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What I Didn't Say

paulgraham.com

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Re: What I Didn't Say

#501

Post by mjburgess »

Confusion wrote: post #481
mjburgess wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fine, he was mischaracterized and he replied. But jesus, > pg's response is actually priceless: it is like a soft-spoken witness upending a bullying lawyer who had just viciously attacked him, leaving the attacker reeling for all to see. What's with the almost cult-like reverence for this largely pseudo-intellectual entrepreneur?

It's interesting how people are attacking you for using 'pseudo-intellectual', while completely disregarding the 'cult-like reverence' bit. Your question is just as damning without the 'pseudo-intellectual' adjective, yet they are trying to change that to 'intellectual'. This is a nice demonstration of 'framing': you frame pg as not deserving cult-like reverence because of his 'pseudo-intellectuality' and people resp…

You're right. I shouldve emphasized the "pseudo" part had more to do with the gap between how people treat him and how he really is.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#502

Post by grinich »

I don't really care about what was said and what wasn't. PG was probably misquoted. Whatever.

What bothers me more is that damaging PG's public image is seemingly what it takes for him to prioritize writing an article about female founders.

I don't think YC needs to have affirmative action for gender; it would neither be fair or that effective. However, I think they're in the perfect position to inspire younger generations to start hacking. And this must specifically include girls.

My cofounder is a woman, who was contributing to Debian at age 15. Our first employee is a woman, with a MS from the operating systems group at MIT CSAIL.

There are lots of women hackers out there, but none of them are partners at YC. This press is disappointing, but not unexpected.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#504

Post by Blahah »

mjburgess wrote: post #333
mattmanser wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

disinclined to acquiesce Oh dear. But anyway, given that I actually pointed out I disagree with him in some aspects, how is that fawning? The guy's got a history that reads better than any of us here could probably hope for and he writes some amazingly well thought out and well reasoned essays. I'm don't idolize him, I think he's more intelligent than me. Which I say about very, very few people. I think it's absurd t…

> Which I say about very, very few people. Going by your personality as demonstrated here it seems you idolize intellect so when you "think he's more intelligent than" you you're going to put him on a pedastle. This may seem natural to you, but it comes across as fawning and misplaced.

*pedestal

Re: What I Didn't Say

#505

Post by jcc80 »

grinich wrote: post #502

I don't really care about what was said and what wasn't. PG was probably misquoted. Whatever. What bothers me more is that damaging PG's public image is seemingly what it takes for him to prioritize writing an article about female founders. I don't think YC needs to have affirmative action for gender; it would neither be fair or that effective. However, I think they're in the perfect position to inspire younger gener…

YC has 3 female partners.

http://ycombinator.com/people.html

Re: What I Didn't Say

#506

Post by grinich »

jcc80 wrote: post #505
grinich wrote: post #502

I don't really care about what was said and what wasn't. PG was probably misquoted. Whatever. What bothers me more is that damaging PG's public image is seemingly what it takes for him to prioritize writing an article about female founders. I don't think YC needs to have affirmative action for gender; it would neither be fair or that effective. However, I think they're in the perfect position to inspire younger gener…

YC has 3 female partners. http://ycombinator.com/people.html

Sure, but none of them are "hackers" in the current context.

Carolynn is a lawyer, with a bachelors is in political science.

Jessica previously worked at an investment bank, and has a BA in English.

Kirsty is an accountant, and although she holds an MEng in electrical and information sciences, it's not clear that she ever worked as an engineer.

This discussion is about young girls hacking with computers, which (I'm assuming, given their bios) none of these women did at that age.

I'm just disappointed that YC doesn't have a woman partner with a CS degree of any sort.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#507

Post by theorique »

Grokit wrote: post #463
theorique wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's with the almost cult-like relevance for this largely pseudo-intellectual entrepreneur? - Founded a successful web apps company back in the 1990s when that wasn't common, and sold it to Yahoo - Founded Y Combinator to advise and invest in startups - Smart investor with substantial success and track record (Dropbox, AirBnB, etc) In other words, he's earned a reputation for doing some very smart things, and docum…

"Founded a successful web apps company back in the 1990s when that wasn't common, and sold it to Yahoo" While that is awesome, it is a substantially different game we play nowadays than in the 90's.

Correct, and pg is not writing code for startups now, but investing in them, sharing his experience with them (mentoring), connecting them to follow-on investors, and supporting the process of growing those startups in which he has an active interest.

Hence, YC, etc.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#508

Post by mercer »

MoosePlissken wrote: post #442
mjburgess wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He isnt "echoing their thoughts" any one who has read Adam Smith systematically would know that the very first few lines of this are explicitly rejected by him. They're childish research-lite versions of a 50s-style classical liberalism. It is much the same as Ayn Rand another amateur philosopher who knew very little on the topics she was writing about. I dislike the "talking head" approach to serious topics. I dont…

You obviously appreciate thoughtful investigation into serious topics, and that's commendable. But I think you're going a bit too far here. I think most people on HN enjoy pg's essays because they tend to be well written and logical. You're annoyed by some of the things he's written/spoken about, but that doesn't mean everyone who likes the guy is a "$-eye'd idiot". You're getting a negative reaction because you've g…

Spot on. I mostly agree with the content of mjburgess' comments, but I feel they're not really justified in this context. I occasionally read a comment here that seems to be fawning a bit too much over pg, and just shrug and move on. I don't get the impression that there's a serious personality cult thing going on, nor do I get the impression that pg actively cultivates such a thing.

pg writes candidly (but respectfully) from the perspective of someone who has been very successful in some areas, and has opinions on other areas. His world view shines through clearly and he doesn't seem to claim authority (or not too often, anyways) on the issues. In fact, I started enjoying his articles long before I was even aware of HN or of who he was. He just seemed like a bright dude with interesting articles to me.

I find everything he writes fascinating, and the closer to his expertise, the more 'value' I ascribe to his writing. But he isn't, nor does he seem to want to be, some kind of guru on all matters of life. He seems pretty honest.

The fact that he has a relatively small group of starry-eyed followers exhibiting cult-like behavior is not really his fault, but just a natural consequence of his fame/success. I don't think it warrants mjburgess' response.

But maybe I'm missing something or underestimating the degree of cult-like following going on?

Re: What I Didn't Say

#509

Post by sytelus »

mjburgess wrote: post #236
grellas wrote: post #229

A word about credibility. It comes from the Latin word credo , meaning "I trust." Its value exceeds that of money because it marks you as a person - as someone who is respected, who is trustworthy, and whom you would want to count as a friend. It marks you not as perfect but as special. It makes others ponder not so much that they did the last deal with you but that they would want to do the next deal too. Just as we…

Fine, he was mischaracterized and he replied. But jesus, > pg's response is actually priceless: it is like a soft-spoken witness upending a bullying lawyer who had just viciously attacked him, leaving the attacker reeling for all to see. What's with the almost cult-like reverence for this largely pseudo-intellectual entrepreneur?

Go change how an entire industry works, help found more successful startups than you can count on your fingers, pile up few billions while you are also coding a prime destination on web for hackers - and then you too would get a cult-like reverence for your pseudo-intellect.
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