What Billionaire Tech CEOs Get Wrong About The Future, with Adam Becker

Are we making science fiction a reality? Is that a good thing? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and guest Adam Becker, science communicator and author of More Everything Forever, take a clear-eyed tour through sci-fi dreams, tech-bro promises, and the real science shaping our tomorrow.

We explore the predictions made by billionaires and futurists who claim they’ll build space empires, conquer death, and upload human consciousness. Adam breaks down how he researched the book by reading tech bro predictions, cross-checking with experts in their field, and getting stonewalled by the CEOs themselves. From there, the trio examines Mars fantasies: Elon Musk’s dream of a million-person colony by 2050, the brutal physics of radiation exposure, perchlorates in Martian soil, and why even The Martian got key dangers wrong.

We explore the singularity, “functional immortality,” and whether intelligence is a single number fated to grow exponentially. We unpack why Moore’s Law has already hit physical and economic limits, why AGI won’t magically fix global warming, and how physics (not hype) sets hard boundaries on computation, energy, and runaway technological dreams.

Do tech bros need a lesson in reading comprehension? We explore the misreading of science fiction as blueprints instead of warnings, and the real dangers of concentrating wealth, power, and hypothetical AI “genies” in the hands of a few. Along the way they revisit Star Trek, dystopian futures from Blade Runner to Soylent Green, and what science fiction can teach us about ourselves—if we actually read it correctly.

Neil closes with a cosmic perspective: the future will be shaped not just by invention, but by wisdom, restraint, and how responsibly we wield the tools we create.

Check out Adam's book 'More Everything Forever'

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Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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