41–50 of 61 posts
It's hard for me not to believe every tech leader in this room is thinking, "This guy is a total idiot. I can't believe I have to sit here and kiss his ass. What a total waste of my time. But a CEO has to do what a CEO has to do...how can I take advantage of this mess."
These news depressed me. Am I the only one who is saddened by this pathetic show by our industry leaders? Made me pessimistic about the future.
At this point, it is really important for everyone in the industry to recognize that the industry leaders (in terms of "running the most successful companies") should not be considered ethical or moral leaders. It's a categorical error. Like expecting a boat captain to be Descartes because they're good at leading people to operate a boat (or, for that matter, expecting Descartes to take first in a marathon because he…
Incredible video. It's one piece of media that would shake the tech world, where it to be shown in 2017 through a time machine. I wish this would gain more publicity. But I guess people are already desensitized for such news.
> But I guess people are already desensitized for such news.
Apple can do no wrong in the eyes of consumers. Tim Cook could be caught on video clubbing seals and nobody would bat an eye.
Incredible video. It's one piece of media that would shake the tech world, where it to be shown in 2017 through a time machine. I wish this would gain more publicity. But I guess people are already desensitized for such news.
Cook's sycophancy towards Trump was readily apparent in 2017: https://fortune.com/2017/07/25/apple-ceo-big-plants-trump/ > But I guess people are already desensitized for such news. Apple can do no wrong in the eyes of consumers. Tim Cook could be caught on video clubbing seals and nobody would bat an eye.
Much of the Musk blowback has been magnified by Tesla just not being very good cars (even if they have a great charging network). Consumers would quickly forget about Musk being a scumbag if Tesla produced good cars again.
These news depressed me. Am I the only one who is saddened by this pathetic show by our industry leaders? Made me pessimistic about the future.
Business has always been this way. It’s the nature of power. It just so happens when you have a fragile ego in power, people seeking power will naturally play to that ego for a leg up. We knew before 2015 that he was easy to manipulate. Easy to push his buttons, easy to flatter. Frankly if you are a CEO in 2015 and you aren’t flattering this idiot to profit then you are violating your duties to your shareholders
What began as feudal rent-seeking in England scaled into global capitalism, a system where those at the top still practice Norman-style exploitation for maximum extraction with no care about those being extracted from. It's all Norman-style exploitation for maximum extraction, stripped of any sense of community, obligation, or service.
These news depressed me. Am I the only one who is saddened by this pathetic show by our industry leaders? Made me pessimistic about the future.
Business has always been this way. It’s the nature of power. It just so happens when you have a fragile ego in power, people seeking power will naturally play to that ego for a leg up. We knew before 2015 that he was easy to manipulate. Easy to push his buttons, easy to flatter. Frankly if you are a CEO in 2015 and you aren’t flattering this idiot to profit then you are violating your duties to your shareholders
Unless a nontrivial number of the people who are outraged either boycott Apple, Alphabet/Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta/Facebook, or sell their shares, or stop applying to work there then it'll prove that these CEOs were indeed making the right (financial) decision.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
At this point, it is really important for everyone in the industry to recognize that the industry leaders (in terms of "running the most successful companies") should not be considered ethical or moral leaders. It's a categorical error. Like expecting a boat captain to be Descartes because they're good at leading people to operate a boat (or, for that matter, expecting Descartes to take first in a marathon because he…
They may not be moral leaders, but I expect them to be leaders who are moral. Well, I don’t expect that they will be, but that’s my standard.
I think it's easy for people to make this error because humans like heroes; heroes simplify things. We want to believe that the people who are succeeding are succeeding because they're virtuous, not because (just spitballing here) the mechanisms we use to evaluate success are fundamentally detached from (if not opposed to) "virtue" as most people would understand the concept. if the latter is true, the world is far messier.
Sometimes it takes all those people voluntarily sitting at the same table as a convicted, unrepentant, and unpunished sexual abuser for the outside observer to "get" it.
Perhaps the still-open question is "Now what should one do with that knowledge?"
To all of you reading this, that work for these CEOs, we laugh at you.
But if you find their behavior unconscionable and yet continue to work for Apple, Alphabet/Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta/Facebook, Oracle, etc then you're doing the same thing as your CEO, just at a smaller scale -- swallowing your pride to keep your job.
I can't speak to anyone else's situation, but until I built up the courage to quit such a situation myself I never realized how much these compromises weighed on my soul.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They may not be moral leaders, but I expect them to be leaders who are moral. Well, I don’t expect that they will be, but that’s my standard.
And the key thing to recognize is that there's nothing in the system to enforce that standard. "Good at making money" or "Good at running a business" doesn't mean one is good at anything else, or, indeed, is good . I think it's easy for people to make this error because humans like heroes; heroes simplify things. We want to believe that the people who are succeeding are succeeding because they're virtuous, not becaus…
I’m well aware of that, no need to get all pedagogical. The system is quite far from what I favour. I’m saying that we shouldn’t be shrugging and saying “well that’s just what they are”, it’s no excuse.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And the key thing to recognize is that there's nothing in the system to enforce that standard. "Good at making money" or "Good at running a business" doesn't mean one is good at anything else, or, indeed, is good . I think it's easy for people to make this error because humans like heroes; heroes simplify things. We want to believe that the people who are succeeding are succeeding because they're virtuous, not becaus…
> And the key thing to recognize is that there's nothing in the system to enforce that standard. "Good at making money" or "Good at running a business" doesn't mean one is good at anything else, or, indeed, is good. I’m well aware of that, no need to get all pedagogical. The system is quite far from what I favour. I’m saying that we shouldn’t be shrugging and saying “well that’s just what they are”, it’s no excuse.
Their forebears, sadly, did not. Specifically the ones who worked at IBM, but others as well.