Parasitic Technology

Knowledge grows exponentially while understanding grows linearly. This gap is creating tension in many parts of society.

Technology is particularly affected by this tension. There likely isn't a single person alive who could make a pencil: to build the tools, harvest the wood, carve the shape, formulate the glue, mine the graphite, mix the paint, tap the rubber, and bind it all with a thin strip of iridescent metal. If it's unlikely that anyone could make a pencil, then it is certain that nobody could construct a computer. Layers of infrastructure, architecture, algorithms, and software represent the collective result of thousands of years of human progress—knowledge that cannot possibly be contained by one person.

It is a miracle that anything works. Our world is a testament to the cooperative power of humanity, held together by a living encyclopedia of knowledge. But this stability is not a guarantee. Despite our best efforts, dark ages have come. It is dizzying to consider the loss of life and progress caused by the rise and fall of great civilizations.

Isaac Asimov's Foundation tells the tragedy of a society blessed with space-age technology but cursed with the lack of knowledge needed to run it—completely reliant on, and vulnerable to, a handful of knowledge keepers.

This delicate power dynamic is already visible in our world. The vector of free speech is controlled by a handful of entrepreneurs—drifting like bags in the wind of power. Taiwan controls 90% of the advanced semiconductor industry, and it could be easily disrupted. USA and China continue to escalate a cold war over AI. Each holds a lever that could move the world.

Whoever controls AI controls the world.

Though he was an irredeemable, murderous terrorist, Ted Kaczynski's manifesto makes a compelling argument: as technology becomes more complex, society becomes more monotonous. He argues that technology demands society to control human behavior in order to produce more technology. He saw it as an unnatural, parasitic force.

But it is a symbiotic relationship—one where the host benefits more than it is harmed. And yet, the host is harmed.

One concerning signal is the drop in literacy and numeracy across the Western world. It's easy to interpret as our phones are destroying our attention spans. But it's more unsettling to consider that technology may be displacing the societal need for education, as knowing how to operate technology becomes more important than knowing why it works.

Perhaps this is the traditional trade-off of progress. Great orators lamented as Plato recorded Socrates' teachings, ruining future generations' faculty of memory. Aristocrats warned that the printing press would confuse the mind. Teachers ridiculed children for the idea of carrying around a calculator—even after the belittling job title of "Computer"^[1]1. "Computers" once performed menial calculations for astronomers and mathematicians. As the profession expanded in the 1870s, it became a common job for women—brilliant, hard-working, underpaid, and unrecognized individuals who made significant contributions to astronomy, mathematics, and programming. had been replaced by the technology of the same name. Every generation will have its Luddites as society reshapes to meet knowledge's demands. Despite this, civilization progresses.

Yuval Noah Harari brilliantly argues that we are already cyborgs. When was the last time you went a day without your phone? Who among us could live without the superpower of near-infinite knowledge at our fingertips? It's no surprise that many prioritize the cell phone as a basic necessity—from homeless Americans to rural Chinese who have chosen connectivity over running water. The ability to connect with any person, anywhere, in real time is indistinguishable from magic. It's a power that ancient kings would have warred for. It is a force that elevates the otherwise undiscovered geniuses of our world.

I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.

Progress is the only way forward. We must find our geniuses and direct their creative potential toward the societal change ahead. It is the only way to ensure the prosperity of future generations.

Entertaining the anti-rational meme of degrowth is dangerous. It encourages a slow spiral into irrelevance and totalitarianism. The EU's growth has stagnated. Venezuela's socialist experiment descended into chaos. The echoes of China's Cultural Revolution^[2]2. Mao's Cultural Revolution is one of the bloodiest events in history, yet surprisingly few know the details. While America experienced its "Summer of Love," 1–2 million Chinese citizens were executed in the name of political reform, and another 30–60 million starved in the resulting famine. still reverberate through its iron fist. Instead, we must strengthen the fundamental values of the Western world to maintain our technological supremacy.

Strength will be found in embracing AI. Onshoring semiconductor production. Aligning with free expression. Recruiting talent from every corner of the world. Modernizing education to leverage AI. Reforming regulation to prioritize innovation. And encouraging entrepreneurship, leadership, oration, and first-principles reasoning.

The torch of the Enlightenment has not yet been extinguished. Let us preserve its eternal flame—even if it is to be viewed through a computer screen.

1. ^"Computers" once performed menial calculations for astronomers and mathematicians. As the profession expanded in the 1870s, it became a common job for women—brilliant, hard-working, underpaid, and unrecognized individuals who made significant contributions to astronomy, mathematics, and programming.
2. ^Mao's Cultural Revolution is one of the bloodiest events in history, yet surprisingly few know the details. While America experienced its "Summer of Love," 1–2 million Chinese citizens were executed in the name of political reform, and another 30–60 million starved in the resulting famine.