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Reflections on Palantir

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Re: Reflections on Palantir

#31

Post by borski »

mikhailfranco wrote: post #20
supplemental wrote: post #12

Interesting article. I find it interesting that they recommended a book about acting to their employees. The book is called "Impro".

It's not about well-rehearsed acting to bluff clients (like conventional management consultants). Impro is about improvisation: having a deep reservoir of experiences and reference points, but no pre-planned templates; empathizing with the client's situation; thinking fast; being open-minded and creative; challenging received wisdom; pulling disparate ideas together; assembling a synthesis; embodying a story; imagini…

In short: Founder sales.

(I strongly suggested to every employee to take some into improv classes for the same reason. I didn’t want them to be better actors. I wanted them to be better listeners, which is what improv is really about)

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#32

Post by borski »

twobitshifter wrote: post #14
supplemental wrote: post #12

Interesting article. I find it interesting that they recommended a book about acting to their employees. The book is called "Impro".

Is it wrong to say that they are developing sociopaths in this fashion? Anyone ever read the book to say how it is applicable? If you were a client how would you feel about knowing that your interactions with your consultant were all an act? “Being a successful FDE required an unusual sensitivity to social context – what you really had to do was partner with your corporate (or government) counterparts at the highest…

Yes, it’s wrong, because it isn’t an act. Improv isn’t about being fake or acting/lying.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#33

Post by ashoeafoot »

harimau777 wrote: post #16

It feels like the moral section ignores the elephant in the room which is Peter Thiel's hostility to democracy and the more general far right swing in America. There's a difference between working on morally gray tech during normal times versus during times when there is every reason to believe that it WILL be significantly misused.

That elephant in the room, is what they have found in our data, that shifted them into that direction . Maybe if you have humanity under the sql microscope and ask it ugly questions ,without the usual self-serenading , maybe what you find is really ugly, unable to sustain democracy or free market capitalism . And maybe tech can not save us. Maybe tech only raises the stakes, for that final nuclear exchange between decayed warrior cults.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#34

Post by madeofpalk »

harimau777 wrote: post #16

It feels like the moral section ignores the elephant in the room which is Peter Thiel's hostility to democracy and the more general far right swing in America. There's a difference between working on morally gray tech during normal times versus during times when there is every reason to believe that it WILL be significantly misused.

I wish the morality section were more direct - either admitting that the author has no issue with "grey areas" (a euphemism if I've ever seen one) or that money outweighs their moral concerns. That would feel more intellectually honest.

When it comes to the morality of work, I think it's okay to be selfish with your ideals - whether that means prioritizing money over ethics or refusing to engage with something that conflicts with your values, regardless of your actual personal impact. I have no problem accepting that it's not my responsibility to make ICE more ethical.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#35

Post by aisixbxnxix »

harimau777 wrote: post #16

It feels like the moral section ignores the elephant in the room which is Peter Thiel's hostility to democracy and the more general far right swing in America. There's a difference between working on morally gray tech during normal times versus during times when there is every reason to believe that it WILL be significantly misused.

What? Karp is on record claiming Palantir prevents terror attacks which would otherwise force a right wing movement in Europe.

https://www.theregister.com/AMP/2024/02/28/palantir_boss_fii...

I think your definition of right wing is confused with authoritarian.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#36

Post by jhanschoo »

dantondwa wrote: post #25

As a stylistic note, it’s funny that philosophy graduates often can’t help but mention that they are one at every opportunity they have, as if that carried a particular a certain intellectual prestige. They do that while perhaps missing the point: a critical mind does not need to announce its status and does not rely on declarations of prestige to be one. It’s also funny how a marvelously rational philosophy graduate…

I don't think the author harps on it just to say "I am very smart", they want to point out that the degree to which Palantir employees then were acquainted with the Western philosophical canon and thought was unusual.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#39

Post by myheartisinohio »

harimau777 wrote: post #16

It feels like the moral section ignores the elephant in the room which is Peter Thiel's hostility to democracy and the more general far right swing in America. There's a difference between working on morally gray tech during normal times versus during times when there is every reason to believe that it WILL be significantly misused.

Democracy or the blob?
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