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Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

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Re: Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

#261

Post by datsci_est_2015 »

avmich wrote: post #253
beloch wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is simply speaking of something you wish to be true as though it already were. It's a very old trick of con artists. People make bad assumptions about the ultra-rich. e.g. "We should listen carefully to whatever Elon Musk says because he had to be really smart and wise to have become the world's richest man!" No. He was unethical, opportunistic, and very, very lucky. What he says is frequently imbecilic. Every b…

Why don't you think that those successful people - or at least some of them - are also very smart?

What does it mean to be “smart”? I could list a ton of synonyms just to highlight not only the ambiguity of such a claim, but also its relative worthlessness:

  - Conniving
  - Autistic
  - Empathetic
  - Talented
  - Quick-witted
  - Well-read
  - Scheming
  - Obsessive
  - Compulsive
  - Nerdy
  - Geeky
  - Savvy
  - Wary
  - Weathered
  - Wise
  - Articulate
  - Quiet
  - Generous
Or, here’s another question, who’s the smartest person in Las Vegas? Is it the person who won the most money? The best poker player? The most successful real estate broker? The one who breaks the most laws for financial gain without getting caught? Maybe the guy who repairs the elevators?

Re: Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

#262

Post by Gud »

jimbob45 wrote: post #230
tacomonstrous wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The true morally correct path would have been to take big money out of college sports (not to mention high school sport) entirely. Of course this is now essentially impossible without what I imagine will be extensive rioting countrywide.

How? Charge stadium ticket prices and jerseys at cost?

This is only a problem in the USA.

In Sweden, we don't have enormous college stadiums.

Re: Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

#263

Post by JohnFen »

hunterpayne wrote: post #66
JohnFen wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're talking about a specific form of the larger problem. The very wealthy only know the world of the very wealthy. They know nothing, let alone care, about people who aren't "in the club". Every worse, they -- like pretty much all of us -- tend to think that most people are just like them, so they think not only that they understand normal people, but that they are normal people. And the ones that don't ei…

I think that's true for one specific kind of wealthy person. Specifically those born into it. Its absolutely not true for the self-made. I do have a solution to this. If you haven't paid your own bills with money you earned (no jobs from family) for the last 10 years, you can't run for office. Literally the mayor of Seattle has never paid her own bills and her husband has never worked either. There is no universe whe…

> Its absolutely not true for the self-made.

I disagree. From my observations, it's true nearly as often for that crowd as the inheritance crowd.

Re: Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

#264

Post by jocaal »

crote wrote: post #214
petermcneeley wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clarification. None of the silicon valley elite were ever "normies". I would guess most of them come from the top > %1 of society. This is just a rival elite not a non-elite.

They started with nothing , in a garage! An unused three-car garage next to their parents' mansion. While living at home, without having to pay for basic things like food. And with a $100k loan from the other guy's parents. And with daddy's business contacts being the first customers, and being the angel investors. Absolutely nothing, all their own hard work!

This is a naive take. Sure they had wealth, but multiplying wealth to the scale some of those people do is no easy feat. I am not defending them, just trying to state a fact.

Re: Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

#265

Post by aiisjustanif »

zombot wrote: post #236
techblueberry wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I listened to a few Marc Andreesen interviews and occasioned some Thiel talks, and one thing I realized is the difference between philosophy as obligation or compass and philosophy as tool. I realized that when Marc Andreesen said things - specifically he was talking about the political realignment after the 2024 election. He wasn’t making an observation. He was manifesting - to borrow a new age term. It wasn’t propa…

The powerful don't need to convince. They simply command. They get used to it in their personal surroundings and then they expect it to work everywhere.

If by command you mean by using coercion or compulsion. Then history has told multiple stories that show to sustain power you need more than just to command. Whether it be centuries ago like in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, the Russian Revolution of 1917, or the more recent complex stories of power like Euromaiden in 2013. In my opinion history and modern time supports the theory of hegemony very well.

Ironically one the top modern examples of the powerful understanding the need to convince and executing on those goals is the global dominance of Silicon Valley tech platforms and the billionaires that lead them.

They shape what is "common sense," and political discourse worldwide without direct command.

Re: Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

#266

Post by bonsai_bar »

lelanthran wrote: post #134
bonsai_bar wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're making it seem like the mayor is an out of touch nepo baby when she's living a regular life dedicated towards helping others. You may want to get your info from more places than Fox News.

> You're making it seem like the mayor is an out of touch nepo baby when she's living a regular life dedicated towards helping others. If it's true she has never paid her own bills and her husband has never had a job, then I'd like that sort of regular life. If she has been paying her own bills or her husband has had a job in his life, then say so.

You can find her resume here: https://seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=3880890&GUID=4....

Her parents are biology professors. It's not like they're putting her on the board of companies.

Re: Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

#267

Post by bonsai_bar »

Jtsummers wrote: post #143
hunterpayne wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that its been verified by multiple sources, including the mayor herself.

That's just a claim, not evidence. If she's said it, it should be easy to link to an interview or an article showing these statements.

It's not true (https://seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=3880890&GUID=4...).

Re: Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

#268

Post by bonsai_bar »

hunterpayne wrote: post #119
bonsai_bar wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're making it seem like the mayor is an out of touch nepo baby when she's living a regular life dedicated towards helping others. You may want to get your info from more places than Fox News.

She is an out of touch nepo baby. Her policies haven't exactly been big successes. Jobs are leaving and the specific stated reasons usually have to do with her. Because of her tax increases and the Laffer curve, tax receipts are falling and there are now significant budget shortfalls opening up. If you didn't know this, perhaps you want to get your info from more places than MSNow/MSNBC.

Yeah the college professor's kid became mayor due to nepotism. That makes total sense.

You can dislike her policies but this is just bs: > "If you haven't paid your own bills with money you earned (no jobs from family) for the last 10 years, you can't run for office. Literally the mayor of Seattle has never paid her own bills and her husband has never worked either. There is no universe where someone with that life experience makes a good leader."

Re: Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

#269

Post by andsoitis »

danans wrote: post #231
andsoitis wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> access to real resources owned and controlled by the few. What’s an example of such a real resource?

Land, housing, water, energy, food, medicines, healthcare, security, and proximity to influence. I'm sure I forgot a few.

> Land, housing, water, energy, food, medicines, healthcare, security, and proximity to influence. I'm sure I forgot a few.

And you think the vast majority of people do not have access to the overwhelming majority of those things? The evidence suggests the opposite. The only item in your list I would agree with is "proximity to influence", but it is also the one thing that is totally different from the others in the list.

Re: Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

#270

Post by aiisjustanif »

slopinthebag wrote: post #124
TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the Chicago monetarists and neoliberals have never been right. Their dogma, and that entire school, is literally the creation of the banker class who got together after WWII because they didn't want to see Western civilisation degenerate into (the horror...) social democracy. They're the source of all of decades of nonsense about "small government" and "inefficiency" and "rational markets." They pretended to be l…

Yea the economic ideology that seems most correct is the Austrian school.

I think it’s important to highlight they were correct in identifying problems but the solutions were flawed. The book “Wither Socialism?” Explains it well.

[1]: https://archive.org/details/whithersocialism0000stig_i9j5/pa...

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