Daniel Schmachtenberger: "Moving from Naive to Authentic Progress: A Vision for Betterment"

The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

Nate Hagens

Natural Sciences, Earth Sciences, Science

4.8 • 552 Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2024

⏱️ 201 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

(Conversation recorded on May 5th, 2024)

Show Summary:

In this episode, Nate welcomes back Daniel Schmachtenberger to unpack a new paper, which he co-authored, entitled Development in Progress, an analysis on the history of progress and the consequences of 'advancement'.

Current mainstream narratives sell the story that progress is synonymous with betterment, and that the world becomes better for everyone as GDP and economies continue to grow. Yet, this is an incomplete portrayal that leaves out the dark sides of advancement. What are the implications when only the victors of history write the narratives of progress and define societal values? What are the value systems embedded in our institutions and policies, and how do they reinforce the need for ongoing growth at the expense of the natural world and human well-being? Finally, how do we change these dynamics to form a new, holistic definition of progress that accounts for the connectedness of our planet to the health of our minds, bodies, and communities?

Consilience Project paper on 'Development in Progress'

About Daniel Schmachtenberger:

Daniel Schmachtenberger is a founding member of The Consilience Project, aimed at improving public sensemaking and dialogue.

The throughline of his interests has to do with ways of improving the health and development of individuals and society, with a virtuous relationship between the two as a goal.

Towards these ends, he's had a particular interest in catastrophic and existential risk, with focuses on civilization collapse and institutional decay. His work also includes an analysis of progress narratives, collective action problems, and social organization theories. These themes are all connected through close study of the relevant domains in philosophy and science.

For Show Notes and More visit:

thegreatsimplification.com/episode/daniel-schmachtenberger-7

To watch this video episode on Youtube → https://youtu.be/tmusbHBKW84

0:00 - Introduction

0:46 - Guest Introduction: Daniel Schmachtenberger

2:24 - Personal Catch-Up and Observations

3:55 - Paper on Development and Progress

6:19 - Definition and Importance of Progress

11:03 - Critique of Technological Advancement

14:05 - Historical Context of Progress Narratives

18:53 - Social Structures and Restraint

21:21 - Technological Efficiency and Wisdom

27:41 - Climate Change and Technological Solutions

30:32 - Historical Analysis of Conquerors

35:30 - Multipolar Traps and Progress

45:01 - Asymmetry and Power in Evolution

46:29 - Definitions of Progress

47:15 - Ecological and Economic Risks

52:54 - Case Studies of Externalities

56:14 - Corporate Personhood and Sociopathy

1:02:22 - Influence of Dominant Narratives

1:09:09 - Global Coordination and AI

1:11:51 - Self-Terminating Path of Winning

1:13:45 - Addressing Systemic Ecological Issues

1:20:17 - Human Wisdom and Restraint

1:23:27 - Jevons Paradox and Energy Efficiency

1:30:07 - Historical Analysis of Warfare

1:35:30 - Cancer and Industrial Toxins

1:39:03 - Influence of Dark Triad Traits

1:45:01 - Environmental Impact of Corporations

1:52:54 - Long-Term Ecological Solutions

2:00:27 - Role of Education in Progress

2:07:02 - Ethical Considerations in Technology

2:13:45 - Philosophical Foundations of Progress

2:20:17 - Addressing Social Inequality

2:23:27 - Integrating Traditional Knowledge

2:30:07 - Future Prospects and Challenges

2:35:30 - Personal Reflections and Closing Thoughts

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the Great Simplification.
0:04.6	I'm Nate Higgins.
0:06.3	On this show, we describe how energy, the economy, the environment, and human behavior all fit together and what it might mean for our future.
0:15.2	By sharing insights from global thinkers, we hope to inform and inspire more humans to play emergent roles in the
0:22.7	coming great simplification.
0:28.0	Today I am rejoined by Daniel Schmachtenberger, who is the director of the Consilience
0:34.9	Project and the co-founder of Civilization Research Institute, where he and his colleagues have just written a new paper called Development in Progress, which is the topic of this long, horizontally and vertically deep conversation with Daniel.
0:54.0	We talk about what is progress, the history of progress. Who gets to horizontally and vertically deep conversation with Daniel.
0:54.3	We talk about what is progress, the history of progress, who gets to write the progress
0:59.4	narrative, and whether progress itself actually means betterment for society, for the well-being
1:07.2	of the human species and the natural world.
1:10.6	You might not be surprised to hear that this episode raised more questions than answers.
1:16.9	And in fact, I didn't even get to my questions because we were unpacking his paper.
1:22.2	Those are going to have to be discussed in a follow-up conversation.
1:27.4	I think we have to understand the problems, the generator functions, the dynamics, and start
1:35.4	asking questions about where do we want to go and how do we get there from here?
1:40.9	And I think these conversations with people like Daniel, at least start to
1:45.6	define the parameters of the conversation and where we need to go. Please welcome Daniel Schmocktenberger.
2:00.7	Daniel Schmockdenberger, welcome back.
2:03.9	Good to see you, my friend.
2:05.1	Good to see you.
2:06.2	Holy crap, you look different.
	...

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