> It just needs one player to do it, so everyone has to be able to do it. I'd love to hear a different scenario.
Other players just need to assume that one player might do it in the future. This virtual future scenario has a causal effect on the now. The overall dynamic is that of an arms race (which radically changes what a player is).
I think assuming human agency (building technocapitalism, correcting course) or the possibility to escape capitalism and its consequences (in bunkers), underestimates what capitalism is.
Mark Fisher is excellent. It will be interesting to see if his claim that the human face is required for capitalism's functioning will hold (does not look like it).
Exactly. He recently said the following in an interview:
"AI safety and anti-capitalism [...] are at least strongly analogous, if not exactly the same thing." [0]
[0] Nick Land (2026). A Conversation with Nick Land (Part 2) by Vincent Lê in Architechtonics Substack. Retrieved from vincentl3.substack.com/p/a-conversation-with-nick-land-part-a4f
Nick Land is arguably the most influential philosopher in SV (at least over the past 3 years). Marc Andreessen's acknowledgment of Land in his 2023 The Techno-Optimist Manifesto has brought his underground influence more to the surface.
Land's explicit anti-humanism can be repulsive to some on first encounter, but some of his ideas -- e.g. about the identity of capitalism and AI, the autonomization of capital, the technological singularity as capitalism's inherent teleology -- are interesting and can provide a very unique perspective.
It's also important to note that he tends to resonate more with creative types. Historically, these were mostly artists. Today, they are also founders (who are psychometrically similar to artists at the population level).
Great article. Have read it multiple times over the years. The predictive power of Accelerationism is perhaps even more evident now than it was in 2017.
I have always been fascinated by this interpretation (that capitalism is (retrochronic) AI), which is why I have created a research project on it: https://retrochronic.com
Other players just need to assume that one player might do it in the future. This virtual future scenario has a causal effect on the now. The overall dynamic is that of an arms race (which radically changes what a player is).
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