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Create value for others and don’t worry about the returns

geohot.github.io

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Re: Create value for others and don’t worry about the returns

#351

Post by DangitBobby »

card_zero wrote: post #73
avaer wrote: post #40

It's easy to create value for others and not worry about returns when you have enough money to not worry. Unfortunately for most people, there's plenty of companies willing to take the returns and leave you paycheck to paycheck. That's literally what they are optimized to do. I don't even disagree with the ideal, but I think a prerequisite step to this philosophy is UBI.

I guess then you disagree with the previous blog post, The Insane Stupidity of UBI, which says free money for all just makes prices go up.

Even if I accept that as true, which I do not, the value of money would have to go to zero for that to mean UBI doesn't work.

Re: Create value for others and don’t worry about the returns

#352

Post by [deleted] »

safety1st wrote: post #330
keiferski wrote: post #318

As is often the case, the title is a bit misleading and implies a universality that I don’t think the author intended. He is specifically talking about AI, and saying (in my understanding) that you shouldn’t worry too much about whether your specific thing will be overwritten by AI, as long as you focus on actually creating true, real value with your work. I agree with that completely and can see it happening in my o…

I mean it's a title. Titles are under no obligation to condense the entire content of the article into one sentence. People who want to comment on the article should read it first, and then write in good faith. The problem lies in the HN comments which have taken that title and interpreted it through the lens of unrelated political arguments: class warfare, anti-offshoring, etc. etc. I don't think any title would be…

[deleted]

Re: Create value for others and don’t worry about the returns

#353

Post by pixl97 »

keiferski wrote: post #346
harimau777 wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That still seems super naive, at least if its extended to software engineering. Companies already treat software engineers like disposable cogs to be burnt out and discarded. I don't see how AI will improve that.

I think if you’re legitimately providing value to the company, you aren’t disposable. If you are but still get canned, then you’re just dealing with irrational management, and that predates AI.

Business can remain irrational longer than you can remain financially solvent.

Re: Create value for others and don’t worry about the returns

#354

Post by fsckboy »

keiferski wrote: post #346
harimau777 wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That still seems super naive, at least if its extended to software engineering. Companies already treat software engineers like disposable cogs to be burnt out and discarded. I don't see how AI will improve that.

I think if you’re legitimately providing value to the company, you aren’t disposable. If you are but still get canned, then you’re just dealing with irrational management, and that predates AI.

>irrational management, and that predates AI

actually, it's AI that will be doing the predating

Re: Create value for others and don’t worry about the returns

#355

Post by lelanthran »

JonChesterfield wrote: post #201

This is a trap for engineers. If you don't worry about the returns, you won't get any. There are circumstances where that is fine. Be sure you're in one of them first.

> If you don't worry about the returns, you won't get any.

He was focusing on value, not returns.

That being said, his take is still a dumb take - if you focus on creating value you may not capture any of that value for yourself. If you don't capture that value, someone else certainly will.

The age of creating value for the public good is well and truly over - any value you create for the public good in the form of intellectual output is immediately captured by profit-maximising companies for training your replacement.

It's not just a case of having your value captured by someone else, the AI corps are actually taking your captured value and then using it against you.

Re: Create value for others and don’t worry about the returns

#356

Post by ms8 »

keiferski wrote: post #318

As is often the case, the title is a bit misleading and implies a universality that I don’t think the author intended. He is specifically talking about AI, and saying (in my understanding) that you shouldn’t worry too much about whether your specific thing will be overwritten by AI, as long as you focus on actually creating true, real value with your work. I agree with that completely and can see it happening in my o…

Something similar happened with web search.

There used to be many site aggregators curated by people for different categories - kind of like sub-reddits. At the same time, there were purely algorithmic search engines (yahoo, google, etc.).

The algorithmic approach won, but aggregators still exist.

Re: Create value for others and don’t worry about the returns

#357

Post by [deleted] »

safety1st wrote: post #330
keiferski wrote: post #318

As is often the case, the title is a bit misleading and implies a universality that I don’t think the author intended. He is specifically talking about AI, and saying (in my understanding) that you shouldn’t worry too much about whether your specific thing will be overwritten by AI, as long as you focus on actually creating true, real value with your work. I agree with that completely and can see it happening in my o…

I mean it's a title. Titles are under no obligation to condense the entire content of the article into one sentence. People who want to comment on the article should read it first, and then write in good faith. The problem lies in the HN comments which have taken that title and interpreted it through the lens of unrelated political arguments: class warfare, anti-offshoring, etc. etc. I don't think any title would be…

[deleted]

Re: Create value for others and don’t worry about the returns

#358

Post by fsckboy »

neuralkoi wrote: post #325
ramraj07 wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone knows who geohot is and even if they do they may not see the url handle. They may (like me) think why is a glorified shower thought tweet on top of HN. They may not know that this dude was an anti-masker (with nuance) for example. This could really make them decide not to even spend too much time thinking about the passage which in theory is profound for 10 seconds but no further. As much as ad hominem a…

Ad hominem attacks are never good approaches. They're irrational in nature. Ad hominem is one of the first fallacies taught in a critical thinking class.

if ad hominem attacks were of no value, humans wouldn't have evolved the strong tendency to engage in them.

they are not proofs in logic, hence the fallacy, but that does not mean they are irrational. it's irrational to think that human discourse can be capture by logic.

Re: Create value for others and don’t worry about the returns

#359

Post by skyberrys »

I like reading optimistic posts and I hadn't hear the term Red Queens Race before. Now I understand it comes from Alice In Wonderland while she runs but never moves. The whole website has great little thought snippets. The author is upfront about repeating themselves. That's great, so do I.

Re: Create value for others and don’t worry about the returns

#360

Post by DangitBobby »

zetanor wrote: post #240
XorNot wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't convincing the criminal part of the population to just stay home be a net win? Policing and prisons are both notably more expensive then welfare.

I wouldn't be satisfied with my share of UBI. I'd want yours, too.

People would probably still steal but without real world data we can only speculate on whether crime would increase or decrease. My bet is still on decrease.
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