Tea Party of the Spirit

Last week the Economist ran an article about the continued ratcheting up of the war for the very top tier of technical talent, the hunt for the Jeff Deans of the world (Google him and read up). The ever higher dollar figures attached to technical talent has in turned fuelled the messianic but likely ill-founded self-belief of many of these profoundly-talented people. Looking back over the blog I see that I had thought of and alluded to the quote below a couple of times in recent months, so here it is in full. If you are in a hurry, skip to the second paragraph (which I myself have taken the liberty of separating off).

One time in Holland when the market was rather dull for spices the merchants had several cargoes dumped into the sea to peg up prices. This was a pardonable, perhaps a necessary device for deluding people. Is it something like that we need now in the world of spirit? Are we so thoroughly convinced that we have attained the highest point that there is nothing left for us but to make ourselves believe piously that we have not got so far-just for the sake of having something left to occupy our time? Is it such a self- deception the present generation has need of, does it need to be trained to virtuosity in self-deception, or is it not rather sufficiently perfected already in the art of deceiving itself? Or rather is not the thing most needed an honest seriousness which dauntlessly and incorruptibly points to the tasks, an honest seriousness which lovingly watches over the tasks, which does not frighten men into being over hasty in getting the highest tasks accomplished, but keeps the tasks young and beautiful and charming to look upon and yet difficult withal and appealing to noble minds. For the enthusiasm of noble natures is aroused only by difficulties. 

Whatever one generation may learn from the other, that which is genuinely human no generation learns from the foregoing. In this respect every generation begins primitively, has no different task from that of every previous generation, nor does it get further, except in so far as the preceding generation shirked its task and deluded itself. This authentically human factor is passion, which also the one generation perfectly understands the other and understands itself. Thus no generaton has learned from another to love, no generation begins at any other point than at the beginning, no generation has a shorter task assigned to it than had the preceding generation, and if here one is not willing like the previous generations to stop with love but would go further, this is but idle and foolish talk.

Soren Kierkegaarde, Fear and Trembling, tr. Walter Lowrie 1941

Kierkegaarde writes of "generations," but what he says applies to individuals as well. The monumental arrogance of thinking that young tech gazillionnaires could, by virtue of reading Peter Singer and talking late into the night about it, figure out the optimal scheme for distibuting their wealth through "effective altruism" is ultimately ill-founded. Likewise Elon Musk's at once messianic and onanistic idea that he should aggregate untold riches with the goal of getting to Mars in case mankind can't figure out how to save itself. If mankind can't work together to save itself we all deserve to die. The earth will soldier on in our absence, largely indifferent to our momentary (from its perspective) presence. 

Technical, commercial and spiritual genius rarely coincide perfectly, and even more rarely in an individual's life. Bill Gates passed along a bumpy road of bare-nuckled capitalism and sexual poor judgment (to be gentle about it) to get to where he is today, and he hasn't fully nailed philanthropy, as MacKenzie Scott's challenge to his model (and Melinda Gates tacit acceptance thereof) has made clear. Gates should certainly be given lots of credit for his level of seriousness, effort, and recognition of the genius of others as he tries to give his money away.