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Comment by hiddencost | Hacker News Reader

So many people writing their pitches start by talking about scientists from the 1800s, these days. It's a pretty big red flag to me.

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Not sure why it's a flag. We have lots to learn from how science was done in the past, and from the actors who did science.

Recent science is pretty objectively at a low point (proportionally to overall) in "breakthrough innovation" research. It's possible that specialization is to blame, as it reduces intersectionality of fields.

Details here:

‘Disruptive’ science has declined — and no one knows why https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04577-5

How so?

Scope issues, mostly. I'm left unsure of what products to expect, so I'm less likely to follow up/check in later on. A lot of time is spent on the analogy, too, which may mean there's not much substance to say yet. It may have been worth waiting to announce until they had something specific to present. I don't know! I'm just an outsider/random person's perspective.

> which may mean there's not much substance to say yet

They don't need to talk about substance. Jeremy Howard + Eric Ries gives more than enough just with their names.

Elon has taught me not to believe in that idea.

I don't think much of Elon either, but if he was starting a new company it's probably a good bet it's going to succeed (despite the Twitter debacle).

I don't think there is a better predictor of future success than past success. Or at least I can't think of one - can you?

Past success... at what? The relevance of past success is likely a lot narrower than you may think. Neither person here has "past success" at pushing a vague idea-less organization through to value and profitability. In fact, I would wager both would caution against such an idea, absent their personal involvement.

While Faraday discovered induction, wasn't it Maxwell that unified electricity and magnetism? Given what answer.ai is attempting to do, Edison seems like a great example since he was both a brilliant inventor and an absolutely shrewd businessman.

I am excited for more research in this area, since there is currently a huge gap between foundational model research and practical applications of AI.

as someone guilty of the same - it makes your startup grander than it seems by tracing lineage from greater historical figures to yourself. of course most of these comparisons are overinflated... but you need to be a little ambitious to try to start something. if you live your life without trying to be a part of history you have a much lower chance of affecting it

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