logo
episode-header-image
Aug 18
3h 8m

Naval Ravikant: Predictable Polemics and...

CHRISTOPHER KAVANAGH AND MATTHEW BROWNE
About this episode

In this watery simulation of an episode, Matt and Chris uncover the true purpose of Scott Adams’ existence: not to shape reality, but to provide training data for future AIs working on plumbing-related problems. Somewhere in a cosmic server farm, Scott is endlessly confronted with blocked drains, dripping faucets, and municipal water conspiracies, while his “insights” fuel the next generation of household maintenance bots.

Against this surreal backdrop, Naval Ravikant enters the scene — investor, tweeter, self-styled philosopher, and, in practice, just another discourse surfer riding the waves of online conspiracism. The conversation opens with a familiar chorus of right-wing talking points, drifts into feverish speculation about lawfare, censorship, and “imported voters,” and finally winds down in the dim light of dorm-room metaphysics, where slogans like “happiness is a choice” are served up as if they were profound insights.

Naval presents himself as a detached sage, offering a boutique blend of political commentary and Daoist-tinged wisdom. In reality, he delivers little more than predictable polemics and recycled aphorisms. Imagining himself a great man of history dispensing lyrical truths in tweet-sized form, he produces nothing that rises above the usual culture-war debris. The posture is Buddha-with-a-smartphone; the reality is a credulous tech elite mistaking his own Twitter feed for a philosophy seminar.

What follows is Elon-as-Ben-Franklin fanboying, Trump rebranded as a “bottom-up” leader of the people, and a level of self-congratulation so thick it could be used to terraform Mars. By the end, you may find yourself nostalgic for the leaky pipes in Scott’s simulation — at least they produce real water...

Sources


Up next
Aug 19
Supplementary Material 35: Cult Leaders, Gurus, and Evil Economists
We face a disciplinary crisis as the twin pillars of Game Theory and Gurometry are called into question.The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (1 hour, 35 minutes).Join us at: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurusSupplementary Material 3500:05 Introduction 01:52 ... Show More
29m 43s
Aug 9
Exploring the Manosphere with James Bloodworth
In this episode, we immerse ourselves in the potent juices of the manosphere with British journalist and author James Bloodworth. James recently published Lost Boys: A Personal Journey Through the Manosphere and takes us on a whirlwind tour of various misogynistic and anti-femini ... Show More
1h 19m
Aug 6
Supplementary Material 34: Giants, Grifters, and Google Eyed Loons
We drown in waves of ideological fluidity as the gurusphere continues to crash all around us.Supplementary Material 3400:00 Introduction01:26 Irish Stew and Dog Exercise Report03:45 A new 276 IQ Genius11:47 Fresh and Fit Antisemitism16:51 Are things getting dumber?21:22 Asmongold ... Show More
48m 46s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 21
#113 Sabine Hossenfelder - Superdeterminism: Why Are Physicists Scared of It?
Sabine Hossenfelder is a German theoretical physicist, author, science communicator, and YouTuber. She is the author of Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 
1h 2m
May 22
The War Keeps Raging Against Science
Strange things have been happening to science in the US. An executive order is freezing research, a website with once scientific information now looks kinda like it's advertising a reality show … even milkshakes have been caught in the fray. Milkshakes! On top of this, research p ... Show More
46m 15s
Jun 2011
Is Cosmology Really a Science?
Robin Ince and Brian Cox are joined on stage by V for Vendetta author and legendary comic book writer Alan Moore, cosmologist Ed Copeland, and science broadcaster Dallas Campbell to ask whether Cosmology is really a science? Do scientific theories need to be testable to make them ... Show More
28m 14s
May 2023
Trolled in science: “Hundreds of hateful comments in a single day”
Atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe realised she was the only climate researcher in West Texas when she joined Texas Tech University in Lubbock, 15 years ago. Within a few months she was being asked to address community groups about climate change, but also a growing number of ... Show More
43m 34s
May 5
K2-18b, Gravitons & The Comet Conundrum: A Cosmic Q&A
Sponsor Details: Insta360 X5 Camera. To bag a free invisible selfie stick worth US$24.99 with your purchase, head to store.insta360.com and use the promo code "spacenuts", available for the first 30 standard package purchases only.NordVPN: To get the special SpaceNuts discount de ... Show More
38m 8s
Oct 2023
The ignorance of experts |Julian Baggini, Ellen Clarke, Ben Burgis
Can we rely on science for the answers?Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesScience is the belief in the ignorance of experts' argued Richard Feynman. He held that the best science respects no authority and is not a learnt set of f ... Show More
45m 42s
Feb 2025
The War on Science
U.S. science is in turmoil. Amid agency firings and confusion over federal funding, researchers are freaking out. Many can’t do their work, and they have no idea what the future holds. Plus, we’re hearing that all of this could jeopardize medical treatments for people in the U.S. ... Show More
37m 43s
Apr 2024
Tackling The Three-Body Problem
Netflix has a big new show named after and inspired by a classic problem in astrophysics, 'The Three Body Problem', where predicting the course and orbits of three or more celestial bodies proves near impossible.But how faithful is the Netflix show - and original novel - to the a ... Show More
8m 58s
Nov 2011
A Balanced Programme on Balance
The Infinite Monkeys, Brian Cox and Robin Ince, are joined on stage by Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society, and comedian and theology graduate Katy Brand to look at how science is portrayed in the press and whether opinion is ever as valid as evidence. Occasionally acc ... Show More
28m 19s