My book is called The World After Capital because capital is no longer our binding constraint. We have sufficient physical capital to provide for our needs. Instead, the defining scarcity of our time is attention. Much of our attention is trapped in the job loop consisting of work and consumption. And what remains is being sucked up by systems that algorithmicly maximize for grabbing as much of it as possible. The result is an attention crisis where important collective and individual problem...

My book is called The World After Capital because capital is no longer our binding constraint. We have sufficient physical capital to provide for our needs. Instead, the defining scarcity of our time is attention. Much of our attention is trapped in the job loop consisting of work and consumption. And what remains is being sucked up by systems that algorithmicly maximize for grabbing as much of it as possible. The result is an attention crisis where important collective and individual problem...

I wrote previously about the threat of a Trump dictatorship. That was in 2020 which seems like a long time ago. After I wrote that post we got close to disaster when Trump attempted in various ways to stay in power despite the election results. We are now in the second Trump term and the situation is considerably worse. Back then I wrote that “... I deem it unlikely that Trump has a masterplan for becoming a dictator. Then again he probably didn’t have a masterplan for becoming president but ...

I wrote previously about the threat of a Trump dictatorship. That was in 2020 which seems like a long time ago. After I wrote that post we got close to disaster when Trump attempted in various ways to stay in power despite the election results. We are now in the second Trump term and the situation is considerably worse. Back then I wrote that “... I deem it unlikely that Trump has a masterplan for becoming a dictator. Then again he probably didn’t have a masterplan for becoming president but ...

So promptly after I wrote about having "Renewed Energy" I entered another 7 week writing gap. There are of course many reasons, with some better than others. On the fun side there was a brief sailing adventure on Frolic, heading from the Canaries to Cabo Verde and exploring the volcanic islands on both ends with Gigi (Frolic is now en route to the Carribean). At work I have been particularly busy with several financings happening at the same time along with working on a new investment. I have...

So promptly after I wrote about having "Renewed Energy" I entered another 7 week writing gap. There are of course many reasons, with some better than others. On the fun side there was a brief sailing adventure on Frolic, heading from the Canaries to Cabo Verde and exploring the volcanic islands on both ends with Gigi (Frolic is now en route to the Carribean). At work I have been particularly busy with several financings happening at the same time along with working on a new investment. I have...

“God is dead” Nietzsche famously proclaimed. Humanity’s desire to be ruled by god, by contrast appears very much alive. Our latest hope for salvation rests with Artificial Intelligence. Climate crisis? AI will cool the planet. Death and disease? AI will make us immortal. War? AI will bring about peace. Machina deus ut deus ex machina (with apologies to my Latin teacher and asking for help from anyone who can come up with the right idiom; update: "Deus machinae ut deus ex machina" has been pro...

“God is dead” Nietzsche famously proclaimed. Humanity’s desire to be ruled by god, by contrast appears very much alive. Our latest hope for salvation rests with Artificial Intelligence. Climate crisis? AI will cool the planet. Death and disease? AI will make us immortal. War? AI will bring about peace. Machina deus ut deus ex machina (with apologies to my Latin teacher and asking for help from anyone who can come up with the right idiom; update: "Deus machinae ut deus ex machina" has been pro...

Between work, projects and travel I have missed many weeks of writing on Philosophy Mondays. Thankfully during this time I have also gained clarity that my fundamental goal with this series, which is to argue for a universal moral core on an objective basis, is more important than ever. As a result I am feeling a renewed sense of urgency for this work. I was utterly fascinated by the conversation between Dwarkesh Patel and Richard Sutton, which is worth listening to in its entirety. Quite ear...

Between work, projects and travel I have missed many weeks of writing on Philosophy Mondays. Thankfully during this time I have also gained clarity that my fundamental goal with this series, which is to argue for a universal moral core on an objective basis, is more important than ever. As a result I am feeling a renewed sense of urgency for this work. I was utterly fascinated by the conversation between Dwarkesh Patel and Richard Sutton, which is worth listening to in its entirety. Quite ear...

As I have previously argued we can and should work towards a universal moral core. This project is essential so that our technological progress can be guided by moral progress, instead of running far ahead of it with potentially disastrous consequences for humanity (and already for so many other species). In order for philosophy to carry this project forward it must be supported by physics which represents our best understanding of the physical foundations of our world. Conversely if philosop...

As I have previously argued we can and should work towards a universal moral core. This project is essential so that our technological progress can be guided by moral progress, instead of running far ahead of it with potentially disastrous consequences for humanity (and already for so many other species). In order for philosophy to carry this project forward it must be supported by physics which represents our best understanding of the physical foundations of our world. Conversely if philosop...

For a long time revenue per employee was a good approximation for the profitability of a company. For instance, in the US for a SaaS company to be profitable generally meant it had revenues of at least $200K/employee. Wages were the bulk of a software company’s operating expenses. As we are entering the age of AI the biggest factor will be electricity. Data center capital expenditures are massive right now, but eventually the infrastructure will be deployed. Operating cost in the future will ...

For a long time revenue per employee was a good approximation for the profitability of a company. For instance, in the US for a SaaS company to be profitable generally meant it had revenues of at least $200K/employee. Wages were the bulk of a software company’s operating expenses. As we are entering the age of AI the biggest factor will be electricity. Data center capital expenditures are massive right now, but eventually the infrastructure will be deployed. Operating cost in the future will ...

The Magic Employment Fallacy Invoking the “Lump of Labor Fallacy” to shut down discussion of the labor market impact of AI and robotics is once again popular. Labeling something a fallacy is a powerful move. After all, who would want to hold “a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument” (common definition for fallacy) and where one will be accused of zero sum thinking?So what is the lump of labor fallacy? It is the belief that there is a fixed amount, a “lump,” of labor and so...

The Magic Employment Fallacy Invoking the “Lump of Labor Fallacy” to shut down discussion of the labor market impact of AI and robotics is once again popular. Labeling something a fallacy is a powerful move. After all, who would want to hold “a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument” (common definition for fallacy) and where one will be accused of zero sum thinking?So what is the lump of labor fallacy? It is the belief that there is a fixed amount, a “lump,” of labor and so...

After an excursion into qualia we are now back to our regular scheduled programming here on Philosophy Mondays. As a brief refresher, let’s retrace our steps. My goal behind Philosophy Mondays is to help myself and hopefully others (including artificial intelligences) to answer what I consider to be the fundamental question: How should we choose our actions in light of our understanding of reality and the potential impact of our actions on this reality (which happens to include how we and oth...

After an excursion into qualia we are now back to our regular scheduled programming here on Philosophy Mondays. As a brief refresher, let’s retrace our steps. My goal behind Philosophy Mondays is to help myself and hopefully others (including artificial intelligences) to answer what I consider to be the fundamental question: How should we choose our actions in light of our understanding of reality and the potential impact of our actions on this reality (which happens to include how we and oth...

This is my second post filling in the details of a Star Trek vision. In Star Trek replicators make everything from parts for spaceships to food for human consumption. One would assume that a replicator can also make the parts necessary for more replicators, thus replicating itself. As such it is an artistic vision of what von Neumann famously conceived as the universal constructor, a machine that can replicate itself and through the process of mutation grow to arbitrary complexity. While the ...

This is my second post filling in the details of a Star Trek vision. In Star Trek replicators make everything from parts for spaceships to food for human consumption. One would assume that a replicator can also make the parts necessary for more replicators, thus replicating itself. As such it is an artistic vision of what von Neumann famously conceived as the universal constructor, a machine that can replicate itself and through the process of mutation grow to arbitrary complexity. While the ...