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Reflections on Palantir

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Re: Reflections on Palantir

#391

Post by 1oooqooq »

rob74 wrote: post #350
asdasdsddd wrote: post #190

I worked there in the weird era. A couple things. 1. As per usual, the things that make palantir well known not even close to being the most dubious things. 2. I agree that the rank and file of palantir is no different from typical sv talent. 3. The services -> product transition was cool, I didn't weigh it as much as should've, but I did purchase fomo insurance after they ipo'd 4. The shadow hierarchy was so bad, it…

The strangest thing for me were the article's first two paragraphs: > Palantir is hot now. The company recently joined the S&P 500. The stock is on a tear, and the company is nearing a $100bn market cap. VCs chase ex-Palantir founders asking to invest. [...] During the 2016-2020 era especially, telling people you worked at Palantir was unpopular. The company was seen as spy tech, NSA surveillance, or worse. There wer…

when you can profit from something all rules are off.

your 401k is probably funding cocacola extract water from impoverished communities and then selling it back to them with sugar.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#392

Post by 1oooqooq »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #288
asdasdsddd wrote: post #190

I worked there in the weird era. A couple things. 1. As per usual, the things that make palantir well known not even close to being the most dubious things. 2. I agree that the rank and file of palantir is no different from typical sv talent. 3. The services -> product transition was cool, I didn't weigh it as much as should've, but I did purchase fomo insurance after they ipo'd 4. The shadow hierarchy was so bad, it…

This: > I did purchase fomo insurance after they ipo'd Sorry, my English is a bit weak. What is the meaning here? Did you buy shares post-IPO?

he invested into the company (that is, funded the immoral work he was disgusted by and caused him to leave) by paying them for stock options while (or shortly after) working there.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#393

Post by ndheebebe »

Aeolun wrote: post #366
browningstreet wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many of the enterprise orgs I've worked in, the two tech teams that are chronically understaffed are 1) info sec, 2) DBA/ data architecture/ data science. I'm lumping those 3 together on purpose, because they're always understaffed and typically not empowered to build anything.

Huh, I feel like we have the opposite issue. We have all those teams and I’m not sure what they’re actually doing.

They should help the business with the evidence to make all kinds of decisions, and in a platform-team kind of way help you self serve data needed to make decisions in your team.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#394

Post by Certhas »

clircle wrote: post #374
austinjp wrote: post #330

The article reveals depressing reasons why someone might choose to work for the lines of Palantir: lots of talented people working on hard problems. That's pretty much it. No problem with the business model, just intellectual hunger. I'm sure the pay didn't hurt. We need to teach our students that the employment they take doesn't exist in a vacuum. Your choice of employee can impact not only yourself but the wider wo…

> We need to teach our students... Teach your values to your own kids, man

Students are adults. Teaching them that their choices have systemic consequences is not the same as forcing values on them. It might be factually incorrect, but it's not a value statement.

And I have no worries that the billionaires will make sure their views and values are aired and widely known, so students will be very much able to make up their own mind.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#395

Post by JCM9 »

Palantir seems more Mechanical Turk-like than amazing tech. In my observations they could do some interesting things with data but there was no real secret sauce to dealing with the usual messyness of real world data beyond just deploying manual labor to sort it out and then do interesting, but ultimately pedestrian, analysis.

Struck me as not that different from many other consulting type engagements: It’s not something a company couldn’t just do on their own if they wanted but companies just choose to pay someone else to do a bunch of grunt work under the guise of some hand-wavy special expertise and IP.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#396

Post by yoz »

slibhb wrote: post #209
bdjsiqoocwk wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Defeating Hamas is a moral imperative. In that case what do you call the Netanyahu governament strategy of propping up Hamas? https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up...

A mistake? The Israelis didn't understand the extent to which Hamas views itself as engaged in a holy war. They (and many others, including me) thought that Hamas would prioritize building Gaza and providing services to its people over murder/kidnapping raids.

You're underestimating how valuable Hamas has been to the Israeli right. Smotrich called them an asset in 2015 for a reason, and Netanyahu said similar in 2012.

With Hamas in charge, Israel could avoid making new peace agreements or concessions by saying that there was "no partner for peace". The more violent Hamas got, the more cover Israel had for expanding settlements. And now Likud is already talking about what they'll do with all the Gaza land they're taking.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#397

Post by tucnak »

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #325
forgotoldacc wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was an interview somewhat recently where someone asked his connection to Israel's military, and he squirmed and rapidly stuttered in sheer terror for about 15 seconds before he finally put together a sentence where he said something like "I'm not allowed to criticize Israel." It was weird seeing one of the richest men on earth suddenly have absolute fear in his eyes and talking like he had a gun to his back. Tw…

I have seen the same from Marc Andreessen. They do not know the Faustian bargain they have struck. It will consume their very souls.

What does it have to do with Faust? Israel is not a superhuman thing of any kind, and it doesn't possess superhuman knowledge.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#398

Post by ndheebebe »

shiroiushi wrote: post #306
ks2048 wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine the reaction to Palestinians blowing up a residential Israeli apartment building with hundreds of civilians inside and justifying it by saying they wanted to kill an IDF member inside.

If the IDF member is shooting at them from the apartment building, then it becomes a valid military target. This is very clearly spelled out in the Geneva conventions.

This is a tenuous hypothetical.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#399

Post by moolcool »

clircle wrote: post #374
austinjp wrote: post #330

The article reveals depressing reasons why someone might choose to work for the lines of Palantir: lots of talented people working on hard problems. That's pretty much it. No problem with the business model, just intellectual hunger. I'm sure the pay didn't hurt. We need to teach our students that the employment they take doesn't exist in a vacuum. Your choice of employee can impact not only yourself but the wider wo…

> We need to teach our students... Teach your values to your own kids, man

Most Computer Science and engineering curriculums include courses about professional ethics.

Re: Reflections on Palantir

#400

Post by moolcool »

cambaceres wrote: post #388
clircle wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We need to teach our students... Teach your values to your own kids, man

The perfect response to this kind of preaching.

I don't think it's preachy at all to say "Hey, the work you do has impacts on the wider world"
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