Shan Rizvi and Dr. Maryam Baqir discuss their new venture, Thumos Care, an AI-powered health optimization platform. They aim to bridge the gap between the healthcare industry and the wellness industry by providing individuals with a clear understanding of their current health status and future trajectory. The platform offers personalized health analysis and recommendations based on medical expertise and scientific evidence. The goal is to democratize good health and help individuals maximize their potential in all aspects of life.

The conversation explores the potential of using AI and personalized health data to improve longevity and overall well-being. Shan and Maryam discuss the concept of ‘aging well’ and the importance of finding purpose and meaning in life. They highlight the role of technology, such as smart contact lenses and Neuralink, in enhancing human capabilities and optimizing health. The conversation also touches on the challenges faced in developing the Thumos Care platform and the need for creativity, determination, and self-confidence. The speakers outline their plans for marketing and improving the product in the coming months.

Keywords: Thumos Care, AI-powered health optimization platform, healthcare industry, wellness industry, health analysis, personalized recommendations, preventive medicine, aging, comorbidities, scaling the unscalable, maximizing potential, AI, personalized health data, longevity, aging well, purpose, meaning, technology, smart contact lenses, Neuralink, challenges, creativity, determination, self-confidence, marketing, improvement

• Thumos Care is an AI-powered health optimization platform that provides individuals with a clear understanding of their current health status and future trajectory.
• The platform offers personalized health analysis and recommendations based on medical expertise and scientific evidence.
• The goal of Thumos Care is to democratize good health and help individuals maximize their potential in all aspects of life.
• By addressing root causes and focusing on preventive measures, individuals can improve their overall health and reduce the risk of comorbidities. AI and personalized health data have the potential to improve longevity and overall well-being.
• Finding purpose and meaning in life is crucial for aging well.
• Technology, such as smart contact lenses and Neuralink, can enhance human capabilities and optimize health.
• Developing the most care platform requires creativity, determination, and self-confidence.
• Marketing and continuous improvement are key to the success of the product.

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On this episode of the show, I go over 8 takeaways from my completion of the 2024 LA Marathon. It was a wonderful race across the various cities of the Los Angeles area, and involved a lot of people in the race and a lot of people watching the race. All the festivity was great for everyone, and I did enjoy taking part for a first time. It ended in the city of Century City.

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In this episode, author Bianca Bosker discusses her book ‘Get the Picture’ and her journey into the art world. She shares her frustration with art and her rediscovery of its importance in her life. Bosker explores the evolution and universality of art, highlighting its essential role in human experience. She also discusses the unique perspective of artists and their ability to see and experience the world differently. Bosker emphasizes the practicality and essentiality of art, challenging the notion that it is a luxury. She also explores the key players in the art world and the individual expression found in artworks.

In this conversation, Bianca Bosker discusses the importance of engaging with work as if it were another living being. She encourages people to slow down and not feel the need to see and like everything. Bianca also emphasizes the value of noticing and appreciating the beauty in everyday life. She explores the concept of glitches and how they can lead to new forms of art and beauty. Bianca concludes by highlighting the transformative power of art and how it can help us live a more rich and meaningful life.

Takeaways

• Art is an essential part of human experience, dating back to ancient times and serving as a universal form of communication.
• Artists have a unique perspective and ability to see and experience the world differently, allowing them to challenge our expectations and expand our understanding.
• Engaging with art can help us develop our visual literacy and see beyond our preconceived notions, leading to a more nuanced and enriched experience of the world.
• The art world is composed of various key players, including artists, gallerists, curators, and collectors, who shape our understanding and appreciation of art.
• Each artist brings their own individual expression and style to their work, creating a diverse and vibrant art landscape.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Alliterative Names

01:13 The Frustration with Art and Rediscovery

07:12 Artists’ Ability to See and Experience

09:57 Artists’ Unique Perspective and Linking Ideas

13:07 Art as a Glitch in Perception

20:04 Key Players in the Art World

25:29 Individual Expression in Art

29:28 Developing Relationships with Artworks

30:26 Engaging with Work as Another Living Being

33:06 The Importance of Slowing Down and Noticing

37:00 The Joy of Discovering New Perspectives

37:49 Expanding Our Perception of the World

43:56 The Celebration of Glitches and Unexpected Beauty

45:45 The Value and Misunderstanding of Beauty

53:13 Living Life Differently Through Art

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Professor Cailin O’Connor is philosopher of biology and behavioral sciences, philosopher of science, and evolutionary game theorist.  She is a Professor in the Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science, and recently finished co-administering the NSF grant “Consensus, Democracy, and the Public Understanding of Science” with philosopher of physics James Owen Weatherall (previous NSF grant Social Dynamics and Diversity in Epistemic Communities).

Their co-authored trade book The Misinformation Age was published with Yale University Press.  Her monograph The Origins of Unfairness was published in July 2019 by Oxford University Press, and her books Games in the Philosophy of Biology and Modeling Scientific Communities were published in the CUP elements series.  She also writes public philosophy.

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Bo Winegard obtained a PhD in social psychology from Florida State University, under the tutelage of Roy Baumeister. He was a professor at a small college in the midwest. Now, he am an independent scholar.

He is interested in human evolution, human variation, the rise of political order, and political conservatism. He also loves literature, film, sports, and mediocre detective fiction. 

He hasve many peer-reviewed publications on motley topics and often writes for Quillette. He is currently working on the first of several books on human nature and political ideology.

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“In this raw coming-of-age memoir, in the vein of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, The Other Wes Moore, and Someone Has Led This Child to Believe, Rob Henderson vividly recounts growing up in foster care, enlisting in the US Air Force, attending elite universities, and pioneering the concept of “luxury beliefs”—ideas and opinions that confer status on the upper class while inflicting costs on the less fortunate.

Rob Henderson was born to a drug-addicted mother and a father he never met, ultimately shuttling between ten different foster homes in California. When he was adopted into a loving family, he hoped that life would finally be stable and safe. Divorce, tragedy, poverty, and violence marked his adolescent and teen years, propelling Henderson to join the military upon completing high school.

An unflinching portrait of shattered families, desperation, and determination, Troubled recounts Henderson’s expectation-defying young life and juxtaposes his story with those of his friends who wound up incarcerated or killed. He retreads the steps and missteps he took to escape the drama and disorder of his youth. As he navigates the peaks and valleys of social class, Henderson finds that he remains on the outside looking in. His greatest achievements—a military career, an undergraduate education from Yale, a PhD from Cambridge—feel like hollow measures of success. He argues that stability at home is more important than external accomplishments, and he illustrates the ways the most privileged among us benefit from a set of social standards that actively harm the most vulnerable.”

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Cecilie Traberg is a Psychology PhD Candidate at University of Cambridge in the Social Decision-Making Lab and a Storytelling Fellow at University Arts London studying how social influence, identity and interaction impacts our judgements, beliefs and behaviors. She currently focuses on how these social processes influence misinformation susceptibility and how we can increase resistance to persuasion.

Her research is supported by the Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholarship and the Economic and Social Research Council. She uses a combination of methods (experimental, RCTs, behavioral games and interventions) and is particularly interested in methods that allow for measuring real social interaction between people in real time.

She is currently a Visiting Scholar at Princeton University in the Collectives in Cognition Lab and will subsequently be a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business School with Prof. Amit Goldenberg. She is also a mum of two boys, Theodore and Atlas, who were born during her PhD and a violinist in a symphony orchestra.

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Welcome attorney Karin Lang back to the show on episode 417, bringing back the in-person discussion after a year of her travels from 2022 to 2023. On this talk, we spoke about the countries that she explored in South America, some elements of dating and relationships that are impactful, her legal work defending victims of childhood sexual assault, and current and past happenings in the Middle East of worldwide importance.

In her travels in South America, Karin experienced a variety of life, as she went through 11 countries in the recent trip. Going through these lands involved meeting a variety of people, having plans go out of order or change very rapidly, reaching difficulty to make things work or get places smoothly, and learning more of the local language along the way. We talk about some of the growth qualities that come from such a travel, and how she is different before and after the fact.

We also spoke on some important elements of how a relationship can flourish, including a description of Karin’s parents’ story, which gives a good example of growing together from early on in life. This was followed up with discussion on her legal work, and then a discussion on recent happenings in the Middle East.

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Imagination is commonly thought to be the special province of youth—the natural companion of free play and the unrestrained vistas of childhood. Then come the deadening routines and stifling regimentation of the adult world, dulling our imaginative powers. In fact, Andrew Shtulman argues, the opposite is true. Imagination is not something we inherit at birth, nor does it diminish with age. Instead, imagination grows as we do, through education and reflection.

The science of cognitive development shows that young children are wired to be imitators. When confronted with novel challenges, they struggle to think outside the box, and their creativity is rigidly constrained by what they deem probable, typical, or normal. Of course, children love to “play pretend,” but they are far more likely to simulate real life than to invent fantasy worlds of their own. And they generally prefer the mundane and the tried-and-true to the fanciful or the whimsical.

Children’s imaginations are not yet fully formed because they necessarily lack knowledge, and it is precisely knowledge of what is real that provides a foundation for contemplating what might be possible. The more we know, the farther our imaginations can roam. As Learning to Imagine demonstrates, the key to expanding the imagination is not forgetting what you know but learning something new. By building upon the examples of creative minds across diverse fields, from mathematics to religion, we can consciously develop our capacities for innovation and imagination at any age.

Andrew Shtulman is an associate professor of psychology and cognitive science at Occidental, where he directs the Thinking Lab. His work has been featured in Scientific American, CBS News, and the New Yorker. He lives in Pasadena, California.

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What are internal family systems in terms of therapy? How are shame and guilt different and meant to be worked on? What does it take to bring about tangible change in a person’s well-being? Guest therapist Dr. Martha Sweezy joins myself and co-host Rebecca Faith Lawson on episode 415 to discuss these topics and her breadth of experience in the therapy field.

Having worked in community mental health at the outpatient department of the Cambridge Health Alliance for 18 years as a therapist, supervisor and the associate director of the DBT program, Dr. Martha Sweezy has experience with a wide variety of mental health challenges, many related to the sequelae of trauma.

She is currently an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and a clinical and program development consultant at Cambridge Health Alliance.

Until January, 2015, she was the Associate Director and Director of Training of DBT at Cambridge Health Alliance.

In addition to being the author of several articles, she is a co-editor or co-author of eight books related to IFS.

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On episode 414, my guest University of Delaware Professor Dannagal Young, author of “Wrong”, joins myself and co-host Rebecca Faith Lawson. “In Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation, expert in media and politics Dannagal Goldthwaite Young offers a comprehensive model that illustrates how political leaders and media organizations capitalize on our social and cultural identities to separate, enrage, and—ultimately—mobilize us. Through a process of identity distillation encouraged by public officials, journalists, political and social media, Americans’ political identities—how we think of ourselves as members of our political team—drive our belief in and demand for misinformation. It turns out that if being wrong allows us to comprehend the world, have control over it, or connect with our community, all in ways that serve our political team, then we don’t want to be right.

Over the past 40 years, lawmakers in America’s two major political parties have become more extreme in their positions on ideological issues. Voters from the two parties have become increasingly distinct and hostile to one another along the lines of race, religion, geography, and culture. In the process, these political identities have transformed into a useful but reductive label tied to what we look like, who we worship, where we live, and what we believe.

Young offers a road map out of this chaotic morass, including demand-side solutions that reduce the bifurcation of American society and increase our information ecosystem’s accountability to empirical facts. By understanding the dynamics that encourage identity distillation, Wrong explains how to reverse this dangerous trend and strengthen American democracy in the process.”

Dannagal G. Young (Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, 2007) is a Professor of Communication and Political Science at the University of Delaware where she studies the content, audience, and effects of nontraditional political information. She has published over sixty academic articles and book chapters on the content, psychology, and effects of political information, satire, and misinformation.

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Optimization is the driving principle of our modern world. We now can manufacture, transport, and organize things more cheaply and faster than ever. Optimized models underlie everything from airline schedules to dating site matches. We strive for efficiency in our daily lives, obsessed with productivity and optimal performance. How did a mathematical concept take on such outsize cultural shape? And what is lost when efficiency is gained?

Optimal Illusions traces the fascinating history of optimization from its roots in America’s founding principles to its modern manifestations, found in colorful stories of oil tycoons, wildlife ecologists, Silicon Valley technologists, lifestyle gurus, sugar beet farmers, and poker players. Optimization is now deeply embedded in the technologies and assumptions that have come to comprise not only our material reality but what we make of it.

Coco Krumme’s work in mathematical modeling has made her acutely aware of optimization’s overreach. Streamlined systems are less resilient and more at risk of failure. They limit our options and narrow our perspectives. The malaise of living in an optimized society can feel profoundly inhumane. Optimal Illusions exposes the sizable bargains we have made in the name of optimization and asks us to consider what comes next.

Coco Krumme is an applied mathematician and writer. After completing a doctorate at MIT and working in academia and tech, Krumme founded Leeward Co, a consultancy that helps research teams with computational science and strategy (aka data science) in agriculture, climate science, logistics, materials and biosciences.

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Here are the 8 things I cover in this episode, from my experience through running the show:

1. You can build momentum that can then propel you
2. You’re not going to mesh with everyone, but you can share and learn with everyone
3. You get smoother at something you do a lot
4. Speaking with people and having a record of it is a special thing
5. Depth develops through the timespan of a discussion
6. People want to also know you as you come to know them
7. Consistency keeps all the steps of a process fresh in your mind
8. You can reach more people than you can imagine with the right mindset

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The long history of China’s relationship between stability, diversity, and prosperity, and how its current leadership threatens this delicate balance
 
Chinese society has been shaped by the interplay of the EAST—exams, autocracy, stability, and technology—from ancient times through the present. Beginning with the Sui dynasty’s introduction of the civil service exam, known as Keju, in 587 CE—and continuing through the personnel management system used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—Chinese autocracies have developed exceptional tools for homogenizing ideas, norms, and practices. But this uniformity came with a huge downside: stifled creativity.
 
Yasheng Huang shows how China transitioned from dynamism to extreme stagnation after the Keju was instituted. China’s most prosperous periods, such as during the Tang dynasty (618–907) and under the reformist CCP, occurred when its emphasis on scale (the size of bureaucracy) was balanced with scope (diversity of ideas).

Considering China’s remarkable success over the past half-century, Huang sees signs of danger in the political and economic reversals under Xi Jinping. The CCP has again vaulted conformity above new ideas, reverting to the Keju model that eventually led to technological decline. It is a lesson from China’s own history, Huang argues, that Chinese leaders would be wise to take seriously.

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Jessica Carew Kraft, journalist and author of “Why We Need To Be Wild: One Woman’s Quest For Ancient Human Answers To 21st Century Problems”, joins myself, Armen Shirvanian, and co-host Rebecca Faith Lawson on episode 410 of the show, where we discuss her book, rewilding, reconnecting with nature, how we survived in the past, and more.

“Jessica Carew Kraft, an urban wife and mom of two, was firmly rooted in the modern world, complete with a high-powered career in tech and the sneaking suspicion that her lifestyle was preventing her and her family from truly thriving. Determined to find a better way, Jessica quit her job and set out to learn about “rewilding” from people who reject the comforts and convenience of civilization by using ancient tools and skills to survive. Along the way, she learned how to turn sticks into fire, stones into axes, and bones into tools for harvesting wild food―and found an entire community walking the path back from our technology-focused, anxiety-ridden way of life to a simpler, more human experience.

Weaving deep research and reportage with her own personal journey, Jessica tells the remarkable story of the potential benefits rewilding has for us and our planet, and questions what it truly means to be a human in today’s world. For readers of A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century and Hunt, Gather, Parent, Why We Need to Be Wild is a thought-provoking, unforgettable narrative that illuminates how we survived in the past, how we live now, and how each of us can choose to thrive in the years ahead.”

Jessica Carew Kraft is an independent journalist trained in cultural anthropology, with degrees from the University of London, Yale University and Swarthmore College.

Why We Need To Be Wild on Sourcebooks:

https://read.sourcebooks.com/non-fiction/9781728276595-why-we-need-to-be-wild-hc.html

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“The effort to destroy facts and make America ungovernable didn’t come out of nowhere. It is the culmination of seventy years of strategic denialism. In On Disinformation, Lee McIntyre shows how the war on facts began, and how ordinary citizens can fight back against the scourge of disinformation that is now threatening the very fabric of our society.

Drawing on his twenty years of experience as a scholar of science denial, McIntyre explains how autocrats wield disinformation to manipulate a populace and deny obvious realities, why the best way to combat disinformation is to disrupt its spread, and most importantly, how we can win the war on truth.”

Lee McIntyre is a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University. He is the author of Dark Ages: The Case for a Science of Human Behavior, Post-Truth, and The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience, all published by the MIT Press.

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A “problem of twelve” arises when a small number of institutions acquire the means to exert outsized influence over the politics and economy of a nation.

The Big Four index funds of Vanguard, State Street, Fidelity, and BlackRock control more than twenty percent of the votes of S&P 500 companies—a concentration of power that’s unprecedented in America. Then there’s the rise of private equity funds such as the Big Four of Apollo, Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR, which has amassed $2.7 trillion of assets, and are eroding the legitimacy and accountability of American capitalism, not by controlling public companies, but by taking them over entirely, and removing them from public discourse and public scrutiny.

This quiet accumulation in the last few decades represents a dramatic transformation in how the American economy operates—a sea change that few of us have noticed and all of us need to consider. Harvard law professor John Coates forcefully calls our attention to what is sure to be one of the major political and economic issues of our time.

John Coates is the John F. Cogan, Jr. Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard Law School, where he also serves as Deputy Dean and Research Director of the Center on the Legal Profession. Professor Coates served as General Counsel and as Acting Director for the Division of Corporation Finance for the SEC. Before joining Harvard, he was a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, specializing in financial institutions and M&A. At HLS and at HBS, he teaches corporate governance, M&A, finance, and related topics. He has testified before Congress, advised the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the New York Stock Exchange, and served as the Chair of the Investor-as-Owner Subcommittee of the Investor Advisory Committee of the SEC.

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When it comes to the dating landscape, you want to know what is happening and why it is happening. What causes attraction, and what makes for great relationships? What do internet shows on these topics say, and what messages are worth listening to? We cover this on episode 407 with returning guest Macken Murphy and co-host Rebecca Faith Lawson.

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“In the scientific literature, I found confirmation of what I was hearing. In recent years, about one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness. And that was before the national lockdown cut off so many of us from friends, loved ones, and support systems, exacerbating loneliness and isolation

Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling—it harms both individual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity. And the harmful consequences of a society that lacks social connection can be felt in our schools, workplaces, and civic organizations, where performance, productivity, and engagement are diminished.” – Surgeon General in 2023

In episode 406, past guest Professor and psychologist Todd Kashdan joins me with my co-host on this discussion, Rebecca Faith Lawson, to cover the loneliness epidemic that was showcased this year by the Surgeon General, along with how it affects well-being, what can be done to not be isolated in the first place, and more.

You can check out my prior episode with Todd here, and some recent episodes with Rebecca here, here, and here.

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The social internet landscape continues to change rapidly, and a lot of people’s time is involved in the various applications in use. Recently, Threads came out from Meta, while TikTok continues to grab lots of attention and Instagram is one of the most default applications for people meeting each other.

Within these applications, there are dynamics between creators and viewers, things that viewers are looking to see regardless of creator, and strategies creators are using to have their content showcased repeatedly. Understanding these dynamics is key to navigating the social landscape, as well as getting to the next apps or services that people will use, because the next are always based on the previous.

On this informative episode, Rebecca Faith Lawson joins in discussion on these topics, along with what stands out from creators, the ability to make content that is true to you and unfiltered, and how to avoid getting into your own head when making creative content.

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