https://vegasharmon.com/works/what-just-happened-pragmatism-and-pessimization/ Recent content in What Just Happened? Pragmatism and Pessimization on Vegas Harmon Hugo en Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://vegasharmon.com/commonplace/hardware-overhang-work-pulls-us-toward-the-singularity/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://vegasharmon.com/commonplace/hardware-overhang-work-pulls-us-toward-the-singularity/ Insofar as they’re right, all work which was (explicitly or implicitly) justified by the idea of reducing the hardware overhang has been directly pulling us towards the singularity. https://vegasharmon.com/commonplace/wanting-to-pull-the-lever-then-finding-reasons-why/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://vegasharmon.com/commonplace/wanting-to-pull-the-lever-then-finding-reasons-why/ What went wrong here? It’s hard to know exactly what led any given person to endorse any given argument. But when we zoom out, it becomes clear that many people in this space really want to pull some lever that feels important, and privilege arguments which justify that. That might come from a sense that they need to have an impact on the world; or fear about failing to fulfil their potential; or the more mundane explanation that big levers tend to be associated with money and prestige and proximity to power.