Accelerating Returns

Accelerating Returns is about science, progress, and the war for public opinion in the coming century. Rogue extremists known as Blockers perform acts of terror to create spectacles of worst-case-scenario science to spur the masses to action. A young, inspiring CEO takes her biotech firm from zero to empire, only to be undermined by Blockers seeking to show the dark side of technology.Rule #7 of Blocker’s Manifesto: A Blocker does not operate underground. He participates in a group. He is mainstream. All things anathema to him, he must embrace and make central to his life.Inspired by Ray Kurzweil’s Law of Accelerating Returns, Bill Joy’s Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us, and Hugo de Garis’ The Coming Artilect War. The Law of Accelerating Returns states that technology in the coming century will be so “rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history.” On one side will stand those who welcome radical advancement in technology, versus those on the other side who attempt to subvert and destroy it. Accelerating Returns is a novel about science, progress, and the war for public opinion. Rogue extremists known as Blockers perform acts of terror to create spectacles of worst-case-scenario science to spur the masses to action. A young, inspiring CEO takes her biotech firm from zero to empire, only to be undermined by a ruthless executive with his own anti-science agenda. A disgruntled researcher sees his work usurped by a charismatic scientist and is recruited by the neo-Luddites. Blockers are not street thugs throwing rocks. They are scientists and executives in research labs and board rooms whose single purpose is to deter the inevitable integration of man and machine.