Hacker News Reader

Judgmentalityon IRS has launched its free tax filing service, Direct File, in 12 states

> We simply have different philosophies; you're a perfectionist whereas I'm an incrementalist.

I don't think the person you're responding to is a perfectionist. He just has a different view on how to improve things.

Judgmentalityon OpenAI and Elon Musk

To be reductionist - history is written by the victors.

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/status-2

Judgmentalityon OpenAI and Elon Musk

If you really think you're fighting evil in a war for global domination, it's easy to justify to yourself that it's important you have the weapons before they do. Even if you don't think you're fighting evil; you'd still want to develop the weapons before your enemies so it won't be used against you and threaten your way of life.

I'm not taking a stance here, but it's easy to see why many Americans believed developing the atomic bomb was a net positive at least for Americans, and depending on how you interpret it even the world.

Judgmentalityon Microsoft strikes deal with Mistral in push beyond OpenAI

Do any AI companies actually turn a profit? I feel like the only real winner is Nvidia because they are selling shovels to the gold diggers, while all the gold diggers are trying to outspend each other without a business model that has any consideration for unit economics.

Judgmentalityon Hi everyone yes, I left OpenAI yesterday

Honestly I have more faith in hacker news users than congress.

Judgmentalityon Memory and new controls for ChatGPT

I guess ChatGPT was the precursor to Bladerunner all along.

Judgmentalityon How Boeing Lost Its Way [video]

What cultures do you think prioritize the truth?

Judgmentalityon Ozempic Is Making People Buy Less Food, Walmart Says

I've never worked in the medical industry but I know many people who have, who basically told me HIPAA violations are extremely common and only enforced for a fraction of violations that actually occur. My ex used to work in medical insurance (for a very, very big company) and estimated that maybe 3% of HIPAA violations are actually enforced. I used to think HIPAA was a huge deal until she told me story after story of violations that were ignored.

I think HIPAA is the sort of thing where if you hear about it then it's taken seriously, but the overwhelming number of violations are just ignored and you never hear about them. I'd like to be wrong but unfortunately that's the information I've been fed by people more knowledgeable than me.

Judgmentalityon Ozempic Is Making People Buy Less Food, Walmart Says

Walmart also has a pharmacy. I'm not an expert on the privacy laws here, but I'd be surprised if they couldn't use that information (even if it's a legally grey area).

Judgmentalityon Energy vs. Sovereign Bond Markets

> There is no other way then to print and incinerate the debt in a inflationary inferno.

What good is paying off a debt in a currency that's no longer valuable? We're fucked no matter what.

Judgmentalityon Stripe is PayPal circa 2010

You should read more of the comments, including at least one that explicitly states how a founder reached out on HN only to never reply via email. It's been documented as an empty gesture, aka bullshit.

Anyway I misread your previous comment, sorry about that.

Judgmentalityon Stripe is PayPal circa 2010

> Even if it’s just for PR, they’re at least doing it.

Why the hell would you praise a company for an empty gesture? You're defending bullshit like it's a good thing.

Judgmentalityon Mandated diversity statement drives Jonathan Haidt to quit academic society

Sure, I understand in that example what to do. But as a society, where do we draw the line? Why is it okay to apply affirmative action for selecting students but not okay when accepting employees (continuing the example from this thread)? Since we're trying to fix a systemic issue, we need a consistent response across society for it to be most effective.

My point is this is a complicated problem with no perfect solution, and people will correctly point out flaws with it both theoretically and (more relevant for this discussion) how we implement it.

Anyway, I think we mostly agree. Cheers.

Judgmentalityon Mandated diversity statement drives Jonathan Haidt to quit academic society

> you should have treated them all equally

This is obviously the golden standard we are trying to achieve, but how do we get there? It's theoretically impossible to treat everyone equally and apply affirmative action at the same time. I understand there is a difference between equality and equity, but I'm replying to the words you wrote.

Affirmative action may be the best solution we currently have to deal with systemic racism, but ultimately it's trying to fix prejudice with prejudice - and that is not a perfect solution. It also creates a lot of confusion because sometimes we say to treat people equally (as you say when trying to decide between hiring candidates), and other times we say we should help out the disenfranchised (such as when admitting students to schools). So where do we draw the line for when we want equality versus equity?

Judgmentalityon Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar

[flagged]

Judgmentalityon Tradition is Smarter (2018)

I feel like this comment points out the tradition of being contrarian on HN, and it would be foolish of me to question it.

Judgmentalityon San Francisco police can now watch private surveillance cameras in real time

If the police honestly believe that, they should quit and stop wasting taxpayer money. Again, actions speak louder than words. You're just buying their bullshit excuses for why they're incompetent.

Judgmentalityon San Francisco police can now watch private surveillance cameras in real time

If the police are too apathetic to do their jobs, they shouldn't be getting paid at all. If they don't want to do their jobs then why don't they quit? Actions speak louder than words - they just want the paycheck without the work.

The police are the problem with police, regardless of whatever distractions they say are to blame.

Judgmentalityon FTC to crack down on companies taking advantage of gig workers

[flagged]

Judgmentalityon Stripe has decided to nuke my entire business

> There are plenty of other places online for uninformed outrage bait.

There aren't though. People come to HN to complain about getting fucked over by YC companies because it's basically the only place people will get a response. I'm not saying all, or even most, complaints are valid. But your immediately siding with the YC company just shows your bias, which is expected since you're literally invested in the company.

Regardless of whether or not Stripe is legally in the right, their customer support is absolutely abysmal. And the problem is that this is clearly a trend with YC companies and the fact that people have to vent about it on HN so frequently, and with such fanfare, says a lot.

Judgmentalityon Stripe has decided to nuke my entire business

This really sounds like you're biased since your YC affiliation means you're invested in Stripe, and your statement essentially reads as "the (YC company) is always right, and the customer must prove otherwise." This mentality is largely the reason people hate tech/SV in the first place.

Judgmentalityon Gödel, Escher, Bach: an in-depth explainer

> commitment to the material in that depth is not the product of drugs

You think this is saying drugs sometimes lead to commitment? It sure reads like an absolute statement to me.

Judgmentalityon Gödel, Escher, Bach: an in-depth explainer

It just shows you can be an avid drug user and still make enormous contributions to STEM. It only takes n=1 to provide a counterexample to an absolute like "drugs never produce anything substantial."

Judgmentalityon Gödel, Escher, Bach: an in-depth explainer

https://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2245

There are several famous mathematicians known for their avid use of amphetamines.

Judgmentalityon Unequal consumption lies at the heart of the climate crisis

You make an excellent point, but there is something about flights that's often overlooked. Night flights are actually significantly worse than day flights, because the emissions don't reflect heat from the sun but trap heat from the Earth.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2006/jun/15/theairlinein...

That said, this isn't a large enough effect to discredit your point.

Judgmentalityon The YC Summer 2022 Batch

Because humans are imperfect and prone to bias.

Judgmentalityon Health insurers just published close to a trillion hospital prices

> So, to get prices like most other developed nations, we would be forced to cut nurse and doctor salaries, which would likely lower quality of workers as future workers went to more lucrative fields, which would likely lower outcomes.

Why are you ignoring all of the costs that go to people besides nurses and doctors? I know very rich people whose entire careers are built around selling overpriced products to hospitals. These people are leeches that provide no value other than profiting off of dumb compliance laws. If you can buy the same product at any store for 1/10 the price, there is no benefit to requiring it be gatekept by people whose sole incentive is squeezing blood from a stone.

Get rid of graft. The problem is the system and the incentives it creates. US healthcare is dictated primarily by insurance companies who care more about maximizing profit than providing healthcare.

To fix the system you start with increased transparency, then you focus on accountability. Why do we allow such blatant corruption? Let's get rid of all the leeches first, since they provide no actual value while jacking up prices. There are so many areas we can improve results and cut costs before we address the salaries of doctors and nurses.

Judgmentalityon How Segment Found Product Market Fit

> Apologies for being negative, but I think I've watched too many videos and read too many articles from successful people/companies and am starting to think that survivorship bias and luck gives too much authority to advice that is actually not that useful.

I agree with you. How many founders are able to find success twice? How many thrice? It's shockingly low, even amongst the most respected tech magnates.

Here's an example I like to use which I'm sure will be controversial, and I want to preface this by saying I've personally met and respect Justin Kan. But if you look at his history of starting companies, he only gets worse with time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Kan

He started with twitch which sold for just under $1 billion, then had SocialCam which sold for $60 MM, he then sold Exec for an undisclosed amount, and after that his initiatives shut down or are ongoing. Obviously he still has time for some big exits, but the trend doesn't make it look like he's learning.

Judgmentalityon The fight against drought in California has a new tool: The restrictor

I'm genuinely curious - what are the economics like for desalination plants? I feel like we'd see a lot more of them if they were viable, but maybe we're just horrible at planning and fixing things.

Judgmentalityon Finnish as a world language?

> Kanji are fun to learn, because they are constructive to some degree, and actually pictorial to some degree

> actually pictorial to some degree

Only in the same sense that star constellations are pictorial.

https://youtu.be/unKrseRCOKo

I really feel like this is appropriate.