Sam Bankman-Fried told his psychiatrist he felt like he only had five years to make a global impact, a sense of emergency that helped justify his crimes. My latest book excerpt explores why the same panic was widespread among EAs and Rationalists - and why national politics are following Bankman-Fried's blueprint.

Silicon Valley techno-utopianism believes that a few high-IQ individuals can predict the future - so they deserve all the power.

But their naive Newtonian understanding of reality also implies current, individual responsibility for the vastness of eternity, leaving adherents in a state of panic, chugging amphetamines - and justifying some very destructive, short-term decisions.

Sam Bankman-Fried told his psychiatrist he felt like he only had five years to make a global impact, a sense of emergency that helped justify his crimes. My latest book excerpt explores why the same panic was widespread among EAs and Rationalists - and why national politics are following Bankman-Fried's blueprint.

Silicon Valley techno-utopianism believes that a few high-IQ individuals can predict the future - so they deserve all the power.

But their naive Newtonian understanding of reality also implies current, individual responsibility for the vastness of eternity, leaving adherents in a state of panic, chugging amphetamines - and justifying some very destructive, short-term decisions.

https://davidzmorris.substack.com/p/the-future-as-an-emergency-part-1