A New Yorker piece this week tells the story of a former coder in the CIA named Joshua Schulte who allegedly gave away state secrets to WikiLeaks in “the single largest leak of classified information in the agency’s history.”
That’s enough of a story on its own but the author decided to go on to make a much broader generalization about a group of people he likens to Schulte.
“We live in an era that has been profoundly warped by the headstrong impulses of men who are technically sophisticated but emotionally immature,” Patrick Radden Keefe writes, of Schulte, but also of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and others. “A particular personality profile dominates these times: the boy emperor.”
I don’t know Musk or Zuckerberg but I recognize what Keefe is doing here. He’s repeating a stereotype of the characteristics of the geeks who have been at the center of the technological tsunami that has transformed our age.
I’m not going to challenge that stereotype today because there is a certain degree of truth to it, as there is with most stereotypes. But it is a fairly simplistic and convenient way to explain away the gigantic social, economic and political changes we are all coping with.
It’s quite easy to blame coders en masse for this unless you happen to know a bunch of them. Then it becomes a bit more complicated. I grant that many people who love to write code often focus more on that than on developing their social skills or their emotional intelligence.
Then again, coders rarely end up as the people who run things, either. Instead, most of the people in charge of the giant tech giant corporations Keefe is concerned about are businessmen (very few women) who specialize in making money, marketing expensive products, creating monopolies and financing political initiatives and candidates who further their business interests.
Meanwhile, I’ve known plenty of coders who strike me more like novelists, poets or artists than “boy emperors.” They love what they do and they are good at it. And plenty of them are idealistic too, which is why we have had such a powerful open-source movement and currently are seeing so much new energy devoted to what is called Web.3.
A lot of them are as devoted to making the world a better place as any other subgroup of society.
I’m certainly not defending Musk or Zuckerberg here, both of whom strike me as good examples of “boy emperors,” although one can argue that their main creations — Facebook, Testa and SpaceX — are doing at least as much good for people as harm. But I am always concerned when a writer in a major magazine paints an entire community of people with one pejorative brush.
It reminds me of what some have said about other groups — women, racial and sexual minorities, the elderly and on and on. Stereotypes may be useful to a point until they lead to blame for what is messed up about society and then they start doing real harm to our collective understanding of how the world actually works.
For that we would need to take a much deeper look than blaming the geeks.
TODAY’s LINKS (6/7/22 — 41 stories from 24 sources)
A tough-on-crime DA doesn’t translate to lower crime rates — New study compares SF, Sacramento—and finds that a more progressive approach to criminal justice is associated with lower crime rates. (48 Hills)
California is about to experience a political earthquake. Here's why (CNN)
The Limits of San Francisco’s Liberalism — If Boudin loses, the criminal-justice-reform movement in San Francisco and across America could be dealt a grievous blow, at least in the short term. (New York)
Backers of the campaign to recall Boudin have raised more than twice the funds of his supporters (SFC)
A liberal D.A. finds voters’ moods have changed even in San Francisco (WP)
In San Francisco, Democrats Are at War With Themselves Over Crime — Fueled by concerns about burglaries and hate crimes, San Francisco’s liberal district attorney, Chesa Boudin, faces a divisive recall in a famously progressive city. (NYT)
How a billionaire mall magnate pulled ahead in the Los Angeles mayoral race (Politico)
California primaries offer key tests for both parties (Politico)
The Surreal Case of a C.I.A. Hacker’s Revenge (New Yorker)
Biden announces new executive actions to spur domestic solar, clean energy development (CNN)
At least 12 dead in another weekend of mass shootings across America (NBC)
Gun violence continued to plague the U.S. over the weekend, with shootings in eight states piling onto a heartbreaking toll that includes Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, three people were shot dead and 14 others were injured by gunfire or being run over by vehicles. In Philadelphia, multiple shooters opened fire in a crowded nightlife district, killing three and wounding at least 11. [NPR]
After weekend of gun violence, expert says there is "disconnect" between public's demand for action and what policymakers will do (CBS)
Senators say gun deal is within reach, but without Biden’s wish list (WP)
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who has been leading bipartisan talks in the Senate on gun control legislation, said more Republicans are at the table working toward changing gun laws and investing in mental health than “at any time since Sandy Hook.” [HuffPost]
A Chilling Assassination in Wisconsin — Could the killing of a retired judge in Wisconsin signal more attacks to come? (Atlantic)
Struggling in Ukraine’s East, Russian Forces Strike in Kyiv (NYT)
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new warning to the West against sending longer-range rocket systems to Ukraine came as his forces claimed to have destroyed Western military supplies in their first such airstrikes on Kyiv in more than a month. The attack showed that Russia still had the capability and willingness to hit at Ukraine’s heart, despite refocusing its efforts to capture territory in the east. [AP]
Ukraine in ‘very difficult’ fight after Russia’s Donbas advance, says top security official (Financial Times)
Intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces raged in the streets of the industrial city of Sievierodonetskin a pivotal battle for advantage in eastern Ukraine, the provincial governor said. (Reuters)
Russia Seeks Buyers for Plundered Ukraine Grain, U.S. Warns (NYT)
Why US gas prices are at a record, and why they'll stay high for a long time (CNN)
The U.S. has wasted over 82 million Covid vaccine doses (NBC)
How long covid could change the way we think about disability (WP)
Conservative attorney George Conway accused former President Donald Trump of leading a “multifaceted criminal conspiracy” aimed at shutting down a legitimate election and overthrowing democracy. [HuffPost]
Republican Representative Liz Cheney warned that the nation's democratic system is threatened by ongoing efforts to deny the legitimacy of Trump's 2020 election loss. "People must pay attention. People must watch, and they must understand how easily our democratic system can unravel if we don't defend it," Cheney said. (Reuters)
Google Is Liable for Defamatory Videos Targeting Lawmaker, Australian Court Rules (WSJ)
Bonn climate conference: World is "cooked" if we carry on with coal, US says (BBC)
‘I’m living in the bubble’: the man who helped bring Nixon down, 50 years on (Guardian)
Nixon’s Plan to Threaten the CIA on JFK’s Assassination (Politico)
After more than 23 years, the victim of a 1999 Yolo County murder was identified using genetic genealogy (Sacramento Bee)
USS Monitor, Civil War ship sunk off North Carolina, is in "astounding condition after being on the seafloor for 160 years," experts say (CBS)
Draymond Green is the engine of this Warriors team (ESPN)
Fears for safety of British journalist missing in Brazilian Amazon (Guardian)
More than 20 amino acids found in samples from Ryugu asteroid (NHK)
Unclear Whether Grandpa Having Good Time (The Onion)
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