Mar 19 2025 113 mins 2
In this podcast, we recap a conversation we didn’t record where Shea and I talked about epistemology and decision theory, and I decided to flag it more when I say “but what would that even mean”
I also made a case for subjective probability as a useful concept, and we talked a little about politics at the end.
At one point I referenced this LW post that mentions confidence and credence.
AI generated chapter time stamps:
00:00 Introduction and Motivation for Discussion
00:39 Exploring Timeless Decision Theory
02:00 Objections to Traditional Decision Theories
04:33 Functional Decision Theory and Its Implications
06:01 The Role of Other People's Decisions
08:17 Perspectives on Newcomb's Problem
10:01 Voting and Decision-Making Dynamics
12:40 The Value of Civic Participation
14:03 Philosophical Perspectives on Decision Theory
18:10 Platonism and Mathematical Realism
23:29 The Nature of Abstractions and Probabilities
25:43 Critical Rationalism and Probability Discussions
33:19 Understanding Subjective Probability
36:57 The Role of Betting in Probability Communication
39:20 Precision in Probability Estimates
41:10 The Nature of Likelihood and Causality
44:56 The Complexity of Probability in Epistemology
51:32 Subjective vs. Objective Probability
58:48 Understanding Credence and Confidence
01:13:06 Navigating Political Uncertainty
01:19:41 Protests and Free Speech in Context
01:24:17 Navigating Immigration and American Values
01:31:06 The Left's Political Landscape and Future Directions
01:36:12 Housing and Healthcare: Bipartisan Solutions?
01:40:28 Education Reform and the Role of Competition
01:52:03 The Need for New Leadership in Politics
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