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The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes

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Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes

#21

Post by crawfordcomeaux »

stopnamingnuts wrote: post #20
hnuser355 wrote: post #11

I feel like power is an issue often solved by education or something. The more you understand about what is going on in the world, what has gone on in the world, humanity, how people work, etc. the more you realize the guy in front of you isn’t shit (and neither are you). Of course reasonable prudence means monitoring your behavior so you don’t end up broke or homeless. But this may include long-term life approaches…

Nice sentiment but I must correct you: I am definitely shit. And an impostor.

Since you are also a computer programmed by self-written stories, you are only a piece of shit and imposter if you say so.

Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes

#22

Post by gowld »

tombert wrote: post #13

One of the things that sickened me most about myself happened about a year ago when I took a trip to Philadelphia as a tourist. My wife and I were walking around, and I make the comment of "there doesn't appear to be any homeless people here", after which my wife immediately pointed to a homeless guy that we just walked past. Somehow, I'd managed to shelter myself enough and live comfortably enough to where I stopped…

I doubt that paying a middle-class psych to run experiments will do much to improve the lives of homeless.

Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes

#23

Post by gowld »

gumby wrote: post #2

I have felt this too and it turns out I leave my startups around 200 people -- when I can no longer remember everybody's name instantly. (but where's the line? I worked with a guy who wouldn't work for a company of more than a dozen people. I've looked at his linkedin over the years and indeed he worked for some phenomenal startups...but always left when the started to grow).

Why does it matter? If your startup has 12 or 200 people, it has lots of clients and vendors who you aren't friends with, just like people in a different org in a large company.

Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes

#24

Post by tombert »

gowld wrote: post #22
tombert wrote: post #13

One of the things that sickened me most about myself happened about a year ago when I took a trip to Philadelphia as a tourist. My wife and I were walking around, and I make the comment of "there doesn't appear to be any homeless people here", after which my wife immediately pointed to a homeless guy that we just walked past. Somehow, I'd managed to shelter myself enough and live comfortably enough to where I stopped…

I doubt that paying a middle-class psych to run experiments will do much to improve the lives of homeless.

In the short-term, you are absolutely right.

That said, a lot of homelessness happens as a result of mental illnesses like drug addiction or schizophrenia, or degenerative diseases like Alzheimers. It might be a pipe dream, but I would like to have as much research as possible to help treat these diseases, to (hopefully) help reduce these issues, perhaps by developing a cheap medication to reduce or eliminate the effects.

It's not something any of us are immune to; any of us could develop Alzheimers when we get older. I'm fortunate enough to have a lot of really cool friends and family that would take care of me if that happened, but not everyone is so lucky.

Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes

#25

Post by moosey »

I do wonder if it isn't necessarily that the 'generalized person' loses empathy as their place in our economic power structures change, but instead that they are more empathetic with the people in their current position in the power structure? It seems natural that a person might do so.

I went on a quick search to see if such a thing as "Winner's guilt" exists, and while it does appear to be a thing to some extent, I found not studies on it in a larger context. It seems to me that relating to people that are like your current state would probably be a good defense against that, psychologically.

Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes

#26

Post by dredmorbius »

groby_b wrote: post #6
n42 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a working theory that these inflection points follow the Fibonacci sequence. At least based on my experience, communication and culture changed dramatically at each stage, most notably around 34 and 55

Not sure if it's the fibonacci sequence per se, but yes, there are inflection points around those numbers. Up to ~15 people with experience and a common purpose, you can just all work together, little structure and roles, and stuff works OK. Teams form ad-hoc, based on problems. From there, you need to define more well-defined roles, so people don't step all over each other. Communication starts being important, beca…

Under military command hierarchies, spans of control are typically 2-6 of the next-smallest unit.

Whether military administration is much lower than business is another question, but it's an argument for smaller SoC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_organization#Commands...

Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes

#27

Post by darpa_escapee »

tombert wrote: post #24
gowld wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt that paying a middle-class psych to run experiments will do much to improve the lives of homeless.

In the short-term, you are absolutely right. That said, a lot of homelessness happens as a result of mental illnesses like drug addiction or schizophrenia, or degenerative diseases like Alzheimers. It might be a pipe dream, but I would like to have as much research as possible to help treat these diseases, to (hopefully) help reduce these issues, perhaps by developing a cheap medication to reduce or eliminate the eff…

> That said, a lot of homelessness happens as a result of mental illnesses like drug addiction or schizophrenia, or degenerative diseases like Alzheimers

Those with mental illnesses who are also homeless are more visible, but the majority of those who are homeless are homeless because of financial reasons. And often, they're entire families.

For NYC[1]:

> Research shows that the primary cause of homelessness, particularly among families, is lack of affordable housing. Surveys of homeless families have identified the following major immediate, triggering causes of homelessness: eviction; doubled-up or severely overcrowded housing; domestic violence; job loss; and hazardous housing conditions.

[1] https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/basic-facts-about-ho...

Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes

#28

Post by ikeyany »

moosey wrote: post #25

I do wonder if it isn't necessarily that the 'generalized person' loses empathy as their place in our economic power structures change, but instead that they are more empathetic with the people in their current position in the power structure? It seems natural that a person might do so. I went on a quick search to see if such a thing as "Winner's guilt" exists, and while it does appear to be a thing to some extent, I…

> I went on a quick search to see if such a thing as "Winner's guilt" exists, and while it does appear to be a thing to some extent, I found not studies on it in a larger context.

That's because it's called survivor's guilt.

Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes

#29

Post by pesmhey »

ikeyany wrote: post #28
moosey wrote: post #25

I do wonder if it isn't necessarily that the 'generalized person' loses empathy as their place in our economic power structures change, but instead that they are more empathetic with the people in their current position in the power structure? It seems natural that a person might do so. I went on a quick search to see if such a thing as "Winner's guilt" exists, and while it does appear to be a thing to some extent, I…

> I went on a quick search to see if such a thing as "Winner's guilt" exists, and while it does appear to be a thing to some extent, I found not studies on it in a larger context. That's because it's called survivor's guilt.

Such a real thing, and I wonder how related it is to imposter syndrome.
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