Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor • Hacker News Board

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

#261

Post by thimkerbell » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 5:09 PM UTC

thimkerbell wrote: post #238

jorater wrote: post #156

From Garry Tan ~2 Months ago: https://twitter.com/garrytan/status/1702561008190165448 > The scariest sociopaths are the ones you let in to your house, who met your family, who you broke bread with > ... In a comment: > Just heard some disturbing news about someone who I once thought highly of

I would like to message jorater warning him about drawing conclusions from a subtweet when there's deviousness afoot, but hacker news doesn't have that feature.

Of course, what is wisdom but accumulated subtweets from your own useraccount.

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

#262

Post by xracy » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 5:17 PM UTC

dagmx wrote: post #228

loveparade wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

A large contingent of people here (and anywhere) are prone to hero worship, especially if it tends towards trendy topics like generative AI. The natural reaction to criticism of an idol is to shut it down so you can maintain a singular narrative lest you have to deal with cognitive dissonance. Which I find ironic, because I’ll see the same people looking down on non technical people idolizing celebrities, but not rec…

The difference between Elon and Swift, is the scale to which they are able to use capitalism for their means. I think Elon is scarier for that reason. (Not absolving Swift of that, though).

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

#263

Post by washadjeffmad » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 5:20 PM UTC

Solvency wrote: post #31

bananapub wrote: post #21

it is absolutely fascinating how in all the threads about him, there's all these huge fans, and some people who are apparently highly connected, but no one ever seems to discuss why he has these fancy jobs, why he left others, and why is apparently so well regarded?

It's strangely paradoxical. Sam has zero charisma. Zero looks. No technical ability. He's not a storyteller. He's not a hype man. He comes off as a mildly surly sloth when he talks. His actual pre-OpenAI achievements from a product perspective are a joke. But he was nevertheless "there" for YC and "there" in OpenAI, and a bunch of money was raised, and he's successfully managed to get all spotlights on him at all tim…

It's funny, but I adopted a similar approach, and it's amazing how the tides turn in your favor when your name is on everyone's lips. I'm nothing special, but I have an eye for quality people and a great reputation (thanks to it), so I'm the one who keeps getting the calls.

Also, some people would rather be shot than talk in front of a crowd or get up in front an audience. I used to have panic attacks during introductions in small meetings, and now I'm the one who spots the nervous professionals and helps them feel that they belong.

Anyway, that's all to say there's value in it. I don't personally enrich myself off of it, but if I could offer a correction to your dim view of the imperfect, the world isn't actually run by intimidatingly charismatic, beautiful geniuses, and I have found that helping people that have the simple capacity for success connect and communicate isn't a worthless skill.

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

#264

Post by sudosysgen » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 5:24 PM UTC

smegsicle wrote: post #241

fevangelou wrote: post #96

It's oh so weird the article does not mention any of these though... - https://twitter.com/phuckfilosophy/status/163570439893983232... (SA's sister - also have a look at her recent posts) - Also: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QDczBduZorG4dxZiW/sam-altman... (utterly distressing) - https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1727096607752282485 (check the comment with snapshots of the letter - "strangely" that Gist was dele…

that can't be true- why would sam altman and the rest of their family deny annie altman's inheritance? it's not like they need the money themselves either this annie character is making stuff up, or the whole rest of her family are some kind of comic book villains

I haven't read enough into the story to make up an opinion. However, purely based on what you're saying, that's completely normal abuser behaviour. You wouldn't be denying the inheritance to enrich yourself, but rather to prevent someone from becoming economically empowered and reducing your power over them. It's a very common tactic.

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

#265

Post by binarytox1n » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 5:26 PM UTC

PlugTunin wrote: post #255

TerrifiedMouse wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah. Microsoft still exist and is thriving. Altman is the new Bill Gates except he is better at retaining ~~cul~~ employees. Many at HN love him for those qualities.

Can you clarify the meaning of 4 tildes surrounded by the letters 'cul', for those of us who are new around here? Thank you

I believe they meant to use the tildes to indicate a strikethrough text format, as with markdown. The "cul", I would guess is an unfinished "cultists", even though you'd typically strikethrough a completed word. When trying to indicate a "change of mind" it would be better to use a dash: "Better at retaining cul- uh, employees."

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

#266

Post by tracerbulletx » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 5:27 PM UTC

CEOs are professional communicators who have reached the highest level of the craft, they use their communications to achieve an end, expressing their inner selves is not the point. You might know a great kind person who is a car salesman, when they are at work a good one comes off as genuine and friendly, the things they're saying include many truths, but their words and actions are primarily designed to sell cars. Assume this is true of any professional communicator when they're communicating.

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

#267

Post by dagmx » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 5:31 PM UTC

xracy wrote: post #262

dagmx wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A large contingent of people here (and anywhere) are prone to hero worship, especially if it tends towards trendy topics like generative AI. The natural reaction to criticism of an idol is to shut it down so you can maintain a singular narrative lest you have to deal with cognitive dissonance. Which I find ironic, because I’ll see the same people looking down on non technical people idolizing celebrities, but not rec…

The difference between Elon and Swift, is the scale to which they are able to use capitalism for their means. I think Elon is scarier for that reason. (Not absolving Swift of that, though).

I would say the bigger scary thing is how they capitalize their fame to progress agenda, in addition to what you said.

One of Swift’s big appeal outside her media, is that she presents herself as a blank canvas for her fans to project themselves on. While I wish she used her platform for more positive advocation , it’s a lot better for her to be neutral than Musks’s aggressively negative use of his platform (especially in recent times).

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

#268

Post by gsuuon » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 5:36 PM UTC

belligeront wrote: post #128

I don’t have a strong opinion on the events of the past several days. But a lot of the behavior I’ve seen on twitter from Open AI employees, some led by Sam, feels very cult like: posting in all lower case, the heart emojis, rumors of employees calling each other in the middle of the night to pressure people to sign letters supporting Sam. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong of this behavior. It is good to like yo…

The absolute uniformity was a bit disconcerting to be honest, but I can also see it being just a great display of comradery. I'm still unsure about how to feel about the thing with it mostly resolved.

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

#269

Post by eric-hu » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 5:36 PM UTC

fatherzine wrote: post #216

al_borland wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it hard to believe this was the kind of environment he was cultivating at OpenAI if 95% of the staff were ready to follow him out the door. I've worked for the type of people you mention and no one followed them when they leave. 95% threatening to leave in this case is hard to ignore.

"95% of the staff" -- this is Kim Jong Un approval rate territory. caution advised.

Vladimir Putin had 77% of the vote in Russia’s 2017. If Putin can’t fake a 95% approval rating, surely the OpenAI numbers must be real.

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

#270

Post by greatNespresso » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 5:37 PM UTC

It came as a surprise for me to learn that PG fired Sam. It's the first time that I read this actually, and if that's true, I find it kind of mysterious that it remained a secret for so long. Or maybe I missed the news somehow but I could not find any other mention of that event on Google.