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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

#321

Post by goatlover »

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…

That's not what the tech bros are saying the end goal is.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#322

Post by ornornor »

ceejayoz wrote: post #147
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…

> 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.

We’re already heading into a certain demographics crisis. It’s not only about the pyramidal system that retirement is but also about who will be your nurse when you’re old, make your car, be your doctor, etc if there aren’t enough people anymore? Every developed country is well below replacement rate with no real plans from the powers that be to address it because it’s so far in the future that it’s the next best guy problem (30 years horizon)

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#324

Post by goatlover »

munksbeer wrote: post #272
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 you're arguing against something that is made up by doomers. They truly believe (evidence by the comments below yours) that the billionaire class are all a of one mind and want to eradicate other humans, live in cloud cities, and have robots cater to their every need. I don't even really know how to start refuting this. It seems to absurd to even start.

We have an entire history of rich elites abusing their wealth and power at the expense of everyone else. It's lead to various conflicts and social upheavals. And we currently have tech elites selling the idea of full automation, machine godhood, and opposition being the antichrist. Also they like talking about replacing democracy with some sort of digital feudalism.

How it all plays out remains to be seen (predicting the future is hard), but calling people who point this out doomers is very dismissive and one sided.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#325

Post by pixl97 »

Miner49er wrote: post #291
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…

> Someone has to buy for the system to work, no? Well yeah, but not human consumers. Businesses can buy from other businesses and that can be the only surviving part of the economy. Even further, maybe those businesses are fully autonomous. There's no reason this wouldn't work, as far as I can tell. The economy would be much more focused. It would be mostly energy, materials, and tech.

Exactly, it seems many if not most people are trapped in an 1800s ideal of how an economy works. "You do work, you get money, you spend money, you do work" In fact the entire "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." statement is in full force here.

It's impossible for most people to envision an economy without them even though there are economic systems that will work without them.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#326

Post by stillpointlab »

oezi wrote: post #135
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…

Nietzsche also described it well when noting there are those who deem themselves nobles and feel they are righteously above the laws and those who derive their identity from suffering under the same laws.

It's interesting if you think of Solidarity in these terms.

There is a kind of solidarity of persistence under harsh natural conditions. And another kind of solidarity of persistence under laws.

So it might follow that the former group, those who feel above laws, also lack in a feeling of Solidarity. That would suggest a strong adherence to Individualism as a key component to their identity.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#327

Post by pixl97 »

ModernMech wrote: post #280
stackbutterflow wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still can't wrap my head around it. So we're all dead, robots take care of the infrastructure and healthcare, and there's maybe 50-100 billionaires left on the planet. Then what? They drive their sports car, do bungee jumping, sip cocktails and watch ai made movies. They don't have children? The human race dies with them? Or they have children, somehow avoid the trap of inbreeding and their children in turn have ch…

You have to put yourself in the mindset of a virus, then it makes perfect sense. The point is to consume and exhaust without thinking (introspection), not to sustain and thrive. btw none of this will be possible because it's a dumb plan and would never work, but it's their utopia. > they can already enjoy everything What I love Elon Musk for is teaching me that even if you have everything in the world, you can still…

>btw none of this will be possible because it's a dumb plan and would never work

Ensure you realize that "not working" and them "not trying" are two totally different things. Because they absolutely will try just as many dictators have tried in the past with horrific outcomes, even though the end point was it not working out.

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#328

Post by sublinear »

ImPostingOnHN wrote: post #120
sublinear wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

What did I misunderstand?

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#329

Post by hackable_sand »

kristjansson wrote: post #255
edot wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It seems impossible for this to be a true statement. and yet. What’s next? $20m series B in ByBy, a horizontally integrated trash disposal, concrete shoe manufacture, lye bath, and pig farm operation?

"I work in tech"

Re: Andreessen Horowitz is investing billions into a bleak future

#330

Post by hackable_sand »

danparsonson wrote: post #137
ape4 wrote: post #128

It should be possible to make money by inventing projects and services that make people's lives better.

It is possible, but sadly the alternative is easier.

I disagree. It is always easier to make the world a more peaceful, happy place, always.
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