Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent • Hacker News Board

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#371

Post by totalZero » Sun, Oct 02, 2016, 4:39 PM UTC

tajen wrote: post #73

I'm in France and I sometimes notice that USA articles focus only on underpriviledged talent . Why only the talents? It's a bit like rape is fought against, except in prisons because they're lower-grade citizen. Or like articles describing unwarranted violence from the SWAT teams: "The family was playing poker, they got busted for illegal gaming, 3 died" will trigger fewer reaction than "The SWAT team killed the dog.…

The USA also has a tradition of storytelling about underdogs rising to become champions. These stories resonate in part because almost all people can relate to the underdog in one way or another.

In other words, the underprivileged talent is a form of the American everyman.

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#372

Post by wangchow » Sun, Oct 02, 2016, 8:58 PM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #351

wangchow wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly no one is self-made. People who don't have financial cushions still rely on others to back their idea and hard work. Problem is everyone on HN is talking about how to make millions when that's backwards mentality because then you'll never be satisfied. People need to strive for modest salaries and things that benefit society and the planet not filling one's pockets.

We wouldn't have nice things like computers, coffee, indoor plumbing, jeans, books, teeth, etc. if people were satisfied with modest salaries and not filling their pockets.

Yes we would. Long before capitalism was invented the great creators of the world made great strides with inventiveness. While necessity is certainly the mother of invention, there's no limit to human curiosity.

Examples: Arabic numerals, Da Vinci, Mozart, Galileo, Maxwell, Einstein, Turing, etc. That's where a lot of those modern things come from.

Then along comes the capitalists to exploit the true discoveries for personal gain. Mass produce this-and-that, destroy the environment, etc. Build atomic bombs.

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#373

Post by bduerst » Tue, Oct 04, 2016, 5:13 PM UTC

googletazer wrote: post #336

bduerst wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's obvious to you, then why did you go off topic about parents' intentions with their kids? The article is about how having safety nets only for wealthy children leads to a net loss of talent in society. What does "entrepreneurship porn" now have to do with this?

Because in my mind "entrepreneurship porn" is still relevant to this article, by pushing people who should know better than to take a risk when they can't afford to, into risking their livelihoods for uncertain gains. In an ideal world every kid can be what they want to be, but in this one its good to know your limitations as well.

That seems to be an issue you've come up with on your own, because nobody is being pushed into entrepreneurship here.

In fact, the article states that without a safety net, talented people aren't taking the risks that can generate a net benefit for society.

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#374

Post by c22 » Tue, Oct 04, 2016, 8:00 PM UTC

wangchow wrote: post #372

WalterBright wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We wouldn't have nice things like computers, coffee, indoor plumbing, jeans, books, teeth, etc. if people were satisfied with modest salaries and not filling their pockets.

Yes we would. Long before capitalism was invented the great creators of the world made great strides with inventiveness. While necessity is certainly the mother of invention, there's no limit to human curiosity. Examples: Arabic numerals, Da Vinci, Mozart, Galileo, Maxwell, Einstein, Turing, etc. That's where a lot of those modern things come from. Then along comes the capitalists to exploit the true discoveries for…

I'm curious about when you believe capitalism was "invented". Post-Einstein?