Tech & AI Manipulation, Fixing Societal Problems, DEI, & More
Livestream roundup | May 13-17, 2024
This week in my Conversations with Peter Boghossian series I had the pleasure of speaking with Gurwinder Bhogal, Matt Bilinsky, and Helen Pluckrose. I hope you enjoy the conversations!
Tech & AI Manipulated With Identitarian Views?
Gurwinder “G” Bhogal, Christina Buttons, and Peter Boghossian analyze G's Twitter/X thread titled, "10 WAYS TO AVOID BEING FOOLED," where G gave "10 heuristics that will make you smarter." They discuss the importance of understanding opposing viewpoints, critically evaluating information sources, truth-seeking, news consumption habits, and more.
Society’s Issues & How To Fix Them
Attorney Matt Bilinsky and Peter Boghossian cover various topical stories such as plagiarism and academic corruption, the downfall of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, self-defense, and more.
DEI: The Three Blind “Virtues”
Helen Pluckrose and Peter Boghossian sit down to discuss the downfall of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Helen explains DEI's underpinnings, specifically postmodern thought and critical theory, and the blind pursuit of "equity" that drives this ideology. The two also address the need for institutions to transparently admit their mistakes and the crisis of legitimacy. Other topics include liberalism, the need for individualism, how people find meaning, and more.
Arabic numbers actually originated in India.
Encyclopedia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hindu-Arabic-numerals
Hindu-Arabic numerals
Also known as: Arabic numerals
Hindu-Arabic numerals, set of 10 symbols—1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0—that represent numbers in the decimal number system. They originated in India in the 6th or 7th century and were introduced to Europe through the writings of Middle Eastern mathematicians, especially al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi, about the 12th century. They represented a profound break with previous methods of counting, such as the abacus, and paved the way for the development of algebra.
This is a great conversation with someone whose breadth of knowledge and sense of humour I admire greatly. In the course of the podcast you say that the phrase "diversity is our strength" is idiotic. You also point out the stupidity of hiring someone who doesn't know maths to be the Dean of the Maths department. In Canada, we have hired a prime minister who burps out "diversity is our strength" with some regularity. He is also utterly ignorant about subjects such as economics, business management and all things green. The way that he and his acolytes are wrecking the country really puts meat on the bones of your observations.