Today's deviation from plasma (sort of): a meditation on the books that shape engineering visions. Elon Musk has been quietly telling the world what the future looks like — by recommending Ian Banks' Culture series. I bought all 10 audiobooks. I'm on book three. Let me tell you what I'm hearing — and the Asimov novel that built the mission of my own company.

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 I know the future. Elon Musk told me.

00:23 AI-driven post-scarcity society

00:43 Elon's actual recommendation: read Ian Banks' Culture series

00:49 Why I take reading advice from people I admire

00:59 Why Elon inspires engineers (love him or hate him)

01:17 Picking up all the Culture novels on Audible

01:27 What book 3 sounds like — AIs that demand citizenship and a personality

02:23 Isaac Asimov's Foundation and the direction of my company

02:32 Where "Our future is electric" actually came from

02:45 The motto AAplasma runs on

03:04 In Foundation, everything runs on atomics

03:33 What if all chemicals are gone? How do we make clothes, plastics, materials?

03:40 The answer: plasma

03:50 The grand vision — replacing the petrochemical industry with electric discharges

04:08 Why Asimov gave me a vision I still walk around quoting

04:18 What Elon's recommendation tells us about his vision

04:33 10 books in the Culture series (one is short)

04:42 Read along with me — let's play catch

04:53 A futuristic society with AI and no money

05:14 Bonus: what reading Artemis did for our NASA proposal

05:19 Moon colony oxygen from electrolysis of liquefied regolith

05:50 Proposing it to NASA — plasma, minimal moving parts

06:02 The future as per Ian Banks' Culture series

06:17 Wrap-up — drop your "Can Plasma?" questions below

If you're an engineer, founder, or anyone whose work needs a long-term vision: read what your heroes read.

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