In a 9,000-word expose, a writer for Harper's visited San Francisco's young entrepreneurs in September to mockingly profile "tech's new generation and the end of thinking."
There's Cluely founder Roy Lee. ("His grand contribution to the world was a piece of software that told people what to do.") And the Rationalist movement's Scott Alexander, who "would probably have a very easy time starting a suicide cult..."
Alexander's relationship with the AI industry is a strange one. "In theory, we think they're potentially destroying the world and are evil and we hate them," he told me. In practice, though, the entire industry is essentially an outgrowth of his blog's comment section... "Many of them were specifically thinking, I don't trust anybody else with superintelligence, so I'm going to create it and do it well." Somehow, a movement that believes AI is incredibly dangerous and needs to be pursued carefully ended up generating a breakneck artificial arms race.
There's a fascinating story about teenaged founder Eric Zhu (who only recently turned 18):
Clients wanted to take calls during work hours, so he would speak to them from his school bathroom. "I convinced my counselor that I had prostate issues... I would buy hall passes from drug dealers to get out of class, to have business meetings." Soon he was taking Zoom calls with a U.S. senator to discuss tech regulation... Next, he built his own venture-capital fund, managing $20 million. At one point cops raided the bathroom looking for drug dealers while Eric was busy talking with an investor. Eventually, the school got sick of Eric's misuse of the facilities and kicked him out. He moved to San Francisco.
Eric made all of this sound incredibly easy. You hang out in some Discord servers, make a few connections with the right people; next thing you know, you're a millionaire... Eric didn't think there was anything particularly special about himself. Why did he, unlike any of his classmates, start a $20 million VC fund? "I think I was just bored. Honestly, I was really bored." Did he think anyone could do what he did? "Yeah, I think anyone genuinely can."
The article concludes Silicon Valley's investors are rewarding young people with "agency". Although "As far as I could tell, being a highly agentic individual had less to do with actually doing things and more to do with constantly chasing attention online." Like X.com user Donald Boat, who successfully baited Sam Altman into buying him a gaming PC in "a brutally simplified miniature of the entire VC economy." (After which "People were giving him stuff for no reason except that Altman had already done it, and they didn't want to be left out of the trend.")
Shortly before I arrived at the Cheesecake Factory, [Donald Boat] texted to let me know that he'd been drinking all day, so when I met him I thought he was irretrievably wasted. In fact, it turned out, he was just like that all the time... He seemed to have a constant roster of projects on the go. He'd sent me occasional photos of his exploits. He went down to L.A. to see Oasis and ended up in a poker game with a group of weapons manufacturers. "I made a bunch of jokes about sending all their poker money to China," he said, "and they were not pleased...."
"I don't use that computer and I think video games are a waste of time. I spent all the money I made from going viral on Oasis tickets." As far as he was concerned, the fact that tech people were tripping over themselves to take part in his stunt just confirmed his generally low impression of them. "They have too much money and nothing going on..." Ever since his big viral moment, he'd been suddenly inundated with messages from startup drones who'd decided that his clout might be useful to them. One had offered to fly him out to the French Riviera.
The author's conclusion? "It did not seem like a good idea to me that some of the richest people in the world were no longer rewarding people for having any particular skills, but simply for having agency."
There's Cluely founder Roy Lee. ("His grand contribution to the world was a piece of software that told people what to do.") And the Rationalist movement's Scott Alexander, who "would probably have a very easy time starting a suicide cult..."
Alexander's relationship with the AI industry is a strange one. "In theory, we think they're potentially destroying the world and are evil and we hate them," he told me. In practice, though, the entire industry is essentially an outgrowth of his blog's comment section... "Many of them were specifically thinking, I don't trust anybody else with superintelligence, so I'm going to create it and do it well." Somehow, a movement that believes AI is incredibly dangerous and needs to be pursued carefully ended up generating a breakneck artificial arms race.
There's a fascinating story about teenaged founder Eric Zhu (who only recently turned 18):
Clients wanted to take calls during work hours, so he would speak to them from his school bathroom. "I convinced my counselor that I had prostate issues... I would buy hall passes from drug dealers to get out of class, to have business meetings." Soon he was taking Zoom calls with a U.S. senator to discuss tech regulation... Next, he built his own venture-capital fund, managing $20 million. At one point cops raided the bathroom looking for drug dealers while Eric was busy talking with an investor. Eventually, the school got sick of Eric's misuse of the facilities and kicked him out. He moved to San Francisco.
Eric made all of this sound incredibly easy. You hang out in some Discord servers, make a few connections with the right people; next thing you know, you're a millionaire... Eric didn't think there was anything particularly special about himself. Why did he, unlike any of his classmates, start a $20 million VC fund? "I think I was just bored. Honestly, I was really bored." Did he think anyone could do what he did? "Yeah, I think anyone genuinely can."
The article concludes Silicon Valley's investors are rewarding young people with "agency". Although "As far as I could tell, being a highly agentic individual had less to do with actually doing things and more to do with constantly chasing attention online." Like X.com user Donald Boat, who successfully baited Sam Altman into buying him a gaming PC in "a brutally simplified miniature of the entire VC economy." (After which "People were giving him stuff for no reason except that Altman had already done it, and they didn't want to be left out of the trend.")
Shortly before I arrived at the Cheesecake Factory, [Donald Boat] texted to let me know that he'd been drinking all day, so when I met him I thought he was irretrievably wasted. In fact, it turned out, he was just like that all the time... He seemed to have a constant roster of projects on the go. He'd sent me occasional photos of his exploits. He went down to L.A. to see Oasis and ended up in a poker game with a group of weapons manufacturers. "I made a bunch of jokes about sending all their poker money to China," he said, "and they were not pleased...."
"I don't use that computer and I think video games are a waste of time. I spent all the money I made from going viral on Oasis tickets." As far as he was concerned, the fact that tech people were tripping over themselves to take part in his stunt just confirmed his generally low impression of them. "They have too much money and nothing going on..." Ever since his big viral moment, he'd been suddenly inundated with messages from startup drones who'd decided that his clout might be useful to them. One had offered to fly him out to the French Riviera.
The author's conclusion? "It did not seem like a good idea to me that some of the richest people in the world were no longer rewarding people for having any particular skills, but simply for having agency."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
After a heist and the departure of its boss, the French institution wrestles with water leaks, strikes and much-criticised plans for a €1bn renovation
Just over a year ago, Laurence des Cars, the intellectually brilliant (if famously prickly) former head of the largest and most-visited museum in the world, wrote a somewhat alarming note to her boss, France’s culture minister.
Des Cars, who on Tuesday resigned as president of the Louvre, lamented the advanced state of disrepair of the iconic museum’s buildings and galleries.
Continue reading...An old Dutch ritual of going outside to watch the coming of night – or dusking – is having a revival across Europe. Fans of the practice say it’s a great way to disconnect from screens and find peace
I’m wandering around a walled garden on the edge of the North York Moors at dusk. The darkening sky is faintly illuminated by a sharp sliver of crescent moon and the first stars. Bats are swooping in search of supper, an owl is softly hooting and the dark outline of a ruined castle looms beyond the walls.
But what is really striking about the scene is what’s missing: artificial light. There are no solar lamps or electric bulbs; no torches or phone screens. As parts of the garden recede into the gloom, others are thrown into sharp relief: the bare branches of winter trees; a russet-coloured hedge; clumps of snowdrops, glowing bright in the moonlight.
Continue reading...Regional authorities withdraw permit after citing risk of organised crime infiltration linked to a subcontractor
It is one of Europe’s most celebrated shorelines, framed by mountains and 19th-century villas and famed for its Caribbean-blue water and white sand.
But Mondello beach in Palermo, Sicily, has also been mired in controversy, the subject of complaints stretching back a century from residents and tourists who say its private lidos, cabins and deckchairs have left scant room for public access.
Continue reading...Donald Trump beloofde in 2024 dat hij oorlogen zou beëindigen, niet beginnen. Toch heeft hij in het afgelopen jaar militaire aanvallen bevolen in zeven landen. De jongste operatie tegen Iran is de meest ingrijpende tot nu toe: een grootschalige luchtaanval in samenwerking met Israël, vele malen omvangrijker dan de gerichte bombardementen op nucleaire installaties in juni vorig jaar.
"Disgusting and Evil"
Het meest verontrustende aspect is niet de aanval zelf, maar de manier waarop deze tot stand kwam. Trump kondigde de operatie aan via een video op Truth Social, midden in de nacht, zonder het Congres te raadplegen. De Amerikaanse grondwet kent uitsluitend het Congres de bevoegdheid toe om oorlog te verklaren. Zowel Republikeinse als Democratische parlementsleden uitten scherpe kritiek: Thomas Massie (Republikein) noemde de aanvallen "oorlogsdaden zonder goedkeuring van het Congres". Zelfs Tucker Carlson, doorgaans een Trump-bondgenoot, noemde de militaire actie "Disgusting and Evil"
Twijfelachtige rechtvaardiging
Trump voerde als belangrijkste argument aan dat Iran "directe dreigingen" vormde en bezig was met de ontwikkeling van kernwapens. Maar hij had eerder beweerd dat het Iraanse nucleaire programma al in juni was "vernietigd" – een claim die door de eigen inlichtingendiensten werd tegengesproken. Die tegenstrijdigheid ondermijnt het vertrouwen in zijn rechtvaardiging en roept de vraag op: als het programma al was uitgeschakeld, waarom dan opnieuw aanvallen?
Nederland reageert verdeeld
De reacties in Den Haag weerspiegelen de complexiteit van de situatie. Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Berendsen riep op tot "terughoudendheid en het voorkomen van verdere escalatie". D66 waarschuwde dat "met een luchtoorlog een regime omverwerpen zelden lukt" zonder langetermijnplan. GroenLinks-PvdA stelde dat er "geen basis" is in het internationaal recht voor de aanval. Op het Malieveld in Den Haag sloeg een demonstratie tegen het Iraanse regime om in een feest nadat het nieuws over de mogelijke dood van Khamenei rondging.
De vraag die blijft hangen
De New York Times stelde het treffend: een verantwoordelijke president had een plausibel argument kúnnen maken voor actie tegen Iran, maar dan met een heldere strategie, steun van het Congres en samenwerking met bondgenoten. Trump kiest voor geen van drieën. Hij vraagt blind vertrouwen – terwijl hij dat vertrouwen niet heeft verdiend. De geschiedenis van Irak en Afghanistan leert wat er gebeurt wanneer een president een oorlog begint zonder plan voor wat erna komt.
De dood van Ayatollah Khamenei na een Amerikaans-Israëlische luchtaanval verandert het Midden-Oosten ingrijpend. Wat zijn de gevolgen? Drie scenario's op een rij.
Op de staatstelevisie moest de omroeper heftig wenen. Op straat werd gedanst. Het onvoorstelbare is werkelijkheid geworden. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 37 jaar lang de onbetwiste Opperste Leider van Iran, is dood. Op zaterdagochtend 28 februari troffen Amerikaanse en Israëlische luchtaanvallen zijn compound in Teheran, precies op het moment dat hij vergaderde met zijn binnenste kring. Na uren van speculatie bevestigden Iraanse staatsmedia op 1 maart officieel zijn dood.
Een ongekende militaire operatie
De aanval was zorgvuldig gecoördineerd. De VS richtten zich op commandocentra, luchtafweersystemen en raketlanceerinstallaties, terwijl Israël met circa 200 gevechtsvliegtuigen de leiding van het regime uitschakelde – de grootste luchtoperatie in de Israëlische geschiedenis. Naast Khamenei kwamen ook Ali Shamkhani en IRGC-commandant Mohammad Pakpour om het leven. President Trump schreef op Truth Social dat Khamenei „een van de meest kwaadaardige mensen in de geschiedenis" was. Dat is misschien overdreven, maar het was een slecht mens.
Iran slaat terug
De reactie volgde snel. Iran vuurde ballistische raketten en drones af op Israël, Saoedi-Arabië, de Emiraten en Bahrein. In Dubai raakte een drone het Burj Al Arab-complex. De boodschap vanuit Teheran was helder: een aanval blijft niet onbeantwoord.[
Drie scenario's
Veiligheidsexpert Peter Neumann (King's College London) schetst drie mogelijke uitkomsten:
- Korte oorlog: Trump voert vier tot zeven dagen strijd, trekt zich terug en claimt de voorwaarden voor regimeverandering te hebben geschapen.
- Interne coup: Een factie binnen de Revolutionaire Garde grijpt de macht in het ontstane vacuüm. Volgens CIA-inschattingen zou een hardliner uit de IRGC Khamenei opvolgen.
- Escalatie: Iran slaagt erin Amerikaanse soldaten te doden op een van de acht bases in de regio, waardoor Trump gedwongen wordt zich dieper in het conflict te storten.
Wat nu?
De wereld houdt de adem in. Voor miljoenen Iraniërs die decennialang onder het regime leden, biedt de dood van Khamenei een sprankje hoop op verandering. Maar zonder duidelijke opvolging dreigt ook chaos. De komende dagen zullen bepalen welk scenario werkelijkheid wordt – en of het Midden-Oosten dichter bij vrede komt, of juist verder afdrijft.
Damien Douxchamps has added a photo to the pool:
