I love that Cowen isn't afraid to push back hard on Eric's ideas about ecconomics.

I can't quite understand why I listen to you and your other KZread videos. I often wonder where people like you come from, your depth of vocabulary and understanding is absolutely intriguing. I understand that education in the traditional manner of teaching has been difficult for you, as well as it has for me, but you have transcended the modality. Me, a ruff and tumble construction worker and artist could of never imagined that I would bear envy towards a person of your capacity. In my youth my super heroes were Rocky, Superman and Mean Joe Green but in this season of my life it's people such as you that I admire. My, my, completely "Other Worldly"

@namelastname8569

4 жыл бұрын

top tier compliment right here

@someonlinevideos

4 жыл бұрын

David Andersen really cool to read this.

@Dadecorban

4 жыл бұрын

There's a certain feeling I get when I see an innovative higher order intellect with semi-benevolent intentions and a trouble maker streak who collects other equally interesting intellects and brings those people into a long form medium to giddily wrestle around with heavy ideas in a trusting environment. It makes me giddy. I feel like my brain is going on an adventure that isn't entirely safe and comfortable, where I have to challenge myself to stay in the audience. I feel good when I've gotten to the end and although I may not entirely understand everything I've stayed in the game. It's great. It's one of my favorite things. Eric does this well.

@someonlinevideos

4 жыл бұрын

@@Dadecorban I think what you've described is exactly like the Decentralized Idea Suppression Complex and Eric doesn't care about suppressing ideas. I think we crave ideas that are outside the norm, outside of political correctness, and outside of the status quo. Despite the Internet providing an obvious medium for those ideas to flourish, they haven't because, in short, advertising dollars aren't earned by people that pay attention and like to deeply engage in new and challening ideas. IDW is first step towards that, we'll see more soon.

@Dadecorban

4 жыл бұрын

@@someonlinevideos No. I'm describing why I like intellectual content, but specifically why I like this content. Has nothing to do with outside forces.

This guest has a nice, crisp, clean brain, great to hear him talk

@Fuego958

3 жыл бұрын

It's remarkable how at a high level of intellectual sophistication, some problems can be explained so simply

@MikeFrame

3 жыл бұрын

The best Koch money can buy!

Please don't ever stop with the flowery language or complex, quasi-unexplained discussions. Sitting here with google and searching concepts I don't know is priceless and unique among the podcasts.

@bretthomas9425

3 жыл бұрын

If you enjoy the need to do research to understand certain aspects of conversation, I would recommend listening to/reading Curtis Yarvin. Some of his ideas are kind of controversial, but it's fun to listen to him and go, "Ok. I need to write that down and look it up." He has a few good conversations on KZread. You can also read some of his older writings on the blog, "Unqualified Reservations."

@kaceecampbell2827

2 жыл бұрын

^^^^ This

@kkandola9072

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly. I hope the whole “ word salad” argument doesn’t discourage him. When people reach the roof of their perception, they blame the speaker. He doesn’t realize how much value he provides.

Eric calculated the angle of the sun and the advantage to be had when directly in Tyler’s eyes.

Eric you are doing an exceptional job with your Portal. Keep up the great work!!!

Tyler Cowen has nerves of steel for tolerating having the light shining in his eyes for 2:12 hours.

@dtacherra6063

4 жыл бұрын

Lol I just noticed

@EmilyRose0

4 жыл бұрын

I do not see it.

@bsleman

4 жыл бұрын

Light seemingly starts shining right when the discussion heats up on gauge theory

Splendidly clear communication from Tyler Cowen. Incisive thinker who avoids waffling and over-qualifying. Enjoyed the dialogue immensely.

“Let’s say your right, what’s the actionable trade based on that information?” I don’t feel like Eric answered this question and it seems to me that that’s a problem for his economic theories.

I've paused 13 times by the halfway point to look up something that totally changes my perception of today's American economy. Hats off to you both.

'I'm not close to thinking that was a conspiracy because the only time people are killed in prison is for something like narcing on a drug gang--which happens all the time'. It's really wonderful to watch lack of self-awareness at this level. It really proves that the reason the world doesn't end is because there's some kind of low level intellectual instincts that seriously govern our own behavior no matter what elaborate structure we can articulate. Clearly violence forces creativity, and large groups take complimentary roles to ensure that violence is a permanent condition that isn't fatal.

People who believe no conspiracies are as bad as the people who are avid conspircay theorist Tyler Cowen: I don't believe in conspiracy. Presented complex Conspiracies Tyler: those are't conspiracies.

@pseudonymous8702

4 жыл бұрын

I was disappointed that he changed the topic to talking about the credibility of conspiracy theories, and didn't address Eric's main point at the time, which is that the media ignores questions the public has about related subjects, instead of investigating them, even if to debunk them.

@zakr7631

4 жыл бұрын

@@pseudonymous8702 yeah Tyler comes off as completely disingenuous it felt like he was intentionally avoiding the question.

@aitotem

4 жыл бұрын

His definition of conspiracy is far different than what the dictionary states.

@EmilyRose0

4 жыл бұрын

That was the most ridiculous theory about 911 that I ever heard. "There was a theory that they will collapse a certain way?" (I understood right that he means by the Terrorists b4 they planned this?). WTF is he talking about? Artistic act? No such theory existed b4 it happened. And to this days there has been no explanation for this that comes even close to the one and only explanation for this. And that is a controlled demolition, especially when it comes to WTF7. But yeah sure the Terrorists wanted to do as less damage as possible and they knew it would collapse in their own footprint and everyone around would be unharmed. Oh yeah such a well planned art piece that was. Sorry I rather believe in a 911 inside job that to believe in this utter and complete bullshit theory. Bush said they never expected something like this even though they in fact did experiments or drills exploring EXACTLY that - planes flying into buildings. I heard a lot of stuff in my life and I do not expect everyone to be a conspiracy theorists but this baffled me in a way that I did not knew was possible. Where the human mind can go to explain away obvious facts is astounding.

@pseudonymous8702

4 жыл бұрын

@@EmilyRose0 i say "conspiracy hypothesis" or "conspiracy speculation". I think we should stop saying "conspiracy theory". Aside from incorrect use of the term 'theory' which is annoying, most common forms of its usage have turned into a completely meaningless term beyond its connotations used to dismiss legitimate questions. Not really a reply to your point. Just wanted to put the idea out there.

1:42:19 is where the conversation briefly veers towards north and south Indian classical music. The book mentioned by Eric is an introductory book (to the uninitiated) on the north Indian classical music "Indian Music in Performance: A Practical Introduction" by Neil Sorrell and Ram Narayan (the Sarangi maestro).

re: aggression dissuades women Lack of aggression dissuades men. Conspicuous that this cost:benefit analysis never comes up during this repeated appeal to reduced aggression in intellectual fields. And while from my experience, it probably could do to be reduced some, also in my experience you can't reduce it. Normally, all you do is make people more disingenuous in their aggression. Or again, you simply weed out some people for others. Which is great in that latter case if your terminal goal is reduced aggression. Possibly not so great if reduced aggression is an instrumental goal to something else.

I find the use of the term "discrimination" when speaking of tenure in male and female professors questionable. Eric and Cowen themselves sat there and stated clearly that even for top-level female professors, they might experience raising children as so giving that they have a period of 15 (fifteen!!) years of "lowered productivity" in their fields. And then they say that it is "discrimination" that women don't get tenured as often as men. The word "discrimination" has implicit in it, at least when used as Eric and Cowen did, that it is unfair and unjust. Yet, from the perspective of the institution doing the hiring and tenuring, I find it hard to see how it is in this sense "discrimination" for these institutions to prefer employees that aren't as likely to take a 15 year period of significantly reduced productivity if they can have a male candidate that is not nearly as likely to go through such a period of stagnation.

@kreek22

4 жыл бұрын

It's not discrimination against women, it's discrimination against intelligence.

@laius6047

4 жыл бұрын

My thought exactly. Whatever is happening that's not it women's advantage is not discrimination. It's simple logical decision by employers who are sometimes women themselves.

Tyler Cowen: I haven't read into the Epstein case, however I do fully support the official narrative.

@thedarkpill3590

4 жыл бұрын

You totally got him with this one dude.

@Misuci

4 жыл бұрын

He is really an annoying person frequently... I mean for me... I would have pushed him over the Glass wall, yet he stated some interesting declarative sentences too.. :)

@valoriel4464

4 жыл бұрын

@@Misuci I agree, considered watching something else sev'l times during the vid. For me, this was hard to watch. Annoying.

@Macheako

4 жыл бұрын

@@valoriel4464 good you didnt though. Ya gotta *Listen* to people you disagree with.

@alquinn8576

4 жыл бұрын

Stuart, i don't think you understand his thought process if you think that is a ridiculous thing to say

Another incredibly interesting podcast Eric. Keep them rolling in.

I can listen to these gentlemen speaking for days. What a great conversation!

Eric please keep this experiment going. i love being allowed to listen in on these discussions.

Thank you so much, Eric for having Tyler Cowen. It has infused this sense of new awareness and a different approach to my way of thinking. The Portal has brought such enlightenment to my life.

7:52 Here’s the Stockhausen 9/11 quote: Well, what happened there is, of course-now all of you must adjust your brains-the biggest work of art there has ever been. The fact that spirits achieve with one act something which we in music could never dream of, that people practise ten years madly, fanatically for a concert. And then die. [Hesitantly.] And that is the greatest work of art that exists for the whole Cosmos. Just imagine what happened there. There are people who are so concentrated on this single performance, and then five thousand people are driven to Resurrection. In one moment. I couldn't do that. Compared to that, we are nothing, as composers. [...] It is a crime, you know of course, because the people did not agree to it. They did not come to the "concert". That is obvious. And nobody had told them: "You could be killed in the process." (Stockhausen 2002, 76-77)

@jackiebeidler4592

4 жыл бұрын

I've heard Kassim Talib mentioned on this podcast. I'd like to hear Eric talk about Black Swans.

@defenstrator4660

4 жыл бұрын

That guy sounds like one seriously pretentious idiot.

I'm strapped in and ready to experience this discussion

The Portal is one of the only podcasts I come back and rewatch videos 3-5 times. Man I love Eric!! Him and Tyler killed this episode!

Anyone else notice the building fire going on next to Eric's head at the very end of the video?

@yourlifeisyourfault.4212

4 жыл бұрын

Focus Geoff...

@michealcherrington6531

4 жыл бұрын

I have to agree with you both...damn this is a weird place. Feels so right

@EmilyRose0

4 жыл бұрын

Remember 911 when the BBC reported that WTC7 collapsed b4 it actually did? You could see it collapsing live in the background AFTER the reported already read her prefed text that is supposedly was already collapsed .... I would love to see them theorize about that.

@RadicalEarth

4 жыл бұрын

The fire could be in the brush. Caught my eye too. 🧐

I liked the opening joke (post-apocalyptic), Eric, even if Tyler ignored it.

@uglyheadedbozo

4 жыл бұрын

(Wouldn't it be more funny if nobody would have noticed this..?)

I'm pretty sure if you gave Eric a butcher's apron and dead skin mask, he could be Leatherface's stunt double.

@zaneylicious

4 жыл бұрын

lol cant unsee

Thank you so much Eric! This was so over my head yet such a fascinating conversation.

Eric cranking 'em out! What a pleasure life is when "The Portal" releases videos often.

This is one of those podcast I need to watch more than once. It's like going through my notes after a 2 hour academic lecture.

Portal is an absolutely amazing podcast. So glad you've really leaned into this. Not saying I agree with every guest, but the way you approach topics is just rare to hear.

Tyler's definition of a conspiracy theory seems to exclude conspiracies that have come out. 'Sure the CIA did X or Y; that common knowledge'. Yes, perhaps now it is. And you might consider it proof of the tendency of conspiracies to come out eventually; though without knowing the number that didnt, is it really? But I think you have to view the conspiracy in its own time, when the matter in question was highly controversial. How long did that situation of controversy hold, until the conspiracy fell apart and it became common knowledge?

@Humanaut.

4 жыл бұрын

Especially when the conspiracies that came out have already fulfilled their purpose and thereby inflicted the damage. What about our ability to uncover and comprehend conspiracies in near real time as the political events unfold?

@eddieallen2092

3 жыл бұрын

But by definition a conspiracy doesn't REQUIRE subversion or secrecy, does it. In fact, I believe many instances of "conspiracy" are less secretive than simply unknown. They are coordinated programs supporting self interest only to be later "discovered"; not disclosing does not prove intent to deceive.

Tyler Cowen was always one of my favorite guests on Econtalk. His book Create Your Own Economy has a great chapter on Autism at the end. Also agreed that 911 is the changing point for our culture. The major shifts in action cinema and gaming (Bourne, GTA3) probably stem from that.

love all these episodes! Keep them coming ERIC!

I am mesmerized by the discussions taking place on the portal each and every episode. It is totally above my head, however getting to understand the Matrix at this level is astonishing. Keep up the fantastic interviews.

Guthrie Govan's best work is his guitar solos on Steven Wilson's "Hand. Cannot. Erase." (which won album of the year at the 2015 progressive music awards).

@TheAlibabatree

4 жыл бұрын

Hand Cannot Erase is one of my favorite albums of the last 20 years. Absolute masterpiece.

At 1:50:00 a house fire starts behind Eric's outward shoulder. Thing's really cookin by sign off.

@davidsimmons9986

4 жыл бұрын

Good shot.

@davidsimmons9986

4 жыл бұрын

Matt. You're the man. Thanks for that. 😆

@E.Carbenia

4 жыл бұрын

You can hear the sirens at one point too, looks like a big one.

It's nice to hear other people not connecting with Mozart. I think he was the guy that had all of the tools, but never amounted to much. It feels like he got burnt out and never really matured.

I love the economists on the podcast, we don’t have them on shows and people truly need to understand that domain to make rational political choices. Recently discovered Herbert Simon and I feel like I’ve been robbed because of how profound his ideas were and are to this day.

Never heard of the guest and delayed watching it in favour of some of the other podcasts but i really enjoyed this podcast and glad i got around to listening to it.

This conversation turning into a music mega-nerd stand off was very unexpected.

This is one of those treasure chest episodes where you spend hours looking up all the people mentioned throughout the the conversation.

You're making a litany of claims about discrimination against women, with zero credible evidence. This is pretty poor.

@lolcano2346

3 жыл бұрын

picked up on this. Guy talks about discrimination like quality of life statistics don't exist

Great podcast on the power of blogging in economics

Anyone else notice the building burning down in the background?

Love that Eric brought up theory of selection as applied to economics. Reading EO Wilson's "consilience" and "Sociobiology" in my time in undergrad made me realize its direct application to economics

Thanks again Eric

Great conversation! As a musician, I have to chime in On the late sixties early seventies musical conversation and say Scott Walker is one of the most underrated lyrical and musical Voices of that time.

@kreek22

4 жыл бұрын

They also forgot a major dyad of the period: Captain Beefheart/John French.

Eric, I rarely post comments, but I've seen so few uploads from you recently-- I wanted to make sure you weren't giving up on The Portal! You make such a great host. Hope things are well. Jim

The portal opening sound now fuels my fever dreams.

Really enjoyed the music portion of this interview! Guthrie Govan is definitely a criminally underrated guitarist, but as far as "What bands us he in" and all that, check out The Aristocrats and especially "The Raven that Refused to sing." Album by Steven Wilson. Govans playing on that album is impeccable, and the SW songwriting is absolutely beautiful. I learned a lot about the band Dynamics of the Beatles too! I'm a musician navigating through the new media changes of the industry and found this part of the discussion really refreshing. The Intersection of music and philosophy doesn't happen all that often these days...

@TylerInTraining

4 жыл бұрын

Didn't know Govan played on "The Raven...", need to give that a good listen now. Steven Wilson put on the second best live show I've ever seen, the first being King Crimson. Dude's terrific.

I love listening to these conversations when I dont know half of the verbiage.

“You’re not allowed to touch the temperature gauges, for god’s sake!” - Eric Weinstein 🤣

What a wonderful chat, especially delving into musical taste. The appreciation of Guthrie Govan was a wonderful surprise. One of the great improvisers along with Allan Holdsworth.

@TylerInTraining

4 жыл бұрын

Holdsworth was a monster guitarist and then some, wish I could've seen him before he passed away. I love his line of guitars too but I'm a Kiesel/Carvin fanboy so of course I would. :p

@thomasmcgill6918

4 жыл бұрын

@@TylerInTraining I was fortunately to meet him several times. His live performances were unbelievable. A true innovator.

I’m impressed how knowledgeable they are about music.

Thank you Eric for your in-depth conversations. It's a privilege to have easily accessible podcasts, like this. I would love to see a conversation between you and some Austrian economist, just on the topic of 'What did go wrong in the mid-70s'. Austrians have an interesting theory.

This is great. Anyone else here watch Antony C. Sutton interviews?

With all of these talks making my day, I'd be super happy to see if Eric's son would sit on that guest chair soon

Thank you!

About Brian Eno: i recommend his "Thursday's afternoon" and "Thinking music" - two near hour long tracks of pure ambient, it's very good. You can draw something, or read, or go for a walk and the mood will be special, meditating like.

Got pretty testy there for a little bit, but both seem to have the ability to partition off the intense probing and still have a fruitful discussion afterwards.

Happy to hear you know of Scott Alexander, i would love to hear him on the show, but i don't think he does podcasts :)

Awesome that you ask your guests who in their field they admire that no one has ever heard of. I get the thread more the more I think about disc. The more i relate to it. Why. And so on. Pirate radio saved my life. The portal moves about between playlist spaces and understands.

God this shit is crack cocaine to me. Inject this straight into my eyeballs. I love it. Amazing work, Eric.

Tyler Cowen is a good example about an average human being in modern society. Well tamed and carefully managed by mainstream ideology.

Love the podcasts!! Please add some shades so the guests are not being blinded by the sun.

This is actually a pretty damn great conversation. Great stuff.

thank you for the music

Never once would I have thought Eric would mention Guthrie Govan ever in any context. But when he said that name, I had to almost do a double take. The man is wonderful, Guthrie Govan is absolutely awesome.

This podcast should have been 6 hours

Eric, unfortunately we unexpectedly lost my father in January. He also found conversation with Dolly wonderfully enlightened with sadly rare perspectives from a ladies nowadays. BTW, yes due try with Koch !

Great show. getting closer too.

Eric - could you get Mark Blyth on one of these days? I'd love to hear where you guys agree/differ, you're both brilliant on the economics topic.

I just downloaded The Complete Bach because of this episode. I regret nothing.

Fantastic

Eric straight spit Savant levels of metaphor and explanation at this man's grill

1:44 - You Won't See Me - nailed it.

When Cowen stated there are many things he doesn't consider "conspiracies", but rather "military strategy" and so on, I wish Eric had asked him to define what he DOES view as conspiracy proper.

Surrounding yourself with highly intelligent people, listening, interacting and sparring with them compels you to be a more intelligent human being. Excellent.

The idea of normalization of censorship is frightening to me. When I have repugnant ideas in real life that I share with my social circle I may be pushed to the edges of that circle. Not invited to parties etc. However, I won't be completely abandoned which gives me the ability to evolve my views and heal my social standing. At the same time if my social circle is too rigid to accommodate new modes of thinking I have the ability to expand it with more diverse thinkers. We need to explore ways for the internet to be better at handling this. At current the value of online personas has so little buy in that they're practically disposable so many people are not mindful of what they're saying. Demanding platforms or government to handle this dynamic is pure folly akin to planned economy. Group dynamics is the only way to regulate something as fragile as these social interactions. Perhaps a persistent online identity so that it has higher value to it's operator may assist in increasing the value of these online personas.

Man! Big smile after this one! :]

When you realise everyone who knows you has their own internal model of you.

I love the way this guy talks. Sounds like Milton.

Great fucking episode, seriously one of the greatest conversations I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Keep doing you!

Hans Zimmer on the Portal would be awesome!

24:50 Tyler is precisely correct about the lack of a common enemy. I have been saying to people for years that, in the lack of a common enemy, humans turn against one another.

Invite Slavoj Žižek next, Eric! Tyler Cowen recently had a dialogue with him.

"it could be that violence and lack of innovation are somehow correlated" ive never thought about it that way but it totally makes sense.

@lolcano2346

3 жыл бұрын

Every war in history would suggest otherwise

@nickmagrick7702

3 жыл бұрын

@@lolcano2346 maybe it would be better worded as civil unrest and lack of innovation.

Eric - you can simplify your argument significantly by simply pointing out: dollars (euros, yen, etc.) are not equivalent in measurement utility to inches, feet, etc. Yet we treat them as such. People will be able to understand this as a problem if you frame it this way.

@janellkamm1717

4 жыл бұрын

Nice, now provide a solution.

@mattalexander3764

4 жыл бұрын

@@janellkamm1717 hard money, duh.

@mattalexander3764

4 жыл бұрын

@@janellkamm1717 "hard money" refers to a money for which additional units cannot be created at the whim of a political/monetary authority. Gold is the best historical example, but Bitcoin is the premier innovation in this realm.

@janellkamm1717

4 жыл бұрын

@@mattalexander3764 The value of a non-inflationary mint will only increase as other currencies experience inflation. Creating a new limited resource does not solve the issues, as its value would be tracked relative to conventional currencies. Low-inflation mints that grow in value but at a reduced pace would be a more logical solution, but they still need to be backed by a real-world asset or process.

@mattalexander3764

4 жыл бұрын

@@janellkamm1717 of course the value (in fiat terms) of non-inflatable currency will increase relative to the inflatable currency. That is just basic physics. I think what you are missing is the fact that bitcoin is infinitely divisible. This under-appreciated fact quite literally re-writes the rules of monetary economics, rendering much formal economics education moot. One other thing: in the future, "solving the issues" is something that will be done by and for individuals as opposed to governments or unelected monetary authorities. Those who gravitate towards centralized authority in the monetary realm will do so at their own peril.

I was introduced to J.S.Bach music by A.Segovia. I listened his performance of Chaconne and became addicted to J.S.Bach. The most addictive for me - The Art of the Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge).

2 in one week! Life's too good. 😁

Thank you

The first minute and 18 seconds of this Cowen just blew my mind

I don't think that guy said umm or uhh for the entirety of that 2 hour interview. Super well-spoken guy, obviously very smart, but also obviously afraid to go out on any limb.

I'm up voting although I only understand 1/10 of it. Still working on the books.

Cowan said something I agree with: Cécile McLorin Salvant is a great jazz singer.

Music discussion starts around 1:30:00

@erpthompsonqueen9130

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you.

Found Mr Cowan a little easier to take after 30 min or so into the podcast. Guess it was the chg of topics. Thx Eric for another interesting vid.

What is the name of the essay site ‘to gwerin’ that Tyler mentioned

@travisbaker

4 жыл бұрын

He is referring to gwern.net

Eric, I would be interested to watch a discussion that elucidates the mechanism and consequences of Federal reserve loans to banks, and bank to bank loans and the resulting monetary inflation that creates. On one side there are Austrians and [some?] Chicagoans arguing that it's bad, it ultimately creates a business cycle and a host of harms and then everyone else who essentially argues that it's a cool trick that is a net positive that increases economic growth. In first principles I sympathize with the Austrians, and in the seemingly vague complexities of the other side I get lost. [the Fed is a good conspiracy story as well for you = ) ] I do not have particular guest in mind, but I have optimism you might. I admit it's possible you've already created content on this in some form that I haven't read or watched.

@IMPERATOR540

4 жыл бұрын

It's chicagon's

Mr. Cowen aggressively resists from being taken out of his comfort zone by Eric. It's like he is scared to even admit the existence of any problems in anything.

@JD..........

4 жыл бұрын

Not seeing it that way. He seems very sure of his perceptions and calculations, but nothing more. Maybe a bit rigid, yes...

@pseudonymous8702

4 жыл бұрын

I appreciated the surprising perspectives he brought to the table from that worldview.