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Are we the baddies?

geohot.github.io

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Re: Are we the baddies?

#391

Post by dcrazy »

LeafItAlone wrote: post #217

I generally avoid George’s non-technical posts because they are… let’s say uninspired. But here is one that actually makes sense. Of course the self-reflection with who he otherwise praises and spends his time with will never set in, but at least others may take the time to look inward and do something differently. Something has to change. Even HN seems to have had an increase in sentiment like this in the past few y…

I was hopeful that by titling his post “Are we the baddies?” that he would spend at least a little time reflecting on his role in all this. But he didn’t.

Re: Are we the baddies?

#392

Post by benreesman »

spacemadness wrote: post #371
j2kun wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to wonder if some people are just trying to follow the hype. This reads like the "put a cell phone camera on your dashboard to make a car self-driving" approach to reflection.

I think there is genuine burnout. Also it makes sense that the more grizzled on HN have lived long enough to see the fruits of the labor, perhaps just tangentially, and what it has wrought. Coupled with the industry treating its workers pretty poorly right now and shattering all illusions, it makes sense this sentiment is rising.

Five years ago I got flagged on HN and heard back channel that I was getting passed over for stuff via some little whisper in the right ear because I've been calling this shit out since my come to Jesus moment around it nearly a decade ago.

Today? I don't feel like criticizing Thiel-adjacent authoritarian goons changes my net prospects all that much. It hurts me with 65 and helps with 45 (or something), instead of 95/5 like a few years ago.

I think the burnout is real: the consequences are too obvious and most people are reasonable deep down even if we all get carried away sometimes.

Re: Are we the baddies?

#393

Post by benreesman »

Yajirobe wrote: post #336
LeafItAlone wrote: post #217

I generally avoid George’s non-technical posts because they are… let’s say uninspired. But here is one that actually makes sense. Of course the self-reflection with who he otherwise praises and spends his time with will never set in, but at least others may take the time to look inward and do something differently. Something has to change. Even HN seems to have had an increase in sentiment like this in the past few y…

Ah yes geohot. The same guy who used LLMs in advent of code to get on the leaderboard

Whenever I send like a diff summary or something that the bot did I title it: ChatGPT That XYZ Dawg (busy building!)

Re: Are we the baddies?

#394

Post by tpoacher »

dangus wrote: post #308

The author is metaphorically complaining about seeing alcohol for sale after deciding to go to a bar. Nobody twisted your arm to use Hinge rather than utilize local dating resources like singles meetups, speed dating, and matchmaking services. Or just get a group-oriented hobby and talk to people in real life.

Yeah that's right. If you don't like AI and data-mining just don't use the internet at all, amirite?

Re: Are we the baddies?

#396

Post by reaperducer »

rr808 wrote: post #232
ggm wrote: post #2

For some people, paying the premium to jump the queue is the point. What they didn't forsee is what happens when everyone has wound up paying the premium, and the queue is now with you again. This is mostly Australian frequent flyers, when it was a high barrier to entry it conferred advantages and now Fly in Fly out work has commoditised club status, there is next to no boarding advantage, and no points flight availa…

> My fellow Australians all feel a bit shit about the introduction of tipping in paywave and food service. That's unaustralian. We have legally enforced minimum wages and penalty rates. Turn that feature off. I think non-Americans need to take a stand against this. Refuse all tipping. Its a slippery slope - I know these guys are underpaid but if you start tipping the wages will just drop and we're all worse off.

I think non-Americans need to take a stand against this. Refuse all tipping.

The custom of tipping came to America from Europe after the First World War, and tipping was seen as deeply un-American until the 1950's.

It is sometimes mentioned in films and radio dramas of the period. See the Bettie Davis movie Petrified Forest for one example.

Re: Are we the baddies?

#397

Post by ziggure »

lmm wrote: post #220
al_borland wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If everyone gets an equal raise (whatever the UBI is), wouldn’t the entire market simply adjust to price that in, leaving everyone in the same relative position?

Even at first order, it makes the people at the bottom relatively better off. If we go from Alice having 600, Bob having 0, and Carol having 0, to Alice having 700, Bob having 100, and Carol having 100, then Bob and Carol are still more able to buy things than they were before even if prices now increase by 50%.

Yes, being shortsighted ignores the rubber band effect that then disproportionately hurts those people down the road.

Re: Are we the baddies?

#398

Post by southernplaces7 »

quickthrowman wrote: post #385
nilamo wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now that tips are tax free in the USA, they are unlikely to be going away.

I’m going to start tipping 10% now, if I get yelled at by waitstaff I’ll mention the tax break and explain they’re receiving the same tip as they would’ve received prior to the tax break. I’m sick of being shaken down everywhere I go for tip money. I suspect I’m not the only one who will be modifying my tipping behavior.

Do waitstaff where you live actually have a tendency of yelling at people who "only" tip 10%? Honestly curious. That's one sick tendency if so.

if I had anyone at all nag me over tipping them more than that as if it were something you're supposed to automatically do, id flat out tell them to fuck off without a shred of guilt. Luckily it's not so ingrained where I live.

Re: Are we the baddies?

#399

Post by renewiltord »

rr808 wrote: post #232
ggm wrote: post #2

For some people, paying the premium to jump the queue is the point. What they didn't forsee is what happens when everyone has wound up paying the premium, and the queue is now with you again. This is mostly Australian frequent flyers, when it was a high barrier to entry it conferred advantages and now Fly in Fly out work has commoditised club status, there is next to no boarding advantage, and no points flight availa…

> My fellow Australians all feel a bit shit about the introduction of tipping in paywave and food service. That's unaustralian. We have legally enforced minimum wages and penalty rates. Turn that feature off. I think non-Americans need to take a stand against this. Refuse all tipping. Its a slippery slope - I know these guys are underpaid but if you start tipping the wages will just drop and we're all worse off.

Tipping is just a tax on losers. My friends were all about how they always tip and that’s why they get Ubers faster but then it turns out I never tip and I get them in the same time.

I’m a regular at this bakery / coffee store and I buy a doughnut there every day and I never tip.

You can just do things.

Re: Are we the baddies?

#400

Post by alganet »

__MatrixMan__ wrote: post #388
alganet wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's more difficult than it seems. If I were an algorithm-profiling company I would try to anchor my profilings in the real world (what kinds of people I talk to, about what, what kinds of places I visit, what are the opinions of others on me, etc). LLM garbage would be just to draw voluntary participation in potential surveys. It takes a particularly paranoid and stubborn individual to make the necessary eff…

I agree that it's currently paranoid to hide your activities so that the algorithm profiling companies see you as several different people, or see the activities of millions as if they're just one... Automated misdirection on the part of the users is, so far, minimal. But the point of such a company is to sell data on individuals, and a problematic use case for such data is to kill the ones who say things that you do…

Maybe the endgame is honesty. Not pretending you're several people, or other convoluted ways of misdirection and disguise.

Just honestly acknowledge that profiling exists, and explicitly work against it.

That should be enough to make any algorithm company that notices something is wrong to trip on its own wires, thinking some more elaborate form of hackery/covertion is being employed.

The likelyhood of some company noticing a single user is quite low though, but if you are able to hook even a single person inside that company using nothing but honesty and no tricks, that is the best trick of all.

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