Venue: Lecture Hall Complex, Radboud University
This programme is in Dutch.
What do the most powerful people in Silicon Valley actually believe? Tech-billionaires like Elon Musk, Marc Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel and Tim Cook are working hard to create their ideal world. They have their own specific philosophy, influenced by Science Fiction and historical thinkers like Nietzsche and Ayn Rand. What is this philosophy? Can we afford not to take it seriously? And should we worry about it influencing our own lives? Come and learn from philosopher Carmen Dege and political scientist Gustav Meibauer about the philosophers that inspire the world’s most powerful people.
Babies and frozen bodies
Over the past 10 years, a very specific New Right culture has emerged in Silicon Valley, centered on techno-optimism and ideas about immortality and the survival of humankind. Tesla-CEO Elon Musk, for example, is busy siring as many children as possible to protect the world from future underpopulation. And Palantir Technologies founder Peter Thiel intends to have his body frozen upon his death in order to be revived when technology makes this possible. These ideas did not come out of nowhere: many philosophical works, such as those by Nietzsche and Ayn Rand, circulate in Silicon Valley. What are these philosophical ideas that influence the world’s most powerful people and how are they interpreted?
Dystopian
Many of the ideas that circulate in Silicon Valley seem so absurd and dystopian to most of us that it’s hard to take them seriously. However, some of the people who believe in them are the heads of companies like Google, Apple, Meta and X. They are pouring all their money into exploring new technologies in line with their philosophy. How big is their influence? Would we better understand what kind of world these powerful men are creating if we look at the philosophical works that have inspired them?
Philosopher Carmen Dege and political scientist Gustav Meibauer take us on a journey into the minds of the people who shape our technologies. What is the philosophy that drives them? Come listen and ask your questions.
This programme is in English.
About the speakers
Carmen Dege is a philosopher at Radboud University. Her research focusses on the role of myth, ignorance and opacity in the face of humanity’s inability to act despite the overwhelming scientific evidence about human-caused climate change. She is currently the project manager of a one-year NWO grant (OC-XS) on myth and the New Right in Silicon Valley.
Gustav Meibauer is a political scientist at Radboud University. He has research interests in foreign policy analysis, security studies and international relations theory. His research focuses on muddled state behavior, decision-making and the political dynamics of foreign policy choice, especially with regards to tools such as no-fly zones and buffer zones.
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