This is the very opposite to silver bullet approaches to fusion, though. This is a methodical, military-industrial-complex style development that was decades in the making.

I think it’s just the Zeitgeist. Social media has trained us that a certain reasoning style is rewarded, quick takes that don’t dig into the first principles and instead serve as shibboleths that you’re not one of THOSE types of unintellectual pseudo tech bros who bought NFTs or whatever.

I have plenty of experience and I don't agree that it's about hype. IMHO it's about the standard human reactionary response to something new and challenging [0], and people trying to sound smarter than something or someone by criticizing. It is disappointing.

[0] The saying is true IME: First they laugh at it (ridicule it), then they say it's not in the Bible (conflicts with the norm), then they say they believed it all along.

Not really convincing since Rust is 99% hype from people who misunderstand C++ and are just happy to join an "inclusive" cult

If you are always a naysayer you will be right 90% of the time and can feel smug and pat yourself on the back for it (so, like everyone here). However, progress comes from people willing to take risks and make wild bets for the small chance that they are in the 10%.

The problem is this might be true, but it will not always be true. The horse was probably better than the first cars for a while, but progress changed that.

Old computers perform better and use fewer resources? Have you used, say, a PC in the 90s? The fans were loud, the power usage constant and high, and the performance lacking by so many orders of magnitude that it can just be emulated in software today.

Cars, TVs, phones, take your pick.

Do you realize what that represents?

I think as people gain experience, they can start substituting experience and cynicism for actual first principles thinking and curiosity.

> the more someone has deep understanding in tech, the more they are critical of it.

I think the criticism comes mostly from people with just a little knowledge, trying to sound and feel like they know more. Just a few talking points or principles enable you to criticize, but not seriously analyze (much less create).

Everyone is a cynic simply because cynicism is easy. Any infosec professional can go "computers are insecure, never use them". And the advice will be correct, but ultimately useless. The ones worth anything won't just point out problems but also find solutions.

Yes, it's called counter-signaling.

I agree on batteries, but something like half a dozen Manhattan projects worth has been spent on fusion research so far and we don’t seem anywhere remotely close to achieving even a fraction of its promise. I remember reading about the future of fusion energy in my teens, and now my daughters are coming out of their teens. And I had kids late. I’m sorry but technical break even just doesn’t cut it for me at this point.