Author: rickrosnerorg

Ask A Genius 1556: Rick Rosner vs. Grigori Perelman: Charm, Genius, and Barroom Odds

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Rick Rosner opens with a cheeky challenge: in a bar of sixty-year-old women, he claims he would leave with a date faster than Grigori Perelman. Scott Douglas Jacobsen grounds the banter with facts—Perelman proved the Poincaré conjecture, declined the Fields Medal and Clay prize, and lives reclusively. The duo calibrate odds, debating five-eighths versus nine-sixteenths while teasing variables—American versus Russian patrons, shared Jewish background, flirtation strategies, and Rosner’s past as a stripper. The exchange is a playful thought experiment about charm, fame, and probability, not a moral treatise, balancing irreverent humor with precise references to mathematics, awards, and cultural nuance.

Ask A Genius 1555: Trump’s Sliding Polls and Shutdown Fallout

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Scott Douglas Jacobsen presses Rick Rosner on why Donald Trump’s approval is deflating amid cost of living strain, tariffs, and a long federal shutdown. Rosner, who places tiny prediction bets, expects support to hover in the low forties. He argues Trump’s chaos distracts from policy failures, with inflation near three percent and looming insurance hikes hurting households. He criticizes ICE’s accountability and leadership, citing broader abuses of power. On Wole Soyinka’s visa, he decries political vindictiveness. Addressing elevated stillbirths, he points to COVID’s long tail, deferred care from affordability barriers, and persistent racial inequities in maternal and infant health outcomes.

Ask A Genius 1554: Why Annoying Human Sounds Trigger Disgust

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Scott Douglas Jacobsen asks why ordinary bodily noises irritate us. Rick Rosner frames the reaction as evolutionary triage: humans quickly judge reproductive fitness, triggering instant attraction or the ick. Aversion to lip smacking, grunting, and loud chewing may signal traits like poor hygiene or impulsivity, maladaptive in mate choice. Disgust toward feces, blood, and exposed anatomy protects against disease and injury. Visible reminders of internal bodies, like open-mouth chewing, amplify repulsion. We also assess non-targets as competitors, and unease around extreme old age reflects selection pressures minimizing misdirected sexual interest. The interview explores instinct, culture, and biology behind everyday irritation.

Ask A Genius 1553: Peter Thiel, AI Hubris, and Male Impulsivity

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In this conversation, Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner discuss the dangers of intellectual arrogance among powerful tech figures, including Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. Rosner describes Thiel’s apocalyptic worldview—literally believing in a battle against the Antichrist—and connects it to the “smart stupid” phenomenon: highly intelligent individuals mistaking narrow expertise for universal wisdom. He warns that such overconfidence, coupled with unchecked AI development, could threaten humanity. Rosner also contrasts tech billionaires with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, then explores biological and social reasons why men—driven by risk-taking impulses—are more prone to self-destructive stupidity.

Ask A Genius 1552: Swagger, Gait Studies, and the Reality of Toughness

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In this candid interview Rick Rosner dissects swagger, perceived toughness, and the theater of fighting. He traces changes in media tone, references gait studies that link movement to social impressions, and contrasts performative bravado with quiet confidence exemplified by fictional Reacher. Rosner recounts his own history—from peak physicality and bouncer days on roller skates to underestimating real fighting skill—and admits both theatrical and regrettable violent episodes, including a work altercation. He reflects on deterrence tactics, the paradox that confident individuals often do not swagger, and how clothing and posture can alter others’ behavior, mixing wry self-awareness with practical lessons.

Ask A Genius 1551: Japan’s First Woman PM, “No Kings” Protests, and an AI Bubble Risk

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Scott Douglas Jacobsen reports Japan has selected its first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi. Rosner welcomes the milestone but flags her nationalist profile. He pivots to the U.S. No Kings protests, citing multimillion turnout estimates and criticizing Trump’s vulgar AI video response. Rick Rosner characterizes prosecutions of critics—Letitia James, James Comey, John Bolton—as politically motivated; he views the case against James as weak, with Bolton potentially exposed on handling classified material. Comey seeks dismissal as vindictive. Shifting to markets, Rosner warns AI valuations are frothy, driven by a few giants, and predicts a dot-com-style correction within the year before durable, real-economy applications emerge.

Ask A Genius 1550: Trump, Baseball, and Book Deals

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In this sharp and witty dialogue, Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner jump from the Dodgers’ playoff run and Shohei Ohtani’s brilliance to Trump’s monument ambitions, the decline of democratic institutions, and the absurdity of political theater. They dissect how randomness governs both baseball and governance, drawing parallels between sport, power, and personal resilience. Rosner critiques America’s authoritarian drift and reflects on creative life—from his daughter’s new book deal to his own search for purpose and a website mission statement. The exchange captures intellect, humor, and exhaustion in an era where spectacle often replaces reason.

Ask A Genius 1549: Good Movie Dialogue: Cut Ruthlessly, Show Don’t Tell 

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Rick Rosner tells Scott Douglas Jacobsen that sharp movie dialogue comes from cutting: show, don’t tell, and dodge clichés like “We’ve got company” or “Chop, chop.” Keep audiences oriented through action, not exposition. He riffs on Bond’s implausible durability and imagines alternatives—a centuries-old vampire spy, or a post–near-death Bond with OCD who grades every move—fresh premises that justify survival without speeches. Rosner cites The Accountant as adjacent but abrasive. Big franchises second-guess scripts for precision. Great actors prefer fewer, stronger lines; compress three sentences into one natural beat. Concision, novelty, and situational clarity make dialogue land and performances sing too.

Ask A Genius 1548: Custer, Sand Creek, and Residential Schools: Colonial Memory

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Rick Rosner watches Antiques Roadshow and encounters a letter from the widow of General George Armstrong Custer. Rick Rosner recounts Custer’s role in the Indian Wars and the 1876 Little Bighorn defeat by Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho. He corrects a Boulder myth: Sand Creek’s massacre occurred near Eads, led by John Chivington, killing 150–230 women and children, after Fort Laramie and Fort Wise treaty betrayals. He links atrocities to Canada’s residential schools affecting 150,000 Indigenous children, recalls Phoenix Indian School, and notes the still close WWII memory. Future harms may be economic, political, or technological.

Ask A Genius 1547: Trump Administration’s Cuts to TRIO Programs Deepen Educational Inequality

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Rick Rosner parcels Alien Earth into ten-minute rations, landing on the six children uploaded into super-strong synthetic adults. He doubts the show’s glossy mind-transfer fidelity by 2120, noting Nibs’s PTSD and delusional pregnancy after the Eye Midge attack. The Peter Pan naming frames ageless “Lost Boys,” adding textured worldbuilding; quirkiness matters. Alien Earth’s Maginot ship evokes the Maginot Line—impressive yet fatally bypassable. Rosner contrasts this care with Altered Carbon’s one-trick future. He then pivots to politics: a recent appeals-court blow to broad tariffs may temper inflation and reshape 2026 incentives, potentially sparing Republicans pain that higher prices could have delivered.