Other than a reference to Thiel’s snarky, beside the point comment, and a dreary view of the world a decade or two hence, this article (3 weeks old now) does ultimately seem to be saying something important about the ramifications of accelerating intelligence. I think the author’s dreary view is a consequence of not accepting that Collaboration will be necessary, if our civilization is to survive the phase transition (material to information) that is upon us. The Competitive model, in which resources are scarce and insufficient and must be “worked for” in “jobs” will simply make less and less sense as technology and intelligence continue to accelerate. A civilization built on that Competitive paradigm, seeing the world as material stuff but not as information, will eventually destroy its environment and itself (think Cloud Atlas) the way we seem to be in danger of destroying our world even as we understand it better and better.
The reason for sharing knowledge, using open source, creating the creative commons, and nurturing all the openness of communication in our age is that this is how we can solve the problem of billions and billions of people living on the Earth in relative peace and security (and perhaps expanding our civilization beyond the planet). The dreary future the author of this piece contemplates is the result of trying to keep on in the old paradigm when we have the intelligence to go forward in a way that is better suited to our expanded understanding of reality. To continue on in the Competitive paradigm becomes a prescription for ever more unequal distribution of wealth and increasing social instability, environmental and food chain pollution, and ultimately dystopia or worse.
I have come to think that, given our understanding of accelerating intelligence, the way to accomplish a civilization paradigm shift from Competition to Collaboration might really only come down to doing what enables greater and greater communication, more openness, sharing of ideas and creativity, and all the other kinds of information flow that we ultimately call sharing. I am not appealing to a concept of “good,” only asserting that constricting information and communication flow (as is usually the basis for profit in the personal and social realms of the competition paradigm) is not a way to solve the problems of our age and allow our civilization to continue to flourish. Engaging the creativity and processing power of a connected world is what we need to be able to accomplish the trick of civilization metamorphosis and survival. This is where we can merge with our technology, rather than compete with it for work.

Hope this ramble makes sense to someone besides me as I post it as a comment on this article.