The trick with writing about the ideological project of Silicon Valley lies in taking patently unserious ideas seriously. This requires some real artistry and balance. You have to simultaneously make clear to the reader why these ideas are farcical, while also highlighting why they nonetheless merit attention. It often requires explaining and exploring the ideas with greater clarity than the originating authors themselves, since many of Silicon Valley’s most verbose thinkers are just horrendous at writing.

Call it the “Curtis Yarvin problem.” Curtis Yarvin is influential among tech elites. Billionaires take him seriously. So does our current Vice President. Curtis Yarvin is also pathetic. The billionaire technologists mostly take him seriously because his central message is billionaire technologists are very special geniuses and we should put them in control of everything and have faith in their every impulse. Even their most shallow and racist impulses, and it turns out that this is the sort of thing billionaire technologists quite enjoy hearing.

So the Curtis Yarvin problem is (1) there’s this guy you’ve never heard of. (2) he’s kind of the worst. (3) let’s pay attention to him. Because he’s influential. (4) at first glance, his ideas seem ridiculous. But if you really examine them in detail, they’ll seem even more ridiculous. (5) wait, why did we bother to pay attention to him? Oh right, because people with way too much power listen to him. That’s awful.

I’ve spent years trying to master this trick. I think I’ve gotten passably good at it. But I can tell you from experience that it ain’t easy.

Adam Becker’s new book, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity is a masterclass in threading this particular needle. I cannot recommend it highly enough.