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Comment by Bakary | Hacker News Reader

It's always funny to remember that the smartest people currently alive are probably in some FAANG office figuring out how to monetize online platforms through whatever means possible.

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even more funny that in many cases they are stopped only by the law, and also in most cases they can only do some form of advertisement; if they could sell your soul for statistically significant conversion uplift, many people wont even think twice.

That and inventing exotic financial instruments which benefit an infinitesimal fraction of the population.

> the smartest people currently alive are probably in some FAANG office

I doubt this is actually true. Very smart people work in FAANG offices, sure, but "the smartest currently alive" is a very, very high bar. Such people have much better options than working with FAANG.

Why do you think they are the smartest people alive, compared to say, a scientist at CERN?

It's all explained by Worthington's Law: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbU4VRs2rro

I was parroting a classic quote [0], but you are right: my statement was needlessly cynical. To rephrase, I'd say an enormous proportion of the smartest humans alive are involved in zero-sum redistribution games that offer no socially useful outcomes. The costs of being poor and the rewards of being wealthy are each so enormous in our world that I can't blame them.

[0] https://www.fastcompany.com/3008436/why-data-god-jeffrey-ham...

Without entering into an argument over the definition of smart, I understand what you're getting at. The top graduates of the top schools empty into finance, big law, medicine, and now big tech. Though it gives me some hope that startups are starting to get their share of talent too, now that companies like YC or VFA are basically throwing money at it.

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