What I Didn't Say • Hacker News Board

Re: What I Didn't Say

#311

Post by seiji » Tue, Dec 31, 2013, 12:25 AM UTC

mattmanser wrote: post #301

mjburgess wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fine, he was mischaracterized and he replied. But jesus, > pg's response is actually priceless: it is like a soft-spoken witness upending a bullying lawyer who had just viciously attacked him, leaving the attacker reeling for all to see. What's with the almost cult-like reverence for this largely pseudo-intellectual entrepreneur?

pg, a pseudo-intellectual? I'm frankly surprised you've been here for 2 years and never realised. You see the ycombinator in news.ycombinator.com? In this website? That's pg's company. Do you know what ycombinator is? That he started the seed funding movement? That he was blogging about hacking startups before people even really realised you could hack startups? Before lean startup existed? That he's written his own…

That's not cultish

I am disinclined to acquiesce to your assertion.

Listing accomplishments is okay. Listing accomplishments paired with fawning and idolatry is cultish.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#312

Post by theorique » Tue, Dec 31, 2013, 12:26 AM UTC

mjburgess wrote: post #236

grellas wrote: post #229

A word about credibility. It comes from the Latin word credo , meaning "I trust." Its value exceeds that of money because it marks you as a person - as someone who is respected, who is trustworthy, and whom you would want to count as a friend. It marks you not as perfect but as special. It makes others ponder not so much that they did the last deal with you but that they would want to do the next deal too. Just as we…

Fine, he was mischaracterized and he replied. But jesus, > pg's response is actually priceless: it is like a soft-spoken witness upending a bullying lawyer who had just viciously attacked him, leaving the attacker reeling for all to see. What's with the almost cult-like reverence for this largely pseudo-intellectual entrepreneur?

What's with the almost cult-like relevance for this largely pseudo-intellectual entrepreneur?

- Founded a successful web apps company back in the 1990s when that wasn't common, and sold it to Yahoo

- Founded Y Combinator to advise and invest in startups

- Smart investor with substantial success and track record (Dropbox, AirBnB, etc)

In other words, he's earned a reputation for doing some very smart things, and documenting them in clear, easily understood language, over the past 20 years.

I'm not being a mirer or a nuthugger here. I participate in HN because it benefits me and I learn useful things amidst the noise. (And of course pg started this site too.)

Re: What I Didn't Say

#313

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Dec 31, 2013, 12:27 AM UTC

mjburgess wrote: post #236

grellas wrote: post #229

A word about credibility. It comes from the Latin word credo , meaning "I trust." Its value exceeds that of money because it marks you as a person - as someone who is respected, who is trustworthy, and whom you would want to count as a friend. It marks you not as perfect but as special. It makes others ponder not so much that they did the last deal with you but that they would want to do the next deal too. Just as we…

Fine, he was mischaracterized and he replied. But jesus, > pg's response is actually priceless: it is like a soft-spoken witness upending a bullying lawyer who had just viciously attacked him, leaving the attacker reeling for all to see. What's with the almost cult-like reverence for this largely pseudo-intellectual entrepreneur?

[deleted]

Re: What I Didn't Say

#314

Post by acheron » Tue, Dec 31, 2013, 12:27 AM UTC

crassus wrote: post #182

bedhead wrote: post #130

I've said it before and I will say it again: Gawker is simply professional trolls. They exist only to shit on everything, the farther away from their rigid liberal ideals the better. I wish people would ignore them completely.

Liberal != left/progressive. Liberals were people that supported free exchange of ideas, believing that truth would be discovered through open argument (think John Stuart Mill). Progressives are pretty much the opposite of that.

Historically sure, but (at least in the US) that ship sailed long ago.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#315

Post by mattmanser » Tue, Dec 31, 2013, 12:28 AM UTC

rsl7 wrote: post #308

mattmanser wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pg, a pseudo-intellectual? I'm frankly surprised you've been here for 2 years and never realised. You see the ycombinator in news.ycombinator.com? In this website? That's pg's company. Do you know what ycombinator is? That he started the seed funding movement? That he was blogging about hacking startups before people even really realised you could hack startups? Before lean startup existed? That he's written his own…

pg started the seed funding movement? puh-leeeze.

I meant seed accelerator.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#316

Post by newnewnew » Tue, Dec 31, 2013, 12:29 AM UTC

throwaway135 wrote: post #80

Why is adding more women to the tech industry automatically assumed a laudable goal to throw resources behind? I'm Middle-Eastern (probably a smaller minority in the North-American tech scene compared to women), and while I (like most people) would certainly like to be surrounded by more of my brethren, it's not something I'd be comfortable spending resources on because the return on investment is so nebulous; divers…

To understand the call for equal representation in tech, you have to understand cultural marxism. My previous thoughts on the issue: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6509118

Re: What I Didn't Say

#317

Post by Ygg2 » Tue, Dec 31, 2013, 12:29 AM UTC

mjburgess wrote: post #236

grellas wrote: post #229

A word about credibility. It comes from the Latin word credo , meaning "I trust." Its value exceeds that of money because it marks you as a person - as someone who is respected, who is trustworthy, and whom you would want to count as a friend. It marks you not as perfect but as special. It makes others ponder not so much that they did the last deal with you but that they would want to do the next deal too. Just as we…

Fine, he was mischaracterized and he replied. But jesus, > pg's response is actually priceless: it is like a soft-spoken witness upending a bullying lawyer who had just viciously attacked him, leaving the attacker reeling for all to see. What's with the almost cult-like reverence for this largely pseudo-intellectual entrepreneur?

> What's with the almost cult-like relevance for this largely pseudo-intellectual entrepreneur?

People worship and idolize their heroes all the time.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#318

Post by mattmanser » Tue, Dec 31, 2013, 12:31 AM UTC

seiji wrote: post #311

mattmanser wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pg, a pseudo-intellectual? I'm frankly surprised you've been here for 2 years and never realised. You see the ycombinator in news.ycombinator.com? In this website? That's pg's company. Do you know what ycombinator is? That he started the seed funding movement? That he was blogging about hacking startups before people even really realised you could hack startups? Before lean startup existed? That he's written his own…

That's not cultish I am disinclined to acquiesce to your assertion. Listing accomplishments is okay. Listing accomplishments paired with fawning and idolatry is cultish.

disinclined to acquiesce

Oh dear.

But anyway, given that I actually pointed out I disagree with him in some aspects, how is that fawning?

The guy's got a history that reads better than any of us here could probably hope for and he writes some amazingly well thought out and well reasoned essays.

I'm don't idolize him, I think he's more intelligent than me.

Which I say about very, very few people.

I think it's absurd to call him a pseudo-intellectual.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#319

Post by mjburgess » Tue, Dec 31, 2013, 12:32 AM UTC

mjburgess wrote: post #302

jraines wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pg's writing has made a big impact among a lot of people, the majority of whom don't view him as a cult-like leader or personality at all. It sounds like you disagree with his ideas; what qualifies someone as an intellectual in your book and not a pseudo-intellectual?

"pseudo" was a little strong. But if you have any serious familiarity with his "off-topic" rants, youll see he writes about issues glibly and with a severe lack of information. I dont mind "academic journalism", I do it a lot myself: write on difficult topics for a lay audience and maybe sacrifice a little accurasy a long the way. I think pg likes be seen making points more than he wants further understanding/truth/e…

I seem to have been down-voted, maybe some dont see the problem.

Here's a randomly picked example: http://paulgraham.com/inequality.html

Randomish quote from end of article,

"The problem here is not wealth, but corruption. So why not go after corruption? We don't need to prevent people from being rich if we can prevent wealth from translating into power."

Umm... how about in a capitalist society money is the vehicle of positive freedom... to increase ones ability to do something on has to have more money. Therefore under capitalism there is always a fundamental tie between money and power.

That's a small off-hand point.

But if you have any serious reading on the last two hundred years of economic, political and sociological critiques of capitalism, wealth and power that whole article will just seem silly.

I'm sure he means well. But it takes a certain kind of "pseudo"-something to think that this kinda hackney "thought-lite" material should be delivered at a major conference (Defcon 2005). If i were asked, on the back of my reputation, to speak on this, I would at least spend a week watching/reading/etc. as much as I can in the area.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#320

Post by kazagistar » Tue, Dec 31, 2013, 12:32 AM UTC

ars_technician wrote: post #198

calibraxis wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does your company respond to customers like this: start by pointing out your "sterling reputations" and end by claiming "I understand"? The person you responded to offered two doable action points. A litmus test is if YC moves on at least one of them. YC does not have the excuse that it doesn't have the technical know-how. And it would be a laughingstock if they didn't have the hacker spirit to figure out how to impl…

They would be a laughingstock if they did implement a voice adjuster. It makes it appear that rampant sexism is such a problem that they have to implement protection against it.

I don't get this at all. Even with just names discrimination has been shown to occur at places like universities, so it wouldn't be revealing a problem, it would be being proactive in case there is one. Trust but verify.

Second, a perfect excuse was provided: for science! Its not that they think they are sexist, but an untested hypothesis is less strong then a tested one.