Paul Bricman

2020

Transhumanist Phase

Could human and artificial thought work in harmony? How are cognitive functions structured, and how could machines extend them? A period characterized by an interest in cognitive psychology and machine learning. Cognitive augmentation, cognitive prostheses, cognitive ergonomics. Drawing heavily from the work of Bret Victor, Andy Matuschak, Michael Nielsen, and Christopher Olah. Representative prototypes:

2022

Posthumanist Phase

But are truths coherent beyond our human vantage point? What ought one do independent of the reference frame of the contemporary zeitgeist? A period characterized by an interest in epistemology of metaphysics and argumentation theory. Dialectics, defensibility, operationalization. Drawing from the work of Jacques Derrida, John Stuart Mill, Nicholas Rescher, Dan Sperber, and Jaakko Hintikka. Representative writings:

2024

Humanist Phase

But how can one actually enact principled change in a world of interconnected agendas? What are the mechanics of power, and how can technology shape them? A period characterized by an interest in diplomacy, macrohistory, and game theory. Technical governance, coordination technology, cryptographic protocols. Drawing from the work of Henry Kissinger, John von Neumann, and Robin Hanson. Representative writings:

Acknowledgements

I'm grateful for having been supported in my work, either financially or through compute, either recently or less so, by Open Philanthropy, Long-Term Future Fund, Google Research, Conjecture, Stability AI, AI Safety Camp, and Andreas Stuhlmüller.