Ask A Genius 1214: Apple Carts and AI Coaxing Humanity’s Wills

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Any homework related to generating great topics is fine. You had an idea involving “apple carts.” What do you mean by “apple carts” here? Rick Rosner: Well, there is a range of opinions about AI—some are optimistic, some are pessimistic. Those on the pessimistic side are sometimes called “doomers” because they think …

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Ask A Genius 1213: The Murder of Brian Thompson

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: A few days ago, Brian Thompson, a 50-year-old CEO of UnitedHealth Group (the parent company of UnitedHealthcare), was fatally shot in New York City. Reports suggest the shooter took a bus to the city and waited for 10 days, apparently targeting Thompson, who was there to speak at an investors' conference.  Rick …

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Ask A Genius 1195: NOTHING, Nothing, nothing, nothingness, and “What else can we talk about?”

*Interview conducted in November, 2024.* Rick Rosner: I’ve been feeling bad about our recent conversations because it’s mostly me complaining about Trump. So, I tried to think more philosophically or metaphysically for a moment. We’ve often talked about the principles of existence and things that can exist, but that made me wonder: what about things …

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Ask A Genius 1187: Getting Older, Flossing, and Masks

*Interview conducted in November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So what was that tweet about again? I remember seeing it. It was about a dirty mask from today, October 26th. Rick Rosner: Yes, it was about a dirty mask. I had posted a picture of a worn-out mask. I'll add the tweet link later. Jacobsen: What …

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Ask A Genius 1184: Infrastructure and Tweeting Online

*Interview conducted in November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You mentioned tweeting about infrastructure projects. Rick Rosner: Yes, I tweeted that 10,000 infrastructure projects had been completed as of May. That’s a significant number. Biden managed to pass the first major infrastructure bill since Obama, and the U.S. badly needs it, given the poor state of …

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Ask A Genius 1182: Follow the River Where the AI Lead

*Interview conducted in November, 2024.* Rick Rosner: Let's ask ChatGPT: "What are three significant technological advances expected within the next five years?" Scott Douglas Jacobsen: That’s a reasonable way to phrase it. "What are three significant technological advances expected within the next five years?" Responses include widespread adoption of artificial intelligence and automation, breakthroughs in …

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Ask A Genius 1125: Life and Decline

Rick Rosner: I want to talk about crystallized versus fluid intelligence, which is part of the same broad theories related to IQ. Fluid intelligence is raw problem-solving ability at its peak in young adults. The trade-off is that, as you acquire wisdom—knowledge-based expertise—this becomes crystallized intelligence. As you learn more and your brain ages, fluid …

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