The Trajectory

This new installment of the Worthy Successor series is an interview with Michael Johnson, a philosopher and neuroscientist who describes himself as working on "how to turn consciousness into a real science." Mike is known for his formalist approach to consciousness research and his work on the Symmetry Theory of Valence at the Qualia Research Institute.In this episode, we explore Mike's radical vision of what posthuman sentience could become - and why he believes human experience represents just one tiny corner of a vast, largely unexplored space of possible minds.The interview is our seventeenth installment in The Trajectory’s second series, Worthy Successor, where we explore the kinds of posthuman intelligences that deserve to steer the future beyond humanity.This episode referred to the following other essays and resources:-- A Worthy Successor - The Purpose of AGI: https://danfaggella.com/worthy/-- Qualia Formalism and a Symmetry Theory of Valence: https://opentheory.net/Qualia_Formalism_and_a_Symmetry_Theory_of_Valence.pdf?utmListen to this episode on The Trajectory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trajectory/id1739255954Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5Kh95ylhcHo See the full article from this episode: https://danfaggella.com/johnson1...There are three main questions we cover here on the Trajectory:1. Who are the power players in AGI and what are their incentives?2. What kind of posthuman future are we moving towards, or should we be moving towards?3. What should we do about it?If this sounds like it's up your alley, then be sure to stick around and connect:-- Blog: danfaggella.com/trajectory-- X: x.com/danfaggella-- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/danfaggella-- Newsletter: bit.ly/TrajectoryTw-- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@trajectoryai

This new installment of the Worthy Successor series is an interview with Robin Hanson - Associate Professor of Economics at George Mason University, economist, polymath, and author of The Age of Em. Hanson is one of the few thinkers who approaches the future of intelligence through the lens of deep evolutionary dynamics, cultural drift, and long-term civilizational viability.In this episode, we dig into Robin’s stark warning that humanity is losing the adaptive capacities that once made civilizations robust - and that without radical course correction, our current world order is likely to collapse and be replaced by a more adaptive successor.The interview is our sixteenth installment in The Trajectory’s second series, Worthy Successor, where we explore the kinds of posthuman intelligences that deserve to steer the future beyond humanity.This episode referred to the following other essays and resources:-- A Worthy Successor - The Purpose of AGI: https://danfaggella.com/worthy/-- Explain the Sacred (By Robin Hanson): https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/explain-the-sacredhtmlListen to this episode on The Trajectory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trajectory/id1739255954Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Rk3VvLSHCbASee the full article from this episode: https://danfaggella.com/hanson1...There are three main questions we cover here on the Trajectory:1. Who are the power players in AGI and what are their incentives?2. What kind of posthuman future are we moving towards, or should we be moving towards?3. What should we do about it?If this sounds like it's up your alley, then be sure to stick around and connect:-- Blog: danfaggella.com/trajectory-- X: x.com/danfaggella-- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/danfaggella-- Newsletter: bit.ly/TrajectoryTw-- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@trajectoryai

This new installment of the Worthy Successor series is an interview with Joe Carlsmith, a senior advisor at Open Philanthropy, whose work spans AI alignment, moral uncertainty, and the philosophical foundations of value. In this conversation, Joe joins us in his personal capacity, not representing any brand or company, and offering his own thoughtful perspectives.In this episode, we explore Joe’s reflections on what a “worthy successor” might really mean - not as a single entity, but as a civilization guided toward greater wisdom. His framing is rare among alignment thinkers: he treats AI not as a replacement for humanity, but as a set of tools that might help us become clearer thinkers, better philosophers, and truer to what is actually good.The interview is our fifteenth installment in The Trajectory’s second series, Worthy Successor, where we explore the kinds of posthuman intelligences that deserve to steer the future beyond humanity.This episode referred to the following other essays:-- A Worthy Successor - The Purpose of AGI: https://danfaggella.com/worthy/-- Our Final Imperatives - Humanity's Last Goals at the Dawn of AI: https://danfaggella.com/imperativesListen to this episode on The Trajectory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trajectory/id1739255954Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bsTwkg6eYCs See the full article from this episode: https://danfaggella.com/carlmsith1...There are three main questions we cover here on the Trajectory:1. Who are the power players in AGI and what are their incentives?2. What kind of posthuman future are we moving towards, or should we be moving towards?3. What should we do about it?If this sounds like it's up your alley, then be sure to stick around and connect:-- Blog: danfaggella.com/trajectory-- X: x.com/danfaggella-- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/danfaggella-- Newsletter: bit.ly/TrajectoryTw-- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@trajectoryai

This new installment of the Worthy Successor series is an interview with Blaise Agüera y Arcas, Vice President and Fellow at Google, and CTO of Technology & Society. In this conversation, Blaise talks about how life and intelligence seem to move in a single direction - toward greater complexity and deeper interdependence.Blaise describes this movement as an arrow of evolution, shaped by cooperation and merging - from the earliest partnerships between simple organisms to the way human societies and technologies grow together.The interview is our fourteenth installment in The Trajectory’s second series, Worthy Successor, where we explore the kinds of posthuman intelligences that deserve to steer the future beyond humanity.This episode referred to the following other essay:-- A Worthy Successor - The Purpose of AGI: https://danfaggella.com/worthy/Listen to this episode on The Trajectory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trajectory/id1739255954Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mAtjedPGmME See the full article from this episode: https://danfaggella.com/arcas1...There are three main questions we cover here on the Trajectory:1. Who are the power players in AGI and what are their incentives?2. What kind of posthuman future are we moving towards, or should we be moving towards?3. What should we do about it?If this sounds like it's up your alley, then be sure to stick around and connect:-- Blog: danfaggella.com/trajectory-- X: x.com/danfaggella-- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/danfaggella-- Newsletter: bit.ly/TrajectoryTw-- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@trajectoryai

This is an interview with Brad Carson, who served as a U.S. Congressman and as Under Secretary of the Army. Later, he served as the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness, and now serves as President of Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI).You might expect someone with deep roots in national security to see AGI through a purely competitive lens - a technological arms race to be won at any cost. Instead, Brad’s focus is on responsibility, understanding, and restraint: how to sustain moral clarity in a domain where the stakes will rival those of nuclear deterrence, and where fear itself could become a strategic liability.This is the fifth installment of our "US-China AGI Relations" series - where we explore pathways to achieving international AGI cooperation while avoiding conflicts and arms races.Listen to this episode on The Trajectory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trajectory/id1739255954Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/N7TNfdUAnxs See the full article from this episode: https://danfaggella.com/carson1…There are three main questions we cover here on the Trajectory:1. Who are the power players in AGI and what are their incentives?2. What kind of posthuman future are we moving towards, or should we be moving towards?3. What should we do about it?If this sounds like it's up your alley, then be sure to stick around and connect:-- Blog: danfaggella.com/trajectory-- X: x.com/danfaggella-- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/danfaggella-- Newsletter: bit.ly/TrajectoryTw-- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@trajectoryai