<
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff>
"As a humanist who writes about the impact of digital technology on our lives,
I am often mistaken for a futurist. The people most interested in hiring me for
my opinions about technology are usually less concerned with building tools
that help people live better lives in the present than they are in identifying
the Next Big Thing through which to dominate them in the future. I don’t
usually respond to their inquiries. Why help these guys ruin what’s left of the
internet, much less civilisation?
Still, sometimes a combination of morbid curiosity and cold hard cash is enough
to get me on a stage in front of the tech elite, where I try to talk some sense
into them about how their businesses are affecting our lives out here in the
real world. That’s how I found myself accepting an invitation to address a
group mysteriously described as “ultra-wealthy stakeholders”, out in the middle
of the desert.
A limo was waiting for me at the airport. As the sun began to dip over the
horizon, I realised I had been in the car for three hours. What sort of wealthy
hedge-fund types would drive this far from the airport for a conference? Then I
saw it. On a parallel path next to the highway, as if racing against us, a
small jet was coming in for a landing on a private airfield. Of course.
The next morning, two men in matching Patagonia fleeces came for me in a golf
cart and conveyed me through rocks and underbrush to a meeting hall. They left
me to drink coffee and prepare in what I figured was serving as my green room.
But instead of me being wired with a microphone or taken to a stage, my
audience was brought in to me. They sat around the table and introduced
themselves: five super-wealthy guys – yes, all men – from the upper echelon of
the tech investing and hedge-fund world. At least two of them were
billionaires. After a bit of small talk, I realised they had no interest in the
speech I had prepared about the future of technology. They had come to ask
questions."
Via
The RISKS Digest Volume 33 Issue 44:
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/33/44#subj22
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
