The new legislators of Silicon Valley ⊗ Friction it the most valuable commodity ⊗ Everything feels broken but weirdly normal

The new legislators of Silicon Valley

Evgeny Morozov with one of his typically very well written pieces that are perhaps slightly … overly virulent in their approach? In his view—and I agree with almost all of it—Silicon Valley’s tech elites have evolved into a new class of “oligarch-intellectuals” who wield unprecedented influence over public discourse and policy. Figures like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, and Marc Andreessen combine vast wealth, technological authority, and platform ownership to reshape society according to their ideological visions. These leaders don’t merely predict the future—they manufacture it through investment strategies that double as philosophical arguments, while controlling the digital platforms where public conversation occurs.

However, they face a fundamental contradiction: their “revolutionary” business models coexist with increasingly reactionary politics. After facing internal rebellion from their more progressive workforces on issues like military contracts and climate action, these oligarchs launched aggressive campaigns against “wokeness” while embedding themselves in Washington’s power structures. Though they present their techno-optimistic visions as inevitable paths forward, their echo chambers shield them from necessary criticism, potentially leading to the same fate as Soviet technocrats who mistook their models for reality. Unlike previous industrial barons who merely funded think tanks, today’s tech oligarchs directly legislate societal transformation while demanding we conform to futures they themselves invented.

A bit of a side note: Morozov quotes from a lot of thinkers and their various writings, positions, and frameworks. He’s an extremely smart guy, so I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt, but I do wonder, when you quote short passages from so many people, are you actually building on their thinking, or doing more of a collage to fit your purpose?

Their arsenal combines three deadly implements: plutocratic gravity (fortunes so vast they distort reality’s basic physics), oracular authority (their technological visions treated as inevitable prophecy), and platform sovereignty (ownership of the digital intersections where society’s conversation unfolds). […]

Gouldner identified a “technical intelligentsia” whose very DNA carried revolutionary potential. Though they appeared docile—”wishing nothing more than to enjoy their opiate obsessions with technical puzzles”—their fundamental purpose was to “revolutionize technology continually,” destabilizing cultural bedrock and social architecture by their refusal to worship yesterday’s gods. […]

This, then, is the final gambit: oligarch-intellectuals reconfiguring legislation, institutions, and cultural expectations until prophecy and reality fuse into a single hallucination (courtesy of ChatGPT, of course). […]

In selecting Soviet-style reality denial over Chinese-style reality monitoring, they’ve fashioned echo chambers that will ultimately fracture their grand designs.

The most valuable commodity in the world is friction

In her article, Kyla Scanlon argues that friction has become a valuable commodity in our economy, manifesting in three distinct worlds: the frictionless digital domain, the effortful physical world, and the curated spaces where friction is styled and managed. While the digital realm offers convenience and simulated companionship, the physical world struggles under the weight of neglected infrastructure, leading to systemic dysfunction. The curated environments allow those with means to bypass the chaos, highlighting a class experience of friction that underscores socioeconomic divides. The author calls for a reevaluation of how we handle friction, proposing that we should direct our efforts towards sustainable systems rather than simply transferring burdens from one domain to another.

I quite enjoyed the piece, but I’m not sure “curated” was the best word for this third mode of operation. We could just say privileged enclaves, or perhaps a hybrid mode of operation, where large amounts of money transpose the digital’s frictionless to the physical. It’s also important to note that a lot (most?) of the “frictionless” is not a disappearance but a transfer of the friction elsewhere, as people shuffle money around, shuffle externalities around, and shuffle friction around.

We’ve stopped expecting the real world to work. We assume it will be slow, broken, or possibly on fire. That’s just the baseline. But between the frictionless digital world and the friction-saturated physical one lies a third space - a buffer zone between the real and the simulated. […]

This is the friction economy in microcosm. A system that everyone knows is inefficient and unsustainable, but persists because the friction of changing it despite many, many people trying - the actual work of building consensus and implementing new structures seems insurmountable. […]

But friction isn’t the enemy!!!! It’s information. It tells us where things are straining and where care is needed and where attention should go. […]

But they suggest an alternative to both digital frictionlessness and physical collapse - a world where effort is neither eliminated nor wasted, but directed toward systems that actually sustain us.

Does everything feel broken but weirdly normal? There’s a word for that

In her piece, Adrienne Matei explains “hypernormalisation,” a term that describes the surreal state of living in a society where systemic dysfunction is evident, yet people continue their daily lives as if everything is normal. This phenomenon reflects the disconnect between recognising societal failures and the lack of effective leadership, leading to feelings of fear and isolation. As large-scale systems crumble, individuals are encouraged to confront their overwhelming emotions and engage politically to combat apathy and indifference.

The oligarchs in the first piece, but even more so the friction in the previous one, can definitely be attached to this one as the causes of some of dysfunction and the crumbling systems and infrastructures. While my note from the last issue hinted at the surreal state of living alongside those changes.

The who cares era. Great post and I’m agreeing with Dan here, although I’d just mention that under the “not caring” there’s likely a (un)healthy dose of “everything happens so much all the time,” leaving less room for caring.

This is not the best piece in the issue, which is why it’s the third one, but it might be the one that resonates most with the feelings many of us are having. Have a read. And after, you might also go with this interview with Adam Curtis, Imagine a New Collectivism, which also covers hypernormalisation.

Witnessing large-scale systems slowly unravel in real time can be profoundly surreal and frightening. The hypernormalization framework offers a way to understand what we’re feeling and why. […]

People who feel the “wrongness” of current conditions acutely may be experiencing some depression and anxiety, but those feelings can be quite rational – not a symptom of poor mental health, alarmism or a lack of proper perspective, Hickman says. […]

“People don’t shut down because they don’t feel anything,” says Hickman. “They shut down because they feel too much.” […]

“It’s easy to feel like: ‘Oh, I’m in community because I’m on TikTok,’” she says. But genuine community is about “getting outside and talking to your neighbor and knowing that there’s someone out there that can help you if something really bad goes down,” she says.

China’s hundred lens war

I’m trying not to have four featured articles too often, but even though this one describes products for a long chunk of it, I still think it’s a good read to broaden our horizons about where innovation is happening, different markets, and yet more catching up (and passing) by China.

I’d like to draw your attention to this phrase: “Thanks to supply chains created for the Apple Vision Pro, the cost of producing these displays has dropped rapidly in China since 2023.” It’s another component of what is described in China’s overlapping tech-industrial ecosystems, where “EVs, batteries, lidar, drones, robotics, smartphones, AI … across a range of overlapping industries creates a mutually reinforcing feedback loop.”

Also, worth a share for the new-to-me term “Hundred Lens War,” and for prompting another viewing of Keiichi Matsuda’s brilliant Hyper-Reality from nine years ago.

§ The Magic of Code by Samuel Arbesman. I’m halfway through Sam’s new book, and thoroughly enjoying it. Instead of a potential longer take later on, I’m pointing you to it right now since it’s coming out this week and every pre-order and early order helps authors and publishers to feature on the algorithmic shelves. This blurb by Linda Liukas is on the money so I’m stealing it: “Expansive and absorbing, The Magic of Code reveals code as a universal force—swirling through disciplines, absorbing ideas, and connecting worlds. Arbesman helps us see that computation is far bigger and more unifying than we ever imagined.” Plus, I discovered the word philology, and Arbesman argues that “computation is the same kind of universal solvent, absorbing and melding with many other domains.” Our kind of thing, I’d say.

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Futures, Fictions & Fabulations

• Future of Air - Awareness Game “These critical designs aren't just speculative, they're meant to be a statement. A statement to resistance and an enabler for debates. The airpocalypse isn't a destination, we're breathing it in and this toolkit aims to make the invisible visible and to open up the conversation.” And Future awareness games.
• Global Foresight Network Initiative on foresight terminology, library of methods, and metrics. “A tool for the network and broader field to find common grounds on terms used in foresight. By common definitions, explanations, and examples, we can establish a productive and effective community of practice in Foresight and Anticipation.”

Algorithms, Automations & Augmentations

• Please allow me to stretch the length of this section, for once, to point to my own writing. I’m covering MUTEK’s AI Ecologies Lab, here’s part one on CLOT. The mid-project presentations were Friday, part two will be an overview of their progress.
• Vibe augmentation is a short piece I originally posted on LinkedIn and considered dropping at the end of this issue but ended up posting as a short article. I think it’s a good insight.
• I’m very happy to say that over the summer I’ll be working on a library of AI Imaginaries with some great partners. There’s slightly more detail over here.
• Inside Ukraine’s fiber-optic drone war. I had no idea!! “Ukrainian commander gives us new details on the advantages and limitations of using fiber optic cables to control FPV attack drones.”
• NAACP calls for emergency shutdown of Musk’s supercomputer in Memphis. “xAI has come under scrutiny in recent months for operating methane gas turbines at its Memphis facility to meet the electricity needs of the supercomputer Colossus. The turbines emit pollutants, including nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde, according to their manufacturer.”

Built, Biosphere & Breakthroughs

• Sea level rise will cause ‘catastrophic inland migration’, scientists warn. “The new analysis found that even if fossil fuel emissions were rapidly slashed to meet it, sea levels would be rising by 1cm a year by the end of the century, faster than the speed at which nations could build coastal defences.”
• New research from Gensler unveils the magnetic forces shaping cities — and why people choose to stay. “Drawing from the perspectives of more than 33,000 residents across 65 cities on six continents, the report introduces a compelling insight: the forces that attract people to cities — economic opportunity, safety, healthcare — often diverge from those that retain them. Long-term urban vitality depends not only on what a city offers, but how it makes people feel.”
• Scientists develop plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours. “A team of Japanese researchers has developed a plastic material that disappears in seawater within hours, leaving no harmful residues. Designed to be more environmentally friendly than traditional biodegradable plastics, it breaks down without leaving microplastic particles to pollute the world's oceans.”

Asides

• I looooove these! An astronaut finds symbiosis with nature in Agus Putu Suyadnya’s uncanny paintings. “Surrounded by verdant foliage and moss-covered roots that seem to glow with blue and green fuzz, a recurring astronaut figure approaches each scene with comfort and ease.”
• In a world first, Brazilians will soon be able to sell their digital data. “Brazil is piloting dWallet, a project that lets citizens earn money from their data. It is ahead of similar U.S.-based initiatives.”
• Astronomers discover strange new celestial object in our Milky Way galaxy. “This object could be a highly magnetized dead star like a neutron or white dwarf, Curtin University’s Ziteng Andy Wang said in an email from Australia. Or it could be ‘something exotic’ and unknown, said Wang, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.”