Earlier quoted context omitted.
> then when do you take action (if ever)? I think you _never_ take secretive action. You don't go behind someone's back. They should have said, "Sam, we think you are wrong, we think we are right, and we think you are not listening, so we are going to take this to the board." They should not have conspired. Don't conspire. Also, in my experience, in a situation like this where sides A and B see things differently, an…
I think this is a very reasonable stance for most situations. IDK what the dynamics inside OpenAI are like. In nearly all scenarios, I would agree with you, but if sama is really a master manipulator like some people are saying, then some level of secrecy/conspiracy might have been necessary to escalate to the board without being pushed out of the company first. Let's take an extreme hypothetical where Sam instructs…
I like what you did here. You steelmanned their argument.
That being said, I think in that case, if it is something you believe so fervently in that you are willing to conspire, then the correct course of action is to not conspire, but resign or stand up to him, and, as you say risk being "ruined".
I never see a reason to conspire.
Better to have everything taken from you but keep your integrity, rather than the other way around.
(Disclosures: I know SamA personally from interactions years ago and have high opinions of his character, even though I disagree with him strongly on open source and secrecy [I'm on the extreme end of that one]. I also have the distinction of maybe being the only person person accepted into YCombinator twice and kicked out for standing up for something I believe in).