Silicon Valley's Secretive, Orgiastic Side • Hacker News Board

Re: Silicon Valley's Secretive, Orgiastic Side

#91

Post by eli_gottlieb » Tue, Jan 02, 2018, 9:31 PM UTC

jpzisme wrote: post #48

What's up with all these sensational articles about Silicon Valley? Maybe the lifestyle is different as a VC, but as an engineer, this seems so disjointed from reality that it's almost farcical. I can barely get some of my coworkers to stop talking about code for more than a breath. There's no way that they're engaging in any of these activities. Can anyone vouch for this behavior being prevalent? To me it just seems…

>What's up with all these sensational articles about Silicon Valley? Maybe the lifestyle is different as a VC, but as an engineer, this seems so disjointed from reality that it's almost farcical. I can barely get some of my coworkers to stop talking about code for more than a breath. There's no way that they're engaging in any of these activities.

Well damn. The whole idea is kinda a gross-out to me personally, but if the world is going to suffer horrific wealth inequality, then for God's sakes, I at least want the decadent upper class to be having fun with it. From each according to his ability to throw freakin' huge parties, to each according to his ability and desire to handle himself maturely at freakin' huge parties.

Re: Silicon Valley's Secretive, Orgiastic Side

#92

Post by justonepost » Tue, Jan 02, 2018, 9:32 PM UTC

The only thing I found vaguely interesting about the article was the lack of male bisexuality. My guess is that the author was pursuing a very narrow group of people.

Re: Silicon Valley's Secretive, Orgiastic Side

#93

Post by j4ship » Tue, Jan 02, 2018, 9:32 PM UTC

jpzisme wrote: post #48

What's up with all these sensational articles about Silicon Valley? Maybe the lifestyle is different as a VC, but as an engineer, this seems so disjointed from reality that it's almost farcical. I can barely get some of my coworkers to stop talking about code for more than a breath. There's no way that they're engaging in any of these activities. Can anyone vouch for this behavior being prevalent? To me it just seems…

you sir , work at a big tech company. Not a startup ... sf startups are like frats, there is hazing , there is partying , there are cliques ... I got away from that. I didnt want to be part of the company trips where people have go to hookup. I just want to code and go home.

Re: Silicon Valley's Secretive, Orgiastic Side

#94

Post by obscurantist » Tue, Jan 02, 2018, 9:34 PM UTC

sleepyandlazy wrote: post #82

guacamoleSoda wrote: post #58

Preface: I spend a lot of this response talking about a hypothetical high-status man and a low-status woman. This isn't to be sexist or perpetuate stereotypes; it's just to use a common example that we've all probably seen and witnessed. Preface 2: this response was to someone else in this thread but it got pulled out to the top level for some reason. The intention of the article was, probably, just to shed light on…

The old-fashioned method you are suggesting requires much more effort than Silicon Valley parties that are currently being thrown. Changing who you are as a person is tough, and why do that when there are easier options. In places like SV and Seattle where there is an imbalance between men/women, you could follow these instructions perfectly but you would still be playing with bad odds. There was recently an article…

There is a massive, massive asymmetry between men and women when it comes to sex or romance that exist even when you're not in an area with a skewed gender ratio.

Re: Silicon Valley's Secretive, Orgiastic Side

#95

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jan 02, 2018, 9:34 PM UTC

jpzisme wrote: post #48

What's up with all these sensational articles about Silicon Valley? Maybe the lifestyle is different as a VC, but as an engineer, this seems so disjointed from reality that it's almost farcical. I can barely get some of my coworkers to stop talking about code for more than a breath. There's no way that they're engaging in any of these activities. Can anyone vouch for this behavior being prevalent? To me it just seems…

[deleted]

Re: Silicon Valley's Secretive, Orgiastic Side

#96

Post by guacamoleSoda » Tue, Jan 02, 2018, 9:36 PM UTC

jpzisme wrote: post #48

What's up with all these sensational articles about Silicon Valley? Maybe the lifestyle is different as a VC, but as an engineer, this seems so disjointed from reality that it's almost farcical. I can barely get some of my coworkers to stop talking about code for more than a breath. There's no way that they're engaging in any of these activities. Can anyone vouch for this behavior being prevalent? To me it just seems…

My experience with Silicon Valley is much the same as yours. I'm just a mid-level engineer at a FAANG and my co-workers are boring-as-can-be. Nice people but introverted and tech-obsessed and they live relatively uneventful lives.

Still, I assume what's described in the article is happening to some degree, and it's an interesting lens through which to explore the gender and sexual dynamics of Silicon Valley (or Wall Street or w/e other high-powered industry we can think off). It's the age old story of royalty trading (promises of) power for sex. Even though both parties officially consent, is this behaviour morally okay? Or does the asymmetry complicate the situation? Are the powerful manipulating the less powerful? Or is it the other way around?

Re: Silicon Valley's Secretive, Orgiastic Side

#97

Post by cm2187 » Tue, Jan 02, 2018, 9:36 PM UTC

jpzisme wrote: post #48

What's up with all these sensational articles about Silicon Valley? Maybe the lifestyle is different as a VC, but as an engineer, this seems so disjointed from reality that it's almost farcical. I can barely get some of my coworkers to stop talking about code for more than a breath. There's no way that they're engaging in any of these activities. Can anyone vouch for this behavior being prevalent? To me it just seems…

Banker here. Welcome to the club.

Re: Silicon Valley's Secretive, Orgiastic Side

#98

Post by petercooper » Tue, Jan 02, 2018, 9:36 PM UTC

tareqak wrote: post #56

dang wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't do this. It's mechanical and detracts from good conversation, which is the purpose of the threads. I realize you're trying to help, but this is one of those areas where the help isn't helpful. It's closer to a single-purpose account, which we don't allow here. Community members should engage each other as human beings, not abstractions.

I understand. However, a lot of the time article titles are brief and/or misleading and/or click bait, but the article itself is insightful. I don't want to make the call for editorializing a title myself since I'm not a journalist, and I don't want project any bias I may or may not have. Frankly, I only do this because the Techmeme summary is anecdotally superior to the original article's title, but HN's character l…

I think you're right, and often notice titles degrading throughout the day as they get edited into bland nothingness, but comments probably aren't going to help since it's the title on the front page that gets people clicking.

Now if you had a browser extension that could display the Techmeme/similar headlines alongside, I'd be interested in that :-D

Re: Silicon Valley's Secretive, Orgiastic Side

#99

Post by rayiner » Tue, Jan 02, 2018, 9:38 PM UTC

blueyes wrote: post #47

This is a nothing burger of an article. It's about consensual drug use and sex among adults. It happens to involve rich and powerful people who (gasp) can throw these kinds of parties. In any unequal society, there will be people who are willing to trade sex for financial security or access to power, with others who are seeking sex. It would be deeply naive to think otherwise. The outrage here strikes me as hollow.

The fact that it's consensual doesn't mean it's not coerceive.

> “What’s not O.K. about this scene is that it is so money- and power-dominated. It’s a problem because it’s an abuse of power. I would never do it again.”

Can we imagine a society in which men with money and power in an industry don't use it to try and sleep with young women? Maybe that's desirable and maybe it's not. But society defines a wide range of conduct as legal, but unseemly or even unethical. Could this maybe fall into that bucket?

Re: Silicon Valley's Secretive, Orgiastic Side

#100

Post by moron4hire » Tue, Jan 02, 2018, 9:38 PM UTC

I think, if you look hard enough in any city, you'll find just about anything, including sex dungeon parties. I knew some people who were not very secretive about it in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and DC. Those are the only cities I've lived in, so considering it's been 3-for-3 so far, I suspect it's pretty prevalent. The fact that in SV it's full of VCs is not surprising, as nowhere else would you find the density of VCs than in SV.

I think the bigger question might be--in an age of safe sex and (ostensibly) loose morals--why isn't it more common?