dark enlightenment: the forbidden philosophy behind the tech elite

Oct 28, 2025

Dive into the unsettling world of tech elites as they intertwine with dark philosophies like accelerationism. Discover the curious links between historical figures like the Marquis de Sade and contemporary thinkers such as Nick Land, who advocate for extreme individualism. The discussion spans Peter Thiel's alarming framing of global governance and explores technology's potential for domination versus connection. Hear about emerging movements urging a shift towards cooperative, heart-centered narratives rooted in wisdom and compassion.

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ANECDOTE

De Sade's Libertine Origin Story

The episode traces Marquis de Sade writing scandalous works in prison that argued for absolute individual liberty, even cruelty.
Molly shows how his life and ideas became a recurring example of intellect divorced from compassion leading to catastrophe.

INSIGHT

Accelerationism And Hyperstition Explained

Nick Land's 1990s accelerationism framed capitalism and AI as an alien intelligence pushing history forward.
His hyperstition idea claimed myths and fictions can causally shape reality if enough people act on them.

ANECDOTE

Land's Turn Toward Dark Enlightenment

Molly recounts Nick Land's shift from cyberpunk visionary to author of The Dark Enlightenment advocating anti-democratic enclaves.
She notes his later embrace of race and IQ pseudoscience and alt-right alignment.

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It’s a strange and somewhat terrifying timeline we’re living through. Peter Thiel has begun giving lectures about the Antichrist, while Sam Altman is actively tweeting about the development of AI erotica. However, behind these headlines sits a far older idea that most people have never heard of: a belief that human feeling slows progress and that the smartest “elite” few should shape the world for everyone else. That belief began with the Marquis de Sade, resurfaced in the 1990s through a British thinker named Nick Land, and now hides insidiously inside parts of Silicon Valley’s culture.

This deep dive follows how that idea spread from philosophy blogs directly into tech boardrooms. It shows how a theory called accelerationism (the call to push technology faster and further, whatever the cost) turned into a kind of religion for some of the tech elite. We look at how money, power, and internet mythology combined to create a story about endless growth and control. Most mainstream reporters miss the nuances of this pattern entirely because it crosses too many fields at once: economics, politics, religion, and technology.

But the story doesn’t end there. A different movement is forming among artists, engineers, and spiritual thinkers who want technology to serve connection instead of domination and extraction. We’ll explore this through a concept called hyperstition: when a story becomes real because enough people act as if it is. If fear can spread through culture, so can love.

This conversation asks what kind of future we want to build, and reminds us that every codebase, company, and act of imagination is part of that choice.

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