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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/subscribe5:[["$","$L17",null,{"event":"page_view","props":{"route":"/podcast/dwarkesh-podcast/charles-c-mann-americas-before-columbus-scientific-wizardry","surface":"web","episode_id":"c4ebc630-b3ea-4e8a-9314-e77eacb7bd70","plan":"free","is_anonymous":true,"podcast_id":"4e3d122c-a06b-45c7-8794-fa36d47d076e"}}],false,["$","script",null,{"type":"application/ld+json","dangerouslySetInnerHTML":{"__html":"$18"},"suppressHydrationWarning":true}],["$","div",null,{"className":"relative min-h-screen","children":["$","div",null,{"className":"mx-auto max-w-7xl px-2 sm:px-6 lg:px-8 pb-5 pt-2 sm:pb-7 sm:pt-3","children":["$","div",null,{"className":"lg:[padding-right:calc(var(--chat-panel-width,0px)+0.5rem)]","children":["$","article",null,{"className":"mx-auto max-w-4xl space-y-8 sm:space-y-10","children":[["$","div",null,{"className":"space-y-2","children":[["$","header",null,{"className":"space-y-3 sm:space-y-4","children":[["$","h1",null,{"children":"Charles C. Mann - Americas Before Columbus & Scientific Wizardry","className":"text-[1.5rem]/8 font-semibold tracking-tight sm:text-4xl/10 text-2xl/8 font-semibold text-foreground sm:text-xl/8"}],["$","$L19",null,{"episodeId":"c4ebc630-b3ea-4e8a-9314-e77eacb7bd70","episodeTitle":"Charles C. Mann - Americas Before Columbus & Scientific Wizardry","canonicalPath":"/podcast/dwarkesh-podcast/charles-c-mann-americas-before-columbus-scientific-wizardry","canonicalPodcastSlug":"dwarkesh-podcast","podcastName":"Dwarkesh Podcast","episodeDate":"2022-09-14 09:38:32+00:00","summary":null,"description":"$1a"}],null]}],"$L1b"]}],null,"$L1c"]}]}]}]}]]