I loathe the fact that Thiel's arguments do not get enough purchase even within the technology circles.
Argument 1
The fact - and it is very much a fact - that, off late, technology hasn't progressed very much at all.
Argument 2
And that our scowl-faced culture, that disparages everything technological -- in favor of products of some glorious bygone era where everything that would be ever needed for human purposes has already been conceived, crafted and fabricated -- reinforces this notion in every aspect of our lives.
This is the part I hate most about our culture - the utterly stupid, moribund romanticism associated with every stupid thing ever invented -- however ill-suited it is to serve a purpose in this age -- is somehow worthy of our admiration solely because it is antediluvian.
Not that it is efficient or infinitely better than any candidate that has since come along to replace it (and there are a few examples of such nature. Very few indeed. Eg: the drinking straw or the common t-shirt).
But purely because it served our forefathers well and therefore it is somehow worthy of continued use.
Hollywood unabashedly continues to perpetuate these sickening notions to no end.
Edit: Rewritten for purposes of clarity.
Argument 1
The fact - and it is very much a fact - that, off late, technology hasn't progressed very much at all.
Argument 2
And that our scowl-faced culture, that disparages everything technological -- in favor of products of some glorious bygone era where everything that would be ever needed for human purposes has already been conceived, crafted and fabricated -- reinforces this notion in every aspect of our lives.
This is the part I hate most about our culture - the utterly stupid, moribund romanticism associated with every stupid thing ever invented -- however ill-suited it is to serve a purpose in this age -- is somehow worthy of our admiration solely because it is antediluvian.
Not that it is efficient or infinitely better than any candidate that has since come along to replace it (and there are a few examples of such nature. Very few indeed. Eg: the drinking straw or the common t-shirt).
But purely because it served our forefathers well and therefore it is somehow worthy of continued use.
Hollywood unabashedly continues to perpetuate these sickening notions to no end.
Edit: Rewritten for purposes of clarity.