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Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

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Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#101

Post by Yetanfou »

scarface74 wrote: post #65
zanmat0 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>He also made a hard right-wing turn. Is that problematic in and of itself?

He still believes in the QAnon and PizzaGate conspiracy. That is kind of “problematic”.

It isn't problematic, just silly. There is no need to police other people's thoughts as long as they keep within the bounds of the law. He is even free to express those thoughts, within the bounds of the law, just like people are free to hollder 'death to America' during demonstrations in Oakland. One of the pillars of a well-functioning state is that things which are not forbidden by law are allowed. It might not be wise, it might not be smart, it might sound stupid (Qanon) or reprehensible (death to America) but it is allowed.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#102

Post by ry_co »

ogre_codes wrote: post #76
CalChris wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Larry didn't take it from anyone. We gave it to him. He just monetized it.

You cannot give something away without realizing it. Google's collection of shadow data on people is not "Given" to them. Most people don't know when and how they collect it. I didn't "Give" Google data any more than I gave data to the guy who drove by my car and collected the plate number when I went to the store a few weeks ago.

Alternatively, data could be considered not to exist until it is collected. In this way Larry is neither stealing it nor are you giving it. I personally find this interpretation more compelling. Otherwise you'd get weird conclusions, like Darwin stealing evolution from nature, rather than being the creator of the idea and the data that supports it.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#103

Post by golemiprague »

dagmx wrote: post #96
ryantgtg wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if Gates has shown that. > According to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll, 44 percent of Republicans believe that Bill Gates is plotting to use a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign as a pretext to implant microchips in billions of people and monitor their movements — a widely debunked conspiracy theory with no basis in fact.[0] [0]: https://news.yahoo.com/new-yahoo-news-you-gov-poll-shows-cor...

It's depressing knowing how large swaths of people are anti science and have made it part of their political identity to boot

I think people take some facebook tongue in cheek too literally. It is like when soccer fans chant songs about the referee mum's occupation, they don't really mean it literally but they do mean to show dissatisfaction with the referee decisions. Same thing goes for all those Q anon theories or similiar ideas, most people know they are not true literally but it just shows dissatisfaction with certain politics of the left side of the political map and the hypocrisy of it all.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#104

Post by heavyset_go »

ethbr0 wrote: post #100
dagmx wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's depressing knowing how large swaths of people are anti science and have made it part of their political identity to boot

They're not anti-science: they're ignorant. If we had better basic education, presumably people would be able to understand how things work.

It's partisanship. Some people will say they believe even the most ridiculous of things if that means they're toeing the party line.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#105

Post by FriendlyNormie »

dagmx wrote: post #96
ryantgtg wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if Gates has shown that. > According to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll, 44 percent of Republicans believe that Bill Gates is plotting to use a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign as a pretext to implant microchips in billions of people and monitor their movements — a widely debunked conspiracy theory with no basis in fact.[0] [0]: https://news.yahoo.com/new-yahoo-news-you-gov-poll-shows-cor...

It's depressing knowing how large swaths of people are anti science and have made it part of their political identity to boot

No post body was provided.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#106

Post by dgudkov »

redisman wrote: post #17
paxys wrote: post #9

It was clear years ago that neither he nor Brin were interested running Google day-to-day anymore. I'm actually surprised that every billionaire doesn't do the same after reaching a certain point of success. Like..is calling the shots at Facebook really that big a deal that Zuckerberg spends his life being dragged from one mess to another, put in front of Congress every other week, criticized across the political spe…

He has a lot more power as the CEO of Facebook than "just" a retired billionaire. Which is what humans have craved since the dawn of time.

>Which is what humans have craved since the dawn of time.

In any political system other than Western democracy power is essential for physical and financial safety, if you are wealthy. Power, of course, can be attractive on its own, but in a Western democracy it can also be optional. In all other political systems it's absolutely mandatory - wealthy people without power quickly cease being wealthy.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#107

Post by an_opabinia »

mxwsn wrote: post #25
paxys wrote: post #9

It was clear years ago that neither he nor Brin were interested running Google day-to-day anymore. I'm actually surprised that every billionaire doesn't do the same after reaching a certain point of success. Like..is calling the shots at Facebook really that big a deal that Zuckerberg spends his life being dragged from one mess to another, put in front of Congress every other week, criticized across the political spe…

Zuckerberg owns Facebook in a way that no other major company (to my knowledge) is owned. He is a monarch that can override any and all board politics. While power sloshes around in other companies by tug of war, Zuckerberg's word is final. Given this, I don't think it's unusual that Zuckerberg would stick around. He, with Facebook, explore new possibility space in how a company can be run that few other companies in…

The way Elon Musk put it, who rarely says stuff that doesn't sound completely crazy, is that his grandchildren will be running Facebook. It's truly totally crazy.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#108

Post by karpierz »

Yetanfou wrote: post #101
scarface74 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He still believes in the QAnon and PizzaGate conspiracy. That is kind of “problematic”.

It isn't problematic, just silly. There is no need to police other people's thoughts as long as they keep within the bounds of the law. He is even free to express those thoughts, within the bounds of the law, just like people are free to hollder 'death to America' during demonstrations in Oakland. One of the pillars of a well-functioning state is that things which are not forbidden by law are allowed. It might not be…

I'm confused, you started the argument off by claiming that spreading PizzaGate isn't problematic and then went into a series of arguments for why it should be legal? Can legal things not be problematic?

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#109

Post by adamiscool8 »

ryantgtg wrote: post #94
dddbbb wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's still relatively young, and likely realises the near absolute power he holds over one of the largest companies in the world is not something he can get back once he gives it up. Also Gates, to put it in very uncharitable terms, has shown that it doesn't matter if you're seen as a hated, greedy CEO as long as you do enough philanthropy later in life.

Not sure if Gates has shown that. > According to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll, 44 percent of Republicans believe that Bill Gates is plotting to use a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign as a pretext to implant microchips in billions of people and monitor their movements — a widely debunked conspiracy theory with no basis in fact.[0] [0]: https://news.yahoo.com/new-yahoo-news-you-gov-poll-shows-cor...

The unnecessary dismissal of these theories as having "no basis in fact" probably contributes to their stickiness. This absolutely does have basis in, arguably misconstrued, fact:

>The claim emerged after a Reddit Q&A in which Gates mentioned foreseeing the use of “digital certificates” to show who has been tested for COVID-19 or who has recovered from the disease . Most of the iterations of this claim misleadingly refer to “quantum dot dye” technology, which was founded by the Gates Foundation. Kevin McHugh, one of the lead authors of the “quantum dot dye” research paper, confirmed to Reuters this technology is not a microchip or human implantable capsule. Instead, it is similar to a tattoo, which would help provide up-to-date patient vaccine records for professionals in places lacking medical records. [0]

[0] https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-gates-fauci/fal...

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#110

Post by phkahler »

tehjoker wrote: post #72
Yetanfou wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

All billionaires are right-wing. They uphold and embody social inequality. Whether they endorse rigid social divisions along cultural lines is just extra gravy.

>> All billionaires are right-wing.

Not sure about their beliefs. I suspect they just endorse the party most likely to give them a tax break. This may also explain why many are going against Trump - he's been telling the public they've been given a bad deal and he's spoken against some big pork behavior. Who knows what he might do. Biden OTOH seems business friendly enough.

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