Ah the old Atlas Shrugged fallacy of the single brilliant entrepreneur inventor. The idea that some inventor sits in a lab and comes up with some new idea totally detached from other invention. It's a complete myth and is as detached from reality as much as everything else Rand wrote about.
Innovation builds on innovation, and builds on the work of countless other people. In this example here, Musk is able to do what he does in space only because of the hundreds of billions spent by multiple governments on space exploration and other related technologies.
Not to mention Musk can only put things into space that generate ROI. None of it advances human knowledge or allows us to significantly expand our technological capabilities. The capitalist economies all pretty much abandoning government support for innovation and handing it off to the private sector is why I genuinely think we're moving backwards when it comes to tech and innovation.
💯 on the innovation stuff. I think the current stage of capitalism and VC funding has heightened this. Large corporations are often effectively outsourcing R&D to startups who exist solely to be acquired - not to actually become viable businesses in themselves. In turn it incentivises short term thinking for innovation, as startups have to move quickly to gain and keep funding, producing snake oil to keep the gravy train going. Of course there are exceptions to this, but it seems like a growing trend - larger companies externalising risk and costs from their bottom line, and getting a PR splash when they buy a “hot” startup.
Ah the old Atlas Shrugged fallacy of the single brilliant entrepreneur inventor. The idea that some inventor sits in a lab and comes up with some new idea totally detached from other invention. It's a complete myth and is as detached from reality as much as everything else Rand wrote about.
Innovation builds on innovation, and builds on the work of countless other people. In this example here, Musk is able to do what he does in space only because of the hundreds of billions spent by multiple governments on space exploration and other related technologies.
Not to mention Musk can only put things into space that generate ROI. None of it advances human knowledge or allows us to significantly expand our technological capabilities. The capitalist economies all pretty much abandoning government support for innovation and handing it off to the private sector is why I genuinely think we're moving backwards when it comes to tech and innovation.
This idea is so fucking pervasive in tech bro circles
Pain
deleted by creator
IN A CAVE
WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS
Well said.
💯 on the innovation stuff. I think the current stage of capitalism and VC funding has heightened this. Large corporations are often effectively outsourcing R&D to startups who exist solely to be acquired - not to actually become viable businesses in themselves. In turn it incentivises short term thinking for innovation, as startups have to move quickly to gain and keep funding, producing snake oil to keep the gravy train going. Of course there are exceptions to this, but it seems like a growing trend - larger companies externalising risk and costs from their bottom line, and getting a PR splash when they buy a “hot” startup.