"Take a moment to think about what the world must have looked like to J.P. Morgan a century ago, before his death in 1913. A shrewd investor in emerging technologies like railroads, automobiles, and electricity, he was also an early adopter, installing one of the first electric generators in his house. Today, we might call him a Techno-Optimist. He could scarcely imagine the dark days ahead: two world wars, the Great Depression, genocides, the rise of fascism and communism, and a decades-long Cold War."
"Today, we are at a similar juncture, and there are worrying parallels to the 1920s, including paradigm-shifting technologies, a revolt against immigration, globalism, income inequality, and even a global pandemic. Now, like then, the choices we make will shape our future for decades to come. We need those who create the future to be rooted in the world we live in. They're not."
J.P. Morgan exemplified early techno-optimism, investing in railroads, automobiles, and electricity and installing an electric generator in his home. The twentieth century produced two world wars, the Great Depression, genocides, fascism, communism, and a decades-long Cold War. Contemporary conditions show parallels to the 1920s: paradigm-shifting technologies, backlash against immigration and globalism, rising income inequality, and a global pandemic. Present-day choices will influence society for decades. Many technologists and intellectuals are insufficiently grounded in lived social realities. In the 1920s, Berlin and Vienna thinkers adopted an engineering mindset and logical positivism, guided by Wittgenstein and the verification principle.
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