> The geeks were denied the power to keep implementing more powerful tech and nuclear powered rockets and airplane research were shut down. Denied working with real world, geeks turned to computers and no one cared. How could one do anything scary with pure calculations?
Hah! Still, I don't think this is a total loss. Sure, we use computers for a lot of dumb stuff, but we also use them to cure cancer, control rockets, design airplanes, find our way when we get lost, produce art, and distribute information. And there was so much low-hanging fruit in computing that this focused effort let to outsized economic growth and basically brain-drained the entire rest of our society.
> Our philosophy on power generation in the "tech capital of the world" is that we should do less of it, not more. Cheap power is a negative thing. It takes a strong sense of purpose to invest large amounts of money into a project that your peer group is going to say is a bad thing.
> As the boomers fade from power, I see some hope of humanity too gain back some of its dreams for a better future using more powerful tools but with more balance on keeping things good for humans. Elon Musk is a good example for a third way, I hope.
It's not entirely clear that this cynicism will die with the baby boomers. They've had decades to instill and pass down their pessimistic attitudes while the hope and enthusiasm that took us to the Moon gradually passed from cultural memory. Even now, the most audacious project that the average millennial can think of is a "Universal Basic Income" so he gets a lifelong stipend to sit at home playing video games.
Musk is a good example of a way forward, but if anything, his story proves my point. Musk is an optimist and someone who actually believes in the American Dream, and it's no coincidence that he's also an immigrant. Optimism and ambition used to be the defining qualities of this country. Someone who believes in them strongly enough to come here usually believes in them more strongly than most of us who were born here. (Probably a corollary to the old observation that recent converts to a religion are more obnoxiously pious than those born in it!)
But America still has enough optimists, and if there ever is a small-scale fusion reactor design that gets proven feasible, it's a lot easier to convince the last surviving well-funded ambitious optimists than to convince the greater public. And if we the West doesn't make it out of this hole, there are still other hungry up-and-coming civilizations out there in the world who will get around to it in due time themselves.