Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

Post by ethbr1 » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 4:00 PM UTC

mikrl wrote: post #164

fvdessen wrote: post #9

I've had the 'chance' to work with some deeply manipulative persons in the past, the kind who goes to your desk and say 'Hey, I noticed you started to speak to X again, and your performance seems to suffer as a result", where X is a friendly colleague that opposed some plan of that person. It is incredibly difficult to keep those people in check as all that behaviour is off the record and impossible to prove. When pe…

>When people complain it's a 'you said, he said' situation where the manipulator inevitably wins There’s no such thing as a free lunch. These types must have weaknesses of their own. I’m growing the cynicism necessary to tolerate them, but I’d like to know more robust strategies to manage them and keep them in check. I find it hard to truly hate people, but with this type I can muster some pretty flowery invective on…

Post by twic » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 4:01 PM UTC

ethbr1 wrote: post #46

xrd wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a very strongly worded statement. Given how connected Altman is, it's very interesting that Irving would publicly state this. It's either very courageous and in service to changing silicon valley, or also very manipulative and in service of benefiting his company. It feels like it could be both. I'm left feeling like there are no angels here. (That's actually funny given how investors love to call themselves ang…

It's difficult to conceptualize someone who is ruthless, self-interested, and skilled enough to overcome all problems... except your control over them. Eventually they look at you and decide you're the problem to be overcome. Might not happen for a while, but inevitably will.

Post by wahnfrieden » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 4:02 PM UTC

verall wrote: post #221

wahnfrieden wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN is strongly anti-controversy. So when you have a large enough minority of users who rally around flagging certain topics, they easily get taken down even if there’s otherwise interest in the discussion. I don’t think it requires owner manipulation. You can see it in how things like any coverage of Palestinian perspective getting flagged immediately while coverage of far-right ancap politics lingers despite both be…

There are topics where I'm interested in discussion but I don't think HN is mature enough to discuss them so the early comments are very thin ideology or discrimination so I just flag the article, even if it was good. I'm probably not alone in this.

Post by dagmx » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 4:09 PM UTC

loveparade wrote: post #112

sertbdfgbnfgsd wrote: post #12

Yeah, the craziest thing for me to come out of this was how everyone in HN just assumed he was "innocent". Poor poor sam altman, he's a victim. He comes across as a sleazebag to me.

I subscribe to the HN RSS feed, which shows flagged items since they're published on the feed before they're flagged. The craziest thing that stands out to me is how so many negative stories on Sam Altman end up being flagged, even though they are just as legit as the positive ones. I'm almost 100% certain that HN is highly manipulated for this story. For no other topic have I seen so many flagged stories, and all of…

Post by vik0 » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 4:10 PM UTC

bcrosby95 wrote: post #198

Waterluvian wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not completely sure if it works the same in the States as it does in Canada, but asking strangers/distant acquaintances how they're doing is never a real question. People aren't actually asking. You basically have 4 or 5 canned responses to supply from "great, you?" to "living the dream...", all of which don't say much. Any more and you're being a nuissance.

I always give a short candid response to those questions. Sometimes it brings follow up questions. My wife says I should just always say good or great.