• Microsoft’s $7.5 B acquisition of Bethesda (and thus id Software) was interpreted as a strategic move to secure VR/AR content and engineering talent rather than a simple games-library purchase.  
• Participants debated whether the deal could pressure id to drop Vulkan in favor of DirectX 12, noting that idTech has not been licensed outside Bethesda since 2006 and has minimal market share, making sabotage of open standards self-defeating.  
• Historical context was provided: idTech’s earlier licensing (last external license in 2009) and the collapse of licensees like 3D Realms and Ion Storm were cited as cautionary tales about poor developer support.  
• The conversation explicitly weighed the relevance of the acquisition to transhumanism, concluding it is “no more than a butterfly flapping its wings,” i.e., negligible direct impact.  
• A forthcoming event on non-invasive brain stimulation was shared: the BrainBox Initiative Conference 2020 (https://brainbox-initiative.com/brainbox-initiative-conference-2020/) starting in two days, covering various stimulation modalities relevant to cognitive enhancement research.