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I Met Paul Graham Once

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Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#311
post #9

In the long run I think realizations like the authors are healthy ones. PG is not a hero. He's just a guy. A guy who entered into business transactions with a number of people, many of whom benefitted greatly (as did Paul himself). I'm not saying any of that as a negative! Just that we have a habit of attributing superhuman characteristics to folks (Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize comes to mind) and ending up dis…

PG is not a hero. He's just a guy. The downgrading of exceptional individuals like PG to mediocrities is no healthier than placing them on pedestals.

>The downgrading of exceptional individuals like PG to mediocrities is no healthier than placing them on pedestals.

Recognizing that we're all just people is certainly healthier than placing people on pedestals.

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#312
post #67
post #9

In the long run I think realizations like the authors are healthy ones. PG is not a hero. He's just a guy. A guy who entered into business transactions with a number of people, many of whom benefitted greatly (as did Paul himself). I'm not saying any of that as a negative! Just that we have a habit of attributing superhuman characteristics to folks (Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize comes to mind) and ending up dis…

I feel like the best advice is to take the ideas, even principles you like from folks and run with that. That's it. I still like a lot of what Steve Jobs had to say at times. I do not pretend to know what he was like IRL or if I would even like him ... doesn't matter. Truth be told folks who take those ideas and principles from others and not carry the weight of those folks as idols, might even do better with them.

I dunno about even that. Forgive my example (though I love bringing it up, since so few people seemed to have grokked it in the time since initial release): in the video game Bioshock: Infinite, one of the later levels sees you transported into the far future of 1984. The game's setting, a flying city named Columbia, which was characterized by its almost cartoonish levels of capital-A capital-P American Patriotism, had featured in its original Gilded Age incarnation many of the ills of turn-of-the-century American society, including racism, an exploited working class, religion-driven insularity, and a predilection for violence. However, it had also presented an enthusiasm for the new and curious, an ambition for high living standards, and other cultural accoutrements that are usually associated with forward-thinking societies.

By this late-game level, however, the city has descended into dystopia. Why? Well, a three-quarter century game of telephone. The ideals of the city's original founder, already imperfect, were further transmitted imperfectly to his successor and her charges, whose personal traumas further warped their interpretation of Columbia's intended values, and the actions taken in their name. That repentant successor, having lost control of the city's populace to a revolutionary fever, sends you back to the past just as Columbia's weapons begin to level New York City (a caricature of America destroying its real-life historical "center").

It's a metaphor, of course.

It's easy for the soul of an idea to get lost in translation. It's easy for principles of one era to be an ill fit for another. It's easy for the original ideas and principles to be fundamentally flawed in ways that no one could or was willing to admit to.

"Running with it" can be dangerous. (Ask us how well Cold War politicking has worked out for us post-9/11.)

I think, at all turns, you must be asking yourself why you're doing what you're doing, and if it's actually effective. If it's actually good. I don't know that Jobs ever predicted that the bicycle for the mind would be beholden to OTA updates or have a commensurate attack surface exposure, but we have to deal with that reality, regardless.

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#313
post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not considered a public health emergency because the suicide claim is bullshit and is only trotted out by activists to try to manipulate others into accepting their demands. Anyway it's better to listen to gender critical feminists on the left, rather than anti-trans reactionaries on the right, because the former have a principled and humane opposition to the ideology of trans, that is based on women's rights an…

> Anyway it's better to listen to gender critical feminists on the left, rather than anti-trans reactionaries on the right, because the former have a principled and humane opposition to the ideology of trans, that is based on women's rights and safeguarding of children. They don't and it isn't. On this issue terfs share policy goals with the far right almost exactly, to the point where self-identified white nationali…

[dead]

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"over 50% of the country i live in are irredeemably terrible people" A large majority of the people did not vote for Donald Trump. but my guess is you don't actually think they're so terrible, People who support Donald Trump are, in general, terrible people. They aren’t evil people doing evil things so why would I have an obligation to take action against them? It is a fact of life that we all must live amongst peopl…

> People who support Donald Trump are, in general, terrible people This is not true, and that shows your narrow mindset. To give you the benefits of the doubt, can you explain why Trump supporters are not only wrong, but generally "terrible people"?

I have no desire to change anyone’s mind about their political views. Anyone who supports a known rapist and felon and who openly takes bribes can not be convinced of anything. I don’t engage in political discussions with such people. There is no consistency in their beliefs so no meaningful discusion can be had.

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#315

Once upon a time, not that long ago, within my lifetime in fact, being gay was targeted for public abuse the way that transgender people are being targeting now. That has declined as people came to understand that being gay, lesbian, bi is part of how a person is made. Under public pressure, a gay person can act straight or at least act not gay. But it doesn't change who they are, doesn't help anyone around them, and…

> But it doesn't change who they are

This is the part that we all don't really actually converse about. It's not an easy point to prove (genetically, after sequencing the entire human genome, there is not actually any proof that gay is something one "is" intrinsically), but it's also so personal and getting it wrong has such heavy consequences that most avoid the topic.

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#316
post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Well, I think "priggish" better describes how a person advocates for a belief, not the belief itself. I do think the issue is more complex than just women's rights, in part because a lot of women are fine with trans women being around them, and in part because biological females can express a variety of genders, including male.

Women who say they find it acceptable for males to impose themselves on female spaces don't speak for all women and cannot consent to this intrusion for all women.

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My personal view is as follows. American society has reached a point of no return. Something has to give before a new equilibrium has been found. As an extreme example look to Nazi Germany. The repugnant views that were normal in 1939 Germany weren’t normal in 1960 Germany. A similar (though far less extreme) change will happen in the U.S. I have no desire to change anyone’s mind about their political views. Anyone w…

Why is the comparison always Nazi Germany? By the way, the jury explicitly rejected the rape allegation. So you're just making stuff up from your high-horse: https://apnews.com/article/trump-rape-carroll-trial-fe68259a...

I didn’t compare anything to Nazi Germany. I gave Nazi Germany as an example of how what is socially acceptable can drastically change in a short period of time.

I apologize. He was found liable for sexual abuse, battery and defamation. These distinctions are extremely important. He’s not quite as bad as I made him out to be. What about him calling his daughter a nice piece of ass? The other stuff?

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#318
post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

dehumanization of the other side is one of the most used tools of war propaganda of all sides. Just look at people in the west joking about orcs

But if someone acts inhuman then it’s justified. Russia’s war crimes are well documented and they started the war. When you are the baddies then expect to be called so.

You're still in the goodies-vs-baddies mindset. Western media pushes people into that way of thinking but it's the Marvel level view and is wrong. Also, look at all the people who think Russia is the baddies for starting that war, but Israel is the baddies despite not starting its war. That's an arbitrary standard people invented to justify their simply goodie-baddie view. If you apply a different standard to every war, then it's not really a standard, is it?

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

according to gedpeck, nearly everyone in Africa and Asia, and every single practicing Muslim, is a horrible person... I said no such thing.

[flagged]

Care to point out where I said this or implied this? I’m opposed to gay marriage.

EDIT: I’m not really opposed to gay marriage. But I never said anything about my views on gay marriage or anything inconsistent with the view that gay marriage is wrong.

EDIT: I don’t consider people who oppose gay marriage to be bad people. I consider people who support and vote for a known felon, rapist, theif, and bribe taker to be terrible.

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