Peter Colvin

BC Law '24 | Princeton '21 | Prov. 24:13-14. All that is impossible remains to be accomplished - Jules Verne

[Peter Colvin @realPeterColvin]

Reading this now, wondering what I should pick up next.

[Luke Leisher @luke_leisher_]

This is the Artemis program:

I will not elaborate further.

[James Lindsay, anti-Communist @ConceptualJames]

Warren Buffett's late investing partner, Charlie Munger, once said, "Show me the incentive, and I'll show you the outcome." This is one of the most important sentences in English.

It also explains why government can't solve most problems, why it can't work for us either.

Anytime you have a problem, you have an incentive. The incentive is to fix it or otherwise get away from it. That's what it means for it to be a problem, by definition.

Nobody has more incentive than you do to solve your problem. The government has almost zero incentive to solve your problem.

This isn't because government is broken or corrupt or whatever. It's much more deeply structural to government itself. It is because you are first person to your problem, and the government is third person to your problem -- unless, of course, your problem is a problem for the government (and then, watch out).

You don't just have an incentive to solve your problem, though.
You have an incentive to solve it well.
You have an incentive to solve it fast.
You have an incentive to solve it cheaply.
You have an incentive to solve it with what you already have if you can.
You also have an incentive to solve it in a way that can scale to other people who have the same problem who can then purchase your solution from you.

"Show me the incentive, and I'll show you the outcome."

The government has none of these incentives.

These incentives have effects. When you solve your own problems:
The incentive to solve it well is an incentive to quality.
The incentive to solve it fast is an incentive to efficiency.
The incentive to solve it cheaply is an incentive to economy.
The incentive to solve it with what you already have is an incentive to ingenuity.
The incentive to solve it in a scalable, salable way is an incentive to enterprise, entrepreneurship, and surplus, thus to abundance, wealth, and prosperity. It also multiplies at least some of the aforementioned incentives.

"Show me the incentive, and I'll show you the outcome."

The government, again, has none of these incentives.

The government, as a detached third party, has no incentive to quality, no incentive to efficiency, no realistic incentive to economy, no incentive to ingenuity, and no incentive to enterprise or surplus. It simply doesn't have them. All it has is incentives to follow (or break) policies it has set for itself that simulate these virtuous outcomes, often badly, frequently shot-through with corruption.

Another fact is that government is run by people. Government may not have any of these incentives, but the people working within government do have incentives. They have the incentive to private profit through public resources. That means they have an intrinsic incentive to corruption that the best of them must constantly work to resist or repel, but that incentive never leaves.

"Show me the incentive, and I'll show you the outcome."

This is why the idea of seizing control of the government to make it work for us is a huge mistake. We cannot do that because it cannot be done. You and yours care about your problems, and people can be hired or paid to care about your problems where you lack solutions, but the government doesn't care about your problems.

It isn't that the government might be good or bad that matters. It's that the government's incentive structures do not point in the right directions almost anywhere.

This isn't to say the government is useless. It isn't. It has a role to play, which is a duty it is to fulfill in exchange for the power to govern the affairs of men.

The government has a role in securing and protecting its citizens, keeping the peace, maintaining order, and securing the intrinsic, inalienable rights of citizens against all third parties, including itself, along with all attendant necessities and obligations. We outsource those duties and responsibilities to the government primarily to centralize final conflict resolution (force, or violence) in a single place and to handle the specific affairs of state.

Government should have and feel an incentive to do those things well, not just out of oath and patriotism but because any failure in this regard should result in the government as it is presently constituted being taken away from the scoundrels who don't fulfill their end of the bargain when we consent to their power over us.

If the government isn't able to fulfill that basic duty, among all possible explanations, we can be certain that its incentives to do so are confused, muddied, buried, or secondary to other incentives that have become stronger. These can and will include incentives to rule, incentives to corruption, and incentives through accountability being confused, broken, or unclear. "A house divided against itself," it has been said, "cannot stand."

"If you show me the incentive, I'll show you the outcome."

The place where government power therefore needs to be exercised is in the domain of accountability for crimes against their citizens and their rights. Unfortunately, individuals within the government are deeply complicit in these corruptions and crimes and therefore lack the proper incentives to achieve it.

Otherwise, in other domains, the role of government must be shrunken, not grown, not wielded. A "Stakeholder Economy," for instance, is a government-managed economy that has corruptible and misaligned incentive structures that will ultimately fail. It isn't for lack of the right people or clarity and purity of the driving ideology that it fails but because the underlying incentives are incorrect, misaligned, and guaranteed to be corrupt.

"If you show me the incentive, I'll show you the outcome."

[Emily Zanotti 🦝 @emzanotti]

My children are not on the autism spectrum because I took Tylenol while pregnant. They’re on the autism spectrum because I, a person who will wear only one type of shoe and can’t eat food that is “too potato-y,” had babies with a man who has an encyclopedic knowledge of European aristocracy but a limited ability to process social cues.

[Kevin Weil 🇺🇸 @kevinweil]

I want to frame this whole article.

[Peter Colvin @realPeterColvin]

@VDAREJamesK I have seen several from other angles that are consistent too

[Christian Keil @pronounced_kyle]

oh, you're into deep tech? then tell me about...

Astranis
SpaceX
Etched
Valar
Rainmaker
Northwood
Anduril
Picogrid
Theseus
Impulse Labs
Varda
Base Power
Relativity Space
PsiQuantum
Atomic Semi
Shield AI
Impulse Space
Allen Control Systems
Dandelion Energy
Zipline
The Boring Company
Lumafield
Fuse
Ouros
Astro Mechanica
Terraform Industries
Zap Energy
Extropic
Framework
Deep Isolation
Sila Nanotechnologies
Neros
Machina Labs
Cosmic Robotics
Boom Supersonic
Poseidon
Hadrian
Cover
Rangeview
Commonwealth Fusion
Oklo
Pipedream
Dirac
Cerebras
Avalanche Energy
Arc Boats
Aeon Industries
Venus Aerospace
Aetherflux
Radiant
David Energy
Sol Reader
First Resonance
AstroForge
Hermeus
Sonera Magnetics
Stoke Space
Monumental Labs
KoBold Metals
Epirus
Zenith Aerospace
Pacific Fusion
Longshot Space
Boston Metal
Joby Aviation
Proxima Fusion
Rain Neuromorphics
Samsara
Physical Intelligence
Reflect Orbital
Umbra
Applied Intuition
Magrathea Metals
Hedral
Axiom Space
General Galactic
Earth AI
Dark
Argo Space
Fid Labs
Redwood Materials
WindBorne Systems
Living Carbon
Exodys Energy
Arbor Energy
Atomic Industries
Charge Robotics
Durin
Antora Energy
Gecko Robotics
Figure
Daylight
Radian Aerospace
Lightcell
Ulysses
Palantir
Clone
Solugen
Flock Safety
Flightwave
Heart Aerospace
Navier
Castelion
K2 Space
Zeno Power
Method Security
Farm-ng
Freeform
Crusoe Energy
Albedo
Helion Energy
Symbolica
Electric Era
Unspun
Flexport
Limelight Steel
Ursa Major
1x
Distributed Spectrum
Apptronik
Cognition
Normal Computing
HEO Robotics
Hgen
Inversion
Guild
Starpath
Viam
Peregrine
Spartan Radar
Friend
Peak Energy
Aalo Atomics
Nominal
Charm Industrial
Exowatt
Furno
Galvanick
Saronic
Bedrock Ocean
Workrise
Molten Industries
Traba
Oursky
Bronco AI
AnySignal
Aon3D
Lunar Outpost
HE
Harmonic Bionics
Kula Bio
Biofire
Fervo Energy
CruxOCM
UpSmith
Ghost Robotics
Vantage Robotics
Orchard Robotics
Zanskar
Formlogic
Quindar
Orbital Sidekick
Salient Motion
Cognitive Space
Diamond Age
Harbinger
Dedrone
Quaise Energy
Gridware
Panthalassa
Prepared
Cambium
NavierAI
Guardian RF
Rapid Robotics
Open X
Campus
Ravn
Kaizen Labs
Safire
Merlin Labs
Vow
Cuby
Stord
Atom Computing
Performance Drone Works
Seurat
Tangram Vision
Zitara Technologies
Pivot Bio
Atopile
Soma Energy
Swarm Aero
Isar Aerospace
Divvy Homes
Udio
ICON
Eleven Labs
Onebrief
Dawn Aerospace
Chef Robotics
Rollup AI
H3X
Danti
Sabanto
Metalware
Form Energy
Xcimer Energy
Aepnus Technology
Rain Industries
Ample
Care Weather
Holocene
Dexterity
Amperon
Lydian
Equilibrium Energy
Skysafe
Taranis
AMP Robotics
Mangrove Lithium
RMFG
Odyssey AI
Floodbase
Hello Robot
Wilder Systems
Solestial
Elroy Air
Pallet
Swarmbotics AI
Orbit Fab
Noveon
Lumen Energy
Granular
Outpost Space
Whisper Aero
The Spaceport Company
GenLogs
Shinkei Systems
Verne
Bedrock Energy
Critical Loop
LeoLabs
Mytra
PermitFlow
Urban Sky
Tortuga
AtmoCooling
Specter Aerospace
Quantum Machines
Nuview
Turion Space
Mach Industries
ZeroMark
Still Bright
Corvus Robotics
Burro
SESO
Formic Technologies
Atomic Machines
CHAOS Industries
Deep Sentinel
Atom Limbs
Standard Bots
Wyvern
General Biological
EarthGrid
Starfish Space
Quilter
Overland AI
Xona Space Systems
Boom & Bucket
Wispr
Hebbia
Realm Alliance
Knowde
Dimensional Energy
Havoc AI
Rivan
Vatn Systems
Second Front Systems
Atmo
Phaidra
Covariant
Electric Sheep
Meter
Brimstone
GoTenna
Revolution Space
Breen Energy
Conductor AI
Modern Intelligence
Open Orion
Oxide Computer Company
Collaborative Robotics
Vannevar Labs
Vast
Heliux
Flyby Robotics
Sphere Semi
Infinite Machine
Mark43
Parallel Systems
Privateer
Prewitt Ridge
Antares
Vosbor
Wisk Aero
Astrolab
Looking Glass Factory
Pilgrim Labs
Alga Bio
Field AI
Skild AI
Circe Bioscience
Air Space Intelligence
Asylon Robotics
Eden Geopower
Vulcan Elements
Rondo Energy
MidJourney
Climeworks
Mitra Chem
Texture Energy
Kayhan Space
Epsilon3
Astrus
Verse
Locus Robotics
Lilac Solutions
DeepNight
Firestorm
Blumen Systems
Nitricity
Array Labs
Odyssey
Scout Space
Tutor Intelligence
Forterra
Beacon AI
Roam Robotics
Layup Parts
WeaveGrid
Skydio
Vuecason
Proteus Space
Perplexity
Marathon Fusion
Replit
Last Energy
Regent
Mistral AI
Bright Machines
Dusty Robotics
Whitefox
Radical AI
Apex Space
Aloft
Cortical Labs
Diligent Robotics
Remora
Muon Space
Bedrock Materials
Orbital Composites
TurbineOne
Agility Robotics
General Fusion
Determinant Materials
Armada
Hazel
Zinite
Harvey
Abel
Lightship RV
Firehawk Aerospace
Brinc
Glimpse
True Anomaly
TerraDepth
SirenOpt
Halcyon
Renovate
Monaire
Carbon
Haxion
Rocket Lab
Abyss Defense
Mapped
Electric Air
JetZero
Red 6
Swift Solar
Twelve
Aalyria
Anthro Energy
Saildrone
Liminal
Fourier

[Peter Colvin @realPeterColvin]

@minearcsystems Quite the features list

[Peter Colvin @realPeterColvin]

@Robotbeat Pretty cool stuff!

[Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79]

Trading: Trading
with leverage:

[atlas @creatine_cycle]

nooo babe your seed round size is perfect. the demo day ones scare me

[Mike Solana @micsolana]

you throw a pair of googly eyes on this thing and I would defend it with my life

[Peter Colvin @realPeterColvin]

@ahmedshubber25 https://t.co/JDBy5A4u03

[Peter Colvin @realPeterColvin]

@ahmedshubber25 I am a board member of a Museum of Innovation in Princeton, I bet they would be interested in doing some sort of feature interview/exhibit on the tech & your inspiration/ethical considerations. You or PR person can DM me.

[Peter Colvin @realPeterColvin]

Excited to see this in the wild!

[Robert P. George @McCormickProf]

Every single one of us has a profound interest in government at every level strictly observing due process of law. All of us should be deeply concerned by any violation of anyone's due process rights, whether in criminal or administrative matters. We might like what government can more efficiently accomplish by disregarding proper legal procedures today. But we will rue the day we licensed such governmental misconduct when, tomorrow, a different government disregards legal procedures to achieve quickly results we abhor. The government in power, whatever it is, will not always be in power. There will "arise a pharaoh who remembereded not Joseph." If we want due process for ourselves and in defense of things we cherish and believe in, we must insist on due process for everyone.

[Peter Colvin @realPeterColvin]

My first car operated operated with engine rich combustion too

[Elizabeth Greene @GreeneElizabeth]

@astromatthewt There is always ablative cooling via engine rich combustion. :)

[Josh Rainer @JoshRainerGold]

Wrong

[Vincent @domesticus1]

Scientists have successfully cloned Elvis. Despite not using actual Elvis DNA, he looks and acts exactly like how Elvis probably did. From a phenotypical perspective, they're the same person.