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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

#301

Post by toomanyrichies »

swat535 wrote: post #171
ceejayoz wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If much of the population is too poor to buy anything, too sick to consume much etc - who is left to buy anything at all? No one. That's the idea. A low-population paradise. Venice without its pesky people to mess with Bezos's wedding. Bora Bora without the peasants.

And who is going to maintain this low-population paradise of elites, if there is no one left but the elites ?

There will always be a certain percentage of the population whose greatest aspiration is to be "house slaves" as opposed to "field slaves". They're the ones that today would be described as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires". [1]

1. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/328134-john-steinbeck-once-...

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#302

Post by estearum »

triceratops wrote: post #300
estearum wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I don't mean that. Being a cheat is low-status. Being disabled is not. Americans actually agree on this, by and large.

Being disabled is a disadvantage in life, just as being low-status is. Whether being disadvantaged is "low status" or not is semantics.

I didn't say to make fun of people who are disadvantaged. I said to make fun of liars and cheaters and ensure that everyone is reaffirmed that lying and cheating is low status.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#303

Post by toomanyrichies »

merelydev wrote: post #180
cpt_sobel wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes this is their reasoning, it doesn't mean we shouldn't hate the players and the game alike

That is like hating a hacker who hacks into your vulnerable server that is outdated and allows ssh password login. If there is vulnerabilities in the system someone will eventually exploit them, sure not you or me but there is always someone out there that will.

That same hacker can choose to responsibly disclose the vulnerability through the proper channels, or take advantage of it to benefit themselves at the expense of others. Which one they choose objectively determines the quality of person they are.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#305

Post by latexr »

merelydev wrote: post #180
cpt_sobel wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes this is their reasoning, it doesn't mean we shouldn't hate the players and the game alike

That is like hating a hacker who hacks into your vulnerable server that is outdated and allows ssh password login. If there is vulnerabilities in the system someone will eventually exploit them, sure not you or me but there is always someone out there that will.

Let’s bring your example into the physical world:

“That is like hating a thief who robs your home which has an old lock and a window you forgot open. If there is an open window in the house someone will eventually climb through it, sure not you or me but there is always someone out there that will.”

It is perfectly reasonable to hate the person who robbed your house or hacked your server. “If that someone hadn’t, another someone would” is in no way a defence. It is not OK to actively harm someone just because they didn’t protect themselves.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#306

Post by poncho_romero »

bamboozled wrote: post #262
butlike wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just nailed something for me, so I wanted to say "thank you." It's the _PAID_ advertising that's the issue. I've been struggling with hating advertising, yet having difficulties reconciling how I would know about anything I like if it wasn't advertised. But it's the PAID advertising that spurs the creation of advertisements with spectacle and cheap shit that ends up in landfills and the oceans.

You just realised people pay for advertising ?

I think they've realized there is a meaningful distinction between Google's search ads and someone recommending a product with no ulterior motives.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#307

Post by xboxnolifes »

bamboozled wrote: post #262
butlike wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just nailed something for me, so I wanted to say "thank you." It's the _PAID_ advertising that's the issue. I've been struggling with hating advertising, yet having difficulties reconciling how I would know about anything I like if it wasn't advertised. But it's the PAID advertising that spurs the creation of advertisements with spectacle and cheap shit that ends up in landfills and the oceans.

You just realised people pay for advertising ?

No, he's saying that unpaid advertising is fine. Thats basically what words of mouth is.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#308

Post by poncho_romero »

skinfaxi wrote: post #142
lelanthran wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jokes on them - they poison the commons enough, and soon no one is going to trust anything they read on the internet. Which is how it should have been from the get-go.

What makes you think that is not the intention?

Exactly. It will be great for the rich and powerful when common people are drowning in so much mis- and disinformation that the only way to get through a day is to disbelieve everything. There will be even less accountability then.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#309

Post by runtime_terror »

prepend wrote: post #200
akudha wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Setting ethical and moral questions aside for a second: Never pay a human again Every time I see stuff like this (along with other more serious shenanigans like wage theft, union busting etc) I only ask myself the same question again and again - what is the end game here? If much of the population is too poor to buy anything, too sick to consume much etc - who is left to buy anything at all? If all their power comes…

I think the end game is to only do interesting things and automate all the mundane parts of life. We used to have to wash clothes by hand and it took all day. Now we have a washing machine and it takes 2 hours. People used to spend time washing clothes and now we have more members of the household working. I think the future from scifi that I remember (eg, Star Trek) is that humans are just being creative. Usually so…

You actually believe this is what these people want to create?

Why then are they directly attacking many forms of creativity (writing, photography, art, filmmaking, even programming)?

Why do they resist all forms of social programs if these technologies are supposed to create untold wealth (ala Star Trek)?

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#310

Post by merelydev »

latexr wrote: post #305
merelydev wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is like hating a hacker who hacks into your vulnerable server that is outdated and allows ssh password login. If there is vulnerabilities in the system someone will eventually exploit them, sure not you or me but there is always someone out there that will.

Let’s bring your example into the physical world: “That is like hating a thief who robs your home which has an old lock and a window you forgot open. If there is an open window in the house someone will eventually climb through it, sure not you or me but there is always someone out there that will.” It is perfectly reasonable to hate the person who robbed your house or hacked your server. “If that someone hadn’t, ano…

Yes. My point is that until you learn to lock your door, thief will enter and steal your property. You can hate them all you want, that wont change the facts or magically lock your door.
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