I’m not an expert, but I’ve been observing investment behavior for a while now. I’ve watched VC behavior, and the behavior of retail investors on the stock market. I’ve watched analysts, owned some stocks and worked with investor relations for a technology company, and I’ve participated in an IPO. I’ve also listened to executives talk about ‘valuations’ behind the scenes. Over time, I’ve become convinced that there is no real “market” operating the way that most people who advocate for the benefits of market dynamics define it. It’s not allocating capital based on anything related to merit and it isn’t efficient in any real way. These valuations are largely arbitrary and manipulated by a choreography of marketing, fraud, and the continuously nurtured delusions that some parts of the market (like journalists and analysts) are objective, and that the majority of normal investors are actually able to make informed decisions. In short, I have no confidence that Neuralink is actually worth that much. But, in the end, almost no one cares and almost no one participating in these “markets” has any interest in the supposed benefits to society that markets bring. That is why society keeps getting worse the longer it is being shaped by the parlor game that is our economy economy.