NLW Podcast Explores Venkatesh Rao's 'Cognitive Mercantilism': 400 Years of History vs AI Fear
emax · x · 2026-11-02
A 26-minute AI Daily Brief episode by NLW unpacks Venkatesh Rao's essay "Cognitive Mercantilism," which uses 400 years of capitalist history—from the agricultural revolution to AI agents—to argue that abundant intelligence will expand human ambition rather than make our minds useless, potentially unlocking new desires, work, and markets we haven't imagined. Source essay on Rao's blog Contraptions.
Related event: 'Cognitive Mercantilism' Sparks Debate Over AI and the Future of Mind(2 posts)→
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