A Man Who Invented the Future

An ornate essay links the Gilded Age Widener fortune, the sinking of the Titanic, and philosopher Francis Bacon on the 400th anniversary of his death—then lands a jab at AI by calling large language models (LLMs) “knowledge stripped of spirit.” But the comments? Pure fireworks. The title instantly triggered a quote brawl: several readers shouted “Alan Kay!” for the line “The best way to predict the future is to invent it,” accusing the piece of vibe-surfing on a misattribution. Style police stormed in next: one camp called the essay “threadbare and meandering,” while admirers praised its slow-burn, nonlinear storytelling that “rewards faith.” Then came the hottest flashpoint: that LLM diss. One snarky takedown insisted chatbots are more useful than the essay itself, turning the ending’s moral into a roast. Defenders countered that artful structure and historical texture matter as much as “utility,” sparking a classic internet cage match: soul vs spreadsheet. And of course, the meme cavalry arrived—“So he’s the guy who promised us flying cars,” cracked one commenter, tossing jetpack jokes into the pile. Verdict: a highbrow history lesson that became a low-key comment section cage match—with Bacon sizzling at the center.