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Re: undefined

#71
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's understanding, and there's understanding. I think I'm pretty decent at understanding people these days, as in predicting how they'll react to things, figuring out what they want, that sort of thing. But I don't understand it on a fundamental level, the way I understand something like math. I have a decent grasp of the game, but I don't understand why the rules of the game are what they are. I get the impressi…

And I’m telling you that’s not a rare sentiment. I do a lot of zen, and one famous teacher talks about feeling disconnected from people for a long time. I’m not saying you have to do anything, it’s your life, but just don’t assume it’s something unique or permanent.

I don't think it's unique, but it doesn't seem to be the norm. Most people seem to just accept how people behave without thinking about it too much. When they respond to "how are you?" used as a greeting, they just do it, they're not calculating the right answer.

As far as permanence goes, I'm probably more than halfway through my lifespan at this point and there's no sign of any improvement there. Like I said, as a skill I do just fine. But that deeper understanding isn't there and I doubt it will be.

Re: undefined

#72

I like Paul Graham a lot but this is simply not true. Look at the most successful people of recent times and you will quickly see a consistent pattern of meanness when you dig into how they work with others: - Steve Jobs - Bill Gates - Elon Musk - Sam Altman - Etc.

But didn't all those people you list fail at the end of the day? Bill Gates is not just unfaithful, he even considered slipping his wife STD medication to avoid having to talk about his state of affairs. He's now alone and the only people willing to care for him are probably very few old friends he didn't alienate, yet. The rest is just after his money. Steve Jobs was an infamously bad father and husband, just as Elo…

Steve Jobs was certainly flawed and his personal relationships extremely complicated, but I would recommend reading the memoir his daughter wrote, Small Fry as it provides a more firsthand, nuanced perspective into Jobs as a father and partner. Compared to Elon, Steve would be father of the year.

Re: undefined

#73
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But didn't all those people you list fail at the end of the day? Bill Gates is not just unfaithful, he even considered slipping his wife STD medication to avoid having to talk about his state of affairs. He's now alone and the only people willing to care for him are probably very few old friends he didn't alienate, yet. The rest is just after his money. Steve Jobs was an infamously bad father and husband, just as Elo…

>Elon Musks own daughter is attacking him online. Think about that. If you read Walter Isaacson's book on Musk it's pretty clear that his kids do love him, he does care for them well, and that his "daughter" fell into pretty extremist ideology.

IMO, Isaacson isn't the most objective biographer and his sourcing tends to be pretty awful. I don't trust anything he's written about contemporary people and I'm still disappointed that the access Steve Jobs gave him was seemingly squandered.

Re: undefined

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let’s disregard your first three paragraphs that treat his point about zero-sum games categorically. He does hedge against that interpretation in the passages I referenced. > This looks like an example of hackers thinking they're fundamentally changing the world, when all that's happening is that they're working in an area that's too small for the wider world to care very much yet. Back when the internet was shiny an…

Sorry, I don't really know what point you're making. I have no idea what "the massive influence of the likes of Dan Gackle" is referring to. Does he do something important besides run HN? Because running HN is important to the likes of us, but is utterly insignificant for the wider world.

You must be on to something, heh, thanks.

Re: undefined

#75
post #62
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the scare quotes? Would you like to be more explicit about which ideology you think she fell into, and why you consider it extremist? edit: this book? https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/1/23895069/walter-isaacson-...

Look her up on TikTok, she’s not mentally well. Extreme leftist ideology is what I’m talking about. You should read the book, it’s pretty good. Isaacson is not at all biased towards Musk, he has a lot of critical things to say about him. The author is one of the most trusted and thorough biographers of his generation and is known for extensive primary-source research. This verge article is cope, they are a very polit…

It doesn’t seem that leftist to me. Are you a shrink? Or are you using some kind of folk diagnosis to determine she’s mentally unwell?

What kind of ideology strips individuals of the right of self determination to live and be called whatever they want? That’s what most civilized people call extreme.

Can you give an example of “valid” scare quotes? Or a definition even?

Re: undefined

#76
post #30

A velvet glove conceals the iron fist. It may be that successful mean people just hide it well enough to seem nice and the "x-ray vision" of the author's wife doesn't work on everyone. Once a mean person's position is unassailable, the velvet gloves come off. Alternatively, money is power and power corrupts. The current crop of billionaires are at the pinnacle of success (depending on how you define it), but most sur…

Peter Thiel is mentioned by name in the footnotes and I'd assume Paul Graham thinks relatively highly of him.
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