"Tech Billionaires Need to Stop Making Sci-Fi Real"
"Tech Billionaires Need to Stop Making Sci-Fi Real"
Today’s Silicon Valley billionaires grew up reading classic American science fiction. Now they’re trying to make it come true, embodying a dangerous political outlook
There is a discussion on Hacker News, but feel free to comment here as well.
They need to stop making dystopian sci-fi real. Why doesn’t any of them go for a startrek kind of future?
Because Star Trek future doesn't have their favorite features: bigotry, inequality, and runaway capitalism.
That’s Starfleet. They want to be the Ferengi crossed with Cardassians.
Then they wouldn't be rich anymore
The economics of the future are somewhat different. You see, money doesn't exist in the 24th century... The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force of our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.
Also the 21st century in the Star Trek universe is rough as fuck.
It's because they don't have ideas of their own.
So they look at old scifi stories, and see what things they might be able to make now.
Knowing that even if they can't really do it, there's built in hype to get investors onboard. And deep down, getting investor money is what they're concerned about.
Doesn't matter if the product never launches, just that talking about it drives up stock prices.