Exponential tech is really powerful. It's like the power of gods, at least little gods, but we don't have the kind of wisdom, love, and prudence to use that power well, and you don't get to keep doing exponential warfare and exponential externalities on a finite planet, not blow yourself up.

Hello and welcome to the Psychology Podcast. In this episode I talked to social philosopher Daniel Smoktenberger about exponential technology and its effects on our current world. According to Daniel, organizations that harness the power of modern tech rarely use it for good, like how social media companies boost polarizing content to maximize user engagement, leading to a distrust of science and destabilized democracies.

To overcome humanity's current existential threat, Daniel argues we all need to work towards a radical cultural enlightenment. We also touch on the topics of collective intelligence, human development, power, responsibility, and civilization. It's always great chatting with Daniel. He's a good friend and very thoughtful human being. So without further ado, I bring you Daniel Smoktenberger. Hey Daniel, I can't wait to talk to you today on the Psychology Podcast.

I'm so happy to be talking to you again, Scott. It's been a while. It has been a while. I love the beard. I love the beard. Thank you. You've got a couple of months to catch up.

I do look a couple of months, but you look very wise. And that will catch up with the fact you are wise. You know, you're a very wise human. I mean, as long as I've known you, I've been really impressed by your insights and your, your almost square avoidance about the future of civilization, which is pretty cool.

Did you always have that kind of been being able to think not short term, but very, very long term about the arc of humanity?

I think it's worth noting that I'm profoundly less good at that than I wish I was. And also profoundly less good at it than I thought I was.

I was younger.

Well, that's true enough.

It's an important thing to comment on. But yeah, I was fortunate.

I was homeschooled growing up and got to have a pretty unique curriculum, largely self-guided curriculum, but the things my parents were into as exposed.

One of them was Bucky Fuller.

And so comprehensive anticipatory design science, thinking through long arc of history, long arc of future, and how we design with that in mind was kind of early background.

A lot of rich off-caparin system science that was also doing kind of long-term forecasting and deep history.

So I would say long time scale has been with me most of my life.

Well, it's really allowed you to see and point out a lot of things going on in a world today that could be greatly, greatly improved.

And there's a lot. There's a lot that could be improved.

So let's take some slice of some of the things that have been on your mind lately.

I know one big thing is technology and the impact of technology on our psychology and the risk of technology.

But I am wondering to what extent you see the problem as, do you see it as an extreme, extremely as bad as people are panicking?

You know, there's a whole tech panic.

Where are you in the spectrum from that to it is completely fundamentally turning kids into robots and causing them to be addicted

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