2018.6.11

Sorry to Bother You: code switching, indie media, and the power of scifi w/ Eliot Peper

Christopher Peterson Eliot Peper, Guest Co-Host, Podcast linguistics, media, milk, Science Fiction, storytelling

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Featuring guest co-host
Eliot Peper, author of Borderless

This movie

It gets a bit weird! And we have a bit of a time summarizing it.

Storytelling

Adventure stories. Social allegory. The power of science fiction in particular to force you to reframe your perception by believably breaking your assumptions. HG Wells and Moreau. Science fiction tropes and the subversion thereof. Christopher is bad at human things.

Code Switching

Languages, dialect, and speaking to your audience. “Not having to think about it.”

Media

Mass media vs indie communities. The lowest common denominator. Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans.

Milk stuff

A lament for the concentration on cow’s milk. Mare milk. Fermented milk products from cows and horses.

Links

Eliot Peper: Bandwidth | Borderless | Amazon Author Page
Key & Peele Obama Meet & Greet: YouTube
Key & Peele on Code Switching: YouTube

2018.24.09

Upgrade: biohacking, AI containment, and paralyzation workarounds

Christopher Peterson Just the Two of Us, Podcast ai, ai escape, biohacking, Christopher Peterson, future, image enhancement, image processing, Lee Colbert, machine learning, paralyzation, science, Science Fiction, transhumanism

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Image enhancement

Naive vs machine-intelligent image enhancement. “Photorealistic hallucination” and honest technical names. Reconsidering the absurdity of fictional image enhancement in the age of clever neural nets. Creative, artistic “enhancement” vs rigor.

Paralyzation workarounds

Well, breaking your spinal chord sure seems to suck. Spinal breaks and the autonomic nervous system. Bodily control via brain-machine interface.

Transhumanism

Extension of human functionality by implanted technology! Increasing neural communication speed, or shortening signal distance. Gun arms. Gun arms! Vocal device command by subvocalization.

The AI “box test”

Self-serving artificial intelligence. Yudkowsky’s AI box test. Callback to Ex Machina. Additional stipulations. The true power of a goon with a wrench. How easy are humans to fool? Very.

Links

Yudkowsky’s AI box test
Decipher RPG 1 | 2 | 3

2018.28.08

Rampage: gorilla sign language, classic gaming, and the square cube law

Christopher Peterson Just the Two of Us, Podcast crispr, gorilla, mutation, science, Science Fiction, space, square cube law, video games, zero-g

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Classic arcade gaming

Memories of the arcade and the Sega Game Gear. Introduction of Larry the Rat in the Atari Lynx port. How to pick from current social fears for your lazy game plot.

Zero-G research

Genetics research in spaaaaaace. CRISPR. Bremen Drop Tower.

Gorilla sign language

Koko the gorilla. Gorilla sign language. Credulity and confirmation bias. Impressive gorilla lexicons. Adventures in signing portmanteus. Yogurt aka “milkfruitcandy food.”

Animal fights

Comparing the gorilla to the grizzly bear. Relative animal size. Grizzly bears as killing machine. Gorilla conflict-avoidance techniques.

Scaling animals

The square-cube law! Relative scaling and the race between volume and surface area (volume always wins!). The creation of a bio antenna. The relatively low energy of radio waves.

Mutations, mutations, mutations

Gorilla turns into giant gorilla. Lizard turns into mega lizard. Wolf, though, turns into a wolf… with patagia and throwable quills! Possibly resembling the urticating hairs of a tarantula.

Links

How to Make an Elephant Explode with Science by Kurtzgesagt: YouTube
Zero-G Experiments on Earth: The Bremen Drop Tower by Tom Scott: YouTube
Scientists Successfully Teach Gorilla It Will Die Someday by The Onion: YouTube

2018.21.08

Extinction: space stealth, leaving Earth, and the evolution of consciousness

Christopher Peterson Just the Two of Us, Podcast Aliens, consciousness, evolution, invasion, robots, science, Science Fiction, space resources, space survival, war

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Spoiler alerts

Special conditions requiring primary and secondary warnings.

Robots

How to tell if you are a robot? New Study Finds Best Way To Determine If You Are Android Still Cutting Open Forearm To Reveal Circuitry Within. Self-delusion and mass self-delusion.

Earthvacuation

Earth is really well-tuned for our needs (or is it the other way around?), and humans should try to maintain this as a base of operations if at all possible.

Surviving outside of Earth

Key resources on Mars and elsewhere in the solar system (outside of Earth). Iron for bullets. Rocket fuel.

Stealth in space

There is no stealth in space. Trying to hide from Earth (on Mars). Difficulties in hiding propulsion, light-blocking, and infrared emission. Hiding “in” the sun.

Attacking Earth

Shock and awe vs the impossibility of stealth. Why a nuclear EMP attack might not be a great idea. Throw a rock at it.

Evolving consciousness

Evolved consciousness in Earth life. The possibility of consciousness emerging in “artificial” life. Attention Schema Theory. Central processing of separate signal enhancement.

Links

Real Quick: LSG Media
What is Consciousness? by Vsauce: YouTube

2018.24.07

Man From Earth Holocene: hunter gatherer nostalgia and trading intestines for brains w/ Adrian Falcone

Christopher Peterson Adrian Falcone, Guest Co-Host, Podcast Christopher Peterson, immortality, jesus, Lee Colbert, religion, science, Science Fiction

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Featuring guest co-host
Adrian Falcone

The Man From Earth

Our love for the original. Considering the sequel. People talking in a room.

Nostalgia

The coming-on of the bronze age. Grocking the rate of progress w/ Dominick Perry. “Free time” in hunter-gatherer societies. Nostalgia as a way to bridge from what was old and comfortable to what is new and scary.

Cro-magnon

Anatomically modern humans vs socially modern humans. The evolutionary advantage of controlled fire and beginning to cook food. Getting away from all-day mastication and looooooooong intestines in favor of the big brain on Brad.

Primitive Technology

Getting boy without modern technology. The earliest evidence for humans cooking with fire. Differentiating human-controlled fire from millennia ago from other sources (like iguanas, or wildfires).

Growing old

Life expectancies over time. Appreciation for antibiotics. Life expectancy vs lifespan. Evolving into a centauranarian.

Jesus

Less-than-generous portrayals of religious characters. Third-act surprises. Jesus vs the antichrist.

Resolutions

Resolutions?

Links

The Man From Earth: Holocene: iTunes | Amazon
Primitive Technology: YouTube
The Man From Earth: iTunes | Amazon | Decipher SciFi

2018.12.06

Enemy Mine : Episode 146

Christopher Peterson Just the Two of Us, Podcast Action, Aliens, Brion James, Christopher Peterson, Dennis Quaid, Drama, evolution, future, Lee Colbert, Louis Gossett Jr., monster, reproduction, science, Science Fiction, space, space ship, spaceship, Wolfgang Petersen

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Stream the movie:
iTunes | Amazon

Enemy Mine

What: A human and an alien struggle to get past their differences.
Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett Jr., Brion James

Show Notes

(more…)

2018.5.06

Tron : Episode 145

Christopher Peterson Just the Two of Us, Podcast Action, Adventure, ai, artificial intelligence, Bruce Boxleitner, Christopher Peterson, computer, David Warner, dystopia, hacker, Jeff Bridges, Lee Colbert, man versus machine, Science Fiction, Steven Lisberger, video game, virtual reality

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Stream the movie:
iTunes | Amazon

Tron

What: People but with lasers and in a computer. And light bikes!
Directed by: Steven Lisberger
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner