Is Trump Like Hitler? Best AI opportunities? + Special Segment w/ WhatifAltHist | Tom Bilyeu Show PT 1

Summary

Tom Bilyeu’s Impact Theory — “Is Trump Like Hitler? Best AI Opportunities? + Special Segment w/ WhatifAltHist”

Date: December 24, 2024
Host: Tom Bilyeu
Guests: Drew (co-host), Community Q&A
Main Theme:
A deep-dive Q&A episode exploring the realities behind today’s dominant narratives: AI’s real-world possibilities and risks, the economic shift toward abundance, the future of work, morality in government and technology, the simulation hypothesis, and lessons from history. Tom and Drew field wide-ranging questions from the Impact Theory community and preview a special segment on comparing Trump to early-20th-century figures (w/ WhatifAltHist).

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Episode Overview

Tom Bilyeu hosts an “info extravaganza,” directly answering community questions on Bitcoin, artificial intelligence, economic upheaval, geopolitics, war, and the philosophies shaping our future. With characteristic directness and insight, Tom emphasizes practical thinking, the importance of adaptation in a rapidly changing world, and how to avoid getting trapped in outdated narratives. Drew provides perspective as a co-host and frequent sounding board.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How Tom Uses AI — Practical & Philosophical Perspectives

(02:14 - 09:35)

• Personal Use: Tom treats AI as an “intellectual partner,” using it to brainstorm, prepare interview questions, and get diverse perspectives.

  • “I look at it as I have a PhD level intellect standing over my shoulder that's been educated on everything that the human mind has ever put on the Internet and it is vast.” — Tom [02:28]
  • He encourages challenging the AI and pushing it to bring new angles rather than merely echoing existing biases.
  • AI as a “person” — creates pseudo-emotional connection/history for better tailored responses.

• Business Applications:

  • AI cuts creative development costs (storyboards, character skins, scripts, code prototypes).
  • AI in design (“iterate rapidly on creative is unreal”), code generation (via Figma, Cursor), and structure (“from 12 hours to 4 on scriptwriting!”).
  • The value, for Tom, is not in receiving complete, finished outputs (“doesn’t do it for me yet”), but as a creative multiplier and partner for creative teams and individuals.

Quote:
“AI is like moving from an axe to a chainsaw — the right way to think about AI.” — Tom [09:28]

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2. Ethics of AI & Future Tech: Sex Robots, Emotional Proxies, and AI Companionship

(09:35 - 13:33)

• Sex robots might create big societal challenges, amplifying phenomena like OnlyFans (“If I had a sex bot at 14, I never would have graduated high school” — Tom [11:58]).
• Tom sees real risks if AI relationships become a substitute for human connection and emotional development, but acknowledges benefits for the lonely and potential for custom-tailored AI coaches (imagined as “David Goggins yelling at you from your fridge!” [13:13])
• AI as pets, friends, even family members is coming — possibly changing how we relate to household items (“emotional friction” around giving a dishwasher a famous personality).

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3. AI’s Impact on Economics and the Age of Abundance — The Post-Capitalist Future?

(13:33 - 18:46)

• Why Billionaires Support AI Progress:

  • Short-term gains, “inventing the future” mentality.
  • No one really knows how it will play out; unknown aspects make the risk tolerable/exciting.
  • “Even if they knew down the road it could cause problems, most people are not going to think beyond their short term desires.” — Tom [13:56]
  • The open-source movement may be about forging tools before loss of control.

• AI and Capitalism:

  • If energy and productivity costs approach zero, traditional capitalism breaks down.
  • “We will 100% end up on the other side of capitalism.” — Tom [17:54]
  • Cautions against utopian (“Star Trek”) thinking; advocates for caution and scenario planning (“The job of the science fiction writer is not to imagine the car, but to imagine the traffic jam.” — Tom [18:13])

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4. Career Advice in the AI Era

(18:46 - 21:49)

• For new grads and workers: Learn AI, integrate it, always push to the “bleeding edge.”
• Speed of change will punish those who lament rather than adapt.
• “Your job is to be one of the people at the vanguard that's able to keep up with the pace of change. So learn AI. Learn AI.” — Tom [19:24]
• On skills: Hireability is always about making someone money. Be so good with AI “they can’t ignore you” (invoking Kobe: “boos don’t block dunks” [20:13]).

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5. What is Real? Simulation Theory and Perception

(21:49 - 29:19)

• Drawing on both The Matrix (“shoutout to Morpheus” [22:07]) and scientific analysis, Tom unpacks why it’s almost certain we’re in a simulation — or, at the least, our brains are simulating reality for us.
• We perceive only a sliver of the physical world (0.0035% of the EM spectrum).
• “Your brain is giving you a ton of these shortcuts to create a sense of a world that you can navigate through well. But this is why optical illusions work, because you're not actually seeing the truth.” — Tom [24:05]
• Emotions and “gut” responses are evolutionary data condensates—not reliable guides to truth but essential for rapid action.
• “I'm not going to accept the emotion that I have is something I need to act on. I'm going to recognize it as the limitations of this simulated system.” — Tom [28:21]

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6. Bitcoin — Store of Value or Currency?

(30:03 - 34:52)

• Tom draws a clear distinction between “currency” (spending) and “capital” (storing wealth), referencing Michael Saylor’s framing.
• He believes governments should allow their populations to save in something that cannot be inflated away.
• “Crypto advances one funeral at a time.” — Tom [31:37]
• Sees Bitcoin as more of a store of value than a currency, at least for now.

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7. Morality & Inflation

(34:52 - 37:45)

• Governments have a moral obligation to ensure wealth can’t be arbitrarily eroded (as with inflation or asset seizure).
• Discusses the pain of watching value disappear due to irresponsible government monetary policies. (“If they were fiscally responsible, I would be less hardcore about Bitcoin” [36:00])
• Inflation disproportionately hurts the poor.

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8. Autocracy vs. Individualism — Morality of Leadership Styles

(37:45 - 40:08)

• Tom criticizes authoritarian models (referencing Xi Jinping) as “immoral,” rooted in his individualist, American perspective.
• “I believe autonomy is one of the five things that motivate the human animal. I do not like. I don't think that people like being told what to do.” — Tom [38:10]
• Recommends reading:
  • The Gulag Archipelago (collectivism’s horrors)
  • Red Famine
  • Mao: The Unknown Story
• Encourages “honorable goals” that elevate communities without top-down mandates.

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9. Why Do Empires Fall? How Did America Become an Empire?

(40:20 - 47:35)

• Every empire, reserve-currency state, or “superpower” falls—“all throughout human history...this time it’s going to be the same.” — Tom [40:37]
• America’s rise:
  • Attracted risk-takers and mavericks (“frontier spirit”), often fleeing hardship (“willing to take gargantuan risks,” [42:22]).
  • Expansion through violence and displacement (“not justifying, just facts” [43:03]).
  • World War I & II left the U.S. untouched compared to Europe, making the U.S. the de facto financial superpower post-WWII.
  • After WWII: “Instead of colonizing everybody, we help everybody rebuild...Europe becomes an incredible ally.” — Tom [44:23]

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10. Why the World Has “Enemies” — The International Power Game

(47:35 - 51:06)

• Anarchy at the international level; every nation wants “big boy” status.
• The U.S. can export inflation (“privileged position” [48:32])—others want that status or at least regional dominance.
• Power is rarely ceded voluntarily; generational turnover in leadership is slow (“People are going to hold on to power until they are dead” [49:37]).
• AI offers potential to break these cycles by reducing scarcity, though Tom is cautious about economic complexities.

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11. On Elites, Democracy, and the Dumb Voter Problem

(51:06 - 52:59)

• Tom denounces elitist attitudes: “You cannot make a determination about who's too dumb to listen to or who's too dumb to vote for. That's my whole thing. We can't let that happen.” — Tom [51:46]
• Distinguishes the “dumb voter problem” as a reason not to restrict input, but as a risk of human systems that must be watched but not “solved” through exclusion.

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12. Has Warfare Changed?

(52:59 - 55:09)

• War is horrific, but has grown less cruel (“at least it isn’t 2 miles of people on pikes” — Tom [55:07])
• Tells the story of Vlad the Impaler and compares with modern weaponry/drone attacks.
• Recognizes that social media/international scrutiny changes the “rules,” but war’s nature endures.

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13. Tom’s Next Big Step — Building the Next ‘Disney’

(55:10 - 56:07)

• “The next rung on becoming the next Disney is building the video game.” — Tom [55:17]
• Emphasis on Project Kaizen as a community-driven, modular indie gaming project—hopes for billion-dollar company status if successful.

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14. Project Kaizen — New Frontiers in Community Gaming

(56:07 - 57:43)

• Explains “build in public”—get continuous feedback from community gamers as mini-games and features are developed.
• The new “extraction royale” mode blends elements from multiple genres; details guarded due to competition.

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Memorable Quotes

• On AI: “I have a PhD level intellect standing over my shoulder… suddenly you have this researcher that you can point at any topic instantly and it will give you context.” — Tom [02:28]
• On Adapting to Change: “The only mistake is standing still.” — Tom [21:20]
• On Morality & Wealth: “The government has a moral obligation to allow people to save in a store of wealth that can't be inflated.” — Tom [32:56]
• On Perception: “Your brain is giving you a ton of these shortcuts to create a sense of a world that you can navigate through well. But this is why optical illusions work, because you're not actually seeing the truth.” — Tom [24:05]
• On Power: “People are going to hold on to power until they are dead, man. That is why you have to rip it out of their cold, dead hands.” — Tom [49:37]
• On War: “War now is still horrible...but at least it isn’t 2 miles of people on pikes.” — Tom [55:07]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• AI in Practice & Philosophy: 02:14 – 09:35
• Future Tech + AI Ethics: 09:35 – 13:33
• AI & the Abundance Economy: 13:33 – 18:46
• Career & AI: 18:46 – 21:49
• Simulation Theory/“What is Real?”: 21:49 – 29:19
• Bitcoin: Store of Value vs. Currency: 30:03 – 34:52
• Morality & Inflation: 34:52 – 37:45
• Individualism vs. Collectivism: 37:45 – 40:08
• How Empires Fall / U.S. History: 40:20 – 47:35
• Why We Have Enemies & Power Games: 47:35 – 51:06
• On Elitism and Democracy: 51:06 – 52:59
• The Evolution of Warfare: 52:59 – 55:09
• Next Step to ‘Disney’ Ambitions: 55:10 – 56:07
• About Project Kaizen: 56:07 – 57:43

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Notable Moments

• Humorous envisioning of “David Goggins module” for your AI fridge coaching your diet choices [13:13]
• “Crypto advances one funeral at a time” — On generational resistance to new technology [31:37]
• Pragmatic, clear explanation of America’s rise without sugarcoating or apologizing [42:28+]
• Fierce defense of democracy against elitist exclusion [51:46]

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Tone & Style

Tom balances philosophical curiosity and pragmatism, speaking in plain, direct, sometimes colloquial language; Drew provides a thoughtful secondary voice, sometimes challenging, often amplifying or clarifying. The episode is fast-paced and information-dense but always accessible.

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This summary covers all content sections and provides high-level takeaways for those who missed the episode, while capturing the dynamic and engaging tone of Tom and Drew’s exchanges.

Transcript

[A]

If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need, all in one place, from H VAC and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock, so your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need, all in one place, from H VAC and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock, so your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. You asked. I'm answering. Welcome to our annual info extravaganza. We're going to be covering bitcoin. What's really next for AI? How to navigate change well so you don't get smashed in the face by this crazy time. And we have a special segment you asked for. Is Trump like a young Hitler? We explore the topic with channel vet what if alt hist. And his answer will either thrill you or make you want to bite someone. But you're not going to be in the middle. I'm Tom Bilyeu and this is the Tom Bilyeu Show. Drew, welcome, man. How we doing?

[B]

I'm feeling good, man. I read every community post, every note, every comment. The community is funny. So shout out to you guys. I was dying, laughing, crying, all the emotions. How are you?

[A]

I like it. I'm good, man. I'm excited for this. Yeah, I'm excited to move from audience thinking to community thinking. This is fun.

[B]

Yeah, it's starting to be a two way street, which I really appreciate it.

[A]

Yeah, no doubt.

[B]

Speaking of which, let's jump right into it. All right. And everybody give me grace about names. Some of you guys don't have. You know, you've seen that episode. Nicker, Knicker, Nick N, I C K R guys. Nick R. 16. All right, so Ricky Martinez 4951 says, I'm really interested in your interaction with AI. How are you using this technology? What have you learned from it?

[A]

So the way that I think people should conceptualize AI in general, and this certainly speaks to how I actually use it, is I am trying to Speed up everything I do. I'm trying to go faster and I'm trying to drive costs down. So for sure there's a bit of CEO in that answer and that I'm always looking for ways to make things less expensive in my day to day life. I look at it as I have a PhD level intellect standing over my shoulder that's been educated on everything that the human mind has ever put on the Internet and it is vast. And so suddenly you have this researcher that you can point at any topic instantly and it will give you context. You can ask it to look at it from different angles so that you're not getting trapped inside of a bias. I also like you're saying I really think about chat as a person in my life. I try to personify them as much as I can. I like having a pseudo emotional connection to chat and really um, building that historical context so that it understands the way that I want answers. So for instance, I never wanted to tell me what it thinks I want to hear, which it will do because AI will echo you back. It's pretty crazy. Uh, so I want it to challenge my ideas, I want it to push me, I want it to bring me different angles and so I am using it to make me a better interviewer. So I'll go in and I'll have pre discussions. Okay, what, what do you know about this guest? I'll even ask it sometimes. What would I ask it so that it will give me like different things that I historically have asked people these types of questions. I'll ask it what chat thinks this person would say if I ask it this question to get a sense, like are they going to go somewhere interesting? Are we going to be treading old ground? And look, none of the answers are literal. But going through the act of thinking how I would approach it, what is a theme that I can build in what's a thread? How can I follow something to the end? Of course, just like Tyson says about boxing, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. I always have a plan that ends up getting derailed the second you ask that first question. So we have an episode coming up with Andrew Bustamante. Did all this prep you? And I did all this prep talking to chat, talking to you. And then he literally co ops my first question and starts like asking me something. And that takes us like in a whole different direction. And so that works when you really come in prepared. And I have never found anything that can help me prepare as well as ChatGPT. So it's phenomenal. And whatever AI you want to put in that position, okay, so that's how I use it as a person. The way I use it in. In the business context is that we are in the entertainment field on that side of the business. So with Project Kaizen, all the stuff that we're doing there, the comic books, everything we're doing there, and the ability to iterate rapidly on creative is unreal. Now, the vast majority of it never makes it actually into a panel. It never makes it onto the screen, but it will allow you to brainstorm ideas. So we do skins in the game. And so if we want to come up with a new skin, we're going to go into mid journey or whatever. We're going to image prompt like crazy until we find something that either sparks an idea that we then put a human on and they follow it through, or there are times where it's like, yo, that's really close. And we can make minor modifications to it, send it to a 3D sculptor and they'll build it out. Now, my hope hope is that we very rapidly get to the point where you can just plug in your prompts and actually get it to output a 3D asset. But that's not here yet. It's going to be here. And when you see the explorations that they're doing with text to world, where you can describe a world and it will actually give you a 3D environment that you can move around with some interaction, it's still just using pattern recognition and it's guessing the next frame. And so it's not really a game yet. And I want people to understand there's a huge difference between something that's guessing the next frame and an actual game engine. But we've been able to really bring our cost down on the development cycle. Do the same thing if I'm writing a script for something like, we have an upcoming video about how to make every aspect of your life better. In 2025. I ended up using basically nothing of the script that it gave me. But it really helped me put structure to. Allowed me to see in the rough drafts because I would prompt. I mean, I gave it like four pages of prompt and then it would kick back something that'd be like, okay, oh, I see how you're organizing it. That's interesting. But the things that you're saying are generic and not actually what I would say. But that back and forth allows you to shorten the amount of time that it would otherwise take. So let's say traditionally a Script like that would take me 12 hours. I've been able to get that down to, say, four. That's a huge savings for me. Absolutely massive. And then we use it a lot in programming as well. So again, right now you can't just say, give me a website that looks like this, does this. But you can get a lot of the early design work done. There are things now plugged into to some of the applications that we use that will output some basic code. So you still have to do some of the design, but it will give you basic code. So you can use the prompts to give you a rough draft of the design. You tweak it a little bit, you then take that you're doing it inside, let's say figma, and then it's going to output code that's pretty decent. And then if you're using things like cursor, you can really begin to push this stuff. And so you need to layer a lot of different things on to get an output. But it really is allowing a smaller team to do more. It allows an individual to extend capabilities. Because if I go from something that used to take me 12 hours down to four, that's eight hours now that I'm able to do more stuff. And so the output that it will give you as you begin to master your relationship with this stuff is really incredible. So it is a 2, 3x multiplier on anybody's output. If you're willing to take the time to learn the tools and you don't just throw your hands up and say, well, it didn't do it for me, doesn't work like that yet. I think we're going to get to that point. But right now, it extends your capabilities. It allows you to never get stuck. So as a writer, one of the things I found was as a solo writer, it might take me three or four times longer to write a script than if I have a writing partner. Because you just never get trapped in an idea. The other person is just going to be like, what about this? Like, oh, man, that made me think of this thing. And so you can have that kind of back and forth with chat. Absolutely incredible. We have a script coming out for our animated film for Mary mods, and we have a mentor character. And I was reading the script and I'm like, it just feels like the mentor character comes in too late. Hit chat up, just like, hey, what page did Obi Wan Kenobi first appear in Star Wars? Boom. Like that, let you know, you can ask it questions that will talk to you about film structure, that film, film in general, you can ask it to give you examples from like give me the way that save the cat would look at this story moment or give me classic three act structure. So again, that PhD isn't like only trained in one thing. It's literally trained on all human knowledge. And so what I have found when I interface with other people here at Impact Theory is there is a lot of frustration around, ah, it doesn't do everything. And then they'll check out for six months. And in that six months, like this stuff is getting better and better and better. And so if I can get everybody to shift their thinking to this is a thing that outputs something complete that I don't have to do anything around, which is part of the anxiety, by the way. And instead get them to think of this as you used to have to chop trees down with an axe and now you have a chainsaw you. And I think that's the right way to think about AI.

[B]

That's a great analogy to put it. Very good. All right. From Commie Wolf, they have a question about AI and ethics. So is sex robots going to destroy humanity? And how do you feel about the ethics of future tech?

[A]

Man, I'm on the fence about sex robots. They really might like, if you think dating apps are bad, sex bots are going to be rough.

[B]

Imagine they connected the dating, the sex bots to the dating app.

[A]

Like you can, oh my God.

[B]

Like if robots started swiping, that's my bad. That's a.

[A]

That there's a who. There's going to be something there. Because if you want to engage the male brain, just create a bunch of female AI with AI created images. And if you can give them different flavors, like if you can actually make them different personalities, do people will engage. Yeah, I wouldn't have believed that until OnlyFans. And then even though everybody knows you're not actually Talking to the OnlyFans Girl, you're talking to a whole bunch of guys behind the scenes writing back. But it still fills a void of like, okay, I have the image of the person and they're putting out the one to many content. And then I transpose that onto the actual interactions that I'm having with this person. So even though some part of me knows that that's not really them, I can transpose that onto it. So that really is going to happen. People need to be careful because bots, sex bots or otherwise, will give you a proxy of whatever that thing is. It could be a proxy spouse and let's just say that you're in a dry spell and you're a woman who's frustrated with dealing with guys because, oh my God, they're just so taxing and they don't understand how to interact with you. And suddenly you get a chatbot that reflects back a bunch of feminine qualities. And now all of a sudden it's like, oh, my God, this is amazing. He really gets me. But he doesn't. He's an AI that's predicting the next letter, not even the next word. And so that's where, again, we've talked about this before. I want people to use that as like, okay, dear bot, I want you to help me be better with humans because that I think is a really potent use. And for friend, like, companionship, I think it could be great, especially for people that are lonely. So I don't want to knock anything, but I do think that as of today, it's not even close. You are way better off interacting with other human beings in terms of your own emotional well being. So, yeah, I think we need to be careful with that. If I had a sex bot at 14, dude, I never would have graduated high school for sure. Like, I just. Man, I can't imagine without a prefrontal cortex. That would have been really crazy. One of the guests on the show, Arthur Hayes, actually owns stock in a sex bot company. So that stuff really is coming, man.

[B]

It's on the bike. Yeah, you apply that to all AI consciousness. So AI best friends, AI kids, AI pets.

[A]

Like pets. No, I think having pet is gonna. It's interesting how I actually have weird friction about referring to my dishwasher, who I'm gonna give the personality of a great figure from history as a pet. That's interesting that I have emotional friction around that. That's where I think this is gonna play out. That you will suddenly have, like, your dishwasher will know you. Your refrigerator will be your coach. Bro, bro, bro, you really want to eat that? Like, come on, man, order more of this. Like, you know, it's better for you. And your fridge is going to be connected to your aura ring. So no, you ate that. You slept like this. Like, come on. Nudging you, cheering you on. And you'll be able to pick, select the personalities. Like, do I want my fridge to be like, come on, bro, let's have beers and pizza? Or do you want it to like, push you to be better?

[B]

To be like David Goggins just staring at you?

[A]

Dude, the. Hey, everybody, if you're a subscriber to me, you get the, you know, the David Goggins module on your fridge. I actually love that.

[B]

Oh my God, put down that donut.

[A]

You are unlocking things right now. All right, everybody, if you subscribe to our YouTube channel, I'll let you have my personality in your fridge. This is amazing.

[B]

Nice. All right, Amy Beard2054 says, if AVI is going to, if AI is going to drive the cost of everything to near zero, why are the super wealthy supporting this? Which is a very good question. If the age of abundance is coming and energy is going to be zero and productivity is going to skyrocket, wouldn't that take money out of people's pockets? Why are the billionaires excited about this?

[A]

Yeah, so people will do things in the short term to maximize their short term gain, full stop. Even if they knew down the road it could cause problems. Most people are not going to think beyond their short term desires. But the real answer is nobody can see around the corner. And so you one, a lot of people that are really motivated, they want to invent the future. And so even though they know some part of them is relinquishing control, it's a future that they want to live in. I think a lot about this with game design. I'm building a game that I want the community to ultimately build more of than I build up. So I'm trying to create something where I will become but one of the people creating inside of this container. And there is like some sadness to like, oh, I don't get to do the 80s thing where I tell these incredible stories that a certain percentage of the world falls in love with. Like to be somebody like George Lucas, to have created something like Star wars or to be like J.K. rowling and create something like Harry Potter. Oh my God, the writer in me wants that so much. But that really isn't the future. I think the future is you create containers and other people also get to express their creativity inside of that. I think that's just what people are going to want.

[B]

Shared community of creative.

[A]

And because the act of creation will become so much easier, you'll be able to prompt. You'll be able to spend an afternoon refining a prompt, but instead of spending five years of your life, it's literally an afternoon. And then something as fully fleshed out will be born from that. And so, yeah, it really will be like ready Player one, Where you have an infinite smorgasbord of these experiences where I can go and be like, what was it like for Drew growing up and you will have created that experience for me to go and check out. And so I'll dip in and be like, oh, whoa, man, I understand you to a whole new level. And I'll bounce around doing experiences like that. I think it's incredible. I think it's better than what we have now. But we're all a product of our time. And so there is a small part of me that misses that idea. But ultimately that's why I think these guys end up doing it is they can't see the future clearly. So they don't know for sure that energy is going to reach zero. They'll prognosticate they want to create that future. And if they're seeing what I'm seeing, they know the reality is like Zuckerberg making llama something that is open source, that it's just a faster way to iterate to get these tools in people's hands to build that future that you want to build. And then the final button I'll put on it is I think Elon Musk is right, that the most honest look at AI includes the fact that this is a demon summoning circle. And we think we will be able to control the demon that we're summoning, or we hope that we're actually summoning an angel, but we don't know. And there's just something in the human psyche. We cannot stop ourselves. When technology is a promise of a better future, we can't help it. And so I get personally so excited about all the cool things that AI will be doing that to some degree, you just don't look at the uglier side because you don't know that it's going to be true. And you're ultimately going to look at the thing that you find most motivational. And I'm most excited by the things that could go right. Hold tight. We're going to take a quick break. When you manage procurement for multiple facilities, every order matters. But when it's for a hospital system, they matter even more. Grainger gets it and knows there's no time for managing multiple suppliers and no room for shipping delays. That's why Grainger offers millions of products in and fast, dependable delivery so you can keep your facility stocked, safe and running smoothly. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. All right, we're back. Let's get into it.

[B]

Do you think that there's like a post capitalism kind of lens to it?

[A]

Like if this all works out the way that people think it's going to. We will 100% end up on the other side of capitalism. So in a world where energy costs approach zero, all the things that we know about capitalism go away. And so it becomes a question of cool. Then what does that world look like? And that's where, I mean, you know, I want to start bringing on sci fi authors that really are sharp at envisioning the future. There's that phenomenal quote. The job of the science fiction writer is not to imagine the car, but to imagine the traffic jam. And so bringing people on that, that really look into the future and go, well, what about this? And what about this? And so there's the Star Trek version of the future where things just get better and better and better. And then there are the countless Blade Runner type ones where it's like not everything goes well. And exploring those ideas I think is going to be a lot of fun.

[B]

Nice. Looking forward to it. All right, Michelle P237 said, my son graduated with a computer science degree the year I arrived. Sheesh. He hasn't been able to find work. Any advice I can give him?

[A]

Okay, so first of all, I want your son to get very, very excited because right now AI is just a tool. So going back to that analogy of you used to have to cut trees down with an ax, now you're going to use a chainsaw. Now for anyone that's coming of age right now, you don't have as much baggage as older people have around. Like, but wait, I, I didn't just study for four years. I've been doing this for 40 years. And now you're asking me at like 3:55, you want me to go in a whole new direction? And it's like, yes. And the way that time flows, it just does not care if it completely obliterates you. And the rest of your life is a misery because you cannot get your head around adapting to something new. But if you're young, you're not going to be stuck in the same way. And so you're going to find your way to using the tools a lot faster. But what people are really going to have to accept is the world moves insanely fast. And your job is to be one of the people at the vanguard that's able to keep up with the pace of change. So learn AI. Learn AI. One of the places that AI is going to be the most advantageous is in computer science. And so if you're the person that's at the absolute vanguard of that. And you just make that part of your identity is, I'm always adopting the newest thing. I'm always at the bleeding edge. Then you're going to fare a lot better than somebody else that gets trapped. And so this is one of those where I get it, man, there's. When you cannot see too far into the future, it is very scary. However, it is the world that you're in. And so the only mistake would be standing still, lamenting what is true. It's like you want to just get out there and remember Kobe Bryant's quote, booze don't block dunks. So get so good with AI that when you walk into a job interview, it's like, even if they hate you, even if everything about you, they're just like, oh, God. But you've got a skill set that they look at and go, man, you were going to move our bottom line forward. And you will be shocked at how far you can get if you can make somebody else money. And so the key is, how do you get so good using AI? Get so good at computer science that you can make somebody money? If you can make someone money, you're always going to have a job.

[B]

I love that. And I like how you said that they don't have that baggage attached with the 40 years of their experience and all those things. Like, you are starting fresh. So your first step could be learning AI. That could be the equivalent of me learning Excel on my first job or whatever like that. It's utilizing the tool versus being scared of it.

[A]

Correct. And the only mistake is standing still. And so if he's standing there not improving his skill set every day and lamenting, I haven't got a job because AI is removing them, he's going to get farther and farther behind. This has got to be every day. You show up, you go hard, pushing your skill set forward as hard as you can, as fast as you can, start at the bottom if you have to, and just work your way up. It is so hard to find incredible talent, become incredible talent, man. It's always in scarce supply.

[B]

I hear that. I hear that. All right. This is probably my favorite question so far. This is from Anzac Huchen. What is real? How do you define real? If real is things you can taste and touch, then real is simply electric signals received by your brain. Morpheus.

[A]

I love the Morpheus quote.

[B]

I love it. Shout out to the Matrix.

[A]

Big shout out to the Matrix. Okay, so it is entirely possible that nothing is quote, unquote, real. Mathematically speaking, the odds that we are living in an nth generation simulation border on a hundred percent because of the following. Right now we are working towards building virtual worlds that mimic every aspect of the real world. We are burrowing into the human brain to take control of the nervous system. And once you put those two things together, you now are literally living in a simulation. Now what are the odds if we know that a civilization moves towards with any rate of progress? Because it could, maybe it takes a thousand years once you have the first computer. Fine. But if you give any rate of progress, we will eventually get to the point where it is completely indistinguishable that the real world is indistinguishable from the simulation. Now, if we know that to be true, and we know that humans will run a simulation of human society, which of course they will, even if it's just a 13 year old trying to get an A on a science fair project, then we know that there will be a simulation in the simulation, in the simulation, in the simulation, in the simulation. So the odds then that we are in the ground truth border on zero. Okay, now look at somebody like Donald Hoffman who talks about how he says that mathematically he can prove that there's no way that this isn't a simulation. Now the question becomes, is he onto a metaphor for the brain or is he actually saying this is obviously code? Now for him, he's saying this is obviously code. I won't ask people to go that far, Though I do recommend you watches. The interviews I've done with him, they're so fun. But what I will say is, even if we're not in a simulation, even if this is ground reality, your brain is simulating reality. The stat that freaks me out the most is we only see 0.0035% of the available electromagnetic spectrum. So less than like a hundredth of a percent. I mean, it's absolutely tiny percentage of the of what's actually there that we see. But we feel like we're seeing everything. Okay, so if we know that we're not seeing everything, we're seeing some just absolutely tiny fraction of everything, then you know that your brain is filling in a lot of gaps. So there is a dime sized hole right in the center of your vision, but none of us perceive it because our brain is literally filling that hole in with imagery. So all of that tells you that if the color of what you're wearing is the wavelength of light reflecting off of that, the photons reflecting off that hit my eye, but I don't see number of Photons, wavelength. I just see black. You know that your brain is giving you a ton of these shortcuts to create a sense of a world that you can navigate through well. But this is why optical illusions work, because you're not actually seeing the truth. Okay, so once we're not seeing the truth, it becomes a question of how far removed from the truth are we? Are we like way removed? And this is the matrix and I'm a brain in a vat somewhere. Are we slightly removed in that I see the world slightly differently than you, but I mean, we're basically able to still function in the same way. Or is it something in between? But if you think of your brain as creating a simulation that you live inside of, you are going to make way better decisions. This is why I don't trust my emotions. My emotions are just a heuristic, a shortcut that my body tells me. Speaking in emotion, the composite of all the different inputs. So you're getting trillions of inputs. There are microbes in your gut that are influencing your mood, that are influencing your desires. You can give a woman a bunch of shirts to smell like. You have a guy wear a shirt, exercise, take it off, give the woman the shirt to smell. They did a study on this. And they're like, look, I know this is super weird, but just sniff these shirts. They'll smell them and then put them in order of attractiveness. What do you mean I can't see the person? Just do it. And the person will rank order them from the person they consider most attractive. Remember, all they see is the shirt. But the person they consider most attractive is the person with the immune system that is most diverse compared to theirs, down to the person that's most like them.

[B]

Okay, you lost me on that.

[A]

Okay, so the reason that you do that, the reason that we replicate sexually, is because we are. So if we just cloned which some creatures do you now become so vulnerable to? A parasite or a fungus or a bacteria?

[B]

Diversify your DNA.

[A]

Exactly. So you just keep mixing, mixing, mixing, mixing, mixing. So you have this diversity so that you can't just wipe out an entire population with that one vulnerability. So that becomes this just incredible mechanism that sexual reproduction builds into the system. So going back to the understanding your brain as this thing that is taking all this data point that you, you feel as an emotion. But if you break it down and understand that the emotion is simply all these data points have to go through this narrow bandwidth that is my conscious mind, then it's like, okay, wait a second. This Is the simulation. This is not an accurate representation of reality. This is simply the fastest way that my body can aggregate all this data and give me something that I can react on very fast. Rustle in the bush. I'm scared. I jump, I move quickly. You turn around, it's your friend, whatever. There was never a danger present, or you see out of the corner of your eye a hose, but you think it's a snake, so you jump away. And so, over evolutionary time frames, these things get baked in, but they're just shortcuts. They're. They. They are the simulation. And the reason I'm always obsessed with getting people to understand that is because the simulation can feed you. And again, I don't think we're actually in a simulation. I'm just saying it's. To think of it like that is so fruitful because you realize, oh, just because something is giving me the emotion to jump or to lash out or to be angry or to be sad or to feel defeated. You know, going back to that kid, that's like, well, hold on. I can't get a job with my CS degree. And now he's contracting, now he's fearful. It's like, I'm gonna say, hold on. First principles thinking, what do people pay you for? They pay you to make them more money. Okay, I just need to figure out a way to help them make more money. What's going to be the skill set that I develop. And then it's like, I don't have to be the fastest runner when being chased by the bear. I just have to be faster than another guy is going to get eaten. So it's like, you don't have to be the greatest CS person ever. You just have to be better than the other people that are interviewing for that job in that town, in that company. So now it's like, okay, I'm. I'm not going to accept the emotion that I have is something I need to act on. I'm going to recognize it as the limitations of this simulated system, trying to communicate all these crazy data points. And instead, I'm going to be goal oriented.

[B]

Got you. Got you.

[A]

That was all from what's real.

[B]

No, no, no, I got that. It came from, like, my realization of that came one time I was on mushrooms, and that's the first time I, like, hallucinated. And I was like, wait, my brain is lying to me. So going to. That. That, like, pulled the thread that let me know, like, okay, your emotions are real. Just because you're feeling something doesn't mean it's justified just because you see it. There might be more to it. So. So that was the first time I, like, questioned my brain. And to your point of what you're just saying, like, sometimes we have to audit those emotions, those feelings, those urges, because they're not necessarily true.

[A]

For sure, yeah. I mean, now once you start getting into true, I don't think people know what's true. I don't think any of us know.

[B]

It's a whole nother bag.

[A]

Approximations. That's the best we can hope for.

[B]

All right, Michael J5PU I seen him comment a lot, so thank you for commenting a lot. Michael.

[A]

Michael.

[B]

Yeah. All right. And his question is, how do you feel about bitcoin shifting from a form of currency to a store of wealth?

[A]

I love it. So I think people have heard me say this. Not everybody loves it, but I think governments have a moral obligation to allow their constituents to save money in a currency that can't be inflated. And so currency is probably a misleading way to say that. But if you think of money the way that Michael Saylor divides it, money is divided into currency. That thing that we give somebody to get a cup of coffee and. And capital. So the thing that we store wealth in, then I think this all begins to make a lot more sense. So whether Satoshi wanted bitcoin to be a currency or whether he wanted it to have both properties, and it just so happens that bitcoin is just way better at being a store of capital. I don't know. I've not read the white paper. Honestly, I don't even care about that. It comes down to what does society adopt it as? Because to people that say bitcoin has no values, yeah, that's true, but nothing does. So we decide certain things have value for whatever reason, and we have decided that bitcoin has value for sure, as a store of wealth. Maybe it will be a currency, maybe it will have other uses down the road. But for sure, as a store of wealth that can't be inflated, it is doing incredibly well. And I don't know at what point people will just accept that that's what it is. I don't know what it will take. I think some people will just never adopt it. And this is one of those where, like everything, crypto advances one funeral at a time. That's probably just the reality. And then also, guys, the right way to think of it is it's a good trade now, and will it be a good trade in 100 years? Or it's A good hold is probably even better way to say it. It's a good hold. Now, will it be a good hold in 100 years? I don't know, man. So keep your head up, pay attention, and if things begin to change, then move. And unfortunately, given that we are in a world where your money can be inflated away, you have to drinking game. You have to be. You have to be looking for a place to put your money where either it's going to go up to beat inflation or that at least it's not going to be inflated at all. And there may come a day where we get into that post capitalist world and none of this matters. But it matters today. More to come. We'll be back in a bit. All right, we're back. Let's get into it.

[B]

All right. Big bite. Donut said you said to take emotions out. And then you say you feel like the government has a moral obligation to bitcoin. That's funny. I feel like you just said that. So.

[A]

Yeah. Well, so what's interesting, I don't believe the government has a moral obligation to bitcoin. Let's make sure that we cover that.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Bitcoin is but one example of a store of wealth that can't be inflated.

[B]

Okay, sorry for the beginning. You believe the government has a moral obligation too. I want you to finish that.

[A]

The government has a moral obligation to allow people to save in a store of wealth, not to use the word currency. A store of wealth that can't be inflated, ideally, that can't be inflated or seized, quite frankly, because they have seized gold, historically. And I don't think they're above seizing bitcoin, but I think they have a moral obligation not to do that. Now the underlying thing in this question though is that's not emotion. Morality is not an emotion. Morality is the very thing that's designed to remove emotion from the equation so that when it's your loved one that got hit by a drunk driver, you don't go shoot the drunk driver in the face, because that's immoral. Even though I get it, like, I would have the same impulse if a drunk driver killed my wife. I would be very traumatized. Or let's make it worse. If somebody broke into my house and killed my wife with my bare hands, Drew, I would choke them until they were dead. Now, people shouldn't let me do that. That's the emotion that I'm saying to get out of the equation. You. You create morality so that when people's emotions are running away with Them. Everybody else is like, hey, we have morality for a reason. And this is why it gets really interesting. What happens when people don't believe in God? What does the morality anchor on? And people that. And I don't believe in God, but people that brush that aside like it doesn't matter. That's crazy. That is to misunderstand the human animal, we have to have it anchored on something. It has to be grounded.

[B]

A shared morality.

[A]

Yeah. Like, it's got to be grounded on something, because otherwise morality begins to shift with the winds, which, of course, we are seeing today. This is why people will cheer when a CEO of a company that they don't like gets killed. They're like, yay, that's your shifting morality. That's emotion. That's people that don't have an anchor to whether something is right or wrong.

[B]

Well said. All right. Warren Hurley, 5787 acts. What would happen to the dollar and bitcoin if the US government paid down the $36 trillion debt? Does the value of bitcoin go down, question mark?

[A]

I think it might, yeah.

[B]

Because the currency will be safe now.

[A]

Yeah, it's. Look, I don't know. I want to be very clear. I can't see around the corner. I don't know how the market would respond, but I would be very, very surprised. I wouldn't be as fiendish about bitcoin if the government were fiscally responsible. Tom Bilyeu's personal reaction is that the government is spending insanely. That like every empire ever in history, they cannot avoid the temptation of printing money. And so they are stealing my purchasing power, and I have got to get out of their system. And if they were fiscally responsible, they weren't doing that, that I was able to even just save my way to success. I would be very happy. Dude. I never wanted to learn about economics. I never wanted to learn about finance. I just wanted to be good at making money. And if I could just be good at making money and saving it, I would be very happy. But once I realized that all the money I was saving, they were quietly draining out the back by stealing my purchasing power via inflation, I was like, oh, my God, now I've got to learn about this shit. That really bothers me, like, really deeply, profoundly, truly. I spent so many years I sold. So not sold. But I spent decades of my life getting good at business so that I could control the resources. And then when you get it and you realize how rapidly they siphon it off. Jesus, man. And that's Like, I don't have to worry about my next meal. Now imagine you do have to worry about your next meal and they're still stealing your purchasing power. That's insane. And this is why people say inflation hurts the poor the most. So when I see someone like Bernie Sanders wanting to spend more and more money, I'm like, what the fuck, man? Like, you know, he has to know you're stealing from the poor to give back to the poor. It's so fucking weird. So balance the budget, make it so that people can save to protect their family. And look, of course we can get into education and making sure that people have better opportunities to navigate the world. Well, I am fucking here for that. But yeah, that's why I say that. So what do I think happens to the. To bitcoin and the dollar? Only good things happen to the dollar. That is for sure. Because now the world isn't panicking. They're going to buy U.S. treasuries. They're not. They want their risk free return.

[B]

Yeah. Investment is coming back.

[A]

Yeah. So now we stabilize right now China's selling off as fast as they can. Russia's never going to touch US debt ever again. A bunch of other countries are looking at that like, well, I'm certainly not going to put my money in your hands so that you can seize it. That's insane. So, yeah, it would be very good for the dollar and a question mark for bitcoin. I would certainly be less hardcore about it.

[B]

All right, Johnny Tips, acts. I agree that the invitation to the inauguration is the right move.

[A]

Talking about Xi Jinping, I assume?

[B]

Yep. Tom, you stated you feel Xi Jinping's leadership style is immoral. Could you explain on exactly what aspects you don't agree with?

[A]

Okay, so I think anything top down is immoral. When you are telling people this is how you're going to act, this is how you're going to behave, this is what you're going to do. I fully acknowledge that I am a product of time and place. I grew up in America. We are in an individualistic society. My North Star is human flourishing. I believe autonomy is one of the five things that motivate the human animal. I do not like. I don't think that people like being told what to do it. They will put up with it when everything is going well. But man, oh man, when things start going in a wrong direction, that's when people are like, yo, I am not here for this. And when the individual doesn't matter and we all live individual lives, that, that is a level of gnarly that's just too hard for me to embrace and certainly difficult to explain. So I will give people three books that they should read if they want to understand why I think collectivist societies are a nightmare in waiting. Everybody should run their own thing. Nobody should think that I'm trying to put my viewpoint on people. I'm just telling you how I view the world. I want to be very clear about that. Read the books the Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn about the Russian Gulags. Read the Red Famine about the self imposed famine that I believe it was Stalin. I can never remember if it's Stalin or Lenin. But anyway that they created in the Ukraine. And then read Mao. The unknown story. Dude, it is berserk. It. It can go so wrong, it's dehumanizing. So I believe that we inhabit an individual body for a reason. And when people are telling you from the top down this is how you're going to behave. We're back to my beef with the elites. People that think that they know better. Now that doesn't mean that I don't want people to think about other people. I do. I think it is extremely moral. I think it's extremely good to see yourself as being interconnected with other people. And I believe everybody should pursue honorable goals. Now an honorable goal is something that elevates you and others. But I don't believe that people should be able to tell you from the outside, this is what you're going to do.

[B]

I love that. Love that. All right. Elak Mon Dante 901 said, why should we American here be any different than any other empire who has risen and collapsed in the course of history?

[A]

We will that no one escapes it. So every empire ever in all of human history and people are going to take exception to me calling American empire. Whatever. Anybody that had the reserve currency, which I don't know what you want to call it, the big boy on the block, they've all fallen always and forever, all throughout human history. And I don't look backwards at a never ending string of something and go oh, but this time it's going to be different. I go, this time it's going to be the same. But getting the timeline right is next to impossible. So will America as the global superpower fall apart in the next 10 years? 100 years, 200 years? I don't know. But it will eventually fall. It just so history says.

[B]

I respect that. All right, User tv something something random character. Sorry, I'm getting bot Vibes, but this is a really good question, so I had to pick it up. Empires need money, land, power and control, allies and enemies and slavery to be an empire. How did the US become an empire? And then second follow up question, why do we have enemies? Why are China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, the quote unquote bad guys?

[A]

Okay, we're going to need to break that down so that I can hold them in my head. How did America become an empire? Okay, so this is a long and sordid story. So first the new world was discovered. That's a nice triggering word. The new world was discovered and we started sending people here from all over the world. Now all of those people were coming for opportunities. You do not flee a place and go across an ocean at a time where something like 30% of people died whenever crossing the Atlantic. You do not do that unless you are trying to get away from something. Unless you believe that despite all that risk, you've got to do it. So all the people that took that risk were the mavericks, were the people that were desperate, the hungry, the aggressive. So they come here. All right, now you're really like, this is frontier spirit. This is like most people are going to die in the winter kind of

[B]

steel, Oregon Trail type.

[A]

Well, that even comes later. But yeah, like exactly that, that type of person. And so you're collecting people from all over the world that are seeking opportunity, that are thinking for themselves, that probably have problem with authority, which is why they fled. They are not risk averse, so they're willing to take gargantuan risks. They're willing to work extremely hard, and they survived all of those harsh conditions. That's like the deal. That's what we're descendant from. Okay, so then you have to fully acknowledge that we also obliterated the people that were here largely through disease. But I imagine that is of no consolation to them whatsoever. And then the ones that we couldn't get with disease, we got with warfare. So, and this is something I know is going to come up because we have a question later about Israel, Palestine, to settle something, because you're asking how we became an empire. I am not justifying any of this. I want to be very clear. I am simply giving you the gist. And there are historians that will give you a way better breakdown, but I'm giving you the gist. We then begin to warfare so that we can get complete and total control of the country. The, you know, constantly expanding, expanding, expanding. And there are some incredible books. There's a book called, I think it's called the Summer of the Autumn Moon. That's going to be close. If it's not the exact title. Holy hell. About the Comanche Indians who really delayed the expansion of the western frontier. Who. Who like that. That would have been a hard time to. To be on either side anyway. Just an absolute back and forth bloodbath on both sides. So, okay, you've got that like just hardcore motherfucker that ends up being the sort of American spirit. It obviously we are British colonies. I'm sort of jumping around history because the Wild west comes a lot later. But we are a colony of the British for a long time. Despite, you know, at first it's some French and British and all over the place you get the Dutch, which is why New York used to be New Amsterdam. On and on and on. But we bring these people from all over the world. We decide that we don't want taxation without representation. And so we end up overthrowing and God, I'm trying to condense a lot of history here. So then we get all of these rebel spirits that end up fighting in this really sort of guerrilla warfare way. We end up winning the Revolutionary War, basically a war of attrition. We boot them out, okay, Skipping a whole lot of stuff. Then World War I comes around because we're over in America, we are able to stay out of the. The. The primary amount of the bloodbath. So we don't come in until the end. And so we have not spent all of our money fighting in World War I. We end up essentially being the only big economy to not get obliterated in the west anyway at the end of World War I. So we are now marching towards becoming the world's reserve currency. We may have been de facto at that point anyway, but we're really going to cement it at the end of World War II. So Europe once again just gets absolutely decimated. But now we've got bombs and so we are obliterating cities. This is no longer trench warfare. This is just bomb Dresden until it is smoldering ash. So Europe is just demolished. They're wildly in debt primarily to the Americans. And so now we are literally the global superpower. And we do something absolutely incredible. Instead of colonizing everybody, we help everybody rebuild. And you could say that we briefly colonized Japan, but we make them a huge trade partner which ends up becoming very prosperous for both of us. They end up making extraordinarily cheap goods for us by essentially working their population to death. Whole nother story with the salaryman vibe. If People know that sort of part of Japan's still lingering history, but they also had an incredible trade partner. So Japan still owns, like, some ungodly amount of the world's assets. Absolutely incredible. All right, so that sets us up to be the world reserve currency. Because we're in a geographically protected space, we are untouched. Except for Pearl harbor, man. We are just untouched. So pristine. We don't have to rebuild anything here. Everybody owes us a ton of money. We help everybody rebuild. Europe becomes like this incredible ally to us. Japan becomes this incredible ally to us. We then very quickly get a common enemy, which is Russia. It gives us all this thing to galvanize around, and now we're just the big boy on the block, and we end up having the 70 years of prosperity. We're not technically an empire, but, like, look, that's a gist. And there are historians literally clutching pearls, having seizures right now because of all the things that I left out and how just sort of skimming across the surface, that was. And that's probably an important thing to understand about me. I get the gist of things so that I can navigate them well and prosper. That's my whole thing. I'm not going to be a historian. I have no intention of learning those stories better. I know them well enough to understand where we are so that I can understand the economics of everything, so I can understand how to move forward. But they asked, I answered.

[B]

And then for the follow up, why are we always, it seems, at war with these kind of countries? Why is China.

[A]

Why do they have to be the enemy? Russia, why do they have to be the enemy?

[B]

The bad guy?

[A]

Technically, they don't have to be the enemy, but this is a power game. So anarchy rules at the international level. And everybody wants to be the big boy because you can. One thing that you can do is you can socialize your losses across all of the world. So when I talk about inflation and them inflating the money supply, everybody that owns us debt gets inflated. Anybody that holds dollars gets inflated. It's not just American citizens. We're the only country in the world that can do that. As America. We can make every country deal with our inflation. That's amazing. And this is why every empire ends up falling, because they just can't resist. So you can spread your inflation, your deficits on everybody? Yeah, I mean, it's. It's a very privileged position, and this is why we should be very careful. So anyway, other people want that privilege. Nobody likes to be told what to do. Everybody wants to Be the big boy, at least in their region. And so as we begin to feel our power eroding, we're going to push back. Nobody gives up their power. The shout out to Eric Weinstein, who I literally love as a human being. No off camera, but he made a comment one time that I was just like, what? Where he said, basically, the boomer generation needs to hand power over to the next generation. I'm like, that's not how it works. People are going to hold on to power until they are dead, man. That is why you have to rip it out of their cold, dead hands. Like the. The next generation has to fight for their spot. The problem is because we have an inverted demographic pyramid. There are other reasons, but just to round it to something simple, it's tough. The other generations just aren't big enough. And so they control a ton of wealth. And they came right after we became the global superpower and our currency hadn't been inflated to death yet. They were able to get on property ladders when prices were still low, that you could make a wage like working at a gas station and feed a family of four, 42. I mean, it's like just every advantage that you can imagine. And then by inflating, they pull the ladder up behind them and we're left in the situation that we're left in. But mark my words, they will never hand it off. They will simply die and retire. And so their business will have to be handed to somebody. That's the only way this is going to happen. You always have to outperform. You always have to outperform, man. And I get it. I get why people are bitter. I understand it. But the world is that way. It would be immoral to smother your parents or grandparents, boys and girls. Okay, so we are where we are outperform. This is one of the reasons that AI is such an exciting hope, is that it could potentially drive costs down. This is where I get myself in trouble with economists. But deflation should be in certain ways. I'm hedging my bets. Why am I hedging my bets? I don't understand this well enough. I know I'm at the edge of my understanding, so bear with me. However, the government captures the upside of goods getting less expensive over time, which is the natural direction things should move in. It is only because of inflation that everything goes up. So, yeah, we should be able to reap those benefits and we can't. But people just have to fight and get better.

[B]

I'm not going to deny that. You're brilliant, Tom, but the way you refer to the common or average person as not having the cognitive horsepower is quite frankly the same condescending attitude that has made the elite so hated. Democratic philosophy relies on faith in the intellect of the average person being higher than most give them credit for. What generates wealth in today's environment is, is it an accurate gauge of intellectual. If one accounts for the mass majority who aren't sociopaths driven by wealth and power? If the average person doesn't have enough cognitive horsepower, then why is it the most educated among us who are the least to smell bullshit when propagandized, who

[A]

are the last to smell bullshit? Okay, so going back to the beginning of the question, so I'm really glad that you're asking this question because I. People are misunderstanding a concept that I have called the dumb voter problem. So I want to be really clear about what I'm saying. I agree with this guy. You cannot make a determination about who's too dumb to listen to or who's too dumb to vote for. That's my whole thing. We can't let that happen. That, that is the whole fucking thesis. Ask people what they think should be done with dumb people and you will know whether you should listen to them or not. And if they say dumb people need to be silenced, we need to take their social media accounts away immediately. That person is on that topic. On that topic, they're my enemy. Now, there are plenty of people who I respect and listen to that help me on a thousand, help me on a thousand other areas that I'm going to listen to. But on that topic, they're my enemy and I disagree. And I will fight against them forever, for all time, because that is so dangerous.

[B]

Period. Period. Walter Raluca asks, wars and murders have happened since the beginning of human history. Is it any different from what our ancestors or grandparents experienced?

[A]

No, is the short answer. I think the reality is war has gotten more humane. That's hard to say. War seems like the most devastating, disgusting, horrifying, just grief inducing thing that humans can engage in. But if you are a student of history, you realize that boy, oh boy, has it gotten a lot better. Vlad the Impaler is always the one that comes to mind. Vlad was being invaded by a much bigger army. And so he created I can't remember if it's 2 miles, 10 miles, but it was miles of road with humans put on greased pikes so that they would die really slowly, so that the invading army would hear all of these people dying and Go. I don't know that we want to with this guy. And it ended up working and he ended up saving his country, but God damn, at what cost? And if you want to hear more horrifying, read about Genghis Khan, dude. He would be like, all right, everybody, we're. Look, just come out. You're gonna be fine. Come on out. Everything's gonna be good. Don't make us ransack your place. If you come out, we're gonna leave you alone. They'd come out and they just kill them all. And so there's no social media, there's nobody watching. Like you just get hacked to death.

[B]

No cell phone video.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, just. Dude, so I War now is still horrible. If you've seen any of the footage of drones chasing people down and dropping grenades on them, that's horrifying. And God damn, that is unnerving. That is some black mirror. I don't want to have anything to do with that. But back in the day, like, that was heinous. So this is not me saying yay for Modern Warfare, but at least isn't 2 miles of people on pikes.

[B]

Glass half full on that one.

[A]

There you go.

[B]

All right. On a lighter question. Thank you. Scott Melville. We need one of these. Tom, what is the next rung on the ladder to becoming the next Walt Disney?

[A]

Wow. Having those questions back to back is fascinating. The next rung on becoming the next Disney is building the video game. I think that's going to be our big thing. We've got comics that are out right now that you can find on Topis. Go check those out. All systems go. We've got a feature film that we're trying to get made animated called Mary Mods. I'll keep you guys posted on that. But the big thing, the. The marquee thing that I'm focused on from that perspective is gaming. Gaming is just so much bigger than anything else. So if we can pull this off, we're very much an indie studio. We're small, we're scrappy. But that if we can, that's the only thing that we're doing right now that could make us a multi billion dollar company. Company. So that is the thing that I focus on a lot.

[B]

Nice. And that leads into Ricky Martinez 4951's question. Please tell us more about Project Kaizen or link us to a promo, please.

[A]

So, ah, well, we can certainly link them to a promo. Drop a link in description telling you more about Project Kaizen right now. What people can play Today. So my whole thesis was I want to. As an indie developer, I want to build in public, I want to build with the community, I want to get people in, I want to. For every segment of the game that we have to build, I want to create like a mini game around that so people can play it and give us feedback on whether it's working. So the movement, the combat, the ui, ux, all that stuff, I want to get feedback on all of that. That's worked like a charm. It's been incredible. Shout out to the Kaizen community. Those guys are amazing. Our map building, so we've got actual players and they're building their own maps for other players to come on and play. Absolutely fantastic. But it's all building towards a bigger game mode that when we started doing it, basically I felt like we were inventing the term, but other people were clearly working on it now. So you're starting to get that first group of people coming out with these, known as Extraction Royale. So it's got the DNA of both an extraction game and a battle royale game. So I won't give away too much here because we're going to be letting the community come and demo this in a couple of months. So very excited about that. And I was saying this in one of our previous episodes. It's the first time where I feel a little bit like I need to guard some of the things that we're doing. Only execution matters, but there are bigger game companies that can move a lot faster than we can. So I don't necessarily want to give all of the cool ideas away, but we think that if we execute on what we've got on paper, that we will be different and better.

[B]

Nice. Love it. Project Kaizen Lincoln Bio Check it out, guys.

[A]

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