Interesting read, I've definitely heard similar things through various podcast-y outlets (I think there was a "The Weeds" episode about this phenomenon a few ye

Interesting read, I've definitely heard similar things through various podcast-y outlets (I think there was a "The Weeds" episode about this phenomenon a few years back). I could see an argument that all the engineering talent getting sucked into working on stupid, anti-human projects is a big source of this slowdown. It does seem like over the last decade or so grad degree programs have transitioned from "here's the training you need to work on the cutting edge of your field" to "here's what you need to get picked up by the data science arm of an ad tech company". I will say that going from an 8 to a 9 may come with "phase change" type effects, and personally I believe this is more in line with what's going on. Consumer capitalism has sort of metastasized in the US, and is basically eating our ability to do anything but generate more widgets rather than actual value. Curious to see how/if we pull out of the doom loop