Charles C. Mann - Americas Before Columbus & Scientific Wizardry

Charles C. Mann is the author of three of my favorite history books: 1491. 1493, and The Wizard and the Prophet. We discuss:* why Native American civilizations collapsed and why they failed to make more technological progress* why he disagrees with Will MacAskill about longtermism* why there aren’t any successful slave revolts* how geoengineering can help us solve climate change* why Bitcoin is like the Chinese Silver Trade* and much much more!Timestamps(0:00:00) -Epidemically Alternate Realities(0:00:25) -Weak Points in Empires(0:03:28) -Slave Revolts(0:08:43) -Slavery Ban(0:12:46) - Contingency & The Pyramids(0:18:13) - Teotihuacan(0:20:02) - New Book Thesis(0:25:20) - Gender Ratios and Silicon Valley(0:31:15) - Technological Stupidity in the New World(0:41:24) - Religious Demoralization(0:43:24) - Critiques of Civilization Collapse Theories(0:48:29) - Virginia Company + Hubris(0:52:48) - China’s Silver Trade(1:02:27) - Wizards vs. Prophets(1:07:19) - In Defense of Regulatory Delays(1:11:50) -Geoengineering(1:16:15) -Finding New Wizards(1:18:10) -Agroforestry is Underrated(1:27:00) -Longtermism & Free Markets Get full access to Dwarkesh Podcast at www.dwarkeshpatel.com/subscribe