Excellent illustrated essay (and video) from 2016 by Maciej Ceglowski. Here is the synopsis:
A skeptical view on the seductive, apocalyptic beliefs that prevent people in tech from really working to make a difference.
Apocalyptic ideas have traditionally been the province of religion, but nerds have found a way to import them into the world of computer programming. These ideas are a cognitive hazard that preferentially infects smart people, making them useless for more practical work. Like other forms of religious obsession, fantasies of superintelligence prevent us from tackling problems in this life by convincing us to focus on the life to come. This talk is an attempt to vaccinate the next generation of developers against the seductive ideas of existential risk, superintelligence, and the charismatic religious figures who will try to eat their brains.
One of the few takes on this subject that I wholeheartedly agree with…
(via Ran Prieur)
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