That's Why I'm Here: Wisdom

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: That's Why I'm Here: Wisdom
Date: February 24, 2026
Host: iHeartPodcasts
Main Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Summary Prepared By: Podcast Summarizer AI

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Episode Overview

This episode orbits around the theme of wisdom and contemporary anxieties. Armstrong and Getty dissect the significance (or lack thereof) of the State of the Union (SOTU) address, public malaise about the economy, and deep societal unease about artificial intelligence and its impact on the future. The discussion fluctuates between acerbic humor, pointed skepticism, and existential questioning.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The State of the Union Address: Pointless Tradition or Essential Civic Moment?

• Opening Riffs (00:51 – 03:00)

  • Hosts satirize the upcoming SOTU: “President gives a speech tonight that a few million people watch, all the media talks about and it means nothing.” (Jack Armstrong, 01:01)

  • Debate over whether the SOTU serves any real value, especially under presidents like Biden:

    “Biden didn't. That forced him out of his hidey hole and he came and screeched at the American people like a maniac for an hour.”
    — Joe Getty (01:47)

  • The spectacle of political protest at SOTU, citing Adam Schiff’s planned absence:

    “I love these brave stances of ‘I won’t attend,’ like you get some sort of credit for that—whoopty do.”
    — Jack Armstrong (04:58)

  • Hosts envision a hypothetical, comically hostile Trump vs. John Roberts showdown at SOTU.

• Historical Perspective and Satirical Critique (11:14 – 12:38)
  • Armstrong provides historical context, noting Jefferson stopped giving SOTU in person for 112 years, “because even they understood nobody likes a meeting that could have been done by email.” (11:23)
  • Condemnation of the current SOTU as a “campaign freaking speech with a list of things that’ll never happen.”

    “You’ll never convince me that the State of the Union address is not a complete waste of time in its current configuration… Oh my God, I just… I dread it. I haven’t watched the last half dozen.”
    — Jack Armstrong (11:23)

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2. Everyday Wisdom: Calling 911 and Urban Realities

• Jack recounts narrowly avoiding hitting an elderly man in a wheelchair in the street and calling 911 (02:11 – 04:07).
  • Reflection on the hazards of urban life and the “wisdom” of basic decency—don’t run over people.

    “So we’ve established that running over an old man in a wheelchair would be bad. That’s why I’m here—wisdom.”
    — Jack Armstrong (03:53, 04:02)

  • This segment grounds the show’s abstract themes in real-life moral reasoning.

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3. Malaise About Politics and the Economy

• Getty notes bipartisan dysfunction:

  “I can’t think of a time when both parties have been more screwed up and ineffective and useless… There’s a real feeling of kind of nausea about politics, I think, among Americans.”
  — Joe Getty (07:55)

• Poll: 60% say they are worse off than a year ago (06:34 – 08:37)

  • Armstrong ponders the gap between perception and stats: stocks are up, gas prices are down, but grocery costs and uncertainty remain high.
  • Getty points out it’s more about “perception” and lasting psychological scars from recent inflation and AI fears.

    “If inflation is high, nothing else matters. And there’s still a perception that inflation is high… And the other factor is uncertainty… and there’s never been so much uncertainty.”
    — Joe Getty (09:05)

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4. AI, Scarcity, and an Unfathomable Future

• Public Anxiety Over AI (18:32 – 30:42)

  • The hosts shift into deep questions about artificial intelligence disrupting work, meaning, and economic structures.

  • Sam Altman clip (19:00) comparing the energy used to train AI vs. humans:

    “It takes like 20 years of life… before you get smart… If you ask ChatGPT a question, how much energy does it take once its model is trained to answer that question vs. a human? And probably AI has already caught up on an energy efficiency basis.”
    — Sam Altman (19:00)

  • Elon Musk’s alarm at certain AI advocates:

    “He was kind of worked up about… the AI world that actually out loud say… it’s time for human beings to step aside. There’s a new intelligent life form on Earth and it’s their time.”
    — Jack Armstrong (20:07)

  • Armstrong and Getty riff, at turns disturbed and comic, about the logical extremes of anti-human, AI-supremacist thought.

• Economic Paradigms in Question (22:29 – 27:24)

  • Viral research causes a market drop by positing what if intelligence is no longer scarce.

    “For the entirety of modern economic history, human intelligence has been the scarce input. We are now experiencing the unwind of that premium.”
    — Joe Getty quoting Citrini Research (23:06)

  • “If the economy doesn’t need people, how are people going to get income?” (24:01)
  • What does an economy look like where there’s no scarcity—where Ferraris are free and houses could be built instantly?

    “If Amazon could do what it does way more efficiently… but needs no human beings, maybe… Who’s gonna give me some of that and why?”
    — Jack Armstrong (24:24)

• Parenting Amidst Radical Change (29:50)

  “Has there ever been a time in human history where a parent like me… doesn’t have the slightest idea how they should prepare those kids for the coming world?”
  — Jack Armstrong

  • Getty: “No… For most of history, not only did you have some idea, you had the entire idea.” (30:09)

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5. Headlines & Roundup: Ukraine, AI in Government, and Sleep Anxiety

• Ukraine War Anniversary (12:53 – 13:18, 13:20 – 13:42)

  • Media summary (lead: Katie Green): Europe’s “lack of interest” in supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion; skepticism about Western resolve.

• AI In Military Context:

  • Defense Secretary meeting Anthropic CEO: “That is the future of everything.” (31:32)

• Other Notable:

  • Coverage of sleep monitoring apps causing more sleep anxiety (15:32)
  • “American kids spend at least four hours a day on their screens; parents say it’s destroying the family bond.” (16:12)

• Satirical Touches:

  • Babylon Bee headline: “U.S. Hockey team melting down gold medals to replace missing teeth.” (16:31)
  • Armstrong ridicules media for trying to politicize hockey celebrations: “Luckily, they’ve been coached up enough to say... we’re just excited to support our country.” (17:03)

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On SOTU’s Relevance:

  • “But in what way does he not do that all the time?”
    — Jack Armstrong (01:44)
  • “It’s a campaign freaking speech with a list of things that’ll never happen.”
    — Jack Armstrong (11:23)

• AI as Existential Threat or Miracle:

  • “AI is the apple from the tree of knowledge in the Book of Genesis.”
    — Joe Getty (29:04)

• On Economic Malaise:

  • “If inflation is high, nothing else matters. And there’s still a perception that inflation is high…”
    — Joe Getty (09:05)

• On the Paradox of Abundance:

  • “What would an economy look like where there is no scarcity?”
    — Joe Getty (24:49)

• Classic Armstrong Zinger:

  • “We’ve established that running over an old man in a wheelchair would be bad. That’s why I’m here—wisdom.”
    — Jack Armstrong (03:53–04:02)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:36 – 04:11: Emergency 911 story; reality check on decency
• 04:28 – 06:34: SOTU theatrics; politicians’ performative “courage”
• 06:34 – 09:49: Economy, polls, and the disconnect between perception and reality
• 11:14 – 12:38: Historical context; biting critique of SOTU
• 13:22 – 16:03: Katie Green’s headlines including Ukraine, Iran, and obesity drugs
• 18:32 – 21:56: Anxiety around AI: energy, ethics, and human value
• 22:29 – 29:50: Scarcity, value, and the potential collapse of current economic models under AI
• 30:42 – 31:37: Parenting, meaning, and preparing for a changing world
• 31:37 – 34:05: Freedom-loving quote of the day (Justice Gorsuch), listener mail

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Tone & Language

• Language: Direct, sardonic, humorous, and provocative; exchanges are snappy and filled with asides that swing from joking to earnest philosophical wonderings.
• Notable Style Elements: Regular riffing on current events, quick pivots to headlines, and seamless integration of both high-level critiques and personal stories.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode is quintessential Armstrong & Getty: a cocktail of informed cynicism, skepticism about powerful narratives (from SOTU to AI hype), and existential fretting about the future. Beneath the humor lies genuine unease about societal direction, the relevance of wisdom in a rapidly changing world, and whether anyone—least of all the powerful—has real answers. For listeners, this serves as both a snapshot of current anxieties and a provocative call to think independently.

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For fans and newcomers alike, this episode offers trenchant analysis, memorable one-liners, and a bracing reminder that wisdom is as much about questioning the big picture as it is about swerving to avoid—or calling for help for—those we meet along the way.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human.

[Joe Getty]

Broadcasting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's I'm Strong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just got off the phone with 91130 seconds ago. I'll have to tell that story.

[Joe Getty]

Great Scott. Live from Studio C, senora.

[Jack Armstrong]

Dimly lit room deep within the bowels of the Armstrong and Yeti communications compound. And today we're toiling under the title

[Joe Getty]

of the show so Twos yo Mama, or let's face it, the State of the Union is kind of effed up.

[Jack Armstrong]

President gives a speech tonight that a few million people watch, all the media talks about and it means nothing.

[Joe Getty]

A cherished tradition in which the President is forced to speak to his real bosses, the people of the United States. An invaluable moment.

[Jack Armstrong]

Invaluable moment because we never get to hear from a president. If it weren't for the State of the Union address, we'd have no idea what they think about anything.

[Joe Getty]

I was going to launch this argument early or later, but it did occur to me. I read a description and I kind of paraphrased it of why the SOTU is a really good idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Joe Getty]

The president is forced at least once a year to stand up in front of the people and say, hey, here's what's up, and then give a stupid laundry list and jabber forever.

[Jack Armstrong]

But in what way does he not do that all the time?

[Joe Getty]

Biden didn't. That forced him out of his hidey hole and he came and screeched at the American people like a maniac for an hour.

[Jack Armstrong]

So we're going to have this stupid exercise in case we ever have another president who's so senile he hides in his house.

[Joe Getty]

Well, we're other variations on the theme, but yeah, yeah, make them come out like. Like it punks a Tony Phil just doesn't mean anything.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, we can talk more about that later. The reason I called 911. So I turned the corner, all right, right where I exit. And it's kind of the way it's set up with the off lane. People are driving pretty fast. There's an old man in a wheelchair sitting right in the middle of the lane. I turn, my headlights are right in his eyes, his big eyes. And he's just sitting there in his wheelchair.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

I swerved around him. I called 911. I hope he's okay. I suppose I. He appeared to be a man of the street. It's not it. I mean, I bet all my money he's a man of the street. So it's not, it's not like somebody got loose from their home with Alzheimer's

[Joe Getty]

or something or the medical transport van got confused and dropped him in the middle of the highway. Yeah, right.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't think this is a guy who's a stranger to being out in the middle of the street in the dark.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, the radio ranch is kind of in Bumville.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is because like I. There was an old Alzheimer's dude that passed away eventually, but he lived in my neighborhood and he'd. He'd get loose every once in a while and it was quite a crisis. Terrible. Yeah, it's terrible. But this is a. This is a guy who's used to living out in the dark, but still he's going to get run over. So I called 911, said, hey, right next to the cane's chicken, there's like a 70 year old dude sitting in his wheelchair right where he's going to get run over. Wow. I would assume the police are already there. There's enough cop cars around here because as you mentioned, we live in. But we work in Boneville.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

There are cars around.

[Joe Getty]

Can you imagine if you or some poor son of a gun, you know, reached over to turn up the radio to hear our fascinating ravings, for instance, and didn't see the fella in time and.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Had that death on his conscience for

[Jack Armstrong]

the rest of his life and be horrible.

[Joe Getty]

Or her.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. So we've established that running over an old man in a wheelchair would be bad.

[Joe Getty]

That's why I'm here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wisdom. Yes, exactly. It would.

[Joe Getty]

It would really, really mess up your day.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Oh, God.

[Joe Getty]

How's your day, honey? Pretty good overall. I ran over an old man wheelchair and killed him. But then work was pretty good, actually. I landed the Jones account, so.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly.

[Joe Getty]

You know, easy come, easy go or

[Jack Armstrong]

got to the gym. It's been a pretty good day all over.

[Joe Getty]

Some up, some downs.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm hoping that the antics at the State of the Union address are so over the top tonight that we as a nation decide we should move on that so many Democrats don't show up or so a bunch of them are not going to show up. My senator living in California, our senator, thinnest neck you've ever seen.

[Joe Getty]

Adam Schiff.

[Jack Armstrong]

Adam Schiff is shift show. Said he is not piled shift. He is not going to attend the State of the Union.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, he's very brave. Very.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know. I love These brave stances of I won't attend, like you get some sort of credit for that whoopty do.

[Joe Getty]

They're going to the alternative, the people's State of the Union held by some progressive group.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. There's a couple of those. And they couldn't get their act together on one. I think you, if I'm a Democrat, I would say we, we'd make a better point and get more attention if we could all get together on one alternate State of the Union address instead of like four, which there are. And then of the people who show up, a whole bunch of them are going to walk out halfway through. They've got it planned to walk out.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, very dramatic. And again, the courage is amazing.

[Jack Armstrong]

So at some point he's not addressing Congress, whoever's president's just addressing his own party who cheer everything he says. So then really what are we doing at that point?

[Joe Getty]

All right, here's your scenario. Trump goes after the Supreme Court, specifically John Roberts, as they sit more or less face to face right there, the supes up front, the President up there on the rostrum, finger pointing, red faced, shouting match between Trump and John Roberts. F U, F U. And it ends with Roberts saying life term bitch. And then he sits down.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't see that out of John Roberts.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, all right. I was just thinking out loud could happen.

[Jack Armstrong]

He too agrees. You should not run over old people in wheelchairs though.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah, yeah, that was the scar medi versus wheelchair, I believe, 1996 ruling.

[Jack Armstrong]

So Trump stands up at the State of the Union address, which a few million people will watch but everybody will hear clips of if they follow the news. Oh, I heard an interesting stat the other day. I was going to try to figure out where this came from. A who's a learned man is listening to who said that roughly. I think I got the Numbers Right. About 28 of people follow politics at all and it was half that 14 closely, because we wonder about that all the time. That is interesting. Now that would be enough to keep talk radio alive because it's, you know, it's a big country. And if 14 of people are following closely enough to turn into, you know, talk radio and people talk about this stuff, that's a lot of people, but not a lot of the electorate though that's paying close attention. Which brings me to. So the President's given his speech tonight with the lowest approval ratings he's had maybe ever, including right after January 6th, which is hard to believe. And the right track, wrong track, or do you think Things are better or worse. The CNN poll out today, 60% of Americans say they're worse off today than they were a year ago, which that's a tough one when you're president because it doesn't always match up with reality. But people feel what they feel and you get to feel. You can't tell people you're feeling the wrong thing. Different presidents have tried that, but it doesn't work.

[Joe Getty]

And on the topic of politics generally, I can't think of a time when both parties have been more screwed up and ineffective and useless, does he? There's a real feeling of kind of nausea about politics, I think among Americans.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've got it.

[Joe Getty]

Me too.

[Jack Armstrong]

Do you think that number sounds like. Makes sense? 60% of people say they're worse off today than they were a year ago. And what, how's that even possible? Like realistically worse off. I know not everybody's in the stock market, but if you're in the stock market at all with your 400k or whatever, that's better by far than it was a year ago. Gas is cheaper than it was a year ago.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I've got all sorts of rents,

[Jack Armstrong]

housing, all that sort of stuff was already expensive. I don't know if it's significantly more expensive than a year ago.

[Joe Getty]

I was going to talk about this a little bit later on. I've got all sorts of statistical kind of artifacts or pieces of evidence about the state of the American economy and I'm going to steal my own thunder. Overall, inflation has actually been tamed. It's at a decent level, ought to come down just a little more to be in the sweet spot. But it's in pretty good shape. But the one thing you have is the inflation of the last couple of years still makes life seem unaffordable to a lot of folks. And the other thing I often say, if inflation is high, nothing else matters. And there's still a perception that inflation is high. I mean, for instance, beef is up 17% from last year. Gas is down. There are a couple things that are down. And the other factor is uncertainty. Where there is uncertainty, practically nothing else matters. And there's never been so much uncertainty. As the AI headlines kick around, Dow dropped 800 and some points yesterday based mostly on a viral report, another viral report about AI that came out. So that's why people, I think, have that, that negative feeling.

[Jack Armstrong]

You are right though. You've always been about the. They should mention what percent the indexes went down as opposed to points.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Dow is now at 50,000 on a regular basis. So 800 is not the as back when we were talking about it being at 20,000 or whatever, it was very true, 50,000. We should start the show officially. But if people, you know, if people I know, I still get shocked at the grocery store and at restaurants at the price. I still haven't adjusted to where I'm not shocked every time I go to the grocery store. It happened just yesterday. I get like four items. I'll be $58, $4, $58. I got like bananas and milk and one of the thing. How's this $58?

[Joe Getty]

Well, and Judy and I went out for Chinese food the other night, our favorite Chinese place, and got Mongolian beef, which we refer to as Mongolian onions throughout the meal because you had to hunt for any beef. There wasn't much of it. But now that I see the beast, beef, I mean, beef prices skyrocketed last year. They were insanely high and they're up almost 20%.

[Jack Armstrong]

More Mongolian onions. Let's start the show. Is the charge eating a meal, right? Succulent Chinese meal. You can't get mad about that.

[Joe Getty]

Luckily, no one touched my penis.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. I'm Jack Armstrong, he's Joe Getty on this. It is Tuesday, February 24th, the year 2026. We're Armstrong and Getty and we approve of this program.

[Joe Getty]

Let's begin then, officially, according to FCC rules and regs. Here we go at Mark.

[Jack Armstrong]

Washington's first State of the Union was 833 words. It was hardly worth throwing his wig on for. It lasted all of 10 minutes. Our third president, Thomas Jefferson, stopped doing it in person altogether, as did all the presidents for the next 112 years. They just wrote a brief report because even they understood nobody likes a meeting that could have been done by email. Yes, that is exactly right. It's a campaign freaking speech with a list of things that'll never happen. You'll never convince me that the State of the Union address is not a complete waste of time in its current configuration. Now, if they came out and said the population is 341 million, unemployment is 3.2%, you know, and just ran through the stats and walked off, I'd say, okay, fine, that's fine. Constitution asked for it, you did it. But in its current form and as like my entire adult life, oh my God, I just, I dread it. I haven't watched the last half dozen.

[Joe Getty]

Mar unleashed another humdinger of an argument against having the so too in the current form that we'll get to A little bit later on he's about got me convinced. Although I love democracy, unlike you, and I think the president should answer to the people at least once a year.

[Jack Armstrong]

Fine. Then send the letter like the Presidents did for 120 years or whatever it was. That makes perfectly good sense.

[Joe Getty]

Strongly worded letter to follow standing up

[Jack Armstrong]

and giving a campaign speech that every that half the people boo and half the people cheer. Whatever. Good Lord, it's like an episode of Jerry Springer. We've got Katie's headlines on the way and a bunch of other stuff. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Today is the four year anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine launched by Vladimir Putin. No matter what some people say and can't believe that it continues on as the world just says. And what are you gonna do?

[Joe Getty]

Bojo blasted Europe the other day for not taking stronger action. Maybe we can touch on that a little bit later on. Big talk, the Euros.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's figure out who's reporting what.

[Joe Getty]

Lead story with Katie Green. Katie?

[Katie Green]

Well, that is the lead story starting with Fox. Ukraine war hits four year mark after Russian invasion. ABC quote everything is covered with Russian bodies. Ukraine's frontline troops reflect on four years of war. And NBC Zelensky's public frustration grows as Putin's war enters its fifth year.

[Jack Armstrong]

And agreeing with Bojo, the biggest part of the story to me is Europe's lack of interest in doing anything about it. Just stunning.

[Joe Getty]

Other than hitting the US up

[Jack Armstrong]

from

[Katie Green]

cnn, Trump confronts his three main options on Iran, from diplomacy to trying to topple a regime.

[Jack Armstrong]

They're having a big meeting Thursday, apparently. Who dad Witkoff, Jared Kushner and whoever the Iranian counterparts are. Last ditch effort at diplomacy.

[Katie Green]

From the Wall Street Journal, Novo Nordisk will slash US List prices for Wegovy and Ozempic by as much as half starting next year.

[Jack Armstrong]

They'd already gotten quite a bit cheaper and starting January of next year, they might be half what they are now. They're going to get to the you absolutely 100% can afford it. It's just whether you want to do it or not.

[Joe Getty]

State I asked my extremely reasonable doctor about the drugs just out of curiosity the other day. He said, oh, I've been prescribing them for years. They do great patients to them real well. I'm a big fan, so see a lot more of it. And that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Especially since they're going to get so cheap. Yeah. I wonder if we're going to look like, you know, the 1970s all of a sudden everybody's going to Be thin.

[Katie Green]

From FOX News, Savannah Guthrie offers $1 million family family reward for recovery of Nancy Guthrie, saying, quote, we still believe in a miracle, but acknowledging that, quote, she may be lost.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. The family throwing out a million dollars. I was going to talk a little bit about the coverage the last several days of this, which is just awful in my opinion. But

[Katie Green]

this one from the New York Post, and we've touched on this a couple of times, chasing the dream. Your wearable data may be making your sleep worse. This article is all about when tracking your sleep turns into sleep score chasing.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I've heard about this phenomenon before. People get so freaked out about their quality of sleep based on their device, they get worse. Sleep well.

[Katie Green]

And it's like I've said before, I don't, I know I slept like crap. I don't need my phone to chime in.

[Joe Getty]

Well, and if you're unable to sleep because you're so worried about your quality of sleep, I mean, something's gone wrong. Wrong in your life. Yeah.

[Katie Green]

From study finds, American kids spend at least four hours a day on their screens and parents say it's destroying the family bond.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Mm.

[Jack Armstrong]

Correct. Yes. Yes. Go on. That's about it.

[Katie Green]

And finally from the Babylon Bee, the US Hockey team is melting down gold medals to replace missing teeth.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Fox was playing some highlights of reporters. So the the men's hockey team landed in Miami with a really cool water fountain salute thing. I don't know if you saw that water cannon salute that they use for heroes landing at the airport, but they did it.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, no, I didn't see that.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then they're headed to the State of the Union address. I don't know if it's all of them or part of them or what, but anywho, Fox is gonna send the teeth. Fox was showing highlights of reporters trying to get some political answers out of. Did you vote for Trump? Why are you going to the White House? You know, that sort of thing, trying to get one of the hockey players so that they could turn the country against them. Luckily, they've been coached up enough to say we're, we're not into politics. We're just excited to, you know, support our country. That sort of thing.

[Joe Getty]

I just said, hey, equipment manager, hand me my stick.

[Jack Armstrong]

No kidding. And take your teeth out. God, I hate those people.

[Joe Getty]

That's hate speech.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty executive producer Hansen and I were just watching the latest Brad Pitt Tom Cruise AI movie that got released. It's like two or three minutes long. And I just watched and it's quite, quite stunning and really entertaining as Epstein is involved. Okay, just. But I mean like the opening minute was like as compelling a wow. What's about to happen is anything I've seen recently.

[Joe Getty]

And it was just utterly seamless.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. And 100% looked like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt riding in a classic Mustang getting ready to get involved in some hijinks. Anyway, that's interesting enough you said earlier. So I was talking about the unease people have about the economy that doesn't exactly match up with the numbers in the economy. But you thought some of it might be people freaking about all these headlines or about AI and everything like that. It's got people freaked out and feeling uncomfortable no matter what happens.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I mean, pick a sector of the economy that's feeling really good about itself. Energy and construction. Maybe because of the giant AI data centers, but white collar workers? Oh no, they're miserable with uncertainty. Manufacturing has not really rebounded. It's continued to decline.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, to that front, here's a little clip of Sam Altman. He's the guy behind OpenAI, which is chat GPT talking about training up AI versus actual human beings.

[Sam Altman]

One of the things that is always unfair in this comparison is people talk about how much energy it takes to train an AI model relative to how much it costs a human to do one inference query. But it also takes a lot of energy to train a human. It takes like 20 years of life and all of the food you eat during that time before you get smart. And not only that, it took like the very widespread evolution of the hundred billion people that have ever lived and learned not to get eaten by predators and learned how to figure out science and whatever to produce you, and then you took whatever you took. So the fair comparison is if you ask ChatGPT a question, how much energy does it take once its model is trained to answer that question versus a human? And probably AI has already caught up on an energy efficiency basis measured that way.

[Jack Armstrong]

So that is one of your AI giants making the argument that it's actually more energy efficient despite the giant power plants they're building on Earth. And Elon's going to build in space over time versus humans.

[Joe Getty]

Well then I and the rest of my kind will step aside. Sam, so sorry to have squandered so much energy.

[Jack Armstrong]

God dang it. I was watching a little bit of Elon over the weekend. He was on with Joe Rogan again and Elon was. He was kind of worked up about a variety of people that are big time players in the AI World that actually out loud say basically what you just said, it's time for human beings to step aside. There's a new intelligent life form on Earth and it's their time and they're more efficient and they're better than us. And quoting one guy who Elon said that he needs to go to hell. I wish I remembered who it was quoting one of your AI thinkers saying the perfect amount of humans for Earth to be in its best state would be zero. Right. Which is quite a thing. Which is quite a thing that you're prioritizing AI continuing on production of stuff with no human beings around. What's even the point when there are no humans around, how productive AI is when there are no humans. I can't wrap my head around that being a thing that I consider for some reason.

[Joe Getty]

Well, right. And then what? Well, it's good for the Earth and the Earth is our ultimate goal or something. Something. I will never accomplish this. But if I could accomplish one thing, it might be to change our society so that everybody's aware how pathetically self serving and obvious it is to do the. I'm so enlightened I don't like my country card. I'm so enlightened I don't even like my species card because that, that passes for enlightened when it's really the opposite. It's masturbatory, it's idiotic, it's obvious. Stop it. Oh, it annoys me.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I agree. But if there are people in charge of AI who have that mindset, that's, that's, that's a problem.

[Joe Getty]

Unless they're, I don't know, hunted down like dogs.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

So you also, for instance, don't be violent against anybody.

[Jack Armstrong]

You also brought up earlier how the stock market dropped a whole bunch of points yesterday on what Wall Street Journal says is a, is a fiction. It's just a, it's basically hypothetical. Yeah, this could happen with AI. And it freaked out so many people that all kinds of different sectors of the market reacted.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, a big research company that I guess tech people follow unleashed a 7,000 word hypothetical Citrini Research they're called. It was quote, painting a dark portrait of a future in which technological change inspires a race to the bottom in white collar knowledge work. Essentially. The global intelligence crisis is about to hit. And here's what they mean. I love this. The new broader question, what if AI is so bullish for the economy that it is actually bearish, quote, for the entirety of modern economic history, Human intelligence has been the scarce input. We are now experiencing the unwind of that premium.

[Jack Armstrong]

What does that mean?

[Joe Getty]

That means the most valuable, rare, critical resource to economic development and activity is the human brain, the frontal lobe. The one thing you can't manufacture at scale really, is really smart human beings who know what to do. And now we don't need that anymore. We have computers that know what to do and know what to do and communicate with each other and unwind problems and innovate at speeds that we cannot even comprehend. There's no need for human intelligence anymore.

[Jack Armstrong]

But that sentence, that AI is so

[Joe Getty]

bullish on the economy, it's actually bearish.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't. I don't fully understand that.

[Joe Getty]

I guess that if the economy doesn't need people, how are people going to get income? It's the question you've always posed. How exactly is this transfer of the amazing AI wealth to us poor we gotta eat humans gonna take place? What does that look like? What are the mechanisms? What does the economy look like at all?

[Jack Armstrong]

If Amazon could do what it does way more efficiently and be multiple times more productive, but needs no human beings, maybe. I think I do understand that sense. What. What does that do for humans in the economy? Okay, whoopee. You're way more productive and you're making more money than you've ever made before. Then who's gonna give me some of that and why?

[Joe Getty]

Exactly. So that is a giant, bizarre, unprecedented, terrifying question. But we're gonna put that aside because there's another giant, bizarre, unprecedented question. And if you've studied economics at all or you're just of reasonable intelligence, you know what scarcity is. It's the idea that there aren't an unlimited number of my house for me to just buy. Otherwise why would I pay what I. For my house or a car or a blender or whatever, you know, supply meeting demand. It's a function of scarcity. What would an economy look like where there is no scarcity? I want a Rolex. I'm going to throw it out tomorrow, but I need a blue one to go with my suit because I'm going to some function in my Ferrari that I may set fire to because Ferraris are free and I get all of my. I get zillions of dollars wired to me from AI Incorporated and blah, blah. How the f would that economy even function? What does that look like? Nobody has any idea?

[Jack Armstrong]

No. And I'm surprised more people don't ask that question. I would love to be able to talk to Elon about that when he's when he's saying you don't need to save for retirement in the future. Everything will be provided for you. By who and at what level? And who determines that level? Why would these, I assume the companies are making all this money. Why would, why would they give a whole bunch of it to just random Americans out of the goodness of their heart? Is the government going to compel them? How much do they have to give back? Enough for me to be okay or well off or super rich? And why?

[Joe Getty]

And what if somebody who has the most awesome of weapons, whether they follow the ideology of a stupid effing German Karl Marx or some, you know, seventh century religion, decide, no, we're not going to let that happen. I mean, it's just, well, if somebody

[Jack Armstrong]

understands that, because I feel like I must be missing something. I'm of average of intelligence and I

[Joe Getty]

don't like Gavin Newsom. You're not better than us.

[Jack Armstrong]

But I don't hear anybody ever address this. Where's. Who's collecting all this money if it's not the, the company? Is it to the government or. I don't get it. And how it gets spread out to people.

[Joe Getty]

I have fascinated myself. What does an economy with no scarcity look like? How do people behave? Where do they live?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, if there's no value in a, you know, Ferrari Rolex, but being even more reasonable, if there's no value in an F150 pickup, you can make them just practically for free because of the way AI works.

[Sam Altman]

Sure.

[Jack Armstrong]

What motivates you to make them? How do they have any value? And why did the company would, why would the company make them?

[Joe Getty]

Nobody at the company needs any money.

[Jack Armstrong]

No.

[Joe Getty]

Well, the computers and the robots presumably would just keep making them because we told them to. But what about, what about real estate? If anybody can build a 5,000 square foot house in Malibu overlooking the ocean and it's just a question of who gets there first, then what happens? Force of arms to get that land.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. The biggest problem is going to be housing because all climates aren't the same, all views aren't the same, all that sort of stuff. So people are still going to temporarily,

[Joe Getty]

but then we're going to die out because nobody's having babies. And with no purpose for your life and no scarcity, no want, nobody's going to have any babies.

[Jack Armstrong]

If this is, it's really pretty interesting that some company wrote a fanciful well, what if this happens? Essay and the Stark market, with a whole bunch of different sectors of the economy went, whoa, what if that did happen. Holy crap. And the stock market went down a lot over that. Over. Over. Basically somebody just saying at a bar, God, what if this happened?

[Joe Getty]

Right? Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is that where we are? Apparently that's where we are.

[Joe Getty]

Listen, if future generations revere me as some sort of prophet, do me a favor. The statue, slim me down a little bit. That would be. But I'm telling you, AI is the apple from the tree of knowledge in the book of Genesis.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I agree with that. But before we get to the culmination of this whatever, it's going to be us dying out, I guess. What the hell? Has there ever been a time in human history where a parent like me, who's got a couple of a 14 year old and a 16 year old doesn't have the slightest idea. Idea how they should prepare those kids for the coming world?

[Joe Getty]

No. Is the answer to that question for

[Jack Armstrong]

most of history, not only did you have some idea, you had the entire idea. You're going to work in the field, just like I did and your grandpa did in the last 18 generations and the next 18 generation, we're all going to do the same thing. Or basically a factory or whatever the hell it was.

[Joe Getty]

But the idea, even in the midst of the 21st century, which had a lot of change in the middle of a world war, there's more certainty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, completely. And the idea, if you get this kind of education or these kind of skills, you could go out and you know that that industry isn't going to go away anytime soon. All industries might go away in the next five years.

[Joe Getty]

Whoops.

[Jack Armstrong]

I have no idea. It's the first time that, you know, kids saying I'm never going to use this about whatever they're learning in school might be completely true.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, little wise. I'm still going to yell at him, but. Well, back to the whole biblical theme. If a tree falls on Sam Altman and then all of a sudden Mark Zuckerberg has a fatal heart attack, I'll know God's back in the smiting business.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, no kidding.

[Joe Getty]

Just saying.

[Jack Armstrong]

Thank God. No,

[Joe Getty]

today, tomorrow, before it's too late.

[Jack Armstrong]

We got Mailbag on the way, a lot of other stuff. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Gettysburg. A little bit later, we're going to

[Jack Armstrong]

feature a woman who fell completely in love with an AI Chatbot. So we talked about that yesterday, and that couldn't be more disturbing. I just saw a headline that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is meeting with the Anthropic CEO. Anthropic is Claude, one of my favorite chatbots. To talk over military AI use. Thank God, because that is the future of everything.

[Joe Getty]

They're having a bit of a tussle. The Pentagon and Silicon Valley interested in that? We will talk about that. Here is the longest ever freedom loving quote of the day from Justice Neil Gorsuch from the recent tariff case for those who think it is important for the nation to impose more tariffs, I understand that today's decision will be disappointing. All I can offer them is that most major decisions affecting the rights and responsibilities of the American people, including the duty to pay taxes and tariffs, are funneled through the legislative process for a reason. Yes, legislating can be hard and take time, and yes, it can be tempting to bypass Congress when some pressing problem arises. But the deliberative nature of the legislative process was the whole point of its design. Through that process, the nation can tap the combined wisdom of the people's elected representatives, not just that of one faction or man. Their deliberation tempers impulse and compromise, hammers disagreements into workable solutions. And because laws must earn such broad support to survive the legislative process, they tend to endure, allowing ordinary people to plan their lives in ways they cannot when the rules shift from day to day. In all, the legislative process helps ensure each of us has a stake in the laws that govern us and in the nation's future. For some today, the weight of those virtues is apparent. For others, it may not seem so obvious. But if history is any guide, the tables will turn and the day will come when those disappointed by today's result will appreciate the legislative process. For the bulwark of liberty it is.

[Jack Armstrong]

That was a little bit of a long way of saying, oh yeah, you want Gavin Newsom to have this power?

[Joe Getty]

Well summarized, Mailbag. Drop us a note mailbagarmstrongandgetty.com JT and Livermore pointing out, and I love this David Hughes of the American Hockey team, American Olympic hockey team, literally bleeds red his blood, white his teeth and blue his bruises as he declares his love for America.

[Jack Armstrong]

Love that, I say. You shout questions at him.

[Joe Getty]

Did you vote for Trump?

[Jack Armstrong]

Why are you going to the White House? Aren't you embarrassed about Minnesota?

[Joe Getty]

This is from Kevin, courtesy of the Babylon Bee, commenting on Gavin Newsom's speech in front of a heavily black audience saying, I'm just like you. I'm dumb, I can't pass tests. Oh my God, I love this. The headline is, Gavin Newsom wows black audience by putting some hot sauce in his purple drank.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Then Kevin says, I sent this because I was really hoping to hear you, Joe. Say purple drank.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, there you go,

[Joe Getty]

Sean. Listen to the Armstrong and Yeti. One more thing podcast, which was Jack was discussing his experience flopping down on a $40,000 bed, then an 80 $400,000 mattress, then a $400,000 mattress set, passing up the chance to flop down on an 800,000 set. And Sean points out a couple things. Number one, Hesten means the horse.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, my Swedish salesman explained that to me.

[Joe Getty]

He used to work at Ikea's favorite phrase in Swedish was ingen Kopo eason, which means no cow on the ice. What a great saying. Obviously, in a rural society, a cow on a frozen lake is a monumental problem. Do nothing and possibly lose it or try to save it and possibly drown yourself. And the cow.

[Jack Armstrong]

No cow on a frozen lake, man. Words to live by.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah. I'm telling you. Let's see. What is this? John wonders why we haven't heard much about this. The Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makara Shahrazi, one of Iran's top Shia clerks, has put out a fatwa on Trump and others in the administration, calling on all Muslims worldwide to kill them and to spend their lives trying to hunt them down. That's a pretty good reason for war.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, boy. Yeah. State of the Union address tonight. I wonder how much Trump's gonna do selling the war with Iran to the American people. I don't know how much of the speech is gonna be that. Got a lot more in the way. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an Iheart podcast. Guaranteed human.