[Recording Start] Rick Rosner: Are you ready? Okay, so there's this Never Trumper, a former Republican strategist named Rick Wilson, who coined a principle he calls "everything Trump touches dies," abbreviated as hashtag ETTD. His theory is that Trump is such a disaster that anyone associated with him is likely to become unemployable for the …
Ask A Genius 629: Point Two is Population Decline
[Recording Start] Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let's move on to the second point? Rick Rosner: Sure. I was examining a graph concerning the impact of COVID on global population growth. Initially, my thought was that its effect was minimal. Historically, significant plagues, like the Black Plague, drastically reduced the human population over a century or two, …
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Ask A Genius 628: Is there structureless structure?
[Recording Start] Rick Rosner: Hello? Scott Douglas Jacobsen: It's functioning. Alright, let’s get started. Rosner: Okay. Jacobsen: We were going to talk about the concept of locality and its contrast with the holographic principle. Rosner: Yes, more or less. Off the record, you mentioned a Google search on 'informational cosmology,' a term we've somewhat adopted, …
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Ask A Genius 627: Workouts, the Boring and the Doable
[Recording Start] Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You've discussed various exercise routines in past interviews, including doorframe pull-ups. You also appeared on A&E's show "Obsessed," focusing on your fear of aging and dying, and your rigorous exercise regime. I'd like to delve more into your current exercise routine. What does it look like now? Rick Rosner: In …
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Ask A Genius 626: Statistics and Ontology
[Recording Start] Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Recently, we've delved into the statistical argument contrasting existence and non-existence, discussing it in depth in our sessions both this year and late last year. I'm now interested in exploring the principles that govern the transition from non-existence to existence – how something moves from a null state to a …
Ask A Genius 625: Era of Narcissism and Covid Deaths
[Recording Start] Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I've been pondering this topic recently. We're discussing what some psychologists term an "era of narcissism." Back in 2016, we explored this in our article, "Super Empowered," focusing on how societal attitudes were shifting towards more egocentric behaviors. Now, it seems that those exhibiting grandiose, self-entitled traits have gained even …
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Ask A Genius 624: Math of COVID Now
[Recording Start] Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Alright, let's jump into this topic. Rick, can you share your thoughts on the current state of COVID mathematically? Rick Rosner: Sure, I'm not entirely up-to-date on the overall numbers, but let's take a historical perspective first. The Spanish flu around 1918-1920, which is a bit vague, was a major …
Ask A Genius 623: Fatigue and COVID
[Recording Start] Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, we've discussed this before, but let's revisit it. What do you think is the cost of COVID? Rick Rosner: Are we recording? Jacobsen: Yes, we are. Rosner: Alright. I think we should be angrier about COVID, especially in the U.S., than we currently are. Discussing COVID in the U.S. …
Ask A Genius 622: Believing Bullshit and Being Skinny, Previously
[Recording Start] Scott Douglas Jacobsen: We're all set, so go ahead. Rick Rosner: Alright, so it's this bizarre situation in America right now. Under Trump, it seemed like tens of millions of Americans were inclined to believe in nonsense. But it wasn't as tangible as it is now, where we have a large number of …
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Ask A Genius 621: Informational Metaphysics, Physics: We’re Not Done with the Soul
[Recording Start] Rick Rosner: We're fortunate in that regard. It involves the concept of selling that idea. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Absolutely. This discussion is primarily within our IC context, a limited scope where we share common ground. It's more for our benefit than for others. My understanding is when people reference the physical, they are …
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Rick Rosner 