#6 – Glen Weyl: Scaling Plurality
Show notes
My guest is Glen Weyl, an influential economist and social technologist known for his interdisciplinary work at the intersection of economics, computer science, sociology, and political science. He is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, a co-author of the books “Radical Markets” and the recently published “Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy” which he co-authored with Audrey Tang, who has served as the 1st Minister of Digital Affairs of Taiwan. Glen co-founded the RadicalxChange Foundation, the Plural Technology Collaboratory, and the Plurality Institute. He taught economics at the University of Chicago, Princeton, and Yale.
Glen’s work frequently explores the potential of technology and market mechanisms to drive social change and address systemic inequalities. In his new book, Glen lays the foundation for a new societal vision: plurality.
Our conversation is structured into three distinct parts. We begin by situating the concept of plurality in today’s philosophical and technological landscape. We then discuss the technologies that will enable plurality to materialize, and finally, we conclude with a discussion of the challenges ahead. By the end of this discussion, you will know what plurality is, how different it is from the vision of today’s tech CEOs, the role open source AI and blockchain can play to scale plurality, but also the role legal rules and standards are playing, which of the scaling theory concepts (including fractals, fragility, robustness, chaos, etc.) helped Glen and Audrey define their strategy to take over other visions, and more. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
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