2. Claim that the technology to make it possible is just around the corner
Martian cities, maglev vactrains, superfast tunneling machines, cures for aging, and of course, flying cars. These just-around-the-corner stories, often credulously reported by journalists who should know better, are framed as serious proposals and announcements of major technological breakthroughs, but when you dig into the claims, there is almost invariably nothing of substance, just images and tropes from old sci-fi magazines and shows and comic books.
Almost all of these ideas are at least pushing fifty with some well over a hundred. The explanations of the advances that will make these wonders possible are never convincing and more often than not, simply expose the visionary's weak grasp of the problem. Musk and his acolytes (of whom Neuralink's Hodak is very much a member) may be the most visible propagators, but this phenomena is a defining trait of Silicon Valley/VC culture and has been for at least a decade.
With that in mind, you might even argue that Elon and company are performing a public service. Hodak's tweet or his boss's latest about impossible timelines for landing on Mars really aren't that much sillier the typical article on biohacking, but these tweets are so naked in their lack of seriousness that we should be safe from anyone actually believing them (we aren't but we should be).
we could probably build jurassic park if we wanted to. wouldn’t be genetically authentic dinosaurs but 🤷♂️. maybe 15 years of breeding + engineering to get super exotic novel species
— Max Hodak (@max_hodak) April 4, 2021
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