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Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#111

Post by TeMPOraL »

joshpadnick wrote: post #20

I'm happily engaged in a DevOps startup and won't pursue this idea, but I proposed a new kind of news format shortly after the election at https://joshpadnick.com/2016/11/25/a-proposal-for-a-new-type... . Personally, I'd love to be a consumer of something like this, or to know if there are startups working on this.

I'm unfortunately otherwise occupied at the moment so I won't be jumping on the occasion right now, but I favourited your comment for further reference. There's lots of good thoughts you put into that post, and I'd love to help - time allowing - if someone is going to take responsibility for making this happen. Thank you for writing that post!

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#112

Post by eevilspock »

rjkaplan wrote: post #88
chipgap98 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think we can halt progress just because it negatively impacts some people. At the same time you are right that it is "not only a force for good" and there are things that can be done to mitigate that negativity. I think this is an appeal to entrepreneurs do to just that

That depends on how you define progress. Just to play devil's advocate: what if you define progress as "that stuff" that will increase the general well-being of the greatest number of people over the next 20 years? With that definition, does technology-powered automation still count as progress?

It would count as progress if the automated means of production were owned by the labor that is put out of work. Oh wait, that sounds like communism, and we could never ever have a reasonable discussion about that amongst a group of people who thrive off of a system that is the opposite.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#114

Post by maxxxxx »

ryanworl wrote: post #106
dukeluke wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When "progress" continually lowers wages of the lower class and concentrates power to fewer and fewer people, I think the way of doing things needs to be reevaluated.

Technology provides massive amounts of consumer surplus and deflation. What if we need less money and lower wages are actually fine? Edit: Do the people down-voting this actually think technology doesn't provide consumer surplus and deflation? Or do you have a problem with my question?

That's easy to say for someone with a good income. For a lot of people wages go down while cost of living goes up.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#116

Post by TeMPOraL »

alphonsegaston wrote: post #91
TeMPOraL wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wasn't really even thinking about "command and control framework". More about the culture of Star Trek universe - "the future based on science, health, the arts, and shared prosperity", where people respect science, competence, teamwork and humanitarian values. One thing I always loved about Star Trek worldview is that characters in the show always believe people they meet are competent at what they do, instead of…

Right, but framing is desperately important in this context. If you say we want to build a Star Trek future, in no short order you'll have people jumping all over you about how it's an authoritarian communist fantasy. I've seen this exact thing happen on this forum. If instead, its framed as expanding the idea of American Federalism, diverse entities working towards vision of the future rooted in these ideals, I thin…

I understand now. A good point, I agree.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#117

Post by adamnemecek »

jpereira wrote: post #92
adamnemecek wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While nice, neither of these strikes me as truly disruptive. The downside is that to achieve the best educational environment, you'd have to open a school which doesn't scale nicely unless you plug into existing "world APIs". I guess you could start by opening a co-working space with a supervising adult (not teacher, this adult will be there to ensure that the kids aren't killing each other). There would be teachers…

I think you're exactly right in that the "world APIs" for education are the limiting factor. The major issue is that the assessment process is directly tied to the learning process within a single institution, leading to both being done incredibly inoptimally. It leads to the necessity of standardized tests and exams, and accredited institutions, which limits the potential learning opportunities available to the very…

> The major issue is that the assessment process is directly tied to the learning process within a single institution, leading to both being done incredibly inoptimally.

Very good point. There are no feedback looks between the two subsystems which makes them both suck.

One point I'd like to raise though is that I'm not sure if it's really optimal have 'assessments'. I have some fundamental issues with assigning numerical values to things that are sometimes hard to judge numerically.

I think that a much better system would be that each student's work is stored in the cloud where it's accessible and everyone can judge for himself.

And I think that we should move away from test to projects that are largely designed by the student under the guidance of teachers.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#118

Post by sillysaurus3 »

maxxxxx wrote: post #47

I am a little ambivalent about this. On the one hand the intent is probably good but on the other hand companies like YC and Silicon Valley are drivers of a lot of developments that led to the current situation. - Silicon Valley is a great example of growing inequality. Most of the rewards go disproportionally to a select few at the top - A lot of VC companies are killing a lot of previously relatively stable jobs. U…

Silicon Valley is a great example of growing inequality. Most of the rewards go disproportionally to a select few at the top.

That's a good thing: http://www.paulgraham.com/inequality.html

"Decreasing economic inequality means taking money from the rich. Since risk and reward are equivalent, decreasing potential rewards automatically decreases people's appetite for risk. Startups are intrinsically risky. Without the prospect of rewards proportionate to the risk, founders will not invest their time in a startup. Founders are irreplaceable. So eliminating economic inequality means eliminating startups."

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#119

Post by cookiecaper »

1098230213901 wrote: post #115

Yikes. The idea that any kind of news should be handled by a Ycombinator startup does not make me comfortable at all.

reddit, now frequently a primary news source, was in the first class of YC companies. I don't think there's any inherent contradiction, though I would be concerned that HN would only want to promote news sources that had reddit-like audiences and outcomes.

I have some loose interest and IMO some relevant experience in creating a next-gen reddit, would like to try it some day. I have no intention to apply to YC.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#120

Post by alva »

kmnc wrote: post #110
alva wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does any of that change the hard facts that what was enacted is not a ban on people coming to the US based on their religion. Because that is the pure fact.

So we should just keep dismissing his obvious intentions because he hasn't fully executed on them at this precise moment? You can keep explaining away his actions based on technicalities all you want, but his intentions are clear to most people in the US and around the world.

We should absolutely not be dismissing his seeming intentions. There should be massive focus on this. But that does not excuse conflating opinion/analysis with fact.

Accurate reporting of the news is so tremendously important. Every single time that the mainstream media is called out for presenting opinion as fact, the public lose a tiny bit more faith in the veracity of the media.

The Trump administration media strategy is so crystal clear I do not know why there is any confusing about what is going on.

Every time a mainstream publication presents an analysis/opinion as fact, when it turns out Not to be true, Trump admin. calls them out on it and erodes trust further. This is their strategy. Keep the mainstream media falling into this trap and erode public confidence.

I think the ONLY way to counteract this very effective strategy is to clearly separate the two.

Report on the facts as they are. Also provide analysis and opinion that is clearly marked as such. This is so damn important, regardless of where you stand on the issue discussed.

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