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Paul Graham is leaving Twitter for now

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Re: Paul Graham is leaving Twitter for now

#971

Post by andyshi »

pg wrote: post #350

I'm not leaving Twitter. It seems more likely than not that Elon will reverse the ban on links to other social media sites. I just don't want to hang out there in the meantime. Plus given the way things are going, it seemed like a good time to learn about alternatives. I still think Elon is a smart guy. His work on cars and rockets speaks for itself. Nor do I think he's the villain a lot of people try to make him out…

"the techniques that work for cars and rockets don't work in social media." hmm... Elon Musk was a software engineer in the beginning, you know?

Re: Paul Graham is leaving Twitter for now

#972

Post by ush »

pg wrote: post #350

I'm not leaving Twitter. It seems more likely than not that Elon will reverse the ban on links to other social media sites. I just don't want to hang out there in the meantime. Plus given the way things are going, it seemed like a good time to learn about alternatives. I still think Elon is a smart guy. His work on cars and rockets speaks for itself. Nor do I think he's the villain a lot of people try to make him out…

I hope he does salvage the situation and find someone else to run Twitter and saves himself from being eaten alive. The world needs him.

Re: Paul Graham is leaving Twitter for now

#973

Post by randomsearch »

atonse wrote: post #272
pavlov wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Musk seems to be speedrunning into Howard Hughes status. He has so much wealth that, like Hughes, he could alienate every business contact and still spend the rest of his life making leftfield investments and watching movies naked in a dark hotel room. (Well, replace watching movies with tweeting, I suppose.)

This to me feels like the right analogy. It’s both possible that Musk is a genius and that he’s cracked as many geniuses do. His embarrassment in no way erases his accomplishments of the past decade and warrant a “he was never smart”. But his downright pathetic demeanor the past few months do eclipse and ruin what could’ve been an incredible legacy.

Not sure his recent behaviour ruins his legacy. It’s likely far more will be remembered of say SpaceX than of this Twitter debacle. At least - to date.

But overall yes agree a great achiever (never sure about that genius tag) who has lost the plot.

Re: Paul Graham is leaving Twitter for now

#974

Post by hatenberg »

pg wrote: post #350

I'm not leaving Twitter. It seems more likely than not that Elon will reverse the ban on links to other social media sites. I just don't want to hang out there in the meantime. Plus given the way things are going, it seemed like a good time to learn about alternatives. I still think Elon is a smart guy. His work on cars and rockets speaks for itself. Nor do I think he's the villain a lot of people try to make him out…

I got a bridge to sell to you too.

He’s 1:1 replaying the Trump playbook and there will be no salvaging, only escalation.

Re: Paul Graham is leaving Twitter for now

#975

Post by d3vmax »

pg wrote: post #350

I'm not leaving Twitter. It seems more likely than not that Elon will reverse the ban on links to other social media sites. I just don't want to hang out there in the meantime. Plus given the way things are going, it seemed like a good time to learn about alternatives. I still think Elon is a smart guy. His work on cars and rockets speaks for itself. Nor do I think he's the villain a lot of people try to make him out…

Paul, on Nov. 16 you mentioned on twitter, "It's remarkable how many people who've never run any kind of company think they know how to run a tech company better than someone who's run Tesla and SpaceX." Source: https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1592852796185128961

In hindsight do you now think that Musk is not suitable anymore? He is too thin-skinned to be running a public forum and not being able to anticipate consequences that his new rules/actions have on the brand value of twitter and musk. He and Peter Theil are extremely anti-democratic as it all comes down to money and power trips. What are your thoughts?

Re: Paul Graham is leaving Twitter for now

#976

Post by nowherebeen »

ramraj07 wrote: post #724
mcv wrote: post #658

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> His work on cars and rockets speaks for itself. I used to think that too, but I've since come across a story that SpaceX actually has people who's informal job is to manage him, and they present their ideas in such a way that he thinks they're his, in order to keep him happy. He's mostly there to bring money and hype. No idea if that story is true, but honestly, it would explain some things. The impression he's bee…

I did my PhD under possibly the most narcissistic, ruthless, and petty professors anyone around me had ever heard of, so I might be able to comment on this. I and the few people who managed to actually graduate with our sanity intact (out of like 50) learned to play this game you suggested where we have to play to their egos, and try and salvage their shitty, shitty ideas into workable projects that will end with us…

Honestly sounds kind of like my job. Corporate executives suggesting nonsensical solutions to technical problems they created and insisting they are right. You just need to let them think they won and work around them to get things done. You learn this after a few years working corporate. No point butting heads with people in power. They won’t back down because they will look silly to everyone else in the meeting. They always have to be right to save their own face.

Re: Paul Graham is leaving Twitter for now

#977

Post by dncornholio »

ehsankia wrote: post #970
axlee wrote: post #871

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TikTok seems to have managed it well. Well, except from being chinese-owned.

TikTok is a complete black box, no one has any idea how any of it works, so it's easier to pretend everything is fine if no one knows what's happening. They could be over-moderating and erring on the side of having more false negatives, and no one would know. Also, I wouldn't really say so, there are plenty of stories about the algorithm serving harmful content to kids. But again since each person has a different FYP…

My theory that TikTok is being run by hordes of poor Chinese people, handpicking and catering most feeds by hand

Re: Paul Graham is leaving Twitter for now

#978

Post by d3vmax »

sroussey wrote: post #726
ajmurmann wrote: post #632

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think even your critical statement gives Elon too much credit. I think he might genuinely think he is doing good, but is just completely out of his depth and is at the same time convinced that he will succeed in improving it. Any thread by Yishsn has more insight to offer on content moderation than Musk is exhibiting and could have easily predicted the failed he makes. Mental issues or his (warranted) arrogance fro…

PG’s account is now suspended by Twitter. The ironic thing is that one of his latest posts was about dumb people and identity politics. The whole group of tech luminaries turned political whiners just goes to show that it’s time for a new generation and they should not bend the knee for the last one but forge their own way.

I agree. The current crop is too anti-democratic.

Re: Paul Graham is leaving Twitter for now

#979

Post by d3vmax »

waprin wrote: post #520
jacquesm wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough. I don't think he will be able to salvage this and I've deleted my account to reduce the temptation to return. A reputation is not like a piece of software that you fix and then re-run as though it never broke in the first place. Elon has utterly wrecked his reputation over the last couple of months (and probably longer than that) and it is getting worse, not better. Edit: I guess Paul won't be going back…

Well said, good analogy. There’s the immediate issues of the policy. But there’s the bigger issue of the thought process that led to the policy. One of Elons central criticism of old Twitter management was unfair content moderation policy. And almost immediately he enacts a far worse content policy than anything old management did, in a brazen display of hypocrisy. Even if he reverses course on this one issue, he’s d…

I un-sub'd from PG, Lex, Musk etc. They are all shades of Peter Theil and Anti-democratic when it comes to them / or their product.

Re: Paul Graham is leaving Twitter for now

#980

Post by [deleted] »

bambax wrote: post #774
pg wrote: post #350

I'm not leaving Twitter. It seems more likely than not that Elon will reverse the ban on links to other social media sites. I just don't want to hang out there in the meantime. Plus given the way things are going, it seemed like a good time to learn about alternatives. I still think Elon is a smart guy. His work on cars and rockets speaks for itself. Nor do I think he's the villain a lot of people try to make him out…

> I'm not leaving Twitter Yes you are. The smart guy that works on cars and rockets and who's not a villain and who's a political moderate and a totally reasonable guy, just made you. > I would be delighted to go back to using Twitter regularly It's not your decision to make, apparently.

[deleted]
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