Magical Thinking & Modern Society

This piece is a personal opinion column, not news about a specific technology or program, and it has nothing to do with home energy upgrades or rebates. The writer reflects on what he calls "magical thinking" in modern culture: the tendency of people to believe wild, unrealistic ideas while doubting basic, well-established facts. He points to conspiracy theories as one example, then Bitcoin, which he argues has no built-in value and holds its price only because people believe it should.

His main focus is the current AI investment boom. He argues that AI is genuinely useful in many fields but still makes mistakes and needs human checking, and he sees no realistic path to it replacing most jobs or ushering in an "age of abundance" free of money, as some boosters claim. He's more concerned about the huge sums of money pouring into AI companies without a clear way to earn that money back, which he compares to the same kind of unfounded belief driving conspiracy theories and cryptocurrency speculation.

There's no new policy, product, rebate, or technology announcement here, and nothing that affects home energy decisions, heating and cooling equipment, weatherization, or incentive programs. It's simply a musing on why people are drawn to big, hopeful stories that outrun the evidence behind them.