I hold a lot of hope for innovation, for science, for technology.
I hope that novel energy sources will be discovered that curb, if not reverse, global warming.
I hope that scientists will find ways to halt the rising sea levels and increasingly destructive weather patterns
I hope that there'll be ways and means for people sweltering to death in equatorial countries to survive, maybe even by staying in place rather than fleeing to cooler (at least relatively) climes.
I hope that there's a cure for Alzheimer's.
I hope that there are cures for more/all cancers.
I hope that there's a cure for ALS, for Parkisons, and all the other horrific neuro disorders.
I hope that those paralyzed with spinal cord disorders will walk. That the deaf will hear. That the blind will see. That the autistic will communicate. And if none of that works out, I hope that there'll be continued enhancements in assistive technologies.
I hope that millions of people don't die in the next pandemic.
I hope that there's food, housing, healthcare, security, and some modicum of joy and purpose for all of earth's people.
Etc.
There's so much that innovators, scientists, and technologists could do to promote the common good. Of could do if so many of them weren't focused on using AI to replace all the world's workers; on coming up with more ways to use data to spy on people; on more hare-brained (apologies to hares everywhere) crypto schemes aimed at turning the few into billionaires at the expense of the many suckered-in investors; on more sophisticated, more realistic gaming so that young folks can even better squander their lives manning a joystick; on enabling down to the split-second betting; on holograms substituting for living, breathing companions.
Etc.
But the big geniuses out there, for the most part, just seem hellbent on unleashing innovation, science, and technology for whatever pops into their genius minds, as long as it enriches them beyond all possible imagining.
The latest genius bro I've read about is James Ingallinera.
Ingallinera's big genius idea is a startup called Frontier Valley.
In a promotional video published this week, Ingallinera explains the company’s vision: Building a “Manhattan Project of our time,” dedicated to bleeding-edge tech development in a regulation-free environment...
Ingallinera claims Frontier Valley will be a “wholly new, self-contained Silicon Valley 2.0” that is governed and regulated by the tech companies and leaders operating there, beyond the jurisdiction of state and city governments. (Source: Inc)
Ingallinera envisions a town of 10,000 - bro geniuses and, I'm guessing, their dependents - who'll live, breathe, and genius around in what was once Alamdea Point, home of a defunct Naval Air Station.
It almost goes without saying that AI and crypto factor heavily in this scheme, which will focus on national security related tech so that the US doesn't lose its position as the world's greatest superpower to China. Note to Ingallinera: Trump is doing a prety damn good job of crumbling US superpower status.
Not that he'd agree with my assessment of Trump, as it almost goes without saying that Ingallinera is a big Trump guy. In his promo video:
Against a dramatic soundtrack, Ingallinera frames the stakes as life or death. “If we wake up and get our act together and nail this critical window of human history, we will solve the vast majority of today’s problems like that,” he says, snapping his fingers to demonstrate the simplicity of all this problem-solving...
Ingallinera claims that impediments such as “bureaucracy, regulations, and stupid culture wars,” won’t exist at Frontier Valley. Rather, he proclaims, the project will enable “all humans globally to transition to a post-scarcity world that truly liberates rather than subjugates humanity.”
Hmmm. I'd like to know how crypto and AI are going to solve "the vast majority of today's problems," at least the problems that most people care about, the ones that most likely impact their lives. And please do let us know how we're going to be truly liberated by Frontier Valley.
I guess those details are for later, not now. For now we have to settle for this gleaming future:
The project will incubate “1,000 Elons” and “1,000 SpaceX’s,” the CEO says.
Note to Ingallinera: Elon is a ketamine-addicted insanely destructive megalomaniac who believes that empathy is suicidal. And last time I looked, SpaceX's are blowing up on the launching pad. Swell.
Meanwhile, Ingallinera wants his idols - Trump and Vance - to declare a national security emergency around AI development. I'd be all in favor of declaring a national security emergency around AI. Just not one run by these guys. I'd be fine with one that focused on using AI to improve lives, not destroy them. One that took into consideration that AI engines are sucking down way, way, way too much energy to provide misinformation and enable split-second gambling.
I suspect that nothing will come of Ingellinera's big idea. Let's hope so, anyway.
Let's hope it doesn't even get as far as Frontier Valley (pictured above), a cheeseball amusement park that flourished in the late 1950s in Dennis on Cape Cod. This was the era of all sorts of cheeseball themed amusement parks, many of them Western-themed back in the day when half the shows on TV were Westerns. There was one outside of Chicago that we went to with our Dineen cousins on one of our biennial visits to family.
Cowboys! Stagecoaches! Fake wooden storefronts! I was, of course, enthralled. A lot more enthralled than I am by the prospect of James Ingalinera's Frontier Valley.
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