The Need for a Higher Code
Where should we sail, pirate?
Coming from a military background and expecting a career in the armed forces, I was astonished by the speed, drive, and audacity of Silicon Valley. Here, 17 year-olds could declare themselves CEOs, declare war on multi-billion dollar industries, be taken seriously by seasoned engineers and investors, and receive millions in funding. Meanwhile, I was getting reprimanded as a Navy ROTC cadet for leaving a T-shirt in the locker room and studying “modern” Naval battles from 80 years ago. It was easy to agree with Steve Jobs’s sentiment: “I’d rather be a pirate than join the Navy.”
Yet while the swashbuckling world of entrepreneurship is undeniably thrilling, it often operates in morally murky waters. The recent, high-profile downfalls of Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos), Adam Neumann (WeWork), and Sam Bankman-Fried (FTX) highlight this tension. While each of these founders posessed remarkable intelligence and ambition that helped them create companies worth billions, it didn’t shield them from ruin—or, in some cases, prison.
In Silicon Valley, flexible morals often stem from an unrelenting drive for success and wealth. This ambition is not inherently wrong; in fact, the Valley excels at aligning the incentives of founders, investors, and builders to create real value. But when ambition drives one to abandon moral principles, the cost is steep: one’s integrity can be traded for a quick win—the proverbial thirty pieces of silver.
This drive for success should be paired with a desire to actualize a fantastic future. Elon Musk exemplifies this approach: through force of will, entrepreneurship, and fearless risk-taking, he’s building a future of electric vehicles for all, rockets to colonize Mars, brain-computer interfaces for the medically disabled, social media that champions free speech, and satellites connecting the world to the internet.
Musk’s success has inspired a generation of builders to dream bigger. I’ve met people working to make cryosleep a reality (imagine you could sleep until a cure for your disease was found), building a new era of American monuments, or bringing back supersonic travel.
While technology holds immense power to shape our future, it cannot tell us what future to create.
I’m launching Higher Code because I believe that today’s relentless pursuit of innovation could be strengthened by something timeless. As a technologist with roots in both military and Christian traditions, I want to explore how the values that have grounded generations can guide us through this era of dizzying progress. At Higher Code, I’ll write on the intersections of technology, theology, and American ideals—not to slow down our drive for the future, but to ensure we build it wisely and with integrity.
Excited to read more