The tech dumerism seems to have ratcheted up lately.

In part, at least, I think this is just a reaction to a refreshing uptick in tech optimism.

The usual scolds in the media are shocked and appalled that tech optimists are

increasingly willing to speak up in public, to stand up new media outlets of their own, and to

partake in the political process. I can't stress enough how unacceptable all of this is to a certain kind of patrician commentator.

A recent piece in the New Republic complained, for instance, about how Gary Tan, the CEO of Y Combinator,

wants to capture San Francisco's government in November's elections.

That is a heck of a way to describe someone

participating in democracy. The superdumer writer Adrian LaFrance writing for her superdumer publication,

The Atlantic, goes a good deal further. The other day, she accused technocrats of leading an anti-democratic, illiberal movement.

These technocrats are authoritarian.

They're spreading cultural rot, and we must stop their growing project of dehumanization.

Tell us what you really think, Adrian.

This is the tech policy podcast.

I'm Corbyn Barthold.

I'm joined today by one of the folks triggering the Dumers.

In fact, the headline for one of his pieces last year was

reject Dumerism with two exclamation points.

Brandon Garell is executive editor at Pirate Wires.

Brandon writes, The White Pill, a newsletter that covers the frontiers of tech, science, space, and more.

He reports on all kinds of good stories about technological progress, as well as a bunch

of crazy science shit that will blow your mind.

...