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If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

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Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#331

Post by Apocryphon »

Fricken wrote: post #314
freehunter wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Race and class demographics are not the only dimensions to a show. A working class conservative family in the suburbs of Dallas is pretty different from the high tech and high paid world of Silicon Valley is different from uneducated teenage slackers giggling at poop jokes. What Bevis does/thinks/likes versus what Hank does/thinks/likes versus what Richard does/thinks/likes could not be farther from each other. Just…

In office space Peter Gibbons, our white Alpha, and the only guy with any sense, tries to stay sane and hold it together in a world that has gone haywire. In King of the Hill, our white Alpha, Hank Hill, the only guy with any common sense, tries to stay sane and keep it from all falling apart in a world that has gone Haywire. In Idiocracy, our White Alpha, Joe Bauer, the only guy with any sense, tries to stay sane an…

How does Beavis and Butthead fit into your model

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#332

Post by PhasmaFelis »

dragonwriter wrote: post #244
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, Idiocracy is kind of insidiously awful because it thinks that cultural changes are actually genetic . You don't have to follow its arguments very far at all to come to the conclusion that ignorance can be fixed, not by education, but by restricting breeding rights. We all know where that leads. (Relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/603/ )

> Yeah, Idiocracy is kind of insidiously awful because it thinks that cultural changes are actually genetic. But...they are (or, rather, they can reasonably be expected to produce genetic changes which reinforce themselves.) Because cultural changes effect mate selection, and also otherwise improve the relative fitness of those naturally inclined to thrive in the cultural environment.

Most people who obsess over celebrities, or fall for every ad they see, or whatever else Idiocracy thinks is the downfall of society, aren't mentally impaired. They were raised in a society that discourages critical thinking skills and devalues education. They're ignorant, in other words. You don't fix ignorance with eugenics. You fix it with education.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#334

Post by nkoren »

ibudiallo wrote: post #300

A few months ago I wrote a certain story here and to my surprise I received a call from Dan Lyons, one of the writers of the show. We had long discussions about silicon valley and his new book coming out (I'm featured in it). A few weeks ago he was in LA and we had another long discussion about the show. Silicon Valley is the show most startup founders will refuse to watch. My startup was featured on TechCrunch Disru…

Man, you need to get better co-founders! I agree that Silicon Valley often hits painfully close to home, but that's precisely what makes it so fantastic.

My own startup has been mostly outside of America, but we get enough brushes with Silicon Valley culture -- or, worse, wannabe Silicon Valley culture -- to make the show really resonate.

Even closer to home, for me personally, is the Australian comedy "Utopia" (or "Dreamland", depending on the market). It's about a municipal urban development corporation, which is basically my startup's customer group. One episode features a sendup of what my own startup does (online collaborative infrastructure planning and stakeholder engagement) -- or, more to the point, what some of our would-be customers want it to do. You can tell that the writers know what they're talking about. Damn near killed me to watch it. Highly, highly recommended!

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#335

Post by PhasmaFelis »

SamReidHughes wrote: post #154
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It only works for recent shows. Outside of the last decade or two, every sitcom had to have a laugh track, period.

The Simpsons didn't.

I think Simpsons managed to trick the powers that be into classifying it as a cartoon instead of a sitcom. Different rules.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#336

Post by ibudiallo »

pj_mukh wrote: post #328
ibudiallo wrote: post #300

A few months ago I wrote a certain story here and to my surprise I received a call from Dan Lyons, one of the writers of the show. We had long discussions about silicon valley and his new book coming out (I'm featured in it). A few weeks ago he was in LA and we had another long discussion about the show. Silicon Valley is the show most startup founders will refuse to watch. My startup was featured on TechCrunch Disru…

"show most startup founders will refuse to watch" Hah! Anecdotally, I've had the opposite experience watching the show and running a startup in the valley. Most of my co-founder friends have seen it and see it as a sort of catharsis. "We aren't the only ones, this happens to everyone, so much so, there's a show about it" And then there's the inspirational, "Let's have the team coalesce around a deadline and jam out s…

We talked a lot about how many founders that somewhat found success, try to be Gavins or Russ Hannemans. But the show doesn't portray these people as the visionaries they think they are. In fact it makes fun of them.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#337

Post by fromthestart »

Fricken wrote: post #325
freehunter wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah it's really easy to overgeneralize if you boil it down to nothing and ignore everything that isn't convenient to your point.

And it's easy to say things like Mike Judge has breadth if you're in a circle jerk thread and oblivious to storytellers who actually exhibit breadth. Judge doesn't have breadth he has bread. White bread. White wonder bread. There's no rye, no baguettes, no sourdough, no pita. Just white bread.

There are more dimensions to life than race and gender in which to find breadth.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#338

Post by mikeash »

eanzenberg wrote: post #330
r00fus wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's just ignore the racial epithet part shall we?

I've never heard it used in this context, but I guess people can get offended by pretty much anything these days.

It’s real but old timey. Unless you’re quite a bit older than the HN average, you probably wouldn’t have heard it. That, of course, doesn’t mean it’s ok.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#339

Post by gcmac »

wturner wrote: post #252

Dan Lyons, one of the writers of the show recently wrote a new book titled "Lab Rats: How Silicon Valley Made Work Miserable for the Rest of Us ..."

Also worth reading his book "Disrupted" - the book is every bit as funny and relevant as Silicon Valley

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#340

Post by PhasmaFelis »

Aeolun wrote: post #294
Cyph0n wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you heard about the story of eugenics and Nazi Germany?

It seems to me the conditions are completely different. There’s nothing racial or political about this. It’s certainly ethically dubious. And I’m not certain it actually has any effect.

Which group of people do you trust to decide which other groups should be allowed to continue and which should become extinct, without any bias or personal preference?

Eugenics is always political.

> It’s certainly ethically dubious. And I’m not certain it actually has any effect.

Then why are you defending it? I'm confused.

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