Interview – In the group book, Olivier Alexander, the sociologist and the researcher in CNRs, a miracle of the growing force of silicone valley. From the story of success to the dystopia.
Madame Figaro. – For general public, technological giants, like Mark Zukeberg or Elon Musk, they started a simple but revolutionary idea. Isn’t the common point between these “disruptive” numbers posted a real personal history?
Olivier Alexander. A little The success of TECH entrepreneurs is a useful fictional literature. Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Elon Musk (Spacex and X), Sam Altman (Openai) are famous people, even if Tech is the system. Let’s get back a little. In the 1980s, it appeared from the army laboratories, universities and large companies to become an everyday consumption facility. It is a key moment, the lever of which we called “a creative lesson” called “La Petit Bourgeoisie Nouvelle.” Communication over the product and services is the amount of changes. Apple was one of the main players in this turning point. Then Steve Jobs becomes a technological king. However, he didn’t know how to codify. The complexity of Apple becomes magic, changes become a revolution, and the entrepreneurs are a protest that is against the established procedure. Remember the photo of Steve Jobs, making honor finger in front of Ibmie in 1984 in New York.
Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Openai, Amazon … We immediately connect these companies with faces, why is it so important?
The entrepreneur of the equipment plays a role in the incarnation, a little like that the state is embodied by the state. And as for the kings, this influence of embodiment exceeds the carnal envelope. Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos is not always holding Apple and Amazon management positions. Most entrepreneurs are cooperating in technology. And the co-authors often replace the heads of the head of the companies, even in Google, where Eric Schmidt quickly took the Larry page and Sergey Brin. However, the image of these companies remains associated with the appropriate name. This is rarely the case for the main brands of everyday consumption. This is due to the fact that technology is the structure of goods, teams, organizations or regulations, change is permanent. Therefore, there is a special incarnation need. The CEO plays this role.
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These US technology super billionaires also admire, because they often come from the upper middle class families …
Tech is an environment where billionaires are mostly mainly from Social-Professional and intellectual categories. We are talking about people who could be an engineer, doctors, researchers, as their parents, but who have become the world’s greatest fortune and history. There are few industries, countries and periods that allow such an upward. This contributes to the charm that technology continues to maintain. Despite the criticism, it maintains a worthy image as a result of industry that allows a great social rise.
Tech Giants are often presented as engineering entrepreneurs, pioneers, “American heroes”. What cultural basics is this mythology?
This story of origin is very connected with American political culture. Certain number of founding fathers have been entrepreneurs, landowners, new technology rugs and enthuses, such as Thomas Jefferson, James Medison or Benjamin Franklin. For example, the name of Thomas Jefferson, referring to Elon Mushk. He was the President of the United States, but also entrepreneurs, scientists, philosopher, freedoms … and the owner of more than 600 slaves. The American Declaration of Independence was found for pedigree entrepreneurs. Freedom of speech, freedom to assume, even if these freedoms are accompanied by inequalities. As such, it should be remembered that technology owners are individual entrepreneurs, far from American usual entrepreneurs. They are more qualified, they come with a positive vision of science and computer science, science and technology, especially since they used the early entrance of new technologies. Entrepreneurs born in the late 1960s and early 1970s have experienced all channels of consumer computers: Ah, video games, Internet, Social Networks, Annexes, AI. And they are almost exclusively men.
You are talking about technology in your book as a religion of the future. What do you mean? This means that these bosses are “New Gurus”.
These are people who have grown in the hyperleans, and who are more often atheists than the entire American population. They consider new technologies as a motor of history. They think and express themselves in the “horizon” point. The future. What is their obsession with how will there be five, twenty, fifty, fifty, five hundred years? Even for 2.8 million years of Elon Musk (The year of the second planet’s explosion, according to Mushki, editor’s post)whose obsession is the end of the world.
What are the political issues of the world by the technological force?
When using goods and technological services, we transmit our right to the future, as the manager of the companies that develop them without advice. We are suitable for this situation. Do we want our future or our children to decide those who have not been elected who regularly reflect their political responsibility, they even despise democracies? Let’s remember this lesson of the 20th century. Technologist is only limited to fixed.
Olivier Alexander is the deputy director of the Internet Center and CNRS.
Source: Le Figaro
