back to indexLex Fridman plays Red Dead Redemption 2
Chapters
0:0 Introduction
4:45 Braveheart
13:28 Snow
23:24 Bank robbery
26:0 Cyborgs
33:25 BBQ
43:11 Chocolate
48:36 Cocaine Bear
54:25 Meaning of life
00:00:00.000 |
We're playing Red Dead Redemption 2, a game that my good friend Ng has recommended. 00:00:04.720 |
We met in Austin, but she's now in Boston, Cambridge, working on exoskeletons. 00:00:13.840 |
And robotic limbs, which in the future I guess would be cyborgs. 00:00:18.320 |
We started playing it a little bit ago, and it's way better than I imagined. 00:00:27.520 |
But just even the dynamics of horses, because I thought it was just going to be Grant that 00:00:36.240 |
If we played free play, we could find a random horse and train it. 00:00:40.400 |
Yeah, but it's cool that the horse gets tired. 00:00:44.880 |
Just the harsh conditions of snow as a start of the story is incredible. 00:00:57.680 |
You're laughing because there's a picture of me on the internet on a horse. 00:01:02.320 |
Okay, I'm not sure this is going to be a lot of shooting. 00:01:31.600 |
All I did is I played it for like five more minutes and I shot the wolves that were attacking. 00:01:52.880 |
Yeah, it was five minutes because it's just one little chase. 00:01:55.760 |
But it took me like three attempts because I was trying to get better at aiming. 00:02:26.240 |
I came to visit some friends and that was at a coffee shop and we ran into each other. 00:03:11.360 |
You know, like you can swap through the different guns you have? 00:03:27.540 |
I think it's more entertaining when you play this. 00:03:37.060 |
I mean, it's just an incredibly gorgeous game. 00:03:51.700 |
but it's pleasant for watching someone else play. 00:03:56.420 |
Just for the record, we're both noobs at this game. 00:04:44.120 |
I don't think these guys are in touch with their feminine side. 00:04:50.840 |
Just everything they're doing is like the most masculine. 00:05:07.640 |
I mean, it's pretty aggressive to buy one, but... 00:05:19.720 |
It's just like an aggressive move, but if you have one, rock it. 00:05:36.360 |
Would I get kicked out of like Planet Fitness if I wore a kilt? 00:05:45.080 |
I mean, well, you have to think about it this way. 00:05:46.680 |
Like would I get kicked out of Planet Fitness if I wore a skirt? 00:06:02.920 |
You would make sounds while you're wearing a kilt? 00:06:10.680 |
I'll paint my face blue, whatever, and stripes. 00:06:30.120 |
No, he does a speech where they're the underdogs and they have to fight the British. 00:06:36.520 |
And he basically says, "We can run and keep our lives, or we can stand here and fight 00:06:48.760 |
And the question is, you have to imagine years from now when you're in your deathbed 00:06:54.920 |
and you're looking back, would you come back here for just one more chance 00:07:10.700 |
Sometimes you have to put your life on the line. 00:07:14.280 |
I was talking to my nephew about this recently. 00:07:23.720 |
And he knows a way of escaping whatever conflict he's in so that he doesn't have to face it. 00:07:29.240 |
And I told him that in life, it's really important to be brave because you can't 00:07:37.400 |
Should I take the lead or should I send the gang? 00:07:44.920 |
No, take the lead, send the gang, send the gang. 00:08:27.000 |
Just like you said, you have to put your life on the line. 00:08:41.080 |
Yeah, because restarting the mission, we're going to go through that whole walking thing. 00:09:48.880 |
By the minute, becoming more and more of a cowboy. 00:10:05.200 |
Oh, my phone's charging somewhere over there. 00:10:21.120 |
I don't go down that easy and you just shot him twice. 00:11:08.360 |
We're going to go through that whole walking thing. 00:11:19.480 |
Gives us a chance to relive the incredible graphics of this video game. 00:11:27.880 |
Were you pressing A while you were on the horse? 00:11:31.800 |
I haven't figured out if you can just hold it or if you have to keep pressing it. 00:12:01.080 |
Yeah, I used to go to a horseback riding camp. 00:12:17.240 |
Like, they're more loyal and they don't realize how large they are. 00:12:32.680 |
There's so many cliche things and this is great. 00:12:34.840 |
This is like a mix of Grand Theft Auto and Skyrim. 00:12:42.760 |
Well, I think that I remember a version where it was winter. 00:13:05.560 |
I mean, I think it's bonding for the people that live there. 00:13:13.160 |
And you get to appreciate it deeper when it's actually warmer. 00:13:21.400 |
It was a weekend where it was like -11 degrees or something. 00:13:40.520 |
And then people would tell me you shouldn't do that. 00:13:46.360 |
Just a rebellion and you couldn't live with it? 00:14:01.800 |
Because all kinds of stuff could be in the snow. 00:14:04.280 |
I don't think I was so much concerned about my health or immune system when I was young. 00:14:31.720 |
Because I didn't take a class or anything and I was scuba diving. 00:14:36.760 |
And we went under the water and there were stingrays. 00:14:42.120 |
And it was like this really weird feeling of like, this may go very wrong. 00:14:47.400 |
But I feel like the people around me are very competent. 00:14:50.760 |
So they'll take care of me if something happens. 00:15:11.960 |
If you had the opportunity to live in this time for like a year, would you? 00:15:21.080 |
But you know, you have to stay for a whole year though. 00:15:28.760 |
My lab, they do this thing where they go to Africa. 00:15:31.080 |
And they help people and you stay for a month. 00:15:35.800 |
I think two of the girls that recently went, they got really sick while they were there. 00:15:40.680 |
But you're helping these people who don't have access to these limbs. 00:15:48.280 |
Yeah, everything that you have access to readily. 00:17:03.740 |
Do you think that in 100 years, we'll all be partially robot? 00:17:07.180 |
Yeah, I think we have to merge with technology in order to like. 00:17:11.020 |
In order to evolve with it, because it's evolving so quickly. 00:17:17.820 |
If we don't evolve with it, it's like we lose a step in evolution. 00:17:35.280 |
There's a lot of awesome Neuralink people here in Austin. 00:17:39.260 |
They're saying they want to give me a tour and meet them and stuff. 00:17:49.820 |
And the cool thing about Neuralink is they have all these like different. 00:18:08.940 |
The cool thing is they got like all kinds of, they got materials, engineering people. 00:18:14.220 |
They got electrical robotics, obviously software engineering. 00:18:18.780 |
They have like, they have to take care of the animals. 00:18:24.860 |
I mean, I deal with a lot of animal stuff in our lab too. 00:18:33.740 |
But I think they're dealing with monkeys, right? 00:18:50.140 |
You can rent folks that, like they'll bring a bunch of animals and you get to play with them. 00:18:55.260 |
They're petting, like it's a cool thing for a party. 00:18:58.700 |
If you just order a bunch of animals, you get to pet them like a goat and a bunny. 00:19:10.220 |
They usually come to like children's parties. 00:19:48.620 |
I think I might eat the protein bar that's in your fridge. 00:19:54.300 |
Because I feel like my blood sugar is really low. 00:20:22.300 |
The AI in this game is pretty shitty because it couldn't... 00:20:29.740 |
And the enemy couldn't figure out what the good guys are. 00:20:47.260 |
Because I went out yesterday and it was past midnight. 00:20:57.420 |
I got a different flavor and it was pretty good. 00:21:58.740 |
No, with Call of Duty, I think there's a story mode, like single player. 00:22:14.120 |
It's also a little bit more military oriented. 00:22:16.900 |
I don't know which direction I'm being shot from. 00:22:39.260 |
Oh, I need to just chill with the guys, I think. 00:23:00.280 |
I mean, if there's anything I love to do in a game, it is forage. 00:23:22.220 |
I really thought this game would be way worse. 00:23:28.140 |
Well, you didn't like Zelda, so I think that's why. 00:23:32.860 |
Yeah, we should mention we played Zelda for a little bit before. 00:23:52.380 |
Do you think you were a cowboy in a past life? 00:24:23.420 |
Because the cowboys are the good guys usually, right? 00:24:34.880 |
So you think that being a criminal would be a lot of fun? 00:24:42.720 |
I don't like the murder, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to get the job done. 00:24:54.160 |
No, I think it actually would be, in this context, super challenging to... 00:25:03.340 |
If you rob a bank in a small town at that time, you're probably hurting a lot of people. 00:25:30.620 |
Without going into cowboy sounding cliches, there's a certain kind of ethic and value system you live under that I think is in part admirable. 00:25:56.940 |
I like kind of chilling and walking around this world. 00:25:59.900 |
Does it make you sad that we'll have cyborgs and robots and AI? 00:26:04.700 |
No, I think if we merge with it, we have a really optimistic looking future. 00:26:15.820 |
Well, I think that your humanness will be enhanced. 00:26:21.020 |
Like the same way that, you know, money makes you rich, sure. 00:26:25.340 |
But it just amplifies whatever type of person you are. 00:26:36.540 |
So if you're very interested in, I don't know, art, you're going to be able to download all of art history and have access to it at any time that you need it. 00:26:46.880 |
Was that the guy that I was supposed to shoot? 00:27:25.740 |
I think we're not paying attention to the mission and I think it's better that way. 00:27:30.560 |
I thought for sure he was trying to trick you. 00:27:32.620 |
Yeah, I'm definitely excited about AI, but you have to be... 00:27:39.180 |
Especially about which companies get the control of it. 00:27:44.460 |
I like the more companies, the more people have control. 00:27:53.980 |
That's the cool thing about ChadGBT is like it's pretty easy to build. 00:29:05.440 |
Approach the back of your horse and hold X to stow him? 00:29:14.860 |
He's like broken, dying in the middle of the wilderness. 00:29:20.700 |
All right, let's get back on the horse, I guess. 00:29:38.380 |
Do you think people will have relationships with AI systems? 00:29:43.440 |
Because the AI system will be able to, I think, guess your needs very quickly. 00:30:00.620 |
I don't think it would be as fun as dating a human, though. 00:30:11.980 |
Yeah, I suspect that robots would be too perfect. 00:30:19.100 |
I think the human merging with the AI would be a very interesting combo. 00:30:25.420 |
Because then you wouldn't have this laggy brain that's like forgetting things. 00:30:31.100 |
You would have more interesting conversations and you would have like 00:30:38.300 |
You would be able to dive in deep to them and then come up with really great ideas on 00:30:42.780 |
how to explore those ideas and research would become more intuitive, I think. 00:30:47.980 |
Yeah, it's a tricky thing because you want some... 00:30:53.420 |
It feels like a lot of our development happens in the face of challenge. 00:31:00.700 |
Even though we gain extra abilities, we'll still find stuff that's challenging. 00:31:26.140 |
Uncle, Mr. Williamson, tie this maggot up someplace safe. 00:31:35.100 |
You shoot fellas as need shooting, save fellas as need saving, and feed 'em as need feeding. 00:32:27.660 |
There's an intimacy, there's a romance to the bus. 00:32:30.860 |
There is some romance to standing outside while it's cold out. 00:32:39.260 |
Like what is it that you're doing that's so important that you need to be facing these 00:32:43.520 |
But you're also together with other people that are just standing there and suffering. 00:32:48.300 |
And all pretending like we're not suffering, but we're suffering. 00:32:51.820 |
But then we're not really suffering because it's just cold. 00:32:55.660 |
No, I never understood the romance of like people would always post like "winter in Miami" 00:33:06.060 |
and then post a picture of them on the beach. 00:33:24.300 |
We're going to starve to death up here, Mr. Morgan. 00:33:50.780 |
For the record, we went to Tara Black's barbecue. 00:34:02.300 |
I just go to like restaurants or just eat at home. 00:34:07.660 |
I don't know why it's almost like too delicious, but- 00:34:12.620 |
Yeah, it should be like a treat, but it's not really. 00:34:16.060 |
It is really special though when you do have it. 00:34:18.220 |
Like because I feel like it takes a while to prepare that kind of food. 00:34:25.180 |
And I like it because like when visitors come and you- 00:34:28.060 |
go to like Tara Black's and you do the barbecue and you- 00:34:35.900 |
the bar is so high and then they still deliver. 00:34:54.380 |
He was like, "I can't wait to go have barbecue. 00:34:56.300 |
I'm so excited you're going to live in Texas." 00:34:58.620 |
We ate way too much and we got so sick afterwards. 00:35:17.180 |
And what I didn't realize is when I'm that drunk, 00:35:21.100 |
whatever module in my brain that says don't stop eating was off. 00:35:29.740 |
And then all of a sudden it's a good idea to order like 10 pounds of meat. 00:35:40.060 |
it's so hard to stop because it's so freaking delicious. 00:35:48.940 |
You know what I've noticed about unhealthy foods or like treats? 00:35:52.140 |
It's always really fun while you're eating it. 00:35:54.540 |
But before and after, there's always this feeling of like regret. 00:36:04.380 |
I'm really gonna regret this after I eat it, but I really want it. 00:36:08.460 |
And then while I'm eating it, I'm like enjoying it. 00:36:12.380 |
And then afterwards, I'm like, why did I do that? 00:36:17.580 |
Walk away while you really want a thing and you say, nope, no more. 00:36:35.180 |
Yeah, I did like grew up cross-country skiing. 00:36:53.100 |
Because they're really good with the mountains. 00:36:55.660 |
Aren't they the ones that they stand on the edges of? 00:37:01.500 |
What's your favorite really bad meal that you shouldn't be eating? 00:37:06.220 |
My favorite really bad meal that I shouldn't be eating? 00:37:28.780 |
It's called Publix and they have the best fried chicken. 00:37:33.740 |
Or like in like the little spot that keeps it warm. 00:37:53.580 |
The people that cover themselves with sauce are the people that- 00:38:01.900 |
The people that I'll have people here in Texas who are like 00:38:09.260 |
legit barbecue like aficionados or whatever you call that. 00:38:28.220 |
It's like putting ketchup on a steak, on an aged steak. 00:38:32.140 |
I don't judge people for putting sauce, but for certain things I don't need sauce. 00:38:37.500 |
It sounds like you're very emotionally charged for this. 00:38:59.820 |
That's the problem is I keep chatting with you. 00:39:24.140 |
It's easier in the snow, but once you get your eye in it, 00:39:31.340 |
you'll be able to track Amelia as well in grass and woods. 00:39:42.300 |
So all you have to do is press RB while focusing on the track. 00:40:03.980 |
I'm pretty sure my vision doesn't suck that bad. 00:40:13.340 |
Giant screen and low resolution or something. 00:40:39.260 |
I like how you did the hunting and I'm now doing the- 00:41:02.140 |
It looks like he's really trying to be stealth. 00:41:31.820 |
I'll have dark chocolate with some nut butter in it. 00:41:37.180 |
If you're a real chocolate person, you're going to do dark chocolate because it's the 00:41:40.540 |
more sophisticated, complicated flavor, right? 00:41:44.140 |
That's like someone going to, I don't know, some restaurant and being like, "If you don't 00:41:50.060 |
order this, then you didn't really go to that place." 00:42:07.020 |
Because they don't consider instant coffee real coffee. 00:42:47.580 |
And you got to look around because you're going to run out of eagle eye. 00:43:00.060 |
Just go back to where that animal was and then look for the- 00:43:21.260 |
I don't think I use the word naughty to describe- 00:43:25.660 |
With describing food, it makes me uncomfortable. 00:43:53.820 |
So get close to it and then just look around and I'm sure you'll find the scent. 00:44:21.020 |
So one of my nephews really loves oatmeal raisin. 00:44:27.660 |
Anyway, oatmeal raisin cookie, like a thick oatmeal raisin cookie. 00:44:33.180 |
No, the thin ones are like, it makes no sense. 00:44:44.380 |
Just like a warm, thick oatmeal raisin cookie with some milk. 00:44:56.780 |
The creamy almond milk or like real almond milk? 00:45:22.860 |
I love a chocolate chip cookie because there's so many different ways of making it. 00:45:34.060 |
So you can make like cakey chocolate chip cookies. 00:45:39.420 |
You can make like a gooey chocolate chip cookie. 00:45:45.660 |
It depends on what, like you can add molasses. 00:45:49.580 |
Do you want it to crumble or do you want it to be chewy? 00:46:02.780 |
There's a, you know, growing up in, I think it's like in the Soviet Union that had, 00:46:15.340 |
I don't know how they call it in English, but it's a muravina kucha, which is an ant hill cake. 00:46:25.100 |
Oh, well, the bunch of, you know, condensed milk is. 00:46:37.100 |
You use it for a lot of different things, but desserts, desserts. 00:46:41.260 |
You can also, yeah, you can make a lot of different things with it. 00:46:49.980 |
It's a cake with, I don't know, it's called ant hill. 00:46:55.180 |
And it was just a source of happiness because my mom would make it every year for my birthday. 00:47:02.220 |
But then you like, as you grow up, you realize like, oh, this is probably really bad for you. 00:47:16.620 |
Am I going to do like this 20,000 calorie contraption? 00:47:36.060 |
What else does your, like, what is your favorite thing? 00:47:45.500 |
You know, it's like, I don't, I think it's just being with family is the favorite thing 00:48:10.940 |
Like people romanticize going to different places, but I think it's really about the 00:48:15.420 |
It almost feels like we're having a conversation, but we're actually on a horse having a conversation. 00:49:11.500 |
Actually, in the trailer for cocaine bear, the cocaine bear doesn't look big. 00:49:21.500 |
I understand this, but I think they realized they can't make the cocaine bear fat because then... 00:49:42.700 |
I really want to see that movie just to see... 00:49:48.220 |
Like how can you have a movie for two hours on a premise that feels like it should not last longer? 00:49:54.620 |
It feels like a joke that you say amongst friends for like 10 minutes. 00:50:01.660 |
Like you have like this weird banter about it and it gets weird after like three minutes. 00:50:14.220 |
There was some cocaine in the woods, dropped off in the woods. 00:50:18.380 |
So they're going to do that and they're going to say, "Oh, it looks like some bear ate into it." 00:50:27.900 |
Maybe half the movie is just like the cocaine story. 00:50:35.580 |
Or maybe like looking at how the cocaine changes the relationship the bear has with his family 00:50:40.540 |
and other bears going like the Lion King way. 00:50:58.700 |
I almost hope that it's really dumb because I think it would be funnier that way. 00:51:22.620 |
He plays the same exact guy and he is such a badass. 00:51:39.740 |
I don't know his name but I know who you're talking about. 00:51:59.260 |
I feel like playing the part made him more of a badass. 00:52:07.740 |
I mean when you play a meth dealer for like 10 seasons, whatever it is, that's gonna change you. 00:52:52.780 |
It's interesting, you know, when you spend 60 or 70 hours a week doing something. 00:53:22.300 |
To the point that sometimes when I'll go to a restaurant, I'll see an elderly person, 00:53:29.340 |
And I'm like, "I should be in the lab working." 00:53:35.420 |
I mean you were talking about it when I met you, about prosthetics and all that kind of stuff. 00:53:41.980 |
It's cool that you like found that passion in this work. 00:54:19.020 |
I miss high school for the educational aspects. 00:54:34.620 |
Was there any book that really shaped you in high school? 00:54:40.380 |
First it was "The Stranger," which is probably by Albert Camus. 00:54:49.120 |
It's like I just re-read it recently and it's not nearly as good. 00:54:54.860 |
As when you read it in those formative years? 00:54:56.780 |
I've read other books that I've read it and they're much better. 00:54:59.740 |
Or is it not as good in comparison to books that you've read after that? 00:55:04.060 |
See, there's other books like "Dusty Eskett Gets Better and Better as I Get Older," 00:55:12.220 |
But it's the first time I had this feeling of existentialism of like... 00:55:17.660 |
It's the first time I really intensely felt like, "What's the meaning of it all?" 00:55:26.640 |
And then, of course, you take it way too seriously. 00:55:30.780 |
Yeah, and you get really depressed and nervous. 00:55:35.440 |
You know the one that really hit me is "Animal Farm." 00:55:47.740 |
Can I tell you which character I like the most and then you tell me which one you like the most? 00:56:38.000 |
I think hard work is a lot more important than... 00:56:41.340 |
Because human intelligence doesn't vary all that much. 00:56:45.100 |
Like, when you're smart, I mean, there's only... 00:56:52.540 |
So you think hard work beats the cliche of talent? 00:56:58.400 |
I think like a combination of the two probably. 00:57:07.280 |
And I think sometimes if you think you're really smart, 00:57:16.220 |
To where you feel like you don't have to try as hard. 00:57:19.500 |
But then it leads to like a very, I think, boring life. 00:57:44.940 |
I feel like it's a good thing to ask while we're listening... 00:57:51.100 |
We're watching a bunch of cowboys ride through the woods. 00:57:54.300 |
I think nothing in life matters except for love and human connection. 00:57:58.860 |
Like nothing else is really all that important. 00:58:12.220 |
you look back on the moments that you shared with other people. 00:58:38.940 |
I think it's about how good you can ride a horse. 00:58:49.340 |
So it's not wearing shorts barefoot on a beach on a horse. 00:59:04.380 |
Aang is referring to a ridiculous photo of me barefoot on a horse. 00:59:09.980 |
It's my favorite photo I've ever seen of a person. 00:59:14.780 |
The funny thing is there's a bunch of shirtless versions of that. 00:59:19.500 |
It was like, you know, almost like ridiculous. 00:59:21.980 |
Because I rode the horse shirtless, but then I put on a shirt. 00:59:25.580 |
This is like too ridiculous to take a picture of. 00:59:30.540 |
Like riding a horse on sand is a different experience. 01:00:13.340 |
What's your big takeaway from this journey we took together? 01:00:36.940 |
It takes me back to my old days when I used to ride horses at summer camp.