The Future of Technology

In God We Trust: All Others Have to Bring Data

Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google, and Peter Thiel, technology investor, PayPal co-founder, and entrepreneur, participated in a lively debate at Fortune Brainstorm Tech in Aspen, CO, about the future of technology. Fortune's Adam Lashinsky moderated this sometimes heated discussion, where there was rarely any agreement, but an incredibly fascinating conversation.

Schmidt said technology and access to information has increased productivity and quality of life worldwide. Thiel thanked Schmidt for "doing a fantastic job" as "minister of propaganda" for Google. The tech sector has made remarkable strides in the areas of computers and software, he said, but has seen a "catastrophic” failure in other areas, such as energy innovation; ”Google is out of ideas." Schmidt called for more and better education, while Thiel proclaimed the inflation of an "education bubble."