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Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
A Reality Check for Tech Oligarchs
Technologists currently wield a level of political influence that was recently considered unthinkable. While Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency slashes public services, Jeff Bezos takes celebrities to space on Blue Origin and the CEOs of AI companies speak openly of radically transforming society. As a result, there has never been a better moment to understand the ideas that animate these leaders' particular vision of the future. In his new book, More Everything Forever, the science journalist Adam Becker offers a deep dive into the worldview of techno-utopians such as Musk—one that's underpinned by promises of AI dominance, space colonization, boundless economic growth, and eventually, immortality. Becker's premise is bracing: Tech oligarchs' wildest visions of tomorrow amount to a modern secular theology that is both mesmerizing and, in his view, deeply misguided. The author's central concern is that these grand ambitions are not benign eccentricities, but ideologies with real-world consequences. What do these people envision? In their vibrant utopia, humanity has harnessed technology to transcend all of its limits—old age and the finite bounds of knowledge most of all. Artificial intelligence oversees an era of abundance, automating labor and generating wealth so effectively that every person's needs are instantly met. Society is powered entirely by clean energy, while heavy industry has been relocated to space, turning Earth into a pristine sanctuary. People live and work throughout the solar system. Advances in biotechnology have all but conquered disease and aging. At the center of this future, a friendly AI—aligned with human values—guides civilization wisely, ensuring that progress remains tightly coupled with the flourishing of humanity and the environment. Musk, along with the likes of Bezos and OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, aren't merely imagining sci-fi futures as a luxury hobby—they are funding them, proselytizing for them, and, in a growing number of cases, trying to reorganize society around them. In Becker's view, the rich are not merely chasing utopia, but prioritizing their vision of the future over the very real concerns of people in the present. Impeding environmental research, for instance, makes sense if you believe that human life will continue to exist in an extraterrestrial elsewhere. More Everything Forever asks us to take these ideas seriously, not necessarily because they are credible predictions, but because some people in power believe they are. [Read: The rise of techno-authoritarianism] Becker, in prose that is snappy if at times predictable, highlights the quasi-spiritual nature of Silicon Valley's utopianism, which is based on two very basic beliefs. First, that death is scary and unpleasant. And second, that thanks to science and technology, the humans of the future will never have to be scared or do anything unpleasant. 'The dream is always the same: go to space and live forever,' Becker writes. (One reason for the interest in space is that longevity drugs, according to the tech researcher Benjamin Reinhardt, can be synthesized only 'in a pristine zero-g environment.') This future will overcome not just human biology but a fundamental rift between science and faith. Becker quotes the writer Meghan O'Gieblyn, who observes in her book God, Human, Animal, Machine that 'what makes transhumanism so compelling is that it promises to restore through science the transcendent—and essentially religious—hopes that science itself obliterated.' Becker demonstrates how certain contemporary technologists flirt with explicitly religious trappings. Anthony Levandowski, the former head of Google's self-driving-car division, for instance, founded an organization to worship artificial intelligence as a godhead. But Becker also reveals the largely forgotten precedents for this worldview, sketching a lineage of thought that connects today's Silicon Valley seers to earlier futurist prophets. In the late 19th century, the Russian philosopher Nikolai Fedorov preached that humanity's divine mission was to physically resurrect every person who had ever lived and settle them throughout the cosmos, achieving eternal life via what Fedorov called 'the regulation of nature by human reason and will.' The rapture once preached and beckoned in churches has been repackaged for secular times: In place of souls ascending to heaven, there are minds preserved digitally—or even bodies kept alive—for eternity. Silicon Valley's visionaries are, in this view, not all cold rationalists; many of them are dreamers and believers whose fixations constitute, in Becker's view, a spiritual narrative as much as a scientific one—a new theology of technology. Let's slow down: Why exactly is this a bad idea? Who wouldn't want 'perfect health, immortality, yada yada yada,' as the AI researcher Eliezer Yudkowsky breezily summarizes the goal to Becker? The trouble, Becker shows, is that many of these dreams of personal transcendence disregard the potential human cost of working toward them. For the tech elite, these are visions of escape. But, Becker pointedly writes, 'they hold no promise of escape for the rest of us, only nightmares closing in.' Perhaps the most extreme version of this nightmare is the specter of an artificial superintelligence, or AGI (artificial general intelligence). Yudkowsky predicts to Becker that a sufficiently advanced AI, if misaligned with human values, would 'kill us all.' Forecasts for this type of technology, once fringe, have gained remarkable traction among tech leaders, and almost always trend to the stunningly optimistic. Sam Altman is admittedly concerned about the prospects of rogue AI—he famously admitted to having stockpiled 'guns, gold, potassium iodide, antibiotics, batteries, water, gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force, and a big patch of land in Big Sur I can fly to'—but these worries don't stop him from actively planning for a world reshaped by AI's exponential growth. In Altman's words, we live on the brink of a moment in which machines will do 'almost everything' and trigger societal changes so rapid that 'the future can be almost unimaginably great.' Becker is less sanguine, writing that 'we just don't know what it will take to build a machine to do all the things a human can do.' And from his point of view, it's best that things remain that way. [Read: Silicon Valley braces for chaos] Becker is at his rhetorically sharpest when he examines the philosophy of 'longtermism' that underlies much of this AI-centric and space-traveling fervor. Longtermism, championed by some Silicon Valley–adjacent philosophers and the effective-altruism movement, argues that the weight of the future—the potentially enormous number of human (or post-human) lives to come—overshadows the concerns of the present. If preventing human extinction is the ultimate good, virtually any present sacrifice can and should be rationalized. Becker shows how today's tech elites use such reasoning to support their own dominance in the short term, and how rhetoric about future generations tends to mask injustices and inequalities in the present. When billionaires claim that their space colonies or AI schemes might save humanity, they are also asserting that only they should shape humanity's course. Becker observes that this philosophy is 'made by carpenters, insisting the entire world is a nail that will yield to their ministrations.' Becker's perspective is largely that of a sober realist doing his darnedest to cut through delusion, yet one might ask whether his argument occasionally goes too far. Silicon Valley's techno-utopian culture may be misguided in its optimism, but is it only that? A gentle counterpoint: The human yearning for transcendence stems from a dissatisfaction with the present and a creative impulse, both of which have driven genuine progress. Ambitious dreams—even seemingly outlandish ones—have historically spurred political and cultural transformation. Faith, too, has helped people face the future with optimism. It should also be acknowledged that many of the tech elite Becker critiques do show some awareness of ethical pitfalls. Not all (or even most) technologists are as blithe or blinkered as Becker sometimes seems to suggest. In the end, this is not a book that revels in pessimism or cynicism; rather, it serves as a call to clear-eyed humanism. In Becker's telling, tech leaders err not in dreaming big, but in refusing to reckon with the costs and responsibilities that come with their dreams. They preach a future in which suffering, scarcity, and even death can be engineered away, yet they discount the very real suffering here and now that demands our immediate attention and compassion. In an era when billionaire space races and AI hype dominate headlines, More Everything Forever arrives as a much-needed reality check. At times, the book is something more than that: a valuable meditation on the questionable stories we tell about progress, salvation, and ourselves. Article originally published at The Atlantic
Atlantic
10 hours ago
- Business
- Atlantic
Silicon Valley's Misguided Utopian Visions
Technologists currently wield a level of political influence that was recently considered unthinkable. While Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency slashes public services, Jeff Bezos takes celebrities to space on Blue Origin and the CEOs of AI companies speak openly of radically transforming society. As a result, there has never been a better moment to understand the ideas that animate these leaders' particular vision of the future. In his new book, More Everything Forever, the science journalist Adam Becker offers a deep dive into the worldview of techno-utopians such as Musk—one that's underpinned by promises of AI dominance, space colonization, boundless economic growth, and eventually, immortality. Becker's premise is bracing: Tech oligarchs' wildest visions of tomorrow amount to a modern secular theology that is both mesmerizing and, in his view, deeply misguided. The author's central concern is that these grand ambitions are not benign eccentricities, but ideologies with real-world consequences. What do these people envision? In their vibrant utopia, humanity has harnessed technology to transcend all of its limits—old age and the finite bounds of knowledge most of all. Artificial intelligence oversees an era of abundance, automating labor and generating wealth so effectively that every person's needs are instantly met. Society is powered entirely by clean energy, while heavy industry has been relocated to space, turning Earth into a pristine sanctuary. People live and work throughout the solar system. Advances in biotechnology have all but conquered disease and aging. At the center of this future, a friendly AI—aligned with human values—guides civilization wisely, ensuring that progress remains tightly coupled with the flourishing of humanity and the environment. Musk, along with the likes of Bezos and OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, aren't merely imagining sci-fi futures as a luxury hobby—they are funding them, proselytizing for them, and, in a growing number of cases, trying to reorganize society around them. In Becker's view, the rich are not merely chasing utopia, but prioritizing their vision of the future over the very real concerns of people in the present. Impeding environmental research, for instance, makes sense if you believe that human life will continue to exist in an extraterrestrial elsewhere. More Everything Forever asks us to take these ideas seriously, not necessarily because they are credible predictions, but because some people in power believe they are. Becker, in prose that is snappy if at times predictable, highlights the quasi-spiritual nature of Silicon Valley's utopianism, which is based on two very basic beliefs. First, that death is scary and unpleasant. And second, that thanks to science and technology, the humans of the future will never have to be scared or do anything unpleasant. 'The dream is always the same: go to space and live forever,' Becker writes. (One reason for the interest in space is that longevity drugs, according to the tech researcher Benjamin Reinhardt, can be synthesized only 'in a pristine zero-g environment.') This future will overcome not just human biology but a fundamental rift between science and faith. Becker quotes the writer Meghan O'Gieblyn, who observes in her book God, Human, Animal, Machine that 'what makes transhumanism so compelling is that it promises to restore through science the transcendent—and essentially religious—hopes that science itself obliterated.' Becker demonstrates how certain contemporary technologists flirt with explicitly religious trappings. Anthony Levandowski, the former head of Google's self-driving-car division, for instance, founded an organization to worship artificial intelligence as a godhead . But Becker also reveals the largely forgotten precedents for this worldview, sketching a lineage of thought that connects today's Silicon Valley seers to earlier futurist prophets. In the late 19th century, the Russian philosopher Nikolai Fedorov preached that humanity's divine mission was to physically resurrect every person who had ever lived and settle them throughout the cosmos, achieving eternal life via what Fedorov called 'the regulation of nature by human reason and will.' The rapture once preached and beckoned in churches has been repackaged for secular times: In place of souls ascending to heaven, there are minds preserved digitally—or even bodies kept alive—for eternity. Silicon Valley's visionaries are, in this view, not all cold rationalists; many of them are dreamers and believers whose fixations constitute, in Becker's view, a spiritual narrative as much as a scientific one—a new theology of technology. Let's slow down: Why exactly is this a bad idea? Who wouldn't want 'perfect health, immortality, yada yada yada,' as the AI researcher Eliezer Yudkowsky breezily summarizes the goal to Becker? The trouble, Becker shows, is that many of these dreams of personal transcendence disregard the potential human cost of working toward them. For the tech elite, these are visions of escape. But, Becker pointedly writes, 'they hold no promise of escape for the rest of us, only nightmares closing in.' Perhaps the most extreme version of this nightmare is the specter of an artificial superintelligence, or AGI (artificial general intelligence). Yudkowsky predicts to Becker that a sufficiently advanced AI, if misaligned with human values, would 'kill us all.' Forecasts for this type of technology, once fringe, have gained remarkable traction among tech leaders, and almost always trend to the stunningly optimistic. Sam Altman is admittedly concerned about the prospects of rogue AI —he famously admitted to having stockpiled 'guns, gold, potassium iodide, antibiotics, batteries, water, gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force, and a big patch of land in Big Sur I can fly to'—but these worries don't stop him from actively planning for a world reshaped by AI's exponential growth. In Altman's words, we live on the brink of a moment in which machines will do 'almost everything' and trigger societal changes so rapid that 'the future can be almost unimaginably great.' Becker is less sanguine, writing that 'we just don't know what it will take to build a machine to do all the things a human can do.' And from his point of view, it's best that things remain that way. Becker is at his rhetorically sharpest when he examines the philosophy of 'longtermism' that underlies much of this AI-centric and space-traveling fervor. Longtermism, championed by some Silicon Valley–adjacent philosophers and the effective-altruism movement, argues that the weight of the future—the potentially enormous number of human (or post-human) lives to come—overshadows the concerns of the present. If preventing human extinction is the ultimate good, virtually any present sacrifice can and should be rationalized. Becker shows how today's tech elites use such reasoning to support their own dominance in the short term, and how rhetoric about future generations tends to mask injustices and inequalities in the present. When billionaires claim that their space colonies or AI schemes might save humanity, they are also asserting that only they should shape humanity's course. Becker observes that this philosophy is 'made by carpenters, insisting the entire world is a nail that will yield to their ministrations.' Becker's perspective is largely that of a sober realist doing his darnedest to cut through delusion, yet one might ask whether his argument occasionally goes too far. Silicon Valley's techno-utopian culture may be misguided in its optimism, but is it only that? A gentle counterpoint: The human yearning for transcendence stems from a dissatisfaction with the present and a creative impulse, both of which have driven genuine progress. Ambitious dreams—even seemingly outlandish ones—have historically spurred political and cultural transformation. Faith, too, has helped people face the future with optimism. It should also be acknowledged that many of the tech elite Becker critiques do show some awareness of ethical pitfalls. Not all (or even most) technologists are as blithe or blinkered as Becker sometimes seems to suggest. In the end, this is not a book that revels in pessimism or cynicism; rather, it serves as a call to clear-eyed humanism. In Becker's telling, tech leaders err not in dreaming big, but in refusing to reckon with the costs and responsibilities that come with their dreams. They preach a future in which suffering, scarcity, and even death can be engineered away, yet they discount the very real suffering here and now that demands our immediate attention and compassion. In an era when billionaire space races and AI hype dominate headlines, More Everything Forever arrives as a much-needed reality check. At times, the book is something more than that: a valuable meditation on the questionable stories we tell about progress, salvation, and ourselves.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Commentary: The Blue Origin flight reminds us that there is no feminism without environmentalism
The recent Blue Origin space mission, and its all-female crew, faced widespread criticism for their rocket's climate impact. Although the purported mission of Blue Origin is to 'restore and sustain Earth,' a few minutes in space is known to release more planet-warming carbon dioxide than 1 billion people will in their entire lifetime. Experts predict an increase in space tourism over the coming decades, potentially accelerating global warming in a world already struggling to combat its effects. The historic all-female space crew was assembled to promote female representation in space — a worthy undertaking since nearly 90% of the over 700 people who have traveled to space are men. But the Blue Origin flight also showed the world that privileged women can increasingly, thanks to space tourism, pollute Earth just as easily as wealthy men have for decades. Despite the critical need for women's equality, the effects of climate change are far from gender neutral. I teach about the health impacts of climate change and have taken care of many women during my 15 years as a primary care physician. The unique physiology of women and social roles and societal expectations place women at disproportionately higher risk from climate-fueled disasters and warming temperatures. Reproductive stages such as menstruation, pregnancy and nursing increase women's climate vulnerability. The heightened metabolic and/or nutritional demands during these times make women more dependent on resources such as food and water that are threatened by climate change and extreme weather events. Increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide may worsen dietary deficiencies in reproductive-age women by reducing crop levels of critical nutrients such as iron, folate and protein. Extreme heat, increasingly a norm rather than an exception, is particularly harmful for pregnant women, raising their likelihood of preterm delivery and high blood pressure. Higher temperatures also increase preterm birth by increasing levels of the harmful air pollutant called ground-level ozone. Because pregnant women have faster breathing rates, they are also more susceptible to going into preterm labor and having babies with low birth weight from inhaling wildfire smoke. Despite the incremental progress toward gender equality in U.S. homes, women continue to manage disproportionate amounts of caregiving and household activities. Climate change, a known 'threat multiplier,' is poised to worsen existing inequities. The COVID-19 pandemic, despite being a different type of crisis, provided a sneak preview of this exacerbation of inequities. From February 2020 to January 2022, 1.1 million women left the labor force — accounting for 63% of all jobs lost. This disparity was even greater for mothers. Given the continued disparities of labor in the home, women face unique challenges during and after extreme weather events. In the weeks following Hurricane Maria, millions of Puerto Ricans were left without power and drinkable water. Women washed laundry by hand and collected and boiled rainwater for bathing and consumption — adding hours to their daily routines. The physical and emotional toll on Puerto Rican women during this time was immeasurable. This is not to say that women shouldn't continue participating in important space missions. Women have made critical contributions to space science and benefited from its findings. Several environmentally beneficial inventions, including solar panels, satellite detection of wildfires and energy efficient insulation, are the result of innovations related to space travel. Yet the Blue Origin flight is a good reminder that there is no feminism without environmentalism. When Eleanor Roosevelt said women 'cannot refuse to acknowledge' their differences from men, she also highlighted those differences as the basis of women's activism. Women certainly bear the brunt of the climate crisis, but they are also at the front line of solutions. Successful women's activism has always been grounded in collaboration and inclusion. Time and time again, we see that when women are lifted out of poverty and given equal rights, all of society is uplifted. When women are part of decision-making, solutions are more effective and inclusive. Protecting the planet is no exception because racism, poverty and patriarchy worsen the impact of climate change for everyone on it. Yes, wealthy women will increasingly be able to visit space as tourists, but should they, given the price paid by environmental impacts on other women? Because the reality is, most women won't be able to escape climate change on a rocket ship. Women have changed the world before, and they can do it again, but they aren't going to do it by taking day trips into outer space. To protect our communities and save the one planet we have will take unity, empathy, collaboration and cooperation beyond class divides. There is no better time than now to start. ____ Dr. Sheetal Khedkar Rao is an internal medicine physician and assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is on the board of Illinois Clinicians for Climate Action and a public voices fellow through The OpEd Project. _____
Forbes
15 hours ago
- General
- Forbes
How to Reach Your Doctor — 5 Proven Strategies to Skip the Phone Tag
Lost in the healthcare phone maze? These 5 strategies are your exit route. In 2025, booking space travel on Blue Origin can feel simpler than reaching your cardiologist. In my work running a healthcare advisory firm, one of the biggest frustrations for patients that we see is the endless game of 'press 1 for this, 2 for that' — only to end up on hold, transferred or hung up on. I consider this high-stakes phone tag that begs for a communication strategy. By mastering a few simple tactics, you can reach your doctor faster and turn hours on hold into minutes of meaningful dialogue. Otherwise, patients routinely waste time hunting down numbers, get bounced between departments, and risk delays in care, fragmented records and even serious medical errors and sometimes do not get what they need even if they do reach their provider. Even when calls go through, the next hurdle is often the wait: The average time to schedule a doctor's appointment in the U.S. now stretches to 31 days. For specialists like cardiologists, delays can double. When compounded by phone tag, these gaps risk worsening conditions — making strategic communication a literal lifeline. Consider one emergency department I was involved with that logged 10,000 unanswered calls in a single month. Or picture a Friday discharge with seven medications to fill — only to find out the pharmacy is out of stock on one critical medication. The pharmacy clicks 'therapeutic substitution,' but the doctor's office has already closed for the weekend. The patient is left calling, portal-messaging and circling back to the pharmacy, each loop costing precious time and potentially leading to treatment delays. Electronic medical records and patient apps like MyChart were supposed to bridge the communication gap. Yet many patients find portals just another barrier to getting the timely assistance and advice that they need. Even when messages get delivered, asynchronous systems lack the dynamic back-and-forth that could provide a solution to your time-sensitive needs. There are no set standards for when your provider will even check for your message or respond to you or call you if needed. Due to these limitations, it is important that you know the best strategies to reach out for a real-time call. In healthcare, nothing beats a live conversation with your provider which allows for ironing out details, flagging concerns and ensuring everyone's on the same page. Healthcare professionals feel the squeeze too. While doctors often exchange direct numbers with trusted colleagues, fielding patient calls through receptionists and multiple voicemail boxes eats into clinic hours and slows down critical decision-making. This is why you must embrace the strategies below to reach your medical provider: Every answered call is a step closer to timely, safe care. By mastering these tactics — and by holding our healthcare systems accountable for real-time responsiveness, you can become a winner in the high stakes game of healthcare phone tag and reach your doctor faster for the care you need.
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
The future Mrs Bezos: All you need to know about Lauren Sánchez ahead of the $10m Venice wedding set to be the celeb event of the year
The bride is Lauren Sánchez, 55, Emmy-winning journalist, former news anchor and helicopter pilot who recently led the infamous all-female space expedition with Katy Perry and other gal pals on her fiance's Blue Origin rocket. 'I can't put it into words,' she gushed afterwards, 'but I looked out the window and we got to see the moon.' She must have her eyes on the honeymoon now. Bezos and Sánchez tie the knot in Venice, celebrating from June 24 -26 with another galaxy of stars among the 200 guests: Eva Longoria, Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian. Rumours are flying, much like Sánchez. ('I want to be in a helicopter all the time,' she has said.) But a spokesman for the mayor of Venice confirmed to CNN that the nuptials will take place on Bezos's $500m super yacht Koru, to be anchored in Venice lagoon. The happy couple has also reportedly booked out the city's fanciest hotels, Gritti Palace and Aman Venice for family and friends, at a cost of some $2.5m. Such were concerns about the wedding party potentially inundating the sinking city, the mayor's office released a statement clarifying: 'The Bezos wedding has not booked large amounts of gondolas or excessive numbers of water taxis.' The gown will surely be excessive. Apparently Anna Wintour advised Sánchez to wear Oscar de la Renta. Expect wasp waist and unapologetic cleavage from the woman who scandalised America by wearing a white lace corset to Donald Trump's inauguration. Where to begin with this love story? It famously started as an affair in 2018 when both were married to other people — Sánchez to Hollywood talent agent Patrick Whitesell (worth a piddling $480m, according to Bloomberg), the father of two of her three children; Bezos to novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, his wife of 25 years and mother of his four children. All was revealed when Sánchez's brother made $200,000 selling the National Enquirer a sexy, bare-chested text sent from Bezos to Sánchez calling her his 'alive girl'. Undeterred, by 2020 they were an official couple. They are divisive, some calling them a pair of smug homewreckers and others lauding their age-appropriate chemistry and canny brand partnership. He has money and political clout; she has charisma and Hollywood connections. Both are self-made and ambitious with humble roots. She's a third-generation Mexican American; his father was a Cuban immigrant. In 2023, the couple got engaged while vacationing in France on the 127-metre super yacht with its buxom wooden figurehead of Sánchez on the prow. The 30-carat diamond ring is worth an estimated $5m. Last month, she flew her A-list besties to Paris for a four-day hen party, and 'one hundred percent' intends to take the Bezos surname. The couple's relationship is the focus of intense speculation and intrigue with most of the public discourse revolving around Sánchez. She is a fascinating operator. Watching her many appearances on TV chat shows — on the other side of the table these days — it's clear her superpower is creating instant intimacy. She can believably seem like she's just like everyone else, with charming, disarming results. In her years as a TV correspondent, she was an expert at flattery and connection. In 2010, the same year she was voted in People magazine's top 50 most beautiful people, Sánchez's interview with Bill Clinton was a masterclass in effective plámás. But you can't talk out both sides of your mouth. Sánchez has been called a hypocrite for waxing proud about saving the planet and addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through her vice-chairmanship of the Bezos Earth Fund, which has pledged $10bn to climate action. When a 2020 Oxfam study found that the carbon emissions of the richest 1pc are more than double those of the poorest half of the world, it's a bit rich to expect kudos for trying to fix a problem you created. With their space flights, private jets, massive yacht — and all those Amazon deliveries — Sánchez and Bezos are racking up a brachiosaurus-sized carbon footprint. Oh, and the SDGs also cover the protection of labour rights, like those highlighted in last year's award-winning documentary Union about Amazon's treatment of its workforce. Little wonder Sánchez is leaning into the positive PR of being a poster woman for midlife love and reinvention. 'When I was 20, I thought, 'Oh my gosh, life is over at 50.' Let me tell you, it is not ladies — it is not over,' she grinned, on US talk show Today. 'It is just beginning.'
