The Pattern
Luckey: It's bad when a society turns Luddite — when they start to demonize new things. People right now saying 'AI is going to ruin everything' — how many people said the same thing about automated manufacturing? The reality is it made cars from a plaything for the rich into something anybody can have.
People said air travel going from a thing for the wealthy to being like a bus was horrible and undignified. But it connected the entire world and let you move to wherever economic opportunity is while staying connected with family.
How many people said the same thing about manufacturing? It made cars accessible to everyone.
Recorded Music and Photography
Luckey: There were people very against recorded music. They said it ruins performance, it cheapens it if you can replicate it for free. Very few people in the music industry today would say 'let's go back to a world where the only audience is people sitting around me in a circle.'
It was the same for photography. Artists believed photography would kill painting and illustration. It didn't. It actually enhanced them and created its own new art form.
Photography didn't kill painting. It enhanced it and created its own new art form.
Scarce Becoming Unscarce
Luckey: We're unfortunately in one of those swings where everyone is questioning whether technology will make our future better. And I think it's especially unfortunate because we're on the precipice of so many things that have been scarce becoming unscarce — things that have been unobtainable for so many becoming mass-market commodities.
I'm personally a huge fan of it. We just got to get through it.
We're on the precipice of so many scarce things becoming unscarce. We just got to get through it.
Don't Talk About It. Do It.
Luckey: What can we do to convince people? Usually the thing you have to do is not talk about it really good. You just have to do it really good until it becomes inarguable.
Imagine if instead of making photography into an art, they had just argued about it on podcasts with painters. It would never work. You have to just do it. Eventually everyone realizes you were right all along.
You don't have to talk about it really good. You just have to do it really good until it becomes inarguable.
The Wright Brothers vs. The New York Times
Luckey: The New York Times editorial board responded to rumors about flying machines. They said: 'Perhaps by the combined efforts of every scientist and engineer on earth working for millions of years, a flying machine could be constructed. But even then it would be of no use.'
I think it was three weeks later that the Wright brothers made their first powered flight. Imagine if the Wright brothers had instead of building their flying machine gone to argue with this guy. At some point you have to say — they're just wrong about our future. We need to build that future. They'll get there when they get there.
The Wright brothers didn't argue. They built a plane. They'll get there when they get there.