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I Met Paul Graham Once

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Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#391

Post by davidw »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #269
afavour wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For sure. I almost included something in my comment about "I guess this is what getting old is like", losing your idealism as you age. But equally, maybe not. If I'd grown up in, I dunno the 60s? I would have witnessed enormous leaps in technological possibility and enormous increases in standards of living, personal freedoms, yadda yadda. In my youth it felt like there was a viable future where tech enabled radical…

I wouldn't call it "losing my idealism," but, rather "understanding that everything is a lot more complex than my simple young mind could deal with." I'm probably more "idealistic" than I have ever been; it's just that I no longer have the silly "Let's just do this one simple thing" attitude. I've just found that getting places is always a lot more difficult than we think. Usually, it's people, and all their messy pe…

There are a lot of ways of being supportive without being like a full blown activist.

I get that there are some 'purity test' type people out there, and they're annoying, but they're a small minority in most things.

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#392

Post by hooverd »

axiomo wrote: post #248
tokioyoyo wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve always been baffled about people who care about it. Just for a hot second sit down, and think how many times you’ve even talked to a trans person in your life. Like it’s such a tiny percentage of people that extreme majority of people will literally never have a conversation with one in their entire lives. But for whatever reason it occupies the minds of a good chunk of people throughout entire political spectru…

In my social and professional circles I personally know several individuals who have a trans identity. Getting to know them a bit was actually what shattered the gender identity illusion for me. If you consider the issue as a whole from a women's rights perspective, it should hopefully be less baffling.

why? what did these trans people do to you? is it just disgust?

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#393

Post by metabagel »

ryanisnan wrote: post #126

I appreciate this post, and that HN clearly isn't moderating it in a way outside of their stated policies. It is really hard to see the backpedaling of big tech with regards to identity politics as something other than virtue conformance. The sad and natural question that gets drawn is, where does the real virtue start and the performance begin?

> where does the real virtue start and the performance begin

This reminds me of when people criticize other people for not simply being themselves. Maybe they are being themselves, and that's just not good enough for you?

The argument against "virtue signaling" is a judgement against doing something which the critic doesn't think is beneficial or necessary, and so they conclude it must be performative. But, the person doing it thinks it is beneficial or necessary.

Thus, the critic is failing to allow for a different view. Not that they have to accept the different view, but they should at least be able to recognize that someone else has a different view than their own. But, they can't or won't.

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#394

Post by wat10000 »

jhp123 wrote: post #282

I'm not a target of tech's fascist turn, but my head is still spinning from the change of direction. When I entered this industry it was for hackers, nonconformists, weirdos, nerds, people who don't care about titles or clothes or what your genitals are. What particularly stings is that the vipers at the top tricked people into giving away an enormous amount of intellectual property. Zuck is removing tampons from the…

I feel like the way you describe it came from the people who came of age in the 70s and made so much of what we now see as “hacker culture.”

Now, the leadership is mostly people who came of age a couple of decades later, and got sandwiched between the elders’ ancient wisdom and a newly democratizing toxic online culture.

Some found the right path, many hung out with (or were) the sort of people who pretend to pretend to have heinous opinions on 4chan and are finally feeling comfortable enough to drop the facade.

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#395

Post by kelnos »

gedpeck wrote: post #294
yread wrote: 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.

But that's still too simplistic. It's certainly not fair to say that every single Russian (or non-Russian!) soldier who is or has been in Ukraine is a "baddie". Some are trapped by their circumstances to fight in a war they don't believe in and don't agree with.

It's easy to say, "well then they should refuse to fight", but you are not that person, and you don't know their struggles or what they feel they are capable of doing.

I think it's reasonable to say that Putin and his war-mongering crones are baddies, but you just said "Russia" and "they started the war". Lumping all people together like that is how we dehumanize people and fail to find common ground that can improve everyone's situation.

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#397

Post by metabagel »

the_clarence wrote: post #383

My current way of thinking about it is that we should tolerate communities that we find weird. People who cross dress are to me as weird as the religious people or the overly enthusiastic magic the gathering players. Should I hate them or discriminate against them? No. Should I let them force their community rituals on me? No as well. I don't like someone telling me "God bless you" as much as someone forcing me to pr…

> someone forcing me to pretend they're a different gender

What is it specifically which you don't want to do? Use their preferred pronoun?

In this scenario, who is forcing you and how?

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#398

Post by davidw »

itsoktocry wrote: post #356
gedpeck wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one who rapes and lusts after his daughter is the one who has issues. Well, him and the people who support him. Never thought I’d live to see Republicans, the so called party of family values, support such an asshole. You should get some ethics and apply them consistently.

[flagged]

Adjudicated rapist:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/19/trump-car...

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#399

Post by lucb1e »

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #124
Arainach wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The whole "war on hate" thing was a bad idea; you can't forbid hatred You can't forbid it but you can absolutely make it socially unacceptable. "Free speech" doesn't mean letting people spew hate and doing nothing; choosing not to hand them a megaphone, support their business, etc. is entirely valid.

It became so socially unacceptable that its proponents won the US presidency and took control of Congress and globally famous business leaders are bending the knee to them without repercussion? What definition of "can absolutely" are you using?

I personally did not read the parent comment's saying of "can" as meaning "has been"

Re: I Met Paul Graham Once

#400

Post by metabagel »

mellosouls wrote: post #307

If the OP struggles to reconcile their perception of PG before and after discovering his differing beliefs, that’s neither PG’s fault nor anyone else’s. This reaction reflects a broader cultural issue that PG himself occasionally comments on. It’s an unfortunate symptom of our times to misattribute personal frustrations and resentments—born of an often unfriendly and unfair world—to solely external causes like a cons…

> It cannot be solved by the hectoring, bullying, self-pitying, or other toxic behaviours rightly associated with the declining “woke” movement, which the OP seems to criticise PG for opposing.

This sounds like the criticisms of MLK, Jr. and other civil rights activists for always stirring things up. People who want change tend to stir things up.

That being said, I think you exaggerate about the toxic behaviors of the "woke" movement. Certainly, you must be referring to online, because I can't think of when I have ever experienced any of that offline. If you're talking about Twitter, then I guess I could believe it, because that place is toxic as hell.

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