A RATIONAL FUTURE: Why A better world tomorow requires better cognition today

Four decades of cognitive science have confirmed  that homo sapiens are far from "rational animals." Scientists have amassed a daunting number of ways that our brains' fast-and-frugal judgment heuristics fail in modern contexts for which they weren't adapted, or stymie our attempts to be happy and effective. Hence the project we're undertaking at the new Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR) -- training human brains to run algorithms that optimize for our interests as autonomous beings in the modern world, not for the interests of ancient replicators. This talk explores what we've learned from that process so far, and why training smart people to be rational decision-makers is crucial to a better future.

Speaker: Julia Galef, Center for Applied Rationality