Friends, When I started Against Everyone With Conner Habib, there were a few guests I wanted to have on more than just about anyone.

Happy to say, now, on episode 300, one of those central figures to my imagination has arrived for the conversation.

GRANT MORRISON doesn't need much introduction. He's* a rebel artist, spiritual visionary, comic book writer, magician, novelist, and nonfiction writer.

The first time I ever heard of Grant Morrison was here, over twenty years ago. in a talk he gave. And then I met him shortly after (I tell you the story in the intro to the episode). His work, and just his being, has been a guidepost for me since I encountered his work.

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GRANT'S WEBSITE

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A note on Grant's pronouns: I talked with him after the episode about his preferred pronouns, and he said that the "they/them" pronouns were often used by other people when identifying him, but that he found himself using he/him just as much because both gender expressions seemed to limit what he felt his identity was.

Friends,

After writing my previous episode, AEWCH 298, where I laid out my thoughts on how to reflect on A.I. to get to beyond the basic, boring conversation, I read ADAM BECKER's excellent book, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity .

I immediately invited him on the show, and I wish I would've read it before. Even though there is plenty of overlap, Adam's vantage point offer a full vision of tech culture, and reveals just how deeply anti-science is is.

That impact comes from the fact that Adam is great writer but also an astrophysicist, and author of the excellent popular book on quantum physics, What Is Real?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics.

We talk about how we got here in science and technology, why technology has been conflated with science, how conspiracy and science intersect, and what physics has to do with all of this.

Of course the conclusion is that A.I. is not super smart, not supported by smart people, that the fantasies of tech billionaires are bonkers, and that the singularity is not near because it's not even a thing.

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Friends,
One reason I started this show eight years ago was to have big talk instead of small talk, to get us past surface conversations and into thinking more deeply. I hate small talk is because it’s so algorithmic or pre-programmed. It's limited by its connection to the past and expectations. I don’t want to have conversations that could be produced by just anyone in any context with predictable results.

I wanted something more living, surprising, vitalizing; conversations that nourished pushing my thoughts and feelings and actions forward.

So the mission of this show has always been, in a way, to address to algorithm.

The conversations on AI in the public sphere have been so dead and dead-ended even when they’re well-meaning. My big problem is not that people aren't saying brilliant things about A.I. -- I'm not sure I'm up for that task either -- just that everyone is saying the same stupid things over and over. There are phony debates held with unearned urgency, wild projections based on investment fantasies, and anxieties produced by deliberate mystifying hype.

On this episode, I go over 11 thoughts I have on AI to get to where we need to go for a better base level conversation. My hope is this clears out some debris and helps us to start thinking about in new directions.

In other words, this is more about the discussion about AI than AI itself - . I don’t have a “side” on AI - but I want to talk beyond some of the most repeated points

I hope this offers a fruitful new starting place.

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