With age (and accepted work) comes some amount of privilege to make broader statements with acceptance. I suspect Mr Stross is taking advantage of this quirk of

With age (and accepted work) comes some amount of privilege to make broader statements with acceptance. I suspect Mr Stross is taking advantage of this quirk of sociology. I'd take the article with a pinch of salt—he's making some... interesting claims about COVID and the certainty of long-term effects, a little climate alarmism that's on the end of the bell curve, and a little bit more pessimism than I think is warranted. Weigh this against his experience, wisdom, and level of thought put into his work, and apply salt to taste.