The Technocracy Movement of the 1930s • Hacker News Board

Re: The Technocracy Movement of the 1930s

#21

Post by akomtu » Fri, Apr 03, 2026, 7:08 PM UTC

_bypa wrote: post #15

jauntywundrkind wrote: post #4

It's so wild to believe humanity held such a hopeful political mythos, ever. And I see such appeal here. To make efficient, to make a government that functions that builds that runs well. Mechanistic sympathy is a key term that sends the engineers heart aflutter; to work together holds great delight. The idea that there might be some shots for mankind at engineering not just a social, as the article highlights, but g…

Why optimize for efficiency though? Why not human flourishing or planetary health, whichever way you wish to define that? Efficiency sounds to me like an absolutely awful way to run any society as it's what turns individuals into disposable cogs of a machine that needs to be operated smoothly because, well, no obvious reason other than a fetish to see the machine run smoothly, no matter the human cost.

Technocracy, and the doctrine of materialism, sees humans as machines.

Re: The Technocracy Movement of the 1930s

#22

Post by peyton » Fri, Apr 03, 2026, 7:08 PM UTC

jauntywundrkind wrote: post #4

It's so wild to believe humanity held such a hopeful political mythos, ever. And I see such appeal here. To make efficient, to make a government that functions that builds that runs well. Mechanistic sympathy is a key term that sends the engineers heart aflutter; to work together holds great delight. The idea that there might be some shots for mankind at engineering not just a social, as the article highlights, but g…

I dunno, Common Sense puts forth the idea that government exists to occupy the space where men are evil. It grows and shrinks accordingly. A larger role for government implies more evil, not less.

Re: The Technocracy Movement of the 1930s

#23

Post by aetagj » Fri, Apr 03, 2026, 7:08 PM UTC

simianwords wrote: post #17

“Like religious millenarianism awaiting the Second Coming, tech elites believe technology alone will usher in a total and complete transformation of society.” This is the standard view amongst most social theorists and economists. (Of course it’s not technology alone but that’s the prerequisite). Without agriculture and the Industrial Revolution, say bye bye to your woke policies L G B T Q rights and feminism. Humans…

This is pretty reductive. There are different systems (even broken ones like the Soviet union managed to build up an army and feed its people) and there are vital and useless technologies.

Thiel is engaged in surveillance (PayPal, Palantir) and takes government money and calls all opponents "The Antichrist". Yes, deranged rich people are bad.

Re: The Technocracy Movement of the 1930s

#24

Post by simianwords » Fri, Apr 03, 2026, 7:10 PM UTC

aetagj wrote: post #23

simianwords wrote: post #17

“Like religious millenarianism awaiting the Second Coming, tech elites believe technology alone will usher in a total and complete transformation of society.” This is the standard view amongst most social theorists and economists. (Of course it’s not technology alone but that’s the prerequisite). Without agriculture and the Industrial Revolution, say bye bye to your woke policies L G B T Q rights and feminism. Humans…

This is pretty reductive. There are different systems (even broken ones like the Soviet union managed to build up an army and feed its people) and there are vital and useless technologies. Thiel is engaged in surveillance (PayPal, Palantir) and takes government money and calls all opponents "The Antichrist". Yes, deranged rich people are bad.

Not sure whether you are addressing my main point

Re: The Technocracy Movement of the 1930s

#25

Post by aetagj » Fri, Apr 03, 2026, 7:10 PM UTC

simianwords wrote: post #19

“ However, the overall track record for technology being revolutionary on its own is poor. For the last 20-some-odd years, technological progress has been reduced to maximizing attention in the form of gimmicks, addiction, and apps nobody needs. It’s hardly the sci-fi future many once wrote about. ” Ah yes all technological progress like AI, EVs and biotech are all bad because social media bad. Why is this article ta…

AI is a gimmick and most money goes into distracting Internet and advertising tech.

We can barely reach the moon again.

Re: The Technocracy Movement of the 1930s

#26

Post by kingofthehill98 » Fri, Apr 03, 2026, 7:12 PM UTC

simianwords wrote: post #17

“Like religious millenarianism awaiting the Second Coming, tech elites believe technology alone will usher in a total and complete transformation of society.” This is the standard view amongst most social theorists and economists. (Of course it’s not technology alone but that’s the prerequisite). Without agriculture and the Industrial Revolution, say bye bye to your woke policies L G B T Q rights and feminism. Humans…

Peter Thiel is the definition of "rich people bad", he's the stereotype of the billionaire who wants to rule over the state because somehow he knows what's best for us.

He's a lunatic.

Re: The Technocracy Movement of the 1930s

#27

Post by simianwords » Fri, Apr 03, 2026, 7:13 PM UTC

aetagj wrote: post #25

simianwords wrote: post #19

“ However, the overall track record for technology being revolutionary on its own is poor. For the last 20-some-odd years, technological progress has been reduced to maximizing attention in the form of gimmicks, addiction, and apps nobody needs. It’s hardly the sci-fi future many once wrote about. ” Ah yes all technological progress like AI, EVs and biotech are all bad because social media bad. Why is this article ta…

AI is a gimmick and most money goes into distracting Internet and advertising tech. We can barely reach the moon again.

“AI is a gimmick” this at least explains why the median person finds such vacuous articles insightful. Although I must say - update yourself on ai because it is most definitely not a gimmick

Re: The Technocracy Movement of the 1930s

#28

Post by meandave » Fri, Apr 03, 2026, 7:13 PM UTC

I first heard about this in an former coworker's (Robin Berjon) talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s878bm15mrk at an IPFS conference

Fascinating

He writes about these things on this blog as well(https://berjon.com/ethicswishing/), and has a forthcoming book on related topics last I heard

Re: The Technocracy Movement of the 1930s

#29

Post by simianwords » Fri, Apr 03, 2026, 7:14 PM UTC

kingofthehill98 wrote: post #26

simianwords wrote: post #17

“Like religious millenarianism awaiting the Second Coming, tech elites believe technology alone will usher in a total and complete transformation of society.” This is the standard view amongst most social theorists and economists. (Of course it’s not technology alone but that’s the prerequisite). Without agriculture and the Industrial Revolution, say bye bye to your woke policies L G B T Q rights and feminism. Humans…

Peter Thiel is the definition of "rich people bad", he's the stereotype of the billionaire who wants to rule over the state because somehow he knows what's best for us. He's a lunatic.

Ok he’s bad but what has he got wrong? I think he was pretty good at predicting certain things and I find him at least a bit insightful. Without going into good vs bad

Re: The Technocracy Movement of the 1930s

#30

Post by codejake » Fri, Apr 03, 2026, 7:22 PM UTC

Commenters here are getting confused. There's technocracy, the governance[1]. And Technocracy, the pseudo-cult movement[2]. They quickly evolved into different things with different ideologies. The article is mostly about the latter movement.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy_movement