Some of my favorite takeaways from Albert Wenger's
"World After Capital" & interviews.
Read the real thing here: worldaftercapital.org
"World After Capital" & interviews.
Read the real thing here: worldaftercapital.org
What does it mean to be human today?
Emotions, consciousness, sure, but ultimately it's the ability to contribute to the knowledge loop (learn, create, share).
The idea that I can read a book or see a piece of art that someone else wrote in a different place and time period.
Emotions, consciousness, sure, but ultimately it's the ability to contribute to the knowledge loop (learn, create, share).
The idea that I can read a book or see a piece of art that someone else wrote in a different place and time period.
When AI can contribute to knowledge loop—what makes humans special then?
Qualia: when I look at this orange chair over there, I have a feeling of what it feels like to be looking at an orange chair
We get the brain at constituent level, but not emergent phenomena level.
Qualia: when I look at this orange chair over there, I have a feeling of what it feels like to be looking at an orange chair
We get the brain at constituent level, but not emergent phenomena level.
Every age of humanity has a defining scarcity.
Humanity then invents tech that shifts that scarcity.
Agriculture solved for food, scarcity shifted to arable land
Enlightenment gave us industrial age, scarcity shifted from land to capital
Scarcity in knowledge age is attention
Humanity then invents tech that shifts that scarcity.
Agriculture solved for food, scarcity shifted to arable land
Enlightenment gave us industrial age, scarcity shifted from land to capital
Scarcity in knowledge age is attention
Change from forager to agrarian:
Migratory -> sedentary
Polygamous -> monogamous
Flat societies -> hierarchical
Animistic religions -> god religions
Change from agrarian to industrial:
Country -> city
Large families -> nuclear families
Commons -> private property
Migratory -> sedentary
Polygamous -> monogamous
Flat societies -> hierarchical
Animistic religions -> god religions
Change from agrarian to industrial:
Country -> city
Large families -> nuclear families
Commons -> private property
The need for food didn't go away. We just filled it in more efficient ways.
Same thing for capital. It's not like we no longer need to build houses and cars and so forth. It's just that we can build sufficient housing and cars for everybody overtime.
Same thing for capital. It's not like we no longer need to build houses and cars and so forth. It's just that we can build sufficient housing and cars for everybody overtime.
Fire can be used to cook, but it can be used to burn down.
AI can be used to diagnose disease, but it can also manipulate people.
Agriculture made Athenian democracy possible, but also dark ages.
Industrial society made democracy possible, but it also made Stalin possible.
AI can be used to diagnose disease, but it can also manipulate people.
Agriculture made Athenian democracy possible, but also dark ages.
Industrial society made democracy possible, but it also made Stalin possible.
Digital machines are different from industrial machines in two ways:
Zero Marginal Cost & Universality.
Economics wasn't built on zero marginal cost, a lot of theories break down.
The constraint in the last one was capital, this one is attention.
Zero Marginal Cost & Universality.
Economics wasn't built on zero marginal cost, a lot of theories break down.
The constraint in the last one was capital, this one is attention.
Ppl used to have a clear path: go to college, get a job, have a long standing career, have a place nicer than parents.
No longer. We don't yet have a replacement path for people wanting predictability/stability. MAGA is evidence.
Need fundamental shifts, not just incremental.
No longer. We don't yet have a replacement path for people wanting predictability/stability. MAGA is evidence.
Need fundamental shifts, not just incremental.
Capitalism it does an amazing job at turning financial capital into physical capital, which is why we have all these extraordinary capabilities
Of course, many people are still poor, albeit less. But as a society, we have enough to feed people. It's a distribution problem.
Of course, many people are still poor, albeit less. But as a society, we have enough to feed people. It's a distribution problem.
Capitalism works well when you can have markets that can have prices.
But what is the price for you to discover your purpose in life?
No market mechanism will solve that.
That's an attention problem that we need to allocate attention to without a market mechanism.
But what is the price for you to discover your purpose in life?
No market mechanism will solve that.
That's an attention problem that we need to allocate attention to without a market mechanism.
Collective action problems:
What is the prize for humanity being able to deflect an incoming asteroid detected? (Or prepare for a possible pandemic?)
There is no market mechanism that will allocate collective attention to this problem.
What is the prize for humanity being able to deflect an incoming asteroid detected? (Or prepare for a possible pandemic?)
There is no market mechanism that will allocate collective attention to this problem.
Solutions to our problems need to come from knowledge age paradigm, not industrial age.
Gov't providing job - industrial age
Gov't providing UBI - knowledge age
What will people do instead of jobs?
Research
Self-care
Family/friends
Environment
Make art
Cultivate knowledge
Gov't providing job - industrial age
Gov't providing UBI - knowledge age
What will people do instead of jobs?
Research
Self-care
Family/friends
Environment
Make art
Cultivate knowledge
Role of capital in knowledge age?
in 1780, ~80% of human attention in the US was dedicated just to feeding ourselves. Today, that's like sub 5%,.
Similarly, 80% of human attention is on economic activity. Capital will still have a role, but maybe we can shift it to ~20%.
in 1780, ~80% of human attention in the US was dedicated just to feeding ourselves. Today, that's like sub 5%,.
Similarly, 80% of human attention is on economic activity. Capital will still have a role, but maybe we can shift it to ~20%.
Types of freedoms
Economic - ~UBI of $800 a month will let ppl get out of job loop
Informational - Data sovereignty
Psychological freedom - no longer being slaves to whatever stimuli are thrown at us.
Economic - ~UBI of $800 a month will let ppl get out of job loop
Informational - Data sovereignty
Psychological freedom - no longer being slaves to whatever stimuli are thrown at us.
Network effects are too strong -- they have turned normal distributions into power laws
Hard q's:
What's the right governance for those networks?
What is the power that I should have as a participant in those networks relative to the owners and operators of the network?
Hard q's:
What's the right governance for those networks?
What is the power that I should have as a participant in those networks relative to the owners and operators of the network?
"shift the balance of power back towards or some of it anyhow, back to the edge, we need to figure out how to give each and every one of us computers that we control, and that lets us interact with the other systems through computation that we control ourselves. "
Everything should be an API.
I shouldn't have to ask Facebook or Twitter for permission to program Facebook or Twitter, I should just be able to do it.
Everything is programmable, everything is composable, everything is remixable.
I shouldn't have to ask Facebook or Twitter for permission to program Facebook or Twitter, I should just be able to do it.
Everything is programmable, everything is composable, everything is remixable.
e.g. If Amazon had it...I could have powerful bots operated on my behalf scanning Amazon, comparing Amazon to three other sites automatically, it would give startup sites a real opportunity b/c machines could check 2nd sites on my behalf.
