I’m trying to finish up my posts on the darkness in the world and transition to writing more about retrocomputing projects. Also, in a few weeks I should have something fun to announce related to KaiOS. But there’s one last core of darkness that damaged me the most, and that is sociopathy in Silicon Valley.
I had such a violently negative reaction to Elon Musk’s Twitter a few weeks ago when I realized that Musk’s worldview and ideology is literally Nazism. But it’s not just that he’s a Nazi. He’s also one of the most visible sociopaths in the tech industry, and yet his millions of sycophants, and even many of his enemies, don’t see the shallow emotions, the constant boredom and craving for stimulation, and the “pity party” that he throws for himself when anything goes wrong (that’s the #1 tip-off that you’re dealing with a sociopath, says psychologist Martha Stout).
Who else gives off major sociopath vibes? Bill Gates is probably the most famous. People have attached all sorts of unlikely conspiracy theories to Gates because he’s so completely off-putting in his lack of a “normal” conscience, even when being interviewed and on his best behavior. His decades-long drive to monopolize the software industry was never softened by any consideration of anyone else’s feelings about the harm he was causing them, or the industry.
Steve Jobs strikes me as a classic narcissist, rather than a sociopath. According to his biographers, Jobs cared deeply about humanity and many individuals, but he often, especially in his youth, ignored or couldn’t see the emotional reactions of others when he was causing them grief. Jobs’s colleagues reported that he did feel bad after chewing someone out due to his own impatience or frustration, after being confronted with his bad behavior, which is something a sociopath would never do. That’s more of a narcissistic personality disorder behavior.
Eric Schmidt: complete sociopath. Why do I say this with such confidence? The man invited Henry Kissinger for multiple “fireside chats” at Google, at which he flattered Kissinger excessively and didn’t for one second think about any of the deaths and destruction that Kissinger’s policies led to. Instead, he praised Kissinger for ending the Vietnam War draft precisely in time for young Eric Schmidt to not have to “get killed in the jungle”, as he had feared. Schmidt said that Henry Kissinger is a genius negotiator for enabling Eric Schmidt to not get killed, or get PTSD, from fighting in Vietnam, and to become CEO of Google. If that’s not a completely sociopathic worldview, then I don’t know what is.
Mark Zuckerberg: is there anyone who doesn’t suspect he’s a sociopath? He seems to have no emotional link to humanity at all, other than playing the role of husband and father. Maybe he’s really different when he’s not running Meta, but I’ve seen no indication that Zuck has the sort of understanding of human nature that a narcissist like Steve Jobs possessed. Bill Gates didn’t understand human nature, either, but his game was ruthless domination. Zuck’s seems to be, too.
Andy Rubin: his sociopathy wasn’t revealed until his sex crimes were. Another man who seems to have no understanding of how to be a moral human being, whose obsession with robots likely reflects a complete separation from humanity.
Larry Page: his sociopathy isn’t easy to spot, but Page never struck me as actually understanding or caring about other human beings in any way. Sergey Brin acts like a classic narcissist, but Larry Page acts like a robot. Only a sociopath would do something as stupid as killing beloved products like Google Reader, in pursuit of Facebook-like control via the failed Google+. Coincidentally, Larry Page’s whereabouts are currently unknown, as he’s wanted for questioning in regard to his relationship with dead pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Peter Thiel: as with Zuckerberg, Thiel’s sociopathy is front and center. I don’t think I need to prove how cold, calculating, and bereft of humanity Thiel is.
Those are the top names that came to mind: Musk, Gates, Schmidt, Zuckerberg, Rubin, Page, and Thiel. Complete sociopaths, all of them, at least in my opinion.
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