The Technologists' Playground

In the great test of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US ultimately came through with several crucial vaccines. The development and delivery of the vaccines was incredible.

But the response, and preparation, certainly could have been better. What if Apple Watches had been able to report anonymized temperature data to detect the spread of COVID faster?

Balaji Srinivasan @balajis

Apple was prevented from putting more sensors in the Apple Watch by FDA back in 2014. Get the FDA out of the way immediately with expanded right-to-try laws so that Apple, Google, and all other hardware manufacturers can put every sensor in.

Balaji Srinivasan @balajis

One last point. This the cost of the system we have. But putting diagnostics into phone could cut cost and improve speed by >100X. All that stuff would be out years ago if not for FDA. Here's Apple Watch in 2014, for example. Had to take sensors out. https://t.co/QpzDrWNQZj https://t.co/FfR6DprCbM

What if the vaccines had been rolled out even faster?

Had the US been even more risk-tolerant in pursuing technological progress, many lives might have been saved. Or we might have rushed into some disasters. Obviously, not everyone wants things to move that fast, and with good reason. There are always trade-offs. But many do want to live on the bleeding edge.

What if the self-experimenters, the crazy innovators, could have their own place to try their crazy ideas, choosing their own preferred risk level? What if we already had a city full of autonomous cars zipping around, giving us a better idea of their safety and practicality?

If it worked, this would be good for everyone. Those who love to live on the bleeding edge could have their own playground, and the best of what they discovered could filter back to more conservative societies.

This would be a sequel to the US. The US has played this role in the last couple of centuries. It’s often said that for most people, the quality of life in Europe is better. That may well be true, but the individualistic, competitive, dynamic nature of the US also produces innovations that benefit the whole world.

The US may be losing some of its dynamism. It might be losing a step. Maybe we need a new innovators’ playground to at least supplement the innovation that is still very strong in the US.

This seems to be one of the main motivations for Balaji Srinivasan’s network state project. The idea is for deeply purposeful, aligned cloud communities to gradually build a physical presence. This would provide space for experimentation, and new choices for citizens of traditional nation-states. What do we have to lose from letting a few new experimentations in states form? Worst case, there are a few more failed new city experiments and some money and time burned. And there is much that could be gained from a crazy, bold experiment. It’s a wild idea, but so was an idealistic new democracy in the New World in 1776.