Going Infinite Reflection: A Silicon Valley Generation Whose Ambition Atrophied
Graham_dePenros · x · 2026-11-14
A cultural critique sparked by Michael Lewis's Going Infinite (the SBF saga):
- Among post-1999 elites, "hope" has shrunk to trading stocks or predicting ad clicks; engineers and finance professionals increasingly chase returns and valuations over changing the world.
- Effective altruism, championed by Will MacAskill, promised to direct top talent at humanity's biggest problems—but its tie to chief patron Sam Bankman-Fried exposed how altruistic language coexists with extraordinary self-interest.
- Google's Project Maven backlash (thousands of employee objections) is read as both legitimate questioning and evidence of Silicon Valley's reluctance to engage with national-security responsibility.
- Conclusion: a whole generation of capable people has been encouraged to shrink its ambitions—thinking less about changing the world and more about getting wealthy by almost any means.
More from AGI Musings
- A rare German film asks what home care looks like once a humanoid robot moves in — CyberRobooo · 2026-11-14
- Interconnects: Jensen's resignation is a major setback for US open-model ecosystem — Interconnects (Nathan Lambert) · 2026-11-14
- AGI endgame: either a balanced multipolar world or a centralized panopticon — CedricMakes · 2026-11-14
- "60% of people around you have some form of AI psychosis," says Alsop III — StewartalsopIII · 2026-11-14
- AI won't make everyone equal—it will split the smart from the rest worse than money — prasenx · 2026-11-14
- Toddlers learn new verbs only from responsive partners; a call to rerun the test with AI — AnnaCiaunica · 2026-11-14