Madness-Inducing Meat-Grinder 30.06.2025 1h 4min

  Brian and Steven continue diving into the madness-inducing meat-grinder over and over. Come on and join the party! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote for this episode is: “Predators run for their dinner. Prey run for their lives.” —Old Ecologist’s Proverb This episode’s discussion ends at the quote: “You have eyes, but you do not see” —Jesus the Nazorean For next week, stop reading when you get to the quote: “Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them” —Einstein Here are a couple of videos that demonstrate inattentional blindness. I hope you have as much fun getting your world rocked as I did when I first saw these. :)
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  Blindsided 05: Alien Space Ghosts! 16.06.2025 1h 17min

  Join Brian and Steven as they throw caution to the winds, don their Big Daddy costumes, and get ready to rumble with some space ghosts! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote for this episode is: “Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own.” —Aristotle This episode’s discussion ends at the quote: “Predators run for their dinner. Prey run for their lives.” —Old Ecologist’s Proverb For next week, stop reading when you get to the quote: “You have eyes, but you do not see” —Jesus the Nazorean