*First Part* 208. The Code Beneath the Code: Philosophy, Altruism, and Tech Cult Logic w/ Vincent Lê

Full episode up on Patreon

n this episode, philosophy professor and AI safety researcher Vincent Lê joins us to explore the strange philosophical roots of Effective Altruism, the Z1zians, and Silicon Valley's culture at large. Rather than rehashing the usual narratives around EA, E/Acc, and AI alignment, we dig into their shared intellectual DNA—from the cringeworthy utilitarianism of Peter Singer to the mimetic theories of René Girard, and even The Office as an unlikely ideological text.

We also touch on the Westall UFO sighting and its eerie relevance, Franco "Bifo" Berardi’s reflections on cognitive capitalism and collapse, the “infobrain,” the cult of rationalism, and the surreal logic of AI-driven extremism as LLM's talk like a therapist. Plus: exit strategies, neocameralist fantasy worlds, and the political theology behind technocratic acceleration.

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