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Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

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Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#441

Post by nerbert »

ketzo wrote: post #435
imjonse wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paul's tweet is an objective statement, it does not say anything about character or values and is not explicitly supportive.

…you think calling someone “the best in the world” is a) purely factual b) not supportive Uh, what on earth would count as explicitly supportive language?

Being the best in the world to deal with a situation is a neutral statement. Putin is the best in the world to deal with the situation he’s in right now, if you need a negative angle on this.

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#442

Post by mort96 »

satisfaction wrote: post #407
tempaccount420 wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, when you fire people, have a clear reason for it. Not being "consistently candid" is not that.

lying of any type is always grounds for termination. "consistently candid" is just a more PC phrase for lying.

The details matter here. Consistently lying is grounds for termination. Not consistently being outspoken/blunt might not be. "Not being consistently candid" can be interpreted as either.

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#443

Post by [deleted] »

mousetree wrote: post #24

> One of those people whose career Altman helped propel was Ilya Sutskever, chief scientist and board member at OpenAI — the person who ultimately fired him. Ilya was plenty successful before OpenAI and would've been just fine without Altman helping to "propel" his career.

[deleted]

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#444

Post by Waterluvian »

ketzo wrote: post #435
imjonse wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paul's tweet is an objective statement, it does not say anything about character or values and is not explicitly supportive.

…you think calling someone “the best in the world” is a) purely factual b) not supportive Uh, what on earth would count as explicitly supportive language?

That’s a really good example of not being explicitly supportive. It’s an objective statement. If I said “Roy Sullivan is the best in the world at being struck by lightning” it may implicitly feel like I’m rooting for him. But I’m just stating a fact.

What would count?

“I think Roy Sullivan is the man to be struck an eighth time. He’s the best at it. I hope he succeeds.”

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#445

Post by [deleted] »

Arson9416 wrote: post #340

Step 1: Dazzle an influential person Step 2: Persuade them to hitch their reputation to you Step 3: Do whatever you want with minimal repercussions Follow these 3 steps and influential people will actively fight on your behalf, against their own best interests, to avoid embarrassing themselves and diminishing their reputations. Use each influential person as a stepping stone to an even more influential person and rep…

[deleted]

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#446

Post by greatNespresso »

twoodfin wrote: post #431
greatNespresso wrote: post #270

It came as a surprise for me to learn that PG fired Sam. It's the first time that I read this actually, and if that's true, I find it kind of mysterious that it remained a secret for so long. Or maybe I missed the news somehow but I could not find any other mention of that event on Google.

Weird: The most relevant hn post on Altman’s departure from YC is https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19342184 But despite comments to the effect that the YC post indicated Sam’s departure, it doesn’t seem to say anything about it right now?

Thank you for the article, I saw a comment from Sam in the HN post but agreed it did not look obvious that he got fired.

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#447

Post by quickthrower2 »

tomnipotent wrote: post #377
tracerbulletx wrote: post #266

CEOs are professional communicators who have reached the highest level of the craft, they use their communications to achieve an end, expressing their inner selves is not the point. You might know a great kind person who is a car salesman, when they are at work a good one comes off as genuine and friendly, the things they're saying include many truths, but their words and actions are primarily designed to sell cars.…

"Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" is a great book that touches on this subject. I read it in the middle of purchasing a new car in 2010, and had signed paperwork and a purchase agreement to buy car at $X. Next day I'm told "My manager won't let me sell for anything less than $X+Y", after I'd gone through all the trouble of filling out all that paperwork. Fortunetly I'd just finished a chapter in the book outl…

And probably the car is dodgy if they are pulling tricks like that. If a startup investor does it, probably their “help” is suspect.

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#448

Post by davesque »

Even if Graham supposedly booted Altman from Y Combinator, I don't see any reason to assume that a similar disagreement would have occurred in this case. Citing that history also seems to assume that Graham himself is an impeccable judge of character. And we don't necessarily have any reason to believe that. Seems to me like they're swinging at windmills with this narrative.

Given that the board provided very few details about their reasoning, the ideological divide seems like the most likely explanation because it's the most nebulous by nature. Also likely given the climate of hype/doom surrounding ChatGPT.

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#449

Post by toomuchtodo »

_fizz_buzz_ wrote: post #372

Kind of interesting that Jessica Livingston (Paul Graham's spouse) tweeted this a couple of days ago: > The reason I was a founding donor to OpenAI in 2015 was not because I was interested in AI, but because I believed in Sam. So I hope the board can get its act together and bring Sam and Greg back. https://twitter.com/jesslivingston/status/172628436492378127...

To be a fly on the wall when Paul and Jessica talk about Sam in private. So many interesting questions never to be answered.

(no other reason than to understand how all the puzzle pieces come together)

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#450

Post by pests »

Waterluvian wrote: post #444
ketzo wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

…you think calling someone “the best in the world” is a) purely factual b) not supportive Uh, what on earth would count as explicitly supportive language?

That’s a really good example of not being explicitly supportive. It’s an objective statement. If I said “Roy Sullivan is the best in the world at being struck by lightning” it may implicitly feel like I’m rooting for him. But I’m just stating a fact. What would count? “I think Roy Sullivan is the man to be struck an eighth time. He’s the best at it. I hope he succeeds.”

Is it though?

When the fact is subjective to begin with?

I would even say “Roy Sullivan is the best in the world at being struck by lightning” is not a fact at all but an opinion.

And by giving an opinion you are passing judgement.

How can you claim saying something such as "Washington was the best president" is in some way a fact? Can you find it in reference books? Is it defined from the laws of nature? Does anyone even believe my quote?

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