How Effective Accelerationism Divides Silicon Valley w/ Émile Torres
Dec 14, 2023
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Émile Torres joins to discuss effective accelerationism in Silicon Valley, its connection to TESCREAL ideologies, the divide in the AI industry, and long-termism's influence. They explore rationalism, cult dynamics, and utopian motivations, as well as the risks and divisions within effective accelerationism.
Tech industry figures in Silicon Valley coalesce around Test Creole ideologies, which provide a moral and ethical justification for their desires and a sense of purpose beyond traditional religious or spiritual explanations.
Test Creole ideologies, including long-termism and EAC, share a utopian vision of the future driven by advanced technologies, the merging of humans with machines, and the colonization of space, albeit with minor differences in focus and perspective.
Effective Accelerationism (EAC), a variant of Test Creole, promotes the fusion of technology and capitalism for a better future, advocating for unrestricted technological development without government regulation, but it faces criticism for neglecting social justice issues and downplaying the potential harms of AI.
Deep dives
The Emergence of Test Creole Ideologies
Test Creole is an acronym that stands for a constellation of ideologies including transhumanism, extropianism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism, and long-termism. These ideologies have overlapping histories and have influenced each other over time. Transhumanism, as the backbone of Test Creole, focuses on enhancing the human species through technology. Extropianism, the first organized transhumanist movement, emerged in the early 1990s and had a techno-optimistic perspective with a strong libertarian bent. Singularitarianism, cosmism, and rationalism are variations of transhumanism with different visions of the future. Effective altruism and long-termism, also part of Test Creole, emphasize maximizing value and addressing existential risks through the lens of rationality and long-term thinking. Despite minor differences, Test Creole ideologies share a utopian vision of the future driven by emerging technologies and have a significant presence in the tech industry.
The Views and Motivations of Tech Industry Figures
Tech industry figures, including powerful and wealthy individuals like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen, have coalesced around Test Creole ideologies. Some of them adopted these ideologies early on, such as effective altruism or long-termism, while others embraced the ideologies after already holding certain futuristic ambitions. These ideologies provide a moral and ethical justification for their desires, promoting ideas like colonizing space and merging humans with artificial intelligence. The tech industry's fascination with Test Creole ideologies reflects a yearning for grand narratives and a sense of purpose that goes beyond traditional religious or spiritual explanations. However, these ideologies also face criticism for their cult-like nature, dependence on charismatic figures, and a deep-rooted belief in the power of technology to shape a utopian future.
Intersections and Differences within Test Creole Ideologies
Test Creole ideologies exhibit intersections and differences within their visions of the future. While long-termism focuses on averting existential risks and maximizing value, EAC (Extropic and Capital Singularity) places emphasis on energy consumption and the growth of civilization. Despite their minor distinctions, both EAC and long-termism advocate for the development of advanced technologies, the merging of humans with machines, and the colonization of space. Additional connections within Test Creole include alignments with the techno-capital singularity concept and incorporations of cosmism. Overall, these ideologies are closely related, sharing shared goals and visions while varying in nuanced perspectives.
The Vision of Silicon Valley: Capitalistic and Baconian
The utopian vision embraced by many in Silicon Valley reveals a deeply capitalistic and baconian ideology. Crafted and designed mostly by white men from elite universities, this vision is focused on subjugating nature and maximizing economic productivity. It is driven by the pursuit of existential risk and the belief that technological maturity will lead to astronomical amounts of value in the future. However, this vision is criticized for being Western-centric and disregarding perspectives like Afrofuturism or feminism. It reflects the desires of tech billionaires who prioritize maintaining their positions of power and wealth.
Effective Accelerationism: Technology, Capitalism, and Far-Right Influences
Effective Accelerationism (EAC) is a variant of test-grillism that promotes the fusion of technology and capitalism to achieve a better future. It emphasizes the need for unrestricted technological development without government regulation. EAC champions believe that the market is the best tool to mitigate existential risks, including those posed by advanced technologies like AGI. The EAC movement shows a prominent right-leaning tendency and includes references to far-right thinkers like Nick Land and Felippo Marinetti. The ideologies of EAC align with the ideologies of tech billionaires and are criticized for neglecting social justice issues and downplaying the potential harms caused by AI.
Paris Marx is joined by Émile Torres to discuss Silicon Valley’s recent obsession with effective accelerationism, how it builds on the TESCREAL ideologies, and why it shows the divide at the top of the AI industry.
Émile Torres is a postdoctoral fellow at Case Western Reserve University. They’re also the author of Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.
