Unless there is another XEROX PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) moment, we will not see any boom in tech for the next decade or so. I know this sounds pessimistic, but before you get your arrows out, know that I am a programmer who has never worked in big tech, so this issue affects me greatly also. While big tech companies, and many small tech companies following in a copycat manner, are posturing to investors by firing employees, which is a very bad sign for future growth, all this posturing will not result in a resurgence of tech because there is a problem at the roots, of which consequences we are observing now. So what is the deep problem at the roots causing the current destruction of value in the tech market, ignoring the temporary green we see from time to time that pops up in the stock? It is an excessive focus on value extraction and very little given to wild creative exploration. Sometimes too much structure can lead to restriction, tech companies mostly the big guys some
Any creative activity, that is activity that requires more than passively absorbing data is very hard. That is because by default it requires far more energy to create something than to just consume or destroy as the case may be. Writing is a creative activity, and it is hard to do. It doesn't matter what you are writing, either words, codes or equations. Bringing stuff out of your mind is very hard, and I believe that it is the core part of what we call general intelligence because it activates the processes that utilize knowledge rather than just passively absorb and store it. You could augment memory by using a notepad to store some of the facts that you record, but it is harder to augment the ability to create something new or express your solution to some problem, which is what all true creativity is about. Writing also requires some of the highest level of focus you can summon, for instance writing computer programs or mathematical proofs require the largest amount of ene