Thread by @balajis

A sophon lock already kind of exists on every industry not related to computers. These sophons aren’t alien in origin but all too human.

See Eroom’s Law for how drug development has become exponentially more expensive over the last century: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eroom%27s…

https://twitter.com/kevinakwok/status/1150863772686389248

The fundamental question of the next 20-30 years may be whether software eats the world before sophons lock the world.

I’m bullish mainly because of crypto.

Outside of that, we moved very quickly from banning straws & scooters to advocating the breakup or destruction* of the most valuable cos in the US.

These things are never surgical. Startups will also suffer.

* Eg: archive.is/ks1jf

By the way, the analogy isn’t perfect.

Sophon locking is a technologically superior civ holding back a less advanced civ.

That’s not the case here. Standard luddites just smashed machines. The “human sophons” are more like organized luddites. It’s legalized destruction.

Actually, the counter to that counter is the Great Firewall.

The Chinese government may be the one entity technologically sophisticated enough to monitor internet traffic within its borders and stop/halt certain innovations.

Perhaps that’s what Liu Cixin was thinking of.