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Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

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Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#111

Post by throwaway13337 »

radarsat1 wrote: post #18

I know this is a very minor point in the article, but reading the message next to the Doublespeed phone farm: > out of 130 dms sent, 15 pointed to a conversion. > From a former ecom guy's lens this is insane Why do these otherwise very smart people always seem to draw these kind of shortsighted conclusions? It seems pretty obvious to me on the surface that this "works" because it's new. As soon as it becomes common p…

Marketers have a term for this - "breaking through the noise".

I call it pissing in the pool.

I hope one day we see paid advertising as immoral. Immoral acts can be defined as negative sum on society but possibly positive to the individual. A working society agrees, culturally, to think negatively on negative sum behavior.

Social animals do this too - even vampire bats ( https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4685829/ )

The issue with paid advertising is that it is more difficult to understand how it is a negative externality. There's also the fact that so many make their living on it these days that it's tough to get them to believe they're doing something wrong.

But imagine all the distraction and labor we could avoid if we could agree that it is not right.

Advertising is the always hungry beast that even a post scarcity society would starve feeding.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#113

Post by consensus1 »

alex1138 wrote: post #54
ModernMech wrote: post #52

Of course, isn’t Andreessen the one who believes introspection is a waste of time, a fad from the 1900s the only outcome of which is to slow one down? Why even consider the long term consequences of your actions when they can make you billions of dollars in the short term? Introspection, like empathy, is for suckers and losers.

Yeah really How do people like him get the money to fund his little projects, it's amazing

In this case by founding Netscape

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#114

Post by serial_dev »

vintermann wrote: post #33

> Lee's stated goal was to “desensitize everyone to the phrase ‘cheating.’” If you say it enough, he argues, “cheat begins to lose its meaning.” A16z praised Lee's approach as “rooted in deliberate strategy and intentionality.” Investors: but surely they won't cheat me !

Some of these SV "founder mode" people do speak like sociopaths. It's probably a good base for success in the industry.

"I don't get it, why are they confessing? They are not confessing. They are bragging"

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#115

Post by sublinear »

pulkitsh1234 wrote: post #81

"A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore, it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case" -- Niccolo Machiavelli It's a self fulfilling prophecy... while us commoners, or so called "activists" or et…

> The powerful are just living an alternate life...

So, you consider anyone with a job "powerful"? Personal ethics are arbitrary enough to poo-poo any job. It's just as easy to call everyone else "useful idiots".

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#116

Post by y-curious »

edot wrote: post #88
moogly wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard to say Flock is the worst... There's a lot of competition. I'll throw Toka into the ring. https://www.techspot.com/news/113395-flock-biggest-investor-...

Wow, that's an insane pairing. For those who don't click, Toka is a software company that specializes in hacking and altering security camera footage.

Edot, we have footage of you stealing a car at gunpoint, then you getting out and breakdancing while turning into an elephant. Any explanation or straight to jail?

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#117

Post by pwmglenn »

seydor wrote: post #40

Probably it's a random sample of AI companies. Curing cancer is the marketing slogan, AI is not capable of doing that. But it's good enough to impress bankers and lawyers who will keep inflating the bubble for the foreseeable future.

Why dont you read the article?

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#118

Post by bigfishrunning »

digitalsalvatn wrote: post #61
seydor wrote: post #40

Probably it's a random sample of AI companies. Curing cancer is the marketing slogan, AI is not capable of doing that. But it's good enough to impress bankers and lawyers who will keep inflating the bubble for the foreseeable future.

Curing cancer is such a lazy goal. Finding out how to make everyone smarter is a much better one. That's really it, isn't it. How do we make smarter people, without them getting insufferable?

The smartest people aren't insufferable, but people who think they're the smartest are.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#119

Post by [deleted] »

pulkitsh1234 wrote: post #81

"A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore, it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case" -- Niccolo Machiavelli It's a self fulfilling prophecy... while us commoners, or so called "activists" or et…

[deleted]

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#120

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

sublinear wrote: post #115
pulkitsh1234 wrote: post #81

"A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore, it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case" -- Niccolo Machiavelli It's a self fulfilling prophecy... while us commoners, or so called "activists" or et…

> The powerful are just living an alternate life... So, you consider anyone with a job "powerful"? Personal ethics are arbitrary enough to poo-poo any job. It's just as easy to call everyone else "useful idiots".

> So, you consider anyone with a job "powerful"?

That is not what OP said, so you may want to re-read what they said.

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