# Navigating the AGI Era Virtuously | Ruby Thelot MTS · 2026-07-28 Ruby Thelot, author of 'A Few Essays on Taste,' argues that taste is not merely aesthetic preference but a way to consume virtuously, emerging during periods of abundance. She draws a parallel between 17th-18th century England—after the 1688 Bill of Rights restrained nobility, creating a nouveau riche with excessive luxury—and today's AI-driven wealth generation, where society again asks how to consume virtuously. Thelot explains that thinkers like the Earl of Shaftesbury and Alexander Pope defined taste as 'harmony with nature,' a virtuous restraint against excess. In the digital age, taste manifests as a means to become 'ungovernable' by algorithms, guiding decisions on which problems to solve. Ultimately, taste is a framework for handling abundance—of intelligence, capabilities, and content—without destroying society. ## Questions this episode answers ### According to Ruby Thelot, what is taste beyond aesthetic preference, and why is it relevant today? Ruby Thelot argues that taste is not merely aesthetic preference but a method to consume virtuously. He traces its origins to 17th-century England, where after the Glorious Revolution restrained the nobility, a new wealthy class emerged, and philosophers like Shaftesbury and Pope advocated taste as a harmonious, restrained approach to luxury to prevent societal decay. Thelot sees a parallel today as AI creates immense wealth, reviving the need for virtuous consumption. [0:00](https://mts.podhood.com/4b899e8e-cd61-465e-b7f2-7824fd7ff03f?t=0) ### How does taste help people resist algorithmic content, according to the discussion? Thelot and the host discuss how taste functions as a 'self-governing' defense against algorithmic manipulation. In an era of abundant content and 'slop,' good taste stops algorithms from neatly categorizing users, making them 'ungovernable' and able to perceive beyond curated feeds. This mirrors the historical role of taste as a guide for virtuous consumption amid excess. [1:56](https://mts.podhood.com/4b899e8e-cd61-465e-b7f2-7824fd7ff03f?t=116000) ### How does Ruby Thelot say taste manifests in everyday life beyond aesthetics? Thelot suggests taste goes beyond aesthetics, informing daily choices and even the problems one deems worth solving. He frames it as a virtue for navigating abundance: with today's surplus of intelligence and capabilities, tasteful decisions ensure that this wealth does not 'wreck and destroy society.' Taste becomes a practical ethical compass in the digital age. [3:38](https://mts.podhood.com/4b899e8e-cd61-465e-b7f2-7824fd7ff03f?t=218000) ## Key moments - **[0:00] Historical Roots** - [0:00] "Taste is not just aesthetic preference; taste is a way for people to consume virtuously." — Ruby Thelot - [0:35] Ruby Thelot: Taste emerged as a guide for virtuous consumption in 17th-century England after the Glorious Revolution created new wealth and a cultural vacuum. - **[1:27] Modern Parallels** - **[2:07] Natural Harmony** - **[3:02] Ungovernable** - **[3:26] Digital Virtue** - [4:07] Taste is a mechanism to deal with the abundance of intelligence and prevent it from destroying society, says Ruby Thelot. ## Speakers - **Ruby Thelot** (guest) ## Topics Taste ## Transcript ### Historical Roots **Ruby Thelot** [0:00] I wrote a book called "A Few Essays on Taste," where the first essay is called "A Brief History of Taste," and I make the case that taste is not just aesthetic preference; taste is a way for people to consume virtuously. The question of taste emerged in the 17th century, at a time where people needed guidance as to how to consume properly. So, in 1688, the Bill of Rights happens in England after the Glorious Revolution, and the nobility's powers are restrained. And as they lose political power, they also lose cultural power. At the same time, you have the growth of the British colonies; you have immense amounts of wealth that are being generated in the United Kingdom. And suddenly you have this nouvelle bourgeoisie, you have this sort of new elite that emerges, and there's a belief that this emergence of excessive luxury will lead to the decay of society,right? There's even a Macola writes in "Luxury" 1977 says, you know, that they believed that excess would lead to effeminacy, that, like, men would lose their masculinity because things were too good. And so it is in the vacuum, in the reduction of the cultural power of the previous nobility, that the question of taste emerges. And so you have people like the Earl of Shaftesbury, people like Alexander Pope who write about this in the 17th and 18th century. What's interesting to me is that we're in a similar position now. We're entering a similar industrial revolution. ### Modern Parallels **Ruby Thelot** [1:41] We are faced with, or at the eve of, or maybe in the midst of, immense amounts of wealth being created, and we're asking ourselves, how do we consume virtuously? And that is why the question of taste is emerging. It mirrors 17 and 18th century England in that sense. **Host** [1:56] It's like a self-governing, like, sort of structure that emerges so that people—like, in a way it's kind of like a survival instinct too, you know, like so much content being out there and so much slop being out there. **Ruby Thelot** [2:07] Yeah. And so what's notable about this is that what Pope and Shaftesbury tell us—Shaftesbury is the first aesthetician of the English tradition—he says, "Taste is harmony with nature,"right? Because he's a—it's kind of a deism. He says, well, if nature is God, and so nature is beauty, taste, the decisions must be in line with what, you know, unity, harmony, and that is his perspective on taste. ### Natural Harmony **Ruby Thelot** [2:34] And so the nouveau riche, the person who's tasteless, you know, I think the way Pope says, like, his house looks like a—no proportions, like a big, big gate, and then he looks like an insect next to the gate. The lake looks like an ocean,right? Everything's too big because there's too much wealth. And so it pushes for a natural, harmonious restraint, you know, tasteful decision, because it is virtuous to make good aesthetic decisions. **Host** [3:02] Yeah, it's almost—we become ungovernable. Good taste means I can't be fit into this little box that the algorithm is designed for this. And it's almost when people say the importance of taste, it's not just about having a preference, or it's not just about the aesthetics of it, but it's this bigger mission of how do you actually become ungovernable, how can you see past these algorithms, and all of that. ### Ungovernable **Ruby Thelot** [3:25] Yeah. ### Digital Virtue **Host** [3:26] Yeah. That is so beautiful. Like, the virtuous point, I just could keep ruminating on it. How do you think—how else do you think taste manifests beyond just, like, aesthetic preference in the digital age? **Ruby Thelot** [3:38] I mean, what's interesting to me is that I think it could be effectuated around so many different facets of one's life,right? If it is truly virtue, then virtue is about, like, daily actions. Not to be, like, guru and self-helpy, but, like, one can make tasteful decisions in many different spheres of life. I do, like, in SF when we people talk about, like, taste and also problems to find,right? And there are virtuous problems and some problems that are a bit less virtuous, perhaps. **Host** [4:06] Yeah. **Ruby Thelot** [4:07] But fundamentally, it is a question of how to deal with abundance,right? Right now we have an abundance of intelligence, abundance of capabilities, and it is a question of how to deal with that so that this abundance does not wreck and destroy society. That is the purpose and the function of taste. --- This library is powered by PodHood (https://podhood.com), the podcast website platform.