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Jack Dorsey Is Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley

nytimes.com

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Re: Jack Dorsey Is Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley

#131

Post by the_economist »

gvand wrote: post #24
CptJamesCook wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does Jack do that you consider to be bullshit?

Read the article and ask yourself which one of the things described would seem out of place in one of those sad gossip magazines targeting low-income housewives. E.g. water mixed with Himalayan salt and lemon in the morning. And since I'm mentioning it, Himalayan salt is not better than normal salt. It could also contain more contaminants and it has no iodine (that could not be desirable in some countries).

Himalayan salt contains iron, calcium, iron, and magnesium.

Lemons contain vitamin C, potassium, fiber, etc.

If you are fasting, it may be a good idea to get those electrolytes. Even if not, this seems like a healthy drink; certainly better what I people see drinking at my office.

People might not want to macro dose iodine, so that rules out table salt.

Most importantly: it tastes good!

Re: Jack Dorsey Is Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley

#132

Post by padobson »

Some of this stuff definitely seems weird to me, but at the same time I think the weird stuff is built on true stuff.

I'm definitely skeptical of people selling home designed cryochambers, but cold stress seems to have real benefits[0], and I've found that a cold shower or a cold jog (15-30 degrees F) seems to have the benefits described by the adherents.

Similarly, I doubt I'll ever go on any sort of meditation retreat, but I really enjoy using Headspace[1] and I find it helps me focus when I'm otherwise scatterbrained.

Finally, intermittent fasting seems to get a lot of flack for being a veiled eating disorder, but so far as I can tell, putting your body in ketosis through calorie restriction is the only way to reduce body fat. You can cook three low-calorie meals everyday, but that's time consuming and expensive and terribly inconvenient for family meal planning. It's much easier to eat one normal-sized meal and skip the extra meal planning, grocery shopping and preparation required to eat healthy.

So have I drank the Kool-Aid on this stuff? Maybe. But at this point I'd need more evidence to push me off of it, because the evidence that pushed me on to it has been validated by my own results.

[0]https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/cold-stress-hormesis [1]https://www.headspace.com/

Re: Jack Dorsey Is Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley

#133

Post by finkin1 »

I personally find this to be a pretty ridiculous comparison. Paltrow runs a massive organization that makes absurd claims about products she sells and she profits significantly from making these unscientific claims.

Dorsey isn't doing any of this. All he does is have his personal way of living in the world (not that I personally agree with a lot of the things he does). He doesn't sell anything related to his silly behaviors. He doesn't profit from any of his silly behaviors. He's just sharing how he personally lives in the world with other people.

To me, this is VERY different than what Paltrow is doing and the comparison is not a good one.

Re: Jack Dorsey Is Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley

#134

Post by rhinoceraptor »

rchaud wrote: post #98
pcbro141 wrote: post #38

Never understood the disdain for people for trying wacky sounding self-improvement techniques. Just like I wouldn't make fun of the 17% of Americans who take antidepressant pills to feel happier, I'm definitely not going to make fun of people fasting or using sauna to feel happy.

Antidepressants undergo clinical trials and are prescribed by medical professionals. There is no glamour or publicity in that at all. The comparison would be closer if you were talking about IG fitness influencers selling 'fit tea' and 'all-day energy BBCAs'.

I'm sure the fasting market is really going to take off soon, there's a killing to be made selling absolutely nothing.

Re: Jack Dorsey Is Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley

#136

Post by CharlesColeman »

sbov wrote: post #60
CharlesColeman wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its so common for engineers to have excessive confidence in their opinions about subjects far beyond their areas of competence that there's a term for it: engineer's disease (or engineer's syndrome).

This is true for the general population though. The only reason why the term exists is because other engineers expect it not to apply to engineers. Really the concept says more about us and our expectations of educated engineers rather than the engineers with bad opinions. You could even go so far as to say those wielding the term also fall under the term: outside of your expertise, you're assuming engineers shouldn'…

> This is true for the general population though.

Not really. Engineer's disease is specific to engineers, because at its core is the implicit belief that engineering (and science/math) is the ur-discipline whose mindset and techniques are universally applicable to all problems. That often comes with the attitude that other mindsets and techniques are inferior (e.g. those from the humanities in particular) and/or that engineers are more competent and can easily master needed parts of other disciplines when they choose (and thus the practitioners of those disciplines have little authority).

Re: Jack Dorsey Is Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley

#138

Post by duxup »

Larrikin wrote: post #128
duxup wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Humans are weird. Steve Jobs had some weirdness / bad choices. I still wouldn't mind working for them. It's not like you have to do those things or are endorsing them by working there. Weird folks come up with some good ideas sometimes. I think of myself as very boring and normal, I'm not coming up with great ideas...

So long as he isn't forcing his employees to follow that lifestyle, it seems totally fine to me as well. Now WeWork is a place I would never think about working. All catered lunches are vegetarian only and they won't let you expense any meals unless you can prove they were vegetarian. No thank you. https://www.fastcompany.com/90202356/wework-is-a-vegetarian-...

Humm yeah that's a bit different from WeWork there...

Re: Jack Dorsey Is Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley

#139

Post by _bxg1 »

GuiA wrote: post #111
michaelchisari wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also wonder how much of it is people desperately trying to undo the damages of stress. What people might really need is shorter work weeks and more time off (including time away from social media and other non-work related stressors). But that's not something out culture really allows for or encourages. So we look to miracle cures so we can continue feeling productive.

I’d put it even further than “just” attempting to undo the damages of stress. The local community, where you’d buy your meat from your local butcher that had been in your neighborhood for 15 years, vegetables from the farmers’ market where the produce is all from within a 50 miles radius, where you go to church/temple/etc with the same faces every week, where the teachers and doctors that took care of you now take ca…

I don't really see how saunas, supplements, and fasting stand-in for "a sense of place and community". Maybe meditation retreats, but not most of the things mentioned in the article.

Re: Jack Dorsey Is Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley

#140

Post by GuiA »

_bxg1 wrote: post #139
GuiA wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d put it even further than “just” attempting to undo the damages of stress. The local community, where you’d buy your meat from your local butcher that had been in your neighborhood for 15 years, vegetables from the farmers’ market where the produce is all from within a 50 miles radius, where you go to church/temple/etc with the same faces every week, where the teachers and doctors that took care of you now take ca…

I don't really see how saunas, supplements, and fasting stand-in for "a sense of place and community". Maybe meditation retreats, but not most of the things mentioned in the article.

You buy the supplements, get on the company’s mailing lists, go to the lectures, join Facebook groups with people following the same thing to share experiences, attend meetups, etc. Of course it’s a social, shared experience first and foremost.
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