AI futurist and author David Shapiro joins Paul to map the path between panic and progress. We dig into why he invests his “limited cognitive cycles” in building rather than despair, the liminal now he calls Vesperance (and why the fever will “break” in public debates), and how to use AI as a learning partner in real health journeys—labs, history, differentials, and better doctor conversations. We challenge the attention economy, reframe wealth as time sovereignty, and explore why the future gets more analog—third spaces, neighbors, social skill rehab—right as robots become the next big shock to labor. We close on the only thing that really moves policy: incentives.

You’ll learn: agency in a post-AGI world, how to brief your doctor with AI, why “neuro-spicy” processing is an edge, and where David is placing his chips next. He’s writing The Great Decoupling, building courses (with Julia McCoy), and consulting across business, academia, and policy—hubbed via his Linktree.

Chapters

• Optimism as a calculation
• Vesperance & litigating AI in public
• Health: AI as your learning partner
• Time sovereignty > attention economy
• The analog comeback (community & third spaces)
• Robots: the next labor reset
• Incentives set the guardrails

David Shapiro Linktree: https://linktr.ee/daveshap

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