someone who shared their interest in “embracing variance” and “increasing interestingness.” And the truth is, they’re right. As you’ll see, I don’t agree with everything Silicon Valley does. But I do agree with 80 or 90 percent of it. I say that because I tested myself. Andreessen’s “Techno-Optimist Manifesto” includes 108 statements that assert beliefs that Techno-Optimists hold, such as “Techno-Optimists believe that societies, like sharks, grow or die.” I went through each statement and marked down whether I mostly agreed or mostly disagreed with it. On balance, I agreed with 84 percent of
...more
