326! Changing Personalities

What if we've become less willing to sacrifice our pawns to take the queen? This week, Jess and Joey talk about Ezra Klein, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Obama, game theory, defaulting to passion, and nuclear weapons. They don’t talk about David Lightman. references The Ezra Klein Show: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps vs. Drawing Lines Nash equilibrium Mutual assured destruction A Beautiful Mind Pareto principle 

What's in your notes? This week, Aaron and Jess talk about internet chalk, bottle lining, the Pantry Challenge, gold bars, word clothes, and golden milk. They don’t talk about Gold Bond powder. references Heinz Breakfast Ketchup Paris is Burning trailer The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller Chinotto Astral Chain Bossa Bros and Nara Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell 

How much do you think you can change your personality? This week, Joey and Jess talk about life satisfaction, sad auras, nominative determinism, nature versus nurture, Martin Seligman, magical meat sacks. They don’t talk about marinade bags. references Forbes: How Singer-Songwriter EJAE Found Rumi’s Voice In ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ @thetalesoftayls' sad aura tweet Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Most people's life satisfaction matches their personality traits: True correlations in multitrait, multirater, multisample data. [PDF] Nominative determinism Eeyore Martin Seligman Dungeon Crawler Carl 

What are places where wisdom exists where it shouldn't? This week, Joey and Jess talk about the Benner Cycle, feng shui, jelly shoes, BMW dashboards, the bullshit asymmetry principle, and Hitchens's razor. They don’t talk about Christopher Robin. references Human League Benner Cycle Bagua Black–Scholes model Joseph Henrich Enneagram of Personality Strauss–Howe generational theory Brandolini's law Hitchens's razor 

Why do we wave from trains and boats? This week, Aaron and Jess talk about kids, duck boats, kerchiefs, air travel, cruise ships, and roller coasters. They don’t talk about chucking the deuce. references Knott's Berry Farm Medieval Times New York Transit Museum L.A. Train Festival 2025 Some Kind of Quest 

How are you personally preparing mentally, psychologically for the increased engagement with AI? This week, Joey and Jess talk about AI psychosis, Blake Lemoine, the Turing Test, cognative security, red teaming, and hats. They don’t (yet) talk about NonsenseLLM. references Psycho Killer and the big suit X: Keith Sakata, MD The New York Times: They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling. The New York Times: Chatbots Can Go Into a Delusional Spiral. Here’s How It Happens. Washington Post The Google engineer who thinks the company’s AI has come to life Bloomberg Technology: Google Engineer on His Sentient AI Claim Turing Test Johns Hopkins Magazine: The science behind why we see faces in nature Study: Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Human Perception of Dog Emotions Is Influenced by Extraneous Factors Pareidolia Red team Planning red teaming for large language models (LLMs) and their applications Ig Nobel Prize Six Thinking Hats 

When is old good and when is old bad? This week, Jess, Aaron, and Joey talk about The Bible, first editions, berries, Final Destination, whiskey, and Rick Astley. They don’t talk about Flavor Flav. references Dayspring by Anthony Oliveira sarcophagus 

How do you make sense? This week, Aaron, Jess, and Joey talk about intention, trust, assumption, context windows, synchronicity, and drinking. They don’t talk about Pal Joey. references Click, Clack, Moo in book formClick, Clack, Moo Read Aloud Palworld 

Why do we do hard things? This week, Joey and Jess talk about the Baddie Performance Index, Barkley Marathons, fun types, self flagellation, dessert stomachs, and natural childbirth. They don’t talk about Saquon. references Barkley Marathons Running so far away 

Why is it so important to be cool? This week, Jess, Aaron, and Joey talk about Black culture, 21 Jump Street, social approval, bandwaggoning, alternative hierarchies, and Lauryn Hill. They don’t talk about Digable Planets. references Dru Hill's "5 Steps" Old Man, look at my life. Journal of Experimental Psychology: "Cool is cool wherever you are" Miles Davis' The Birth of the Cool Uncola: Seven-Up, Counterculture and the Making of an American Brand Wired Video: Linguists Explain the History of "Cool" BET Video: The Origin Of "Cool": How Black Culture Embodies "Cool" & Influences Trends For Mainstream 21 Jump Street (2012) first day of school scene Corrections Department: To clarify, the study does not specifically question the Black origins of our collective use of the word "cool," rather it questions whether the emotional restraint in Black culture that came to define the early idea of "cool" is still the current concept of "cool." Bow Chicka Wow Wow