How We Really Get to Mars: Space Travel, Human Survival, and the Next 100 Years of Society | Andy Weir PT 2

Tom Bilyeu's Impact Theory

Impact Theory

Education, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Technology, Society & Culture, Business, Self-improvement

4.7 • 5.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Part 2 of Tom’s wide-ranging conversation with Andy Weir, Andy explores how AI will transform material science, medicine, biotechnology, and possibly even human evolution itself. From AI-designed drugs and custom gene editing to the ethical dilemmas of “designer babies” and the future of cosmetic self-alteration, Andy contemplates what these advances could mean for human identity, equality, and society’s deepest values. The episode then hurtles into the far future, weighing the prospects of artificial superintelligence, AI alignment, and the ultimate “tool or agent” debate. Tom and Andy touch on open versus closed source AI, existential risk, and what humanity’s historical track record tells us about technology. SHOWNOTES 22:08 AI’s leap in material science, biotech, and AlphaFold’s revolution28:49 Hardware bottlenecks and the coming “AI card” revolution32:09 Efficiency breakthroughs, compression, and training paradigm shifts36:10 How new materials could propel us to low Earth orbit38:39 AI-designed proteins: The promise and danger within biology39:47 The ethics of designer babies: Health, intelligence, and consent46:38 The coming age of “cosmetic ethnicity” and identity fluidity47:29 Body hacking: Social and economic consequences, from eating to politics48:32 Why society will push—and resist—genetic modifications49:34 The looming “intelligence arms race” between humans and AI50:15 Why Andy doubts the need to compete with AI; the “bulldozer analogy”57:15 Caution and optimism: Why Andy expects a post-scarcity AI future58:10 Why “control” is likely to stay with humans—unless we hand it over1:01:04 Open source debate, narrative control, and algorithmic bias1:28:00 What excites Andy: Self-driving cars and societal revolution1:33:57 Andy on writing, his approach to AI, and what’s next for his books1:35:29 Where to follow Andy Weir FOLLOW ANDY WEIR:Twitter/X: @andyweirauthorFacebook: Andy Weir CHECK OUT OUR SPONSORS ButcherBox: Ready to level up your meals? Go to ⁠https://ButcherBox.com/impact⁠ to get $20 off your first box and FREE bacon for life with the Bilyeu Box! Vital Proteins: Get 20% off by going to ⁠https://www.vitalproteins.com⁠ and entering promo code IMPACT at check out Netsuite: Download the CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning at ⁠https://NetSuite.com/THEORY⁠ iTrust Capital: Use code IMPACTGO when you sign up and fund your account to get a $100 bonus at ⁠https://www.itrustcapital.com/tombilyeu⁠ Mint Mobile: If you like your money, Mint Mobile is for you. Shop plans at ⁠https://mintmobile.com/impact.⁠ DISCLAIMER: Upfront payment of $45 for 3-month 5 gigabyte plan required (equivalent to $15/mo.). New customer offer for first 3 months only, then full-price plan options available. Taxes & fees extra. See MINT MOBILE for details. What's up, everybody? It's Tom Bilyeu here: If you want my help... STARTING a business:⁠ join me here at ZERO TO FOUNDER⁠ SCALING a business:⁠ see if you qualify here.⁠ Get my battle-tested strategies and insights delivered weekly to your inbox:⁠ sign up here.⁠ ********************************************************************** If you're serious about leveling up your life, I urge you to check out my new podcast,⁠ Tom Bilyeu’s Mindset Playbook⁠ —a goldmine of my most impactful episodes on mindset, business, and health. Trust me, your future self will thank you. ********************************************************************** LISTEN TO IMPACT THEORY AD FREE + BONUS EPISODES on APPLE PODCASTS:⁠ apple.co/impacttheory⁠ ********************************************************************** FOLLOW TOM: Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/tombilyeu/⁠ Tik Tok:⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@tombilyeu?lang=en⁠ Twitter:⁠ https://twitter.com/tombilyeu⁠ YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@TomBilyeu⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Tom Billu and this is Impact Theory.
0:03.0	Welcome back to my conversation with Andy.
0:05.0	We are best-selling author, problem solver, and one of the most original thinkers of our time.
0:09.0	If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, go back and start there.
0:12.0	It'll give you the foundation you need to enjoy part two.
0:15.0	Now we go even deeper into how Andy thinks, how he builds entire worlds from the ground up,
0:20.0	the mental models he
0:21.4	uses to stress test ideas, and what we can all learn from using fiction as a sandbox for real
0:27.1	world innovation. Let's dive right back in. Now, going back to people are going to edit, but
0:33.7	I think they will largely do it in response to something. And I think one of the somethings that's going to drive people to want to edit the human genome is to be in a race with AI for ability.
0:46.8	And that if there is no upper bound and AI is able to achieve super intelligence, and a stat I like to remind my audience of is,
0:55.0	um,
0:55.5	Einstein was 2.4 times smarter by IQ,
0:59.4	then a definitional moron who's like 82 or 83 points,
1:03.5	something like that.
1:04.6	And obviously the results that were given to the world by Einstein
1:08.6	versus somebody who's definitionally a moron is vast.
1:11.6	And so if that's only 2.4x, it seems self-evident to me that give it enough years,
1:19.4	and I'll certainly say within 25 years, I cannot fathom a universe in which AI is not
1:23.8	10 times or more smarter than the average person.
1:29.3	So now we're getting into a world where artificial intelligence absolutely dwarfs human intelligence.
1:34.3	And I know that some people, myself included, are not just going to take that sitting down.
	...

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