It's because he stopped drinking recently. https://pmarca.substack.com/p/on-pausing-alcohol

(In all seriousness, I'm very happy it's becoming more fashionable to not drink)

It is not fashionable to not drink.

What is fashionable: to drink a lot for many years, then stop drinking and blather on about how much better life is.

This rings so true. It seems socially acceptable to either be a regular social drinker or a renounced drinker.

I'm bored by the blatherers too, but there is survey data to indicate younger people drinking less than earlier generations.

Might just be drink being less affordable, or other drugs being more affordable rather than a fashion decision

> Might just be drink being less affordable, or other drugs being more affordable rather than a fashion decision

Or they're just joyless teetotalers who've replaced their friends with SSRIs and amphetamines.

Inebriation is vulnerability. It's too risky to drink around other people these days, which is the entire point of it. I don't even see/smell anybody smoking weed despite it being legal and accessible...my local dispensary is a ghost town.

Loosened social inhibitions is a footgun, and drinking alone is miserable, so why bother?

I'd argue the first snap occurred years prior, proximate to A16Z's heavy investment in crypto.

Web3 was part two.

Crypto was a big mistake on his part, imho . Crypto is not at all like the 'next facebook' or the 'next world wide web'. At best it will be a niche and limited to gambling. Even I could have told him it was a bad idea, but it's not his money, so what does he have to lose. As long as there are people chasing the latest thing in the hope of getting rich, there will be people selling shovels and ticket.

Limited to gambling is hardly limited at all if your mission is life is to extract money out of people by any means possible.

If your mission is whatever noble sounding thing most investors claim then yes, it is very limited.

On the topic of the article. Employment and unemployment are social constructs and how AI changes them is up to us.

It won't inevitably lead to a post-scarcity society or to mass poverty.

What happens will depend on what you, the reader, do. Do you assume it will all work out? Do you get active in remaking the social contract? Do you try to exploit the situation for your own ends?

These guys will pitch whatever sells to the gullible.

Just whatever sells. Sometimes they pitch something we all want.

Probably realizes the Crypto ting is tainted, he needs a new steaming pile of shit to scam people with. AI is perfect like crypto, because you can use techyspeak to confuse people.