Thiel made practically similar feedback in a 2015 essay arguing that technological progress must be accelerated. Science and expertise, he wrote, are pure allies of “Judeo-Western optimism,” particularly if “we stay open to an eschatological body by which God works by way of us in constructing the dominion of heaven at present, right here on Earth.”
However what do Thiel, Trae Stephens, and different highly effective tech figures really imply once they say it’s attainable to construct a Christian heaven on this planet? For Trae, the thought is virtually literal, and occurs by way of his idea of “good quests,” first outlined in an article cowritten with entrepreneur Markie Wagner in 2022.
Within the article, Trae and Wagner argued that Silicon Valley was in a “disaster of nonsense.” Pastimes resembling “exiting your first startup solely to enter enterprise capital,” “armchair philosophizing on Twitter,” and “yachting between emails in de facto retirement at age 35” are examples of dangerous quests. Good quests, then again, deal with massively laborious and sophisticated issues, and end in developments in manufacturing, synthetic intelligence, and the extension of human lifespans.
After the essay got here out, Trae stated a person approached him and shared that he was making an attempt to resolve an necessary downside by constructing an NFT market. That proper there, Trae instructed the viewers on the ACTS 17 occasion, is an instance of a nasty quest. “The human mind can persuade you something you’re doing is an effective quest,” he stated.
Trae, who ran President Donald Trump’s protection transition workforce throughout his first time period, used the identical good versus dangerous quests body to elucidate why he lately turned down the chance to function US protection secretary. Only a few issues in life ought to have the ability to take you away out of your “sure,” or your good quest, Trae defined. “I feel the explanation for my ‘no’ was understanding what my ‘sure’ was,” he stated.
Alex Karp, the chief govt of Palantir, lately criticized what he similarly described as a moral crisis within the tech trade, decrying the truth that ample capital and “legions of proficient engineers” have been wasted “merely to construct photo-sharing apps and chat interfaces for the trendy shopper.” Karp went on to say that the “prevailing agnosticism” of the trendy period has “paved the best way for the market to fill the hole.”
The agnosticism Karp refers to is cultural, moderately than non secular. However like Trae Stephens, he believes the tech sector has been too targeted on fixing trivial issues and ignoring probably the most urgent problems with society. The issue, Karp argued, could possibly be solved by rebuilding the US from the bottom up as a technological republic. (Presumably, that would come with Palantir promoting its expertise to the federal government.)
The Bay Space, the place Silicon Valley is nested, has lengthy been a haven for progressive values and is usually perceived to be largely agnostic or atheistic. Its prevailing rich-hippie vibes are effectively documented, with tech staff turning to biohacking, psychedelics, Burning Man, and Esalen retreats as types of introspection and self-discovery.