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Michael Muthukrishna - Cooperative Innovation & Programmable Politics
The Bits & Bytes Series - Michael Muthukrishna Hosted by Danilo Dukanovic Today, we get up close with someone who not only teaches us here at LSE but also shapes the way we think about culture, innovation, and the power of shared knowledge. We talk to Professor Michael Muthukrishna, a thought leader who's got his finger on the pulse of cultural evolution. š« Michael is no ordinary academic; he's the founder of Culturalytic, a toolkit for companies that's sparking a new era of cultural and behavioral change. He's also the author of āA Theory of Everyoneā, a book that's as bold as it is enlightening. š¤ In our chat with Professor Muthukrishna, we dug into how behavioral and psychological science, along with cultural factors and evolutionary theory, play pivotal roles in the level of innovation a society can achieve. Itās fascinating stuff that really gets you thinking about the bigger picture. šš¼ļø For all you budding entrepreneurs and start-up dynamos out there, we went a step further. We discussed practical ways you could apply these insights to make a real impact. Think of it as blending deep knowledge with action, aiming to not just start a business but to also spark a positive wave in society. Itās about smart innovation, where your company isn't just a businessāitās a force for good, driving us all forward. š Check out Michael Muthukrishna: https://www.michael.muthukrishna.com/ (Website) https://x.com/mmuthukrishna?lang=en (X, formerly Twitter) Give āA Theory of Everyoneā a read: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Everyone-Here-Where-Going/dp/1399810634 Timestamps: 0:38 - Intro to Michael Muthukrishna 2:40 - Key concepts from his book āA Theory of Everyoneā 4:10 - The Four Laws of Life 8:22 - Cooperation necessity in building startups 10:10 - The Paradox of āGeniusesā 12:28 - Cheap ideas: how easily copiable are they? 16:10 - Cultural differences and entrepreneurship 19:24 - Silicon valley: a graveyard of failure, but landmark of success 21:04 - How the āresource curseā affects cooperation and growth 23:40 - Psychological traps: zero-sum competition games 24:42 - Cooperating at LSE to benefit everyone 26:15 - How governments can shift zero-sum psychology to positive-sum 27:16 - The transformative power of new, startup cities 27:53 - Hong Kong: from fishing village to development hub 29:05 - Fail locally, learn globally 29:55 - Programmable politics, network states, and blockchain 32:33 - Mechanisms of cooperation 33:00 - Reputation: do we trust the Uber driver or Uber? Airbnb host or Airbnb? 34:38 - Where are we? What stage are we at? 35:47 ChatGPT: an overnight, game-changer 37:50 - Climate changeās lead into the Syrian migration crisis 40:07 - Listening to the silent middle over the far left/right 40:50 - Diminishing returns of fossil fuels and the far right Credits to Jessica Ge for producing this episode. š§
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