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The Nerd Reich – Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy

simonandschuster.com

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Re: The Nerd Reich – Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy

#61

Post by LAC-Tech »

lpcvoid wrote: post #32
LAC-Tech wrote: post #24

[flagged]

>The word "fascist" now has positive connotations for me Spoken like somebody who never had to endure real fascism. >I realise a lot of you will want to call me fascist for this comment, or more likely something a bit snider and less direct. Just know that I genuinely don't care. It's just a word now. No, you may not be a fascist, but it's opinions like yours that helped make it possible. Mitläufer.

Mitläufer

The English phrase you are looking for would be "fellow traveller".

Re: The Nerd Reich – Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy

#62

Post by sam-cop-vimes »

jamil7 wrote: post #12
skrebbel wrote: post #2

I'm not a big sucker for this kind of un-nuanced "us vs them" rhetoric, but I gotta admit, the title is a stroke of genius.

It's cute but are there any actual nerds left in big tech leadership? Of the magnificent seven we basically only have Jensen Huang left as a technical leader and maybe you can count Zuckerberg.

It shouldn't matter whether the leaders are actual technical nerds. They are highly focused and motivated individuals who are harnessing tech for the stated purpose. Maybe this is by design and a coordinated movement - or maybe it is the inevitable consequence of uncontrolled and unregulated capitalism.

If profit maximisation is the ultimate goal every smart individual chases, the current trajectory seems inevitable?

Re: The Nerd Reich – Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy

#63

Post by arthurofbabylon »

konart wrote: post #50
arthurofbabylon wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like this book would be a good candidate for your reading list.

It would be great if you have tried to express yourself other than some weird implications.

The comment is sincere. You appear to disagree with the book’s argument prior to having heard it — a great candidate for a mind-opening read. If the book (once published) proves its premise, you’ll disproportionately benefit from the read. (I personally like it when a book stretches my existing conceptions.)

Re: The Nerd Reich – Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy

#64

Post by sam-cop-vimes »

adev_ wrote: post #56
jve wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon Musk must be one. Seems enough techy to me: Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink - software being used for the hardware in innovative ways. Edit: Oh, wow, mentioning this guy is surely controversial, sorry. However discussing whether he is a nerd, understands engineering on very deep level/gets his hands dirty OR he only manages people - there must be some psychological aspect related, a form of disagreement to discredit or…

> Elon Musk must be one Spoiler: He is not. But he is very good at faking it. Anytime he tries to give a serious opinion on anything related to computers: It is laughably bad and out of touch (SQL, compilers, languages, performance, etc... ). He definitively has a scientific background but definitively not "Tech" as far as computer are concerned.

It doesn't matter. He knows enough to be able to harness it for realising his worldview - and that is the problem.

Re: The Nerd Reich – Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy

#65

Post by xg15 »

jve wrote: post #49
jamil7 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's cute but are there any actual nerds left in big tech leadership? Of the magnificent seven we basically only have Jensen Huang left as a technical leader and maybe you can count Zuckerberg.

Elon Musk must be one. Seems enough techy to me: Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink - software being used for the hardware in innovative ways. Edit: Oh, wow, mentioning this guy is surely controversial, sorry. However discussing whether he is a nerd, understands engineering on very deep level/gets his hands dirty OR he only manages people - there must be some psychological aspect related, a form of disagreement to discredit or…

I think Elon Musk just wants to be Tony Stark and cultivates the appropriate image for that.

And possibly a genuine obsession with (rightwing-ish) meme/youth culture, which I think got him a lot of his initial followers on twitter/reddit/4chan/etc.

Re: The Nerd Reich – Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy

#66

Post by imtringued »

adev_ wrote: post #56
jve wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon Musk must be one. Seems enough techy to me: Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink - software being used for the hardware in innovative ways. Edit: Oh, wow, mentioning this guy is surely controversial, sorry. However discussing whether he is a nerd, understands engineering on very deep level/gets his hands dirty OR he only manages people - there must be some psychological aspect related, a form of disagreement to discredit or…

> Elon Musk must be one Spoiler: He is not. But he is very good at faking it. Anytime he tries to give a serious opinion on anything related to computers: It is laughably bad and out of touch (SQL, compilers, languages, performance, etc... ). He definitively has a scientific background but definitively not "Tech" as far as computer are concerned.

Elon Musk is probably one of the most cutthroat businessmen on the planet. His skills don't lie in technological implementation whatsoever.

Martin Eberhard was the technical co-founder of Tesla and Elon Musk is trying his best to erase his contributions to Tesla.

Re: The Nerd Reich – Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy

#67

Post by delichon »

adev_ wrote: post #56
jve wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon Musk must be one. Seems enough techy to me: Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink - software being used for the hardware in innovative ways. Edit: Oh, wow, mentioning this guy is surely controversial, sorry. However discussing whether he is a nerd, understands engineering on very deep level/gets his hands dirty OR he only manages people - there must be some psychological aspect related, a form of disagreement to discredit or…

> Elon Musk must be one Spoiler: He is not. But he is very good at faking it. Anytime he tries to give a serious opinion on anything related to computers: It is laughably bad and out of touch (SQL, compilers, languages, performance, etc... ). He definitively has a scientific background but definitively not "Tech" as far as computer are concerned.

Unlike the more common pattern, Elon doesn't hesitate to make straight up engineering decisions for his businesses, including ones that look unnecessarily high risk to a lot of his own engineers. Chopsticks catching spaceships made of stainless steel and self driving cars without lidar are well known examples. The success of those choices earns him legit nerd cred.

Re: The Nerd Reich – Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy

#68

Post by adev_ »

delichon wrote: post #67
adev_ wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Elon Musk must be one Spoiler: He is not. But he is very good at faking it. Anytime he tries to give a serious opinion on anything related to computers: It is laughably bad and out of touch (SQL, compilers, languages, performance, etc... ). He definitively has a scientific background but definitively not "Tech" as far as computer are concerned.

Unlike the more common pattern, Elon doesn't hesitate to make straight up engineering decisions for his businesses, including ones that look unnecessarily high risk to a lot of his own engineers. Chopsticks catching spaceships made of stainless steel and self driving cars without lidar are well known examples. The success of those choices earns him legit nerd cred.

As far as physics is concerned (his initial background), he definitively is knowledgeable for a CEO yes.

Re: The Nerd Reich – Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy

#70

Post by Levitz »

brabel wrote: post #4

[flagged]

It's just the classic of people with a whole lot of money getting what they want from the government, only boosted by the fact that for the previous decade and a half the left has legitimized political action from corporations since it benefited them, as platforms were largely left-leaning. Now the boot is finally on the other foot and panic ensues.

Can't say I like it, but it has been my position from the very start that this would happen, and as such I'm fresh out of sympathy.

Don't like it? Build your own Silicon Valley.

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