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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

#711
post #687
post #663

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PG doesn’t say he’s fit for the job, he just says he’s good at some unspecified thing. Maybe that unspecified thing is just corporate knife fighting and this time PG is happy he’s not on the other end of it.

Maybe the situation he’s good at dealing with is… getting fired?

That’s what I thought as well. PG was saying Sam is good at handling the media frenzy, and drama of being fired from OpenAI.

And seeing as he’s going back into the company, it looks like he is better at dealing than most predicted.

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

#712

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Autononous weapons capable of ending the world are old, yes. Autonomous weapons capable of securing territory and resources, and personnel, that's on the way.

Interesting. Do you have any specific program heads-up about this? I'm curious to read more. :)

Sounds like Terminator 2

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

#713

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Graham is English. The English have a wonderful talent for making backhanded “complements.” E.g. “you’re a truly unique individual” or “I always feel more intelligent after speaking with you.” The American convention is to look for the positive and assume that was intended. The English convention is to look for the negative and assume that was the real meaning. E.g. “Sam is going better than you. Do better.” Could me…

'Interesting' -> 'you're barking mad'.

One example, sorry for the bad translation from Bavarian, would be: "You can see it that way (as well)". Which can basically mean, a) you might actually have a point or b) you are dead wrong.

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

#714
post #336
post #42

If Paul Graham fired Sam Altman from YCombinator it's interesting that he appears to have such a favourable opinion of him [0]. However, personally, what I've taken away from this is that he is a much better strategic/tactical operator than many other high-flying executives and very capable of winning the respect and trust of a lot of smart people. I wouldn't expect OpenAI to be run by anybody that wasn't revered in…

Rokos Basilisk

aka "Catholic guilt for atheists"

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

#715

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Interesting' -> 'you're barking mad'.

One example, sorry for the bad translation from Bavarian, would be: "You can see it that way (as well)". Which can basically mean, a) you might actually have a point or b) you are dead wrong.

Yeah that one's funny, it's either "that's a legitimate point of view" or "amazing that somebody can manage to hold such a ridiculous point of view", depending on tone.

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

#716

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My immediate thought. Relatively few have been in management here, perhaps.

It's largely engineers who don't really understand the value of a C-level person, as evidenced time and time again in the comments. The concept you could fire someone for business reasons and later be their very good friend and recommend them for another job - sometimes an even better one than you employed them in - doesn't fit the single-input single-output mind of a lot of engineers. It's alright. We all have roles…

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

#717

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One example, sorry for the bad translation from Bavarian, would be: "You can see it that way (as well)". Which can basically mean, a) you might actually have a point or b) you are dead wrong.

Yeah that one's funny, it's either "that's a legitimate point of view" or "amazing that somebody can manage to hold such a ridiculous point of view", depending on tone.

It can also be used to end a discussion by signaling agreement on disagreement.

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

#718

We attach such a negative sentiment to the word “fired”. Sometimes a “firing” can be by mutual consent, or unavoidable and regrettable etc. It’s nuanced and doesn’t necessarily imply that the 2+ people involved don’t respect each other or can’t work together again in future.

Why would you choose to be fired instead of just resigning?

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

#719

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty incredible that the upper echelons have so thoroughly psyopped everyone below them that the public runs confused around in an endless maze of ideology, false pretexts and stirred up drama. This way only insiders recognise the most fundamental realpolitical power struggles of all ages; that the "very confusing" wars, coups or power grabs is not very complex at all but always - almost as a physical principl…

One thing I've universally noticed in unintelligent/conspiratorial political analysis is they think you can explain everything by "following the money", like here. These people are sometimes known as "low-information voters". It's amazing how much this is actually never true. Politics is largely about sincerely-held ideologies.

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

#720
post #461

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> 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. Probably not true? It seems like Russia could use another Yeltsin (or Gorbachev) more than Putin for its current situation.

Of the many things that might benefit Russia, another Boris Yeltsin is not among them.
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