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Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

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Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#271

Post by solidasparagus »

alexbanks wrote: post #243
ponker wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you cannot compare becoming the world's best self-driving engineer to winning the lottery. This is like becoming Lebron James, it's tremendous talent combined with tremendous commitment.

Lebron James was the exact definition of right place, right skills, right time. Lots of players have "tremendous talent" and "tremendous commitment." Lebron wouldn't be what he is today without a tremendous amount of luck. Would his career have worked out if Carmelo was drafted to Cleveland and Lebron went to the Nuggets? What about if Lebron needed to do a year in college now? How would that have impacted his trajec…

I don't think this is a great example. LeBron James has once in a generation physical gifts. It is not true that lots of players have the physical talent that LeBron has. With those gifts, he is going to go pro in a major sport and probably be a standout in most situations. I think his success is pretty independent of luck and time.

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#272

Post by [deleted] »

watwut wrote: post #256
teej wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the Google version of winning the lottery. Right place, right skills, right time.

Beyond that, the exact moment when this guy stop those trade secrets was unlikely to be the first time he did something unethical. He was likely manipulative, lying, either to harm competition etc etc etc long before which made him good at climbing corporate ladder and negotiating. He just got too brazen with those trade secrets. Which is exactly how people get high rewards, until it breaks.

[deleted]

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#273

Post by throwaway2048 »

noobermin wrote: post #263
cgb223 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

God what kind of knowledge / training do I need to get that level of bonus?

It's telling that the "he deserves it, it's all foresight and brilliance" is the leading reply and the "right skills, right time" reply is behind. I imagine just by sheer nature of the power law that some upvotes are people trying to justify their lot but that would be the minority of people. I guess just so many who haven't made it at all but hold this fiction dear for their own peace of mind?

The Just World Fallacy is an important cornerstone of a lot of people's beliefs about the world.

It tends to come out most fervently in strained justifications about such massive and obvious inequalities in compensation, such as this case.

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#274

Post by vijayr02 »

noobermin wrote: post #263
cgb223 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

God what kind of knowledge / training do I need to get that level of bonus?

It's telling that the "he deserves it, it's all foresight and brilliance" is the leading reply and the "right skills, right time" reply is behind. I imagine just by sheer nature of the power law that some upvotes are people trying to justify their lot but that would be the minority of people. I guess just so many who haven't made it at all but hold this fiction dear for their own peace of mind?

"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." ― Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#275

Post by jimnotgym »

nathanvanfleet wrote: post #235
ponker wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you cannot compare becoming the world's best self-driving engineer to winning the lottery. This is like becoming Lebron James, it's tremendous talent combined with tremendous commitment.

I think they gave the credit to him about having the skills. But it's the truth that luck is a huge factor. The same goes for Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. They had enormous skill and talent but if they so much as had slightly different childhoods or friends or geographic locations it would have been someone else. 1. Bill Gates had computer access 2. Steve Jobs met Woz

Yes, imagine they were born 50 years earlier, or indeed now!

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#276

Post by amelius »

adatavizguy wrote: post #91
CarelessExpert wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Trade secrets were invented as a riskier way to extend your monopoly by giving up government protection. You're definitely mistaken on that point. Trade secrets enjoy protection in the law, both in the US and worldwide: https://www.uspto.gov/ip-policy/trade-secret-policy > If the government is going to give trade secrets the same protection as patents (or even more, because patent infringement doesn't come with jai…

It is interesting that recipes are not art but rather fact. The same with fashion. I think that SpaceX has trade secrets rather than patents because there is nothing stopping China using the information in a patent whereas a trade secret is obfuscated.

But what happens if someone else independently invents the same things and protects them in a patent? Does SpaceX lose their technology?

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#277

Post by jimnotgym »

Why is white collar crime punished with such light sentences? I could have got that sentence for house breaking, or shoplifting to the value of $5k. I could get a lot more for dealing drugs to a few friends. Steal $100m and get 18 months, starting when the world is a nicer place. The world really is set up for rich people.

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#278

Post by Roritharr »

vijayr02 wrote: post #274
noobermin wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's telling that the "he deserves it, it's all foresight and brilliance" is the leading reply and the "right skills, right time" reply is behind. I imagine just by sheer nature of the power law that some upvotes are people trying to justify their lot but that would be the minority of people. I guess just so many who haven't made it at all but hold this fiction dear for their own peace of mind?

"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." ― Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress

The flip-side of this truism is that this point of view is probably healthier for the individual than seeing themselves as helpless victims.

Both views are flawed, of course.

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#280

Post by maccard »

disillusioned wrote: post #227
bduerst wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's survivor bias though, isn't it? Hard to see the world's best self-driving engineers when they're not getting caught stealing trade secrets and forced to reveal compensation.

Thought this was going to go a different direction for a moment...

Well they wouldn't be the world's best self driving engineers in that case would they?
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