Curious Apes
By Steven Parton
Curious ApesAug 31, 2021
#29 - Jean Twenge + Singularity: How Generations Are Shaped By Technology
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
This week my guest is Jean Twenge, a renowned psychologist, professor, and author who has been one of the world’s leading researchers investigating generational differences and the impacts of technology. This includes her books The Narcissism Epidemic, Generation Me, and my personal favorite iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood.
In this episode we explore Jean’s wonderful collection of work through the lens of her newest book, Generations, where we investigate how Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z have been shaped by technology and the implications this holds for the future. This takes us on a tour of discussions around the animosity between generations, mental health, personality traits like narcissism, regulations for social media platforms, and more.
Follow her at twitter.com/jean_twenge
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Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter
#28 - Jonathan Haidt + Singularity: How Social Media Dissolves Society
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
This week our guest is social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, who has authored several of my personal favorite books including the Happiness Hypothesis, The Righteous Mind, and the Coddling of the American Mind. We're lucky enough to have Jon join us to discuss his just released Atlantic article entitled, 'Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid,' which explores his upcoming book about social media.
In this episode we discuss the key points of this article, exploring what dynamics shifted in American life as a result of social media and the resulting impacts on our children’s mental health, on our politics, and on the fabric of society itself.
Visit TheCoddling.com or LetGrow.org for more information on raising and mentoring Gen-Z kids to be less anxious and depressed.
And if you wish to learn more about viewpoint diversity in academia, visit Heterodoxacademy.org
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Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter
#27 - Robert Sapolsky + Singularity: A Future Without Free Will
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
This week our guest is Stanford neuroscientist, Robert Sapolsky. You may know Dr. Sapolsky from his incredible 25-part lecture series on Youtube, his triumphant book, Behave, or his guest appearances on the Joe Rogan and Huberman Lab podcasts.
And if you know him from any of these things, you may also know that Sapolsky isn’t a big fan of free will. In fact, he wrote an entire book about it, Determined. And it is this very book we will explore in this episode, in no small part because understanding how we make choices will drastically alter how we shape our future societies.
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Hosted by Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter
#26 - Duncan Trussell + Singularity: Navigating Our Human Transformation
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
Today we have one of my favorite comedians, Duncan Trussell, who many of you might recognize from his frequent appearances on the Joe Rogan Podcast, on Drunk History, or his latest Netflix show, The Midnight Gospel. He also has his own podcast, the Duncan Trussell Family Hour, which provides a steady stream of humor and thought-provoking conversation.
On this episode, we take a wide exploration of humanity's relationship with technology and how it's impacting our behavior.
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Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter
#25 - Bret Weinstein & Heather Heying + Singularity: Our Evolutionary Challenges
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
This week our guests are evolutionary biologists, Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying, who many of you might recognize from their frequent appearances on the Joe Rogan Podcast, or from their very own show, the Darkhorse Podcast, where they explore current affairs through an evolutionary lens.
They’ve recently released a brand new book, A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life, where they combine their decades of expertise into a comprehensive overview of the many lessons evolution can teach us, including concepts like the precautionary principle, Sucker’s Folly, Chesterton's Fence, and more.
This was a wonderfully expansive conversation exploring many of the ways in which technology and capitalism is being driven by our ancient genetic wiring. This includes exploring the impacts of social media, of technological infrastructure, of capitalism and its incentives, the biological influences of complacency due to technological comfort, and far much more than I can even begin to summarize here.
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#24 - Anna Lembke + Singularity: Dopamine & Digital Addiction
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
Anna Lembke is a psychiatrist currently working as the Chief of Addiction Medicine at Stanford’s Dual Diagnosis clinic. She was recently interviewed for the Social Dilemma, the amazing Netflix documentary exploring the dangers of social media.
On this episode, we really dive deep into the heart of addiction--how it starts, how it controls our behavior, and how to escape its magnetic pull. But more specifically, we explore the role of social media and smartphones, and how these tools are hijacking our evolutionary drive for novelty, pleasure, exploration, and connection with other human beings.
Her latest book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, just released last week.
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#23 - Reggie Watts + Singularity: Basic Income & Digital Advertising
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
Today we are joined by actor, comedian, and musician, Reggie Watts, who many of you might recognize from the Late Late Show with James Corden, where he leads the house band, or from one of his many amazing performances, including TedTalks and music videos that have garnered tens of millions of views.
In this episode, Reggie and I talk about creating content with technology, the failures of the digital advertising model, how to escape the attention economy, the benefits of basic income, and how to bring out the best in people when their needs aren’t being met.
One great example of challenging the current advertising and creator model is Reggie's very own app, WattsApp, which you can find on Apple & on Android phones.
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#22 - Jim Rutt + Singularity: Engineering a Better Society With Game B
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
This week our guest is businessman and entrepreneur, Jim Rutt, who you may know as the former chairman of the Sante Fe Institute or from his own podcast, The Jim Rutt show. Jim is also arguably the founding spearhead for a movement known as “Game B,” which we’ll discuss much more deeply in the episode but which could quickly be described here as an alternative to the destabilizing, exploitative, and zero-sum approach to society we currently have. Beyond detailing the specifics of Game B, this episode also explores Jim’s thoughts on technology, including online communities, social media moderation, digital IDs, and the ways in which Game B principles can be utilized to improve technology.
Jim’s article on Game B: https://medium.com/@memetic007/a-journey-to-gameb-4fb13772bcf3
Join the game B movement: https://www.game-b.org/
Listen to Jim’s podcast: https://www.jimruttshow.com/
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Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter
#21 - Scott Barry Kaufman + Singularity: Becoming Your Best Self Among Technology
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
This week our guest is cognitive scientist, Scott Barry Kaufman, who has an impressive resume that includes teaching at NYU and Columbia, writing for Scientific American, hosting a podcast on psychology that is so definitive it’s actually called The Psychology Podcast, and is the author of several books including his latest, Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization.
In this episode we take a very psychology-centric approach to technology, looking very specifically at how we can navigate the negative aspects of technology that threaten our ability to be ourselves and to be happy.
Follow Scott at Twitter.com/sbkaufman or look into more of his work at scottbarrykaufman.com
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#20 - Douglas Rushkoff + Singularity: Culture, Socio-Economics, and Local Impact
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
This week we have Douglas Rushkoff, a no-bullshit media theorist who is undeniably one of the most influential thinkers who has been steering digital culture.
We touch on many topics in this episode, but without a doubt the biggest focus throughout is how capitalism and digital culture are negatively impacting the ways in which we interact with one another and how we build our communities. We also briefly touch on topics like basic income, NFTs, cryptocurrency, and climate change.
Find Douglas' wonderful podcast at www.teamhuman.fm
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Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter
#19 - Donald Hoffman + Singularity: Why Reality Is a Lie
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
This week we sit down with cognitive psychologist and long-time professor at UC Irvine, Donald Hoffman.
Hoffman has a long history working with some of the greatest minds in the history of humanity, including Francis Crick who was part of the team that discovered the double helix of DNA. His own endeavors are no less revolutionary, as he's currently spearheading a new theory that argues humans evolved a perception of reality that looks drastically different from the true appearance of objective reality. It seems a hard argument to make, but once you hear his ideas you'll understand how insightful and profound his work is. In addition to an in-depth exploration of this theory, we also discuss the evolutionary impacts of online dating, the future of artificial intelligence, and a whole bunch more.
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Hosted: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter
#18 - William Von Hippel + Singularity: Social Evolution, Innovation, & Technology
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
This week our guest is William Von Hippel, a social psychologist who teaches at the University of Queensland in Australia, and author of the 2018 novel, the Social Leap: The New Evolutionary Science of Who We Are, Where We Come From, and What Makes Us Happy.
We explore how the challenges of our evolutionary past shaped many of the most fundamental aspects of our behavior in the modern day, traversing a journey from several million years ago to the present day. Along the way we touch heavily on many topics, including, but certainly not limited to, our evolutionary mismatch with the modern environment, why humans innovate the way we do, and different leadership styles that are rooted in evolutionary responses to hierarchy.
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Host: Steven Parton // Music by: Amine el Filali
#17 - Meghan O'Gieblyn + Singularity: God, Human, Animal, & Machine
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
This week our guest is Meghan O'Gieblyn, who has written regularly for entities such as Wired, The New York Times, and The Guardian, in addition to authoring books such as Interior States and her latest book: God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning.
Interestingly, much of Meghan’s work pulls on her experience losing her faith in religion while simultaneously being drawn into transhumanism from reading the Age of Spiritual Machines by Singularity’s very own Ray Kurzweil. This exploration of Meghan's background and her latest book takes us on a journey through the ways in which technology and spirituality have historically woven together, the current ways in which they are conflicting, and the future philosophical questions we’re going to be forced to reconcile. For those of you interested in this subject, I highly recommend going and listening to episode 52 with Micah Redding, which lays a lot of the foundation that we build on her in this episode.
Find out more about Meghan through her website meghanogieblyn.com, or find her book on Amazon.
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Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter
Music by: Amine el Filali
#16 - Karl Friston + Singularity: Free Energy and AI
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity**
This week my guest is professor of neuroscience at University College London, Karl Friston. Viewed by many as one of the world’s most influential neuroscientists, Friston rose to prominence when he pioneered one of the key techniques that allows neuroscientists to analyze brain activity. And as if that wasn’t enough, he has since developed the Free Energy Principle, which some see as monumental to the field as Darwin’s theory of evolution was for biology and genetics.
It’s this work on the Free Energy principle that will be the bulk of our conversation in this episode, and I warn you that this is probably one of the most intellectually challenging conversations we’ve had on the show. To help you navigate this, I want to offer just a quick overview that may aid in understanding the ideas. In essence, Friston’s work roughly states that entities that exist must track information from the world around them, create an internal model of that information, and then use that model to navigate the world in a way that reduces the difference (the error) between what was actually experienced and what one’s model predicted.
While this concept may seem simple on the surface, the actual science behind it is detailed, complex, and holds immense influence for how we develop artificial intelligence.
Learn more about Friston and his work at fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/
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Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter
Music by: Amine el Filali
#15 - Chris Ryan + Singularity: Evolution Vs the Modern World
** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity **
Chris Ryan is well known for exploring the evolution of human society and behavior through his books, Sex at Dawn and Civilized to Death.
In this episode, we take a candid tour through the many misconceptions and misunderstandings of early hunter-gatherer lifestyles and how an alternative view could benefit us in modernity. This includes topics such as cooperation vs competition, resource control, capitalism, mental health issues, the current ways technologies like energy production and social media alter our lifestyles, and much more.
Find out more about Chris at chrisryanphd.com or follow him at twitter.com/ThatChrisRyan
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Hosted: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter
#14 - Lasana Harris: Social Cognition, Dehumanization, & the Culture Wars
Lasana is an associate professor of experimental psychology at the University College London where he runs the boundaries of social cognition lab. In addition to exploring the content of his 2017 book, Invisible Mind: Flexible Social Cognition and Dehumanization, we also explore how these concepts are in play in modern society, especially as it relates to the culture wars and societal issues.
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton - Twitter - Instagram
#13 - PixelSmixel: The Life & Views of an Untraditional Twitch Streamer
Pixel describes herself as "a reformed childhood spy, ex ballet dancer, Neopets millionare and forensic psychology degree holder" who makes "average opinionated political/current event/educational content."
In this episode, we dive into Pixel's opinions are and what it's like to be one of the small percentage of people in the world who make their living on Twitch (and even more remarkable, does it by having difficult conversations!).
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton - Twitter - Instagram
#12 - Vaush: The Failures of Capitalism, Political Discourse, & Culture Wars
Today my guest is Vaush, a self-described left-wing Youtuber known for his advocacy for libertarian market socialism and debates with other YouTubers.
Our discussion centers heavily around 3 keys topics: the culture wars, our current political discourse, and capitalism--its failures, its strengths, and its alternatives (eg: anarcho-syndicalism).
Vaush has an incredibly popular Youtube that can be found at youtube.com/c/Vaush, and he can be found on twitter at twitter.com/VaushV
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Watch this conversation on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn5TDacKCXY
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton - Twitter - Instagram
#11 - Solo: Aggressive Activism & the Neuroscience Behind Why It Fails
I recently wrote an essay exploring "How Ideological Extremists Are Undermining Their Own Goals" and I thought for this episode I would try something a little different, exploring this essay as a solo podcast.
The main focus of that essay (and therefore this episode) is dedicated to showcasing how the hostility of the "us" vs "them" dynamic that is currently dominating the culture wars, both in the streets and online, is neurobiologically counter-productive. I explore how the stress, fear, anxiety, and sense of social rejection brought about by this approach actually makes people incapable of empathizing with, learning about, and being supportive of your movement, and instead increases radicalism in a way that worsens society for everyone.
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton - Twitter - Instagram
#10 - Eric Kaufmann: "White Shift," Populism, and Immigration
In this episode we sit down with Eric Kuafmann, a professor of politics at Birkbeck College, University of London who commonly writes on the dynamics of demographic change. In this episode we discuss these ideas as they relate to his 2018 book White Shift, which explores how immigration and populism will play out as we navigate a future where white people steadily become the minority. This naturally takes us on a journey through your typical culture-war-like topics, including identity politics, bipartisanship, self-censorship in the universities, and much more.
You can find Eric on Twitter at https://twitter.com/epkaufm
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton - Twitter - Instagram
#9 - Colin Wright: Exploring Sex & Gender
In this episode, I'm joined by Colin Wright, who is an evolutionary biologist and the managing editor at Quillette--the online magazine dedicated to free thought. We discuss the sex and gender debate currently dominating much of social justice zeitgeist, which includes exploring the legal and cultural ramifications of those who seek to step outside society’s traditional definitions of male and female.
This shouldn’t need to be said, but because of the hate mail I’ve received, I’ll make it clear: this is a conversation to learn and explore ideas, not to challenge the validity of trans, etc. If we can’t explore viewpoints that are challenging, we can’t grow our perspectives.
You can find Colin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SwipeWright and read his work at his site: https://www.realityslaststand.com/
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton - Twitter - Instagram
#8 - Donovan James: Randomly Selected Philosophical Questions
In this episode, my good friend Donovan returns to answer questions randomly selected from a list of philosophical questions we found online. This takes us on a meandering tour through topics such as self-deception, self-actualization, immortality, suffering vs meaning, religion's place in the world, the downfall of human civilization, binary thinking, climate change, the failures of our government, the culture wars, and much more.
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton - Twitter - Instagram
#7 - John Vervaeke: Wisdom vs Foolishness Amongst a Meaning Crisis
In this episode, I'm joined by one of my favorite contemporary thinkers, John Vervaeke, a professor at the University of Toronto where he lectures on psychology, cognitive science, and Buddhism. John has a phenomenal series on Youtube called 'Awakening From the Meaning Crisis,' where he explores how science and spirituality have lessons of ancient wisdom and knowledge that can help us through our epidemic of depression, ennui, and nihilism. We explore concepts from this series heavily, which includes an exploration of the culture wars, religion, video games, the flow state, and much more.
You can also find his recent co-authored book: Zombies in Western Culture.
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton - Twitter - Instagram
#6 - Justin Murphy: The Intellectual Who Left Academia for the Internet
(Originally recorded in the Spring of 2020)
In this episode we sit down with social scientist and political theorist, Justin Murphy, who spent five years as a lecturer at the University of Southampton before realizing that academia was ironically stifling his ability to be a truly creative and productive freethinker. Upon this realization, he set his focus on online content creation. This resulted in a very active presence on Twitter, as well as a Youtube channel, a podcast, a book about French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, and now an exclusive and burgeoning online community specifically created for independent and ambitious thinkers.
Our conversation in this podcast deals heavily with this journey of Justin's, his thoughts on the pros and cons of academia for the young and ambitious, as well as the many lessons he's learned along the way. If you're looking to get insight into what works and doesn't work in the world of online content creation, especially for intellectuals, then this might be one for you.
Find Justin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jmrphy.
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton
#5 - Aella: Awkward Social Dynamics, Authenticity, & Enlightenment
(Originally recorded in the Spring of 2020)
On this episode, we're joined by Aella, previously one of the world's top-paid cam girls who is now a prominent figure in the online intellectual community. We enjoy an incredibly playful conversation surrounding her background, social dynamics, authenticity, and enlightenment.
Follow Aellas work via her website Knowingless and on her Twitter.
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton
#4 - Erik Davis: Psychedelics, Coronavirus, & Post-Religion Spirituality
(Originally recorded in the Spring of 2020)
On this episode I'm joined by the ever-articulate scholar, Erik Davis, who wrote one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time: Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information (seriously, it's remarkable). Erik also recently released a new book, High Weirdness, that explores the psychedelic spirituality of Robert Anton Wilson, Philip K Dick, and Terrance Mckenna. In addition to discussing these brilliant works, Erik and I dig deep into the chaos the Coronavirus is unleashing upon humanity, and how the lessons learned by psychonauts have never been more useful than they are now for this surreal moment in human history.
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton
#3 - Jay Mutzafi & Donovan James: Climate Change, Basic Income, & Death
In this episode, I'm joined by Donovan James and Jay Mutzafi, two friends who I meet with several times a month for challenging and thought-provoking conversations. You can expect to see them as frequent guests on the show discussing myriad topics, but this time around we focus on climate change, basic income, and longevity. This takes us through many subtopics of relevance, such as veganism, incentives, and the fear of death.
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton
#2 - Donovan James: The Importance of Nuance Amongst the Culture Wars
In this episode, I sit down with my dear friend, Donovan James, who kicks off the conversation by asking me why I decided to start this podcast. This takes us on a massive tour through many of the current controversies and challenges facing our society, but ultimately focuses on one key idea: we absolutely need to embrace the discomfort of nuance and dialogue between opposing factions if we are going to make humanistic progress as a species.
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Hosted & Produced by: Steven Parton
#1 - A Short Introduction to Curious Apes
Welcome to Curious Apes.
In this episode, I provide a brief (5min) overview, the topics we'll commonly be discussing, and why such conversations are crucial to our well-being as individuals and as a society.