Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

kulesa.substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 112 posts

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#61

Post by paganel »

kqr wrote: post #37
keiferski wrote: post #14

The section on art collecting highlights the limitations of an economics-based approach to defining "talent." Cowen is an economist and this colors his entire approach. “You learn about other cultures, you learn different points of view by refining your eye and you develop a skill that is extremely useful for judging other things and cracking cultural codes in other settings. It’s an education in market economics - a…

> there is very little connection between "aesthetic value" and "market value." Wait, so how do you determine this "aesthetic value" if not by how much people are willing to work to acquire it? Your personal opinion? Some authority figure? Maths?

> Your personal opinion?

Yes, what's wrong with that? With a little katharsis mixed in, of course.

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#62

Post by legitster »

drpgq wrote: post #19
legitster wrote: post #13

Cowen is truly unique. He's one of the only "public intellectuals" who has replied to my random emails on multiple occasions. Everyone should listen to some episodes of Conversations with Tyler. I normally hate interview podcasts, but it is bar none the best one out there. It doesn't matter the topic - the questions he is able to hit his subjects with are amazing, nothing at all like how most interviews go.

Econtalk is a pretty good podcast that's similar.

Long time listener of Econtalk, but Russ tends to digress a lot and covers his interests. Still a great show, but Conversations feels on another level.

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#63

Post by borroka »

Dumblydorr wrote: post #51

What a sensational title, it's so tech-focused and the article fetishizes smartness in a bizarre way. There are talent curators in every single field, for instance from baseball, this reminds me of those old advisors in the movie Moneyball, who look at how people seem to be rather than using actual evidence of prior performance. Where is the quantification of TC's magical power? It's narrative, not numbers. The artic…

Am I the only one here who thinks TC knows nothing about many things and his main skill is putting himself out there?

I admire his range and understanding and use of the halo effect, but when he talks about some of the fields I know, I can't help but notice that he waves his hands more than those airfield attendants who tell pilots how to move runaway planes.

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#64

Post by andrewgleave »

borroka wrote: post #63
Dumblydorr wrote: post #51

What a sensational title, it's so tech-focused and the article fetishizes smartness in a bizarre way. There are talent curators in every single field, for instance from baseball, this reminds me of those old advisors in the movie Moneyball, who look at how people seem to be rather than using actual evidence of prior performance. Where is the quantification of TC's magical power? It's narrative, not numbers. The artic…

Am I the only one here who thinks TC knows nothing about many things and his main skill is putting himself out there? I admire his range and understanding and use of the halo effect, but when he talks about some of the fields I know, I can't help but notice that he waves his hands more than those airfield attendants who tell pilots how to move runaway planes.

“While differing widely in the various little bits we know, in our infinite ignorance we are all equal.”

- Karl Popper

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#65

Post by [deleted] »

pc86 wrote: post #59
Dumblydorr wrote: post #51

What a sensational title, it's so tech-focused and the article fetishizes smartness in a bizarre way. There are talent curators in every single field, for instance from baseball, this reminds me of those old advisors in the movie Moneyball, who look at how people seem to be rather than using actual evidence of prior performance. Where is the quantification of TC's magical power? It's narrative, not numbers. The artic…

Imagine thinking someone's formative years should be spent on "useful deliverables."

[deleted]

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#66

Post by snowwrestler »

Dumblydorr wrote: post #51

What a sensational title, it's so tech-focused and the article fetishizes smartness in a bizarre way. There are talent curators in every single field, for instance from baseball, this reminds me of those old advisors in the movie Moneyball, who look at how people seem to be rather than using actual evidence of prior performance. Where is the quantification of TC's magical power? It's narrative, not numbers. The artic…

If an 18 year old shows enough promise to go succeed in ventures outside college, why would you think they would devolve to pointless hoop-jumping and grade grubbing in college?

These sorts of criticisms of college seem bizarrely paternalistic or maybe fatalistic, acting like people lose all sense of agency just because they’re taking classes or something. The reality is that college is just like the rest of life: you get out of it what you put into it. It’s possible to coast and get the sheepskin, sure, but lots of people coast outside of college too.

There are certain types of ventures in which we could expect an 18-year-old to find success absent a college education, yes. Those doors are not closed to college graduates, though, and many doors are opened through advanced education—not all of which lead to commercial ventures.

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#67

Post by cltby »

pc86 wrote: post #59
Dumblydorr wrote: post #51

What a sensational title, it's so tech-focused and the article fetishizes smartness in a bizarre way. There are talent curators in every single field, for instance from baseball, this reminds me of those old advisors in the movie Moneyball, who look at how people seem to be rather than using actual evidence of prior performance. Where is the quantification of TC's magical power? It's narrative, not numbers. The artic…

Imagine thinking someone's formative years should be spent on "useful deliverables."

It's called an apprenticeship. It already exists; it's widely used; and it's wildly better for most kids than every other extant alternative.

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#68

Post by cma »

kqr wrote: post #37
keiferski wrote: post #14

The section on art collecting highlights the limitations of an economics-based approach to defining "talent." Cowen is an economist and this colors his entire approach. “You learn about other cultures, you learn different points of view by refining your eye and you develop a skill that is extremely useful for judging other things and cracking cultural codes in other settings. It’s an education in market economics - a…

> there is very little connection between "aesthetic value" and "market value." Wait, so how do you determine this "aesthetic value" if not by how much people are willing to work to acquire it? Your personal opinion? Some authority figure? Maths?

Parts of art economics are probably one of the few areas where Keynesian beauty contests actually exist in real life: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_beauty_contest

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#69

Post by jliptzin »

Dumblydorr wrote: post #51

What a sensational title, it's so tech-focused and the article fetishizes smartness in a bizarre way. There are talent curators in every single field, for instance from baseball, this reminds me of those old advisors in the movie Moneyball, who look at how people seem to be rather than using actual evidence of prior performance. Where is the quantification of TC's magical power? It's narrative, not numbers. The artic…

And then you put that 18 year old to work in those ventures, and at every turn he’s met with “what do you know, you’re just 18, why aren’t you in college if you’re so smart?”

Re: Tyler Cowen is a curator of talent

#70

Post by Steer »

keiferski wrote: post #39
kqr wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there is very little connection between "aesthetic value" and "market value." Wait, so how do you determine this "aesthetic value" if not by how much people are willing to work to acquire it? Your personal opinion? Some authority figure? Maths?

Philosophers, artists, and other thinkers have written about aesthetics for thousands of years. Truly answering your question would take a long time, but a short version might be something like: the collective opinions of a diverse group of highly informed and experienced (not necessarily educated as in a university) individuals. But that's just one approach and there are many others. Even then, anything is probably…

This reminds me of a debate we're having in Sweden presently around architecture. Most contemporary architects seem to prefer buildings as big concrete blocks while most "common folk" would prefer something... less modern? A perfect example is the new art museum which you can see here https://www.svd.se/liljevalchs-tillbyggnad--ett-bankvalv-for.... I personally find it revolting, but am I then the person without taste?
Post reply on HN