Jaron Lanier

The people who describe themselves as transhumanists in Silicon Valley and think that humanity's about to end still have children of their own and go about their days. So it's not real; it's sort of a theatre. So you might say,'Well, why not just enjoy it as theatre, then? Why not just accept it as a sort of weird science-fiction kind of performance art?' And it can be that. But the problem with it is that it serves as a sort of way of framing less extreme things that are happening, which are actually destroying people's lives more slowly. Show less «

The problem is not that the big computer will kill everybody. The real problem is that all the wealth will end up with the people who own the biggest computers. That's the trend we've moving towards. So the problem is not mass genocide, even though if you take them at their word, it seems to be what they're saying. The real problem is mass poverty. Show less «