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Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

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Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#231
post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, why not work from there while enjoying the beautiful view and only go to the city if personal presence really is required (which most of time it isn't)?

To be fair that is a culture problem rather than one that can be solved with tech (well it already is solved by tech).

Is it? In a larger context I think it's very much the job of tech and technological solutions to bring about cultural change.

Keep in mind, sharing files and chat essentially were solved problems long before Dropbox and Slack came along, too. However, it was only with these two companies and their products that a wider audience adopted those solutions because finally someone got the UX right.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#232

> So if technological change were going to cause elimination of jobs, one presumes we would have seen it by now. ...considering this statement was delivered while the US Workforce Participation is at 30+ year lows while productivity and technological change has made significant inroads during that time (ex: Macintosh 512k vs. iPhone 7), I think he's missing a large chunk of the, uh, big picture. Then, contrast one of…

The US Workforce Participation figures have some explanations - more old folks retired, students studying longer and the like rather just tech change. https://qz.com/286213/the-chart-obama-haters-love-most-and-t...

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hero worship of successful people is just survivorship bias in action. Out of a population of people flipping coins, we (after the fact) find the ones who flipped heads 10 times in a row and fawn over them, asking them how they became such great coin flippers and what we can do to improve our coin flipping skills. See also: Good To Great or any similar business book.

This comment seemed to really resonate with people: https://twitter.com/jezenthomas/status/850433378230951937

I think it's a comforting thought that people only succeed because of exceptional luck but that doesn't make it true.

Worship is a problem, but methodical research of the sort that went into "Good to Great" is not.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#234

> So if technological change were going to cause elimination of jobs, one presumes we would have seen it by now. ...considering this statement was delivered while the US Workforce Participation is at 30+ year lows while productivity and technological change has made significant inroads during that time (ex: Macintosh 512k vs. iPhone 7), I think he's missing a large chunk of the, uh, big picture. Then, contrast one of…

> >So if technological change were going to cause elimination of jobs, one presumes we would have seen it by now.

> ...considering this statement was delivered while the US Workforce Participation is at 30+ year lows w...

You cropped out "around the world" which was a prominent prepositional phrase in his sentence.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#235
post #9

> So if technological change were going to cause elimination of jobs, one presumes we would have seen it by now. ...considering this statement was delivered while the US Workforce Participation is at 30+ year lows while productivity and technological change has made significant inroads during that time (ex: Macintosh 512k vs. iPhone 7), I think he's missing a large chunk of the, uh, big picture. Then, contrast one of…

Yeah, the problem is you still spend an hour in the car away from your family and friends. Are you taking your kid to work, or dropping them off somewhere (school?).. most kids go to their neighborhood school... I mean self driving cars will be great but the work commute will still be like taking the train. For that 1 hour long commute you can't work on your house, do chores, be present at home... A 10 minute walk or…

VR with eye contact will end commuting as a standard for information jobs. Eye contact is the main reason why teleconferencing doesn't work.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment seemed to really resonate with people: https://twitter.com/jezenthomas/status/850433378230951937

I think it's a comforting thought that people only succeed because of exceptional luck but that doesn't make it true. Worship is a problem, but methodical research of the sort that went into "Good to Great" is not.

Have you looked what happened to the companies profiled in that book?

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#237
post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I only came to HN somewhat recently, around 2 years ago, but I've started to notice a very major change in the culture of this forum lately. There is so much vitriol and blanket insults being levied at anyone and everyone. I am a woman. My experience of the forum has vastly improved during that time. I am not saying that HN does not have problems. When I arrived, it had a real sense of community that it seems to most…

I am a man so obviously I've not had the same experiences as you with regards to feeling excluded earlier on but I'm kind of mixed in my overall feelings. I've been here pretty much the same length of time as you and I agree with you that some stuff has definitely improved. Any topic dealing with women or minorities of any sort use to be truly dreadful places to view the comments in. Now they are just kind of dreadfu…

I had an initial negative experience on Reddit a few years ago and rapidly abandoned it. I recently returned. I have debated blogging about some of the differences between Reddit and other forums I have participated in. My second go round with Reddit is proving to be vastly different from my first, in a good way.

I think the world is still learning to interact effectively in online forums. There is still plenty to learn about how to make that work effectively.

Reddit: No one goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#238
post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or an active suspension that cancels out all bumps. This is actually my fantasy for self-driving cars; such a suspension is relatively expensive, but if cars are shared and autonomous, each car can be more costly.

It's not just the bumps, though, it's the acceleration. The car is inevitably going to speed up, slow down, and change direction, and I don't think there's any way of canceling that out. I'm almost certain I couldn't read in even a perfectly-suspended car without feeling sick.

Sure there is, just change the gravity vector; this is how motion simulators work.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#239

I'm getting tired of all of the hot air coming from these tech oligarchs. They're so enriched by a tech boom and a decade of easy money that we worship at their feet. Their vision and goal for the future is simply more money for themselves at the expense of others. "Guys look! An hour long commute is actually a good thing because you can spend it with your kids!" Why is it so hard to spend time with our kids now?! I…

The hero worship of successful people is just survivorship bias in action. Out of a population of people flipping coins, we (after the fact) find the ones who flipped heads 10 times in a row and fawn over them, asking them how they became such great coin flippers and what we can do to improve our coin flipping skills. See also: Good To Great or any similar business book.

luck is undeniably a factor in success, but it's far from the only one. this is the flaw in equating coin flipping to other fields.

sports are the easiest way to illustrate this point, but it also applies to other areas.

with coin flipping, replacing alice with bob does not influence the outcome. everyone has the same odds because luck is the only determinant. no amount of practice matters. the odds alice can flip 10 consecutive heads on her next turn will always be the same as bob's.

with basketball, replacing alice with steph curry vastly increases the odds of hitting 10 consecutive free throws. most importantly, alice can improve her odds with practice.

business is like poker: the longer the timeline, the more true skill emerges and dictates success. but if you only play one hand, then yes, luck may dictate the winner.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Although I don't think work in the car would be the same quality - if you use that time to handle emails it could be a big boost to get most emails addressed before you get to the office. I live about 12 miles from my office and going to the office removes about 1.5-2 hrs per day. Getting ready, 30 mins each way. I try to schedule phone calls for my commute but I don't always have calls to handle. I've worke…

For real. Have people saying this ever tried to work in a moving car? To achieve deep concentration with a laptop on a train? Even in an exceptionally comfortable cabin? I'm not saying it's impossible. I've done it here and there. But it's definitely a challenge and far from a norm.

Yeah I can't do it although my biz Dev guy cranks out PowerPoints, emails, financial models, etc. He seems to like working in that environment.
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