Survival of the richest : escape fantasies of the tech billionaires / Douglas Rushkoff.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rushkoff, Douglas, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Technology and civilization--Moral and ethical aspects.

Technology and civilization.

Survivalism--Moral and ethical aspects.

Survivalism.

Billionaires--Conduct of life.

Billionaires.

Physical Description:

212 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., [2022]

Summary:

"The tech elite have a plan to survive the apocalypse: they want to leave us all behind. Five mysterious billionaires summoned theorist Douglas Rushkoff to a desert resort for a private talk. The topic? How to survive the "Event": the societal catastrophe they know is coming. Rushkoff came to understand that these men were under the influence of The Mindset, a Silicon Valley-style certainty that they and their cohort can break the laws of physics, economics, and morality to escape a disaster of their own making-as long as they have enough money and the right technology. In Survival of the Richest, Rushkoff traces the origins of The Mindset in science and technology through its current expression in missions to Mars, island bunkers, AI futurism, and the metaverse. In a dozen urgent, electrifying chapters, he confronts tech utopianism, the datafication of all human interaction, and the exploitation of that data by corporations. Through fascinating characters-master programmers who want to remake the world from scratch as if redesigning a video game and bankers who return from Burning Man convinced that incentivized capitalism is the solution to environmental disasters-Rushkoff explains why those with the most power to change our current trajectory have no interest in doing so. And he shows how recent forms of anti-mainstream rebellion-QAnon, for example, or meme stocks-reinforce the same destructive order. This mind-blowing work of social analysis shows us how to transcend the landscape The Mindset created-a world alive with algorithms and intelligences actively rewarding our most selfish tendencies-and rediscover community, mutual aid, and human interdependency. In a thundering conclusion, Survival of the Richest argues that the only way to survive the coming catastrophe is to ensure it doesn't happen in the first place"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Meet The Mindset

The insulation equation: Billionaire bunker strategies

Merger and acquisitions: Always have an exit strategy

A womb with a view: You are safe in your techno-bubble

The dumbwaiter effect: Out of sight, out of mind

Selfish genes: Scientism over morality

Pedal to the metal: Dehumanize, dominate, and extract

Exponential: When you can go no further, go Meta

Persuasive tech: If you could just push a button

Visions from Burning Man: We are as gods

The great reset: To save the world, save capitalism

The mindset in the mirror: Resistance is futile

Cybernetic karma: Hoisted by their own petard

Pattern recognition: Everything comes back.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9780393881066

0393881067

OCLC:

1337584024