George Gilder is one of the leading visionaries in the realm of technological changes and economics. In the interview below, conducted by the Hoover Institution at Stanford, we hear his latest thoughts on the “deterministic model of AI” current in Silicone Valley and driving the business model of Google. Which, he says, is cruisin for a bruisin because blockchain technology is emerging to form a whole new basis for the internet.
He also talks about Learning in eye-opening ways.
And he points to Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems as showing that there is no such thing as the ultimate state of technology or “system of the world”. He also refers to an anecdote of Einstein and Gödel walking in the woods near Princeton, discussing the implications of there always being another “system” encompassing the system we know, and live inside. Needless to say, that must have been a profound discussion to listen in on.
Which reminds one of what McLuhan said about new forms of media and perception encompassing the previous forms. McLuhan said we don’t perceive the system we are in, but it reveals to us the previous dominant system. It also reminds one of the ideas of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who posited humanity had created a “Noosphere” of communication that encompassed all previous civilization and put in it a new dynamic context. Perhaps Gilder’s ideas are close to not only Gödel, but also McLuhan and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
So we might ask would Blockchain reveal the system that preceded it to our perception? That might be a thought to pursue, but as Gilder discusses Blockchain in the interview below, one is challenged to imagine the changes he foresees through the “new system”.
The topic of Blockchain as the next great thing for learning is also explored by Eliot Massie, as part of his upcoming huge Ed Tech conference, and in special explorative projects of how Blockchain can enable learning tech. (See following post).