One can only imagine the late Iain Banks‘ horror upon learning that his iconic Culture series is a favorite of Elon Musk. The Scottish author, known for being an outspoken socialist, could never comprehend why right-wing fans enjoyed novels that clearly opposed their worldview.
Nevertheless, Musk, whose Neuralink company draws inspiration from Banks’s concept of „neural lace,“ remains undeterred. The SpaceX barges used to land booster rockets are all named after spaceships from the Culture books.
Musk’s entire career seems to be rooted in replicating sci-fi novels. His ambition to colonize Mars was sparked by Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels, while the design of Tesla’s Cybertruck is reminiscent of something out of „Bladerunner.“ Even Musk’s AI tool, Grok, is named after a Martian word from Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land.
Mark Zuckerberg has also embraced sci-fi, renaming his company and investing heavily in the „metaverse,“ a concept introduced in Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash. The influence of sci-fi on tech moguls goes beyond just product design, shaping their views on society and politics.
The dominant sci-fi genre of the ’80s and ’90s, Cyberpunk, has especially influenced today’s tech leaders. Philip K Dick’s stories, fueled by paranoia, have left a lasting impact on modern culture, inspiring works like The Matrix.
The tech leaders‘ obsession with creating escape routes from dystopian futures risks actually creating the very dystopias they fear. The inversion of meaning in sci-fi, such as the projection of blame onto the masses for creating dystopias, is a common theme.
In their efforts to prevent dystopian outcomes, tech leaders like Thiel and Musk may unintentionally exacerbate the very problems they seek to avoid. Thiel’s companies named after Lord of the Rings artifacts and Musk’s association with individuals linked to far-right ideologies further blur the lines between tech-utopianism and racial obsessions.
Ultimately, the actions of these tech leaders, driven by a fear of being overrun, may lead to the realization of the dystopias they fear most. Es ist benannt nach dem mächtigen Sehstein, der von Saruman und Sauron verwendet wurde, um die Welt zu kontrollieren. Thiel ist offensichtlich ein Lord of the Rings Besessener – das Problem ist, es ist nicht ganz klar, auf welcher Seite er gewinnen wollte.
Sam Freedman schreibt über Politik auf samf.substack.com