As I track examples of Silicon Valley’s unique political ideology, I’m always delighted to find ones that are short and sweet. Elon Musk recently gifted us with a great example.
In an exchange on Twitter, Musk shot off an innocent science-friendly argument,
“It is high time that humanity went beyond Earth. Should have a moon base by now and sent astronauts to Mars. The future needs to inspire.”
Then, someone shot back with a common criticism of the tech industry: innovators should concentrate on solving existing problems.
Or, as this critic noted to Musk: “or we could just solve earth problems first”.
Musk’s response was a key insight into what I think is unique about tech ethics. He said,
“Our existence cannot just be about solving one miserable problem after another. There need to be reasons to live.”
Musk’s response is a lovely insight about why, I think, many innovators focus on issues that are more futuristic. It’s not just about making life ‘less awful’, but about creating a world that’s wonderful. At times, it can seem like they are ignoring suffering, but there’s an undeniable more logic to it.
