On Whose Shoulders Does Your 'Genius' Stand?

1. The Banquet of Human Knowledge

A. How Knowledge Actually Works

Imagine a Banquet That's Been Going on for Millennia:

Each Generation Arrives carrying dishes they've prepared
They Place Their Contributions on the Table alongside everything that came before
They Sample What Others Brought — some dishes they love, some they don't
They Offer Feedback — "This needs more salt," "Have you tried adding cumin?"
They Add Their Own Flavor to existing recipes
They Experiment with new combinations
Then They Leave for the next cohort to continue

No one person creates the whole feast.

No one person "invents" cuisine.

Each contributor builds on what came before, adds something new, and passes it forward.

That's how all human achievement works.

Or Imagine a Chalkboard in a Public Square:

There's Always an Unfinished Problem written on it
People Come and Try to Solve It throughout the day
Some Make Progress — adding an equation, sketching a diagram, or working through a proof
Some Point Out Flaws — "That assumption doesn't hold," or "You're missing a variable"
Some Ask Foundational Questions — "Why are we solving this? Who benefits?"
The Problem Evolves through collective effort
Sometimes It Gets Solved — but never by just one person
Then a New Problem Appears and the cycle continues

No One person writes the whole solution.

No One Person is the "genius" who figured it out alone.

Progress Happens Through:

Those who advanced the work
Those who caught errors
Those who asked better questions
Those who connected it to other problems
ALL of Them, Together, Across Time

B. What Silicon Valley Wants You to Believe

The "Genius" Mythology:

Elon Musk is a genius who single-handedly revolutionized electric cars and space travel
Steve Jobs was a genius who invented the smartphone
Mark Zuckerberg is a genius who connected the world
Jeff Bezos is a genius who transformed retail
Sam Altman is a genius who will give us AGI

This mythology serves a purpose:

If Innovation Comes from Lone Geniuses →

Then those geniuses deserve unlimited wealth
Then we shouldn't question their power
Then we should let them make decisions for society
Then democracy is obsolete (ordinary people aren't geniuses)
Then regulation stifles genius
Then unions threaten genius
Then oligarchy is justified by merit

For Yarvin, Karp, Thiel and the other elites that embrace these ideas, the people (us) are idiots.

A favourite quote (likely apocryphal) is from Churchill, stating the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. The Conversation

The "genius" myth is how oligarchs justify their rule.

2. Deconstructing the 'Genius' Myth

A. Elon Musk: Standing on $38 Billion in Government Subsidies

The Myth: "Elon Musk is a genius entrepreneur who revolutionized electric vehicles and made space travel affordable through sheer brilliance and innovation."

The Reality:

Tesla was not founded by Musk.

The company was incorporated as Tesla Motors, Inc., on July 1, 2003, by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. In February 2004, Elon Musk led Tesla's first funding round and became the company's chairman, subsequently claiming to be a co-founder. Wikipedia

Tesla was saved by government bailouts:

Over the years, Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits, often at critical moments. A Washington Post analysis has found, helping seed the growth that has made him the world's richest person. The Washington Post

One year after Obama took office, Tesla got a $465 million federal loan to design electric vehicles and build them at a manufacturing plant in Fremont, Calif. Bloomberg

Musk stands on the shoulders of:

Martin Eberhard & Marc Tarpenning (actual Tesla founders)
US Taxpayers ($38 billion in subsidies)
The Obama Administration (DOE loan that saved Tesla)
NASA Engineers (decades of rocket science before SpaceX)
Daimler (investment that Musk himself said "saved Tesla")
University Research (battery technology, electric motors, and aerospace engineering)
Pentagon Contracts ($1.6 billion before SpaceX successfully reached orbit)

Musk's "genius"?

Claiming credit for others' work
Extracting maximum government subsidies
Violating labor law to suppress unions
Building wealth on public investment while opposing "government intervention"

Not genius. Extraction.

B. Steve Jobs: Standing on Decades of Public Research

The Myth: "Steve Jobs was a genius visionary who invented the personal computer, the smartphone, and transformed technology through pure creative brilliance."

The Reality:

The iPhone's core technologies were publicly funded:

Every technology that makes the iPhone "smart" came from government-funded research:

Touchscreen Technology → Developed by university researchers (Wayne State, Delaware, and Kentucky) funded by NSF, CIA, and the military
GPS → US military (Department of Defense)
Internet Connectivity → ARPANET (Department of Defense)
Cellular Networks → Military research
Lithium-Ion Batteries → Department of Energy labs
Siri Voice Recognition → DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)
LCD Display → Department of Defense and NSF funding
Microprocessors → Decades of public semiconductor research
HTTP/HTML → CERN (European public research)

Jobs's contribution:

Packaging publicly-funded innovations in sleek design
Marketing them brilliantly
Claiming credit for "inventing" the smartphone
Extracting profit from public investment

Jobs stands on the shoulders of:

Steve Wozniak (actual technical whiz who built the Apple I)
DARPA Engineers (who invented the internet, AI, touchscreens)
University Researchers (decades of computer science)
Xerox PARC (GUI and the mouse—Jobs famously "borrowed" these)
Public Semiconductor Research (making computers possible)
Bell Labs (Unix, C language, and countless innovations)

Not genius. Repackaging.

C. Mark Zuckerberg: Standing on Stolen Code and Network Effects

The Myth: "Mark Zuckerberg is a coding prodigy who built Facebook in his dorm room and connected the world through brilliant innovation."

The Reality:

Facebook's origin story involves theft:

Winklevoss twins hired Zuckerberg to build ConnectU
Zuckerberg took their idea, built Facebook instead
Legal Settlement: Zuckerberg paid them $65 million

Facebook's success came from network effects, not innovation:

Friendster existed first (2002)
MySpace already had 100 million users when Facebook launched
Facebook won by being exclusive (Harvard only → elite colleges → everyone)
Then monopolized through acquisitions (Instagram and WhatsApp)

Zuckerberg Stands on the Shoulders of:

Tim Berners-Lee (invented the World Wide Web, gave it away for free)
DARPA (created the internet)
Six Degrees, Friendster, and MySpace (pioneered social networking)
University Infrastructure (Harvard's network, servers, and bandwidth)
Immigrant Engineers (who actually built Facebook's infrastructure)
Content Creators (whose posts/photos make Facebook valuable)
Users (whose data IS the product)

Zuckerberg's "genius"?

Recognizing network effects
Moving fast and breaking things (democracy, mental health, journalism)
Extracting value from user-generated content
Surveillance capitalism at scale

Not genius. Monopolization.

D. Jeff Bezos: Standing on Postal Infrastructure and Worker Exploitation

The Myth: "Jeff Bezos is a business genius who built Amazon from his garage through innovation and customer obsession."

The Reality:

Amazon's Success Depends ENTIRELY on Public Infrastructure:

US Postal Service (last-mile delivery, subsidized rates)
Interstate Highway System (publicly-built)
Internet (publicly-funded DARPANET)
GPS (military technology)
Public Education (trained workforce)
Bankruptcy Laws (allowing Amazon to undercut competitors while losing money for years)

Amazon's "Innovation" Is Wage Theft:

In 2020, there were 5.9 serious injuries for every 100 Amazon warehouse workers, which is nearly 80% higher than the serious injury rate at non-Amazon warehouses. CNBC

A worker died at Amazon's PDX9 fulfillment center in Troutdale, Oregon. For more than an hour after his collapse, employees at the facility say that management ordered them to continue working around his body. World Socialist Web Site

Bezos Stands on the Shoulders of:

USPS Workers (delivering Amazon packages at subsidized rates)
Public infrastructure (roads, internet, GPS)
Warehouse workers (whose labor he extracts at poverty wages)
Decades of logistics research (supply chain management, inventory systems)
Wall Street investors (who allowed Amazon to lose money for years to kill competition)
Small businesses (whose data Amazon uses to identify and crush them)

Bezos's "Genius"?

Predatory pricing funded by investor cash
Extracting maximum labor at minimum cost
Monopolizing e-commerce through anti-competitive practices
Paying $0 in federal taxes while workers urinate in bottles

Not genius. Exploitation.

3. The Erased People of the 'Genius Myth'

A. Who Actually Built Technology

The "genius" myth erases:

Black Mathematicians:

Katherine Johnson — NASA calculations that put humans on the moon
Dorothy Vaughan — Supervised NASA's computing division
Mary Jackson — NASA's first Black female engineer
Hidden Figures — Hundreds more whose names we'll never know

Women Programmers:

Ada Lovelace — First computer programmer (1843!)
Grace Hopper — Invented first compiler
ENIAC programmers (Kay McNulty, Betty Jennings, Betty Snyder, Marlyn Wescoff, Fran Bilas, and Ruth Lichterman) — Programmed first digital computer, were called "operators" not "programmers"
Margaret Hamilton — Led Apollo software engineering team

Immigrant Engineers:

Built Silicon Valley's infrastructure
H-1B visa holders doing the actual coding
Often uncredited, underpaid, exploited

Public Sector Researchers:

DARPA Engineers who invented the internet
University Researchers who developed core technologies
Government Lab Scientists who made semiconductors, batteries, and GPS possible
Public Health Researchers who developed vaccines and medical tech

Indigenous Knowledge Keepers:

Traditional ecological knowledge "discovered" by Western science
Agricultural practices refined over millennia
Water management systems claimed as "innovations"
Systematically Erased, Uncredited, and Uncompensated

B. The Systemic Barriers They Overcame

These people succeeded DESPITE:

For Black Americans:

Jim Crow segregation
Redlining blocking wealth accumulation
Inferior schools due to racist funding
Denied credit for their work
Paid less than white colleagues
Couldn't use same bathrooms as people they out-performed

For Women:

Banned from universities (historically)
Paid a fraction of men's salaries
Work attributed to male supervisors
Sexual harassment normalized
No maternity leave
"Programmer" devalued once women dominated it

For Immigrants:

Visa exploitation (H-1B tied to employer)
Language barriers
Credential non-recognition
Racist immigration policies
Deportation threats
Family separation

For Indigenous People:

Genocide (ongoing)
Land theft
Cultural suppression
Knowledge appropriation without compensation
Systematic erasure from history

And they STILL contributed more to human progress than Elon Musk ever will.

4. Why the 'Genius' Myth Was Dangerous

A. It Justifies Oligarchy

If Wealth Comes from Genius →

Billionaires "earned" their wealth through superior intellect
Redistribution is "punishing success"
Worker ownership is "rewarding mediocrity"
Democracy threatens "meritocracy"
Oligarchy Is Natural and Just

Dark Enlightenment thinkers advocate for hierarchical and authoritarian systems of governance, enabled by technological innovation, and led by hybrid CEO-meets-monarch-like figures. Cascade Institute

The "genius" mythology is the foundation of techno-fascism.

B. It Erases Collective Achievement

Every Breakthrough IS Collective:

Example: COVID Vaccines

NOT: "Genius scientists invented vaccines in record time"

BUT:

Decades of mRNA Research (publicly funded)
University Scientists (Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman at UPenn)
Government Funding (Operation Warp Speed, NIH, and BARDA)
Global Collaboration (data sharing across countries)
Clinical Trial Volunteers (who risked side effects)
Healthcare Workers (who administered billions of doses)
Manufacturing Workers (who produced at scale)
Logistics Workers (who maintained cold chain)

No lone genius. Collective effort across decades, disciplines, and nations.

But when we say "genius scientist," we erase everyone else's contribution.

C. It Discourages Participation

If Innovation Requires Genius →

"I'm not smart enough to contribute"
"Real change comes from extraordinary people"
"I should wait for a genius to save us"
Democracy Is for Ordinary People while Innovation Is for 'Geniuses'

This is exactly what oligarchs want you to believe.

The truth:

You Have Knowledge from your lived experience
You Have Skills developed through your work
You Have Perspective that "experts" lack
You Can Contribute to the collective banquet

Progress happens when EVERYONE contributes, not when we worship "geniuses."

5. Reclaim Collective Achievement

A. The Language We Should Use

Instead of "Elon Musk revolutionized electric vehicles": Say: "Public investment, workers at Tesla, and decades of battery research made electric vehicles viable. Musk extracted profit and claimed credit."

Instead of "Steve Jobs invented the smartphone": Say: "Government-funded research created touchscreens, GPS, internet, and Siri. Jobs packaged them beautifully and monopolized the market."

Instead of "Mark Zuckerberg connected the world": Say: "Tim Berners-Lee invented the web and gave it away for free. Users created content that made Facebook valuable. Zuckerberg extracted their data and sold it."

Instead of "Jeff Bezos built Amazon": Say: "Public infrastructure (USPS, roads, internet) enabled Amazon. Workers fulfilled every order. Bezos extracted wealth while workers urinated in bottles."

B. Crediting the Collective

When We Talk about Innovation, We Should Ask:

1. "On Whose Shoulders Does This Stand?"

What prior research made this possible?
Who funded the foundational work?
What public infrastructure enables it?

2. "Who Did the Actual Work?"

Who wrote the code?
Who ran the experiments?
Who manufactured the product?
Who delivered it to customers?

3. "Who Was Erased?"

Whose knowledge was appropriated?
Which contributors were uncredited?
What systemic barriers did hidden figures overcome?

4. "Who Benefits?"

Does wealth go to workers or owners?
Is knowledge shared or hoarded?
Does this serve humanity or extraction?

C. The "Give Credit Where Credit Is Due Act" (Reprise)

This is why the Innovation Justice Act matters:

It REQUIRES:

Full Attribution of all prior work
Community Consent for traditional knowledge use
Benefit-Sharing when commercializing collective innovations
Criminal Penalties for credit theft
Retroactive Correction of erased contributions

It ENDS:

Tech billionaires claiming to "invent" what public research created
Silicon Valley appropriating Indigenous/Global South knowledge
"Genius founders" erasing the workers who built their companies
The Mythology that Justifies Oligarchy

6. What ACTUAL Genius Looks Like

A. Collective Problem-Solving

REAL Genius Is NOT: One person having a brilliant idea alone

But:

Listening to those closest to the problem
Synthesizing knowledge across disciplines
Building on what came before
Sharing what you discover
Crediting those whose work you used
Iterating based on feedback
Passing it Forward for others to improve

That's the banquet. That's the chalkboard.

That's how human knowledge actually progresses.

B. Examples of Actual Collective Genius

Open-Source Software:

Linux: Started by Linus Torvalds, built by thousands
Wikipedia: Built by millions of contributors
Not "genius founders" but Collaborative Achievement

Public Health:

Polio Vaccine: Jonas Salk refused to patent it ("Could you patent the sun?")
Smallpox Eradication: Global cooperation and WHO coordination
Not "genius doctors" but Collective Commitment

Social Movements:

Civil Rights: NAACP, SNCC, SCLC, thousands of organizers, and millions of participants
Labor Movement: Centuries of strikes, organizing, and sacrifice
Not "genius leaders" but Mass Democratic Struggle

Scientific Breakthroughs:

Human Genome Project: International collaboration, publicly shared
Climate Science: IPCC synthesizing work of thousands
Not "genius scientists" but Coordinated Research

C. What This Platform Represents

This Is NOT a "Lone Genius" Writing This Platform.

You Are:

Listening to workers, scientists, and organizers
Synthesizing their knowledge into policy
Building on movements that came before
Crediting the sources you use
Sharing this freely for others to improve
Inviting collective refinement

This Is How Knowledge Actually Works:

Not: "I'm a genius, worship my vision" But: "I brought a dish to the banquet. Taste it. Improve it. Add your own flavor. Pass it forward."

That's a model.

That's the alternative to the "genius" mythology.

That's how we build the future together.