I sat down with therapist and writer Damon Sasi, better known online as Daystar Eld, for one of the conversations I’ve found myself referencing most often since recording it.
We talk about what’s bullshit and what isn’t in therapy, therapy for rationalists, and how to stay psychologically healthy when you genuinely believe the end of the world may be coming.
We also cover executive function, whether therapists are sometimes substitutes for friendships, and what actually helps people change. We talk about rationality and effective altruism, dating, and the modern dating crisis.
We spend a lot of time on AI companions, AI girlfriends and boyfriends, wireheading, chatbot psychosis, and what happens when artificial partners can be tailored to us more perfectly than another human being ever could.
And of course we discuss rationalist fiction, Pokémon, the influence of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, and his magnum opus: Pokémon: The Origin of Species!
Please enjoy the interview! (Timestamps below.)
Timestamps
0:00 – Highlights
0:25 – Intro
1:04 – Damon Sasi (Daystar Eld)
2:21 – Executive function, motivation, and accomplishment
4:31 – HPMOR and the rationalist community
6:53 – What is rationalist fiction?
10:03 – Pokémon and The Origin of Species
15:55 – AI existential risk and why we’re unprepared
20:12 – How to live with AI doom
21:08 – Heroic responsibility
21:48 – Burnout: responsibility without power
25:40 – What’s wrong with therapy?
31:41 – Do men need therapy?
34:32 – Incels, dating, and the epistemology of romance
36:05 – How many times has he been in love?
44:12 – AI companions and LLM psychosis
49:27 – Wireheading
50:03 – Video games, fiction, and agency
53:55 – Favorite movie
55:02 – Smartest person
56:46 – Religion and becoming an atheist
59:02 – Can you become less neurotic?
61:30 – Alexander Technique
64:05 – Personality tests and Aella’s Glosso
66:08 – Jordan Peterson
68:38 – What Damon is most proud of
70:45 – Speaker for the Dead and Andrew Wiggin
73:02 – Outro
If you enjoyed this, you should definitely check out this interview:
I have many more interviews being edited so don’t forget to subscribe and let me know who else I should interview and what questions you’d like to see me ask!
Thanks so much for watching!