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@ James
2024-05-25 18:49:29There is a constituency of people completely unrepresented & unspoken for in Ireland today. Their existence is tenuous and fraught with uncertainty. They live on the edges, and garner little attention. They cannot sound their voices, raise their hands, or cast a vote. Few know about them, let alone give them more than a seconds thought. And yet, there is a community coalescing in Ireland who want to not only acknowledge them, but be their champions.
In recent years, technology has being painted in a bad light. Look to any mainstream media outlet and, after wading through the typical narratives of doom and gloom, find an article related to "Big Tech", burgeoning technologies like space-exploration and artificial intelligence (AI), or stagnant one's like nuclear energy. Invariably the tone will be cynical, the outlook bleak, and the fear levels? High. Undertones of fear based on ecological or climate change will invariably be deployed to argue why this or that technology must be regulated, reduced, or even stopped.
Many do not agree. Effective Accelerationism or "e/acc" has come about as a kind of rebuttal and refutation to the "Doomers" - as it's community like to call the detractors of everything from fusion energy to genetic modification. The movement was kindled by a quantum computing technologist, applied mathematician, and physicist - Guillaume Verdon, under the pseudonym "BasedBeffJezos" - a play on the name of tech billionaire Jeff Bezos and the online slang term based - a word used when you agree with something, or when you want to recognise someones genuineness and courage. Verdon found himself doxxed in the final weeks of 2023 - outed by a mainstream journalist ironically using voice-recognition software to publicly expose his identity without consent.
In a world where we are fed a constant stream of reasons to be hopeless, e/acc is a reason to be hopeful in this very moment. - Guillaume Verdon
Themes of growth and innovation, attitudes of optimism about the future, and pride in humanities' achievements permeate the community. Followers believe technology, growth, and indeed humans themselves are all good things - contrary to their polar opposites, the anarcho-primitivists, who advocate for de-growth, de-industrialisation, ending capitalism, and generally, a romantic return to the Stone Age. E/acc's ideology is clear; humans must harness more and more energy; explore space and colonise it; grow our population; and create artificial intelligence - all as soon as possible. Their motto, "Accelerate or Die" - suggests they have neither a proclivity for patience nor half-measures.
Éire Accelerationism a.k.a é/acc
É/acc is the Irish flavour of this international movement : Éire Accelerationism. Coined and founded by Irishman, Will O'Brien, the group has gained a following off all-sorts who have one belief in common - Ireland can do a lot better, needs higher ambition & radical new ideas, and must execute them quickly to succeed and prosper in the coming two centuries. The Irish group's views on AI are more varied and perhaps less radical than their North American counterparts, and it's clear that their main focus is on the danger of low ambition for Ireland. Just as previous generations broke consensus ideas about corporation tax, an innovation which brought magnificent wealth to the state and it's people, we must do similar, in a multitude of ways. At the groups first get-together hosted by Dogpatch Labs in early May, everything from housing policy to flying cars were on the table.
O'Brien sees é/acc as an idea machine, a concept described by Nadia Asparouhova in her eponymous blog post, as a "self-sustaining organism that contains all the parts needed to turn ideas into outcomes". The community forms around a distinct ideology and members start spit-balling ideas between themselves. After some time, the group agrees upon an agenda, which defines exactly how the idea will be brought to life. Funders then assume the crucial role of giving capital ; financial, skills, connections, expertise, to transform the idea into reality.
Feck The Begrudgers
It could be argued that é/acc has, at least partly, been formed as a two-fingers to the age-old Irish phenomenon of the "begrudgers" ; those who resent and criticise others who are successful, known elsewhere as "Tall Poppy Syndrome". Indeed, O'Brien mentioned this in a recent interview he gave. Many people in Ireland, particularly the young, keep their heads down, do not share their dreams or successes publicly, and shrink their ambitions - all classic signs that they are victims of begrudgery. This endemic mind-virus, rife in Ireland, needs to be purged and thankfully many people like O'Brien are highlighting it's limiting, toxic, and pervasive nature. For this alone, é/acc is a breath of fresh air, offering an antidote to a dreary self-limiting mindset.
A Bright Future
It will be interesting to see what's next for the movement. Eventually, it will need to organise politically in order to get some things done, and that may be it's first opportunity in change-making. In an Irish political landscape plagued by unaccountable career politicians failing upwards and right to the top, nepo-politicians (see nepo-babies), revolving doors, and widespread incompetence, the movement's founding innovation could be to design a political party and environment where such issues cannot take root, much less thrive and deteriorate, as has been the case within the established civil war parties in Ireland.
It's early days and it is unclear how exactly é/acc will execute its ideas, but the atmosphere is optimistic and filled with both determination and enthusiasm.
The constituency é/acc represents? The grandparents in rural Mayo who see their grand-children living on the opposite side of the country every other evening - possible only as they fly for 15 minutes in their EitilCarr © (the world-leading Irish flying-car manufacturer). The 135-year-old triathlete looking forward to her next race - thanks to the incredible modern medicine discovered and implemented in Ireland. The couple who just bought a beautiful 3-bed home that cost only a quarter of their annual income - thanks to the innovations in construction, planning, NIMBY pacification, and design of housing in Ireland.
If our future descendants could reach back to us now, what would they ask us to do? É/acc is wondering the same thing.
References / Resources
What the f--k is eacc https://effectiveaccelerationism.substack.com/p/what-the-f-is-eacc
Idea machines https://nadia.xyz/idea-machines