confoundcofound

Regarding AI, the thought is that we will soon find ourselves in a digital world where it will be near-impossible to identify what is "real," further pushing us to engage physically.

I've been on HN almost since its inception and anecdotally over half of the comments on posts like this are from cranks with nothing productive to offer beyond mean-spirited and tone-deaf criticism. There have been posts of projects by young teens that have elicited unusually harsh feedback. Very few people here are willing to charitably acknowledge the effort and vision of a fellow hacker and to provide supportive guidance. They are the epitome of the "akshually" meme.

Correct

Yep, and the various specialists hardly communicate.

Question was sparked by the recent posts about social media and mental health.

We have for so long incorrectly believed the mind is both the disease and the cure. This is evident even in our use of the phrase "mental health."

It's abhorrent that VCs and board members do not push their companies to at minimum involve behavioral specialists in their decision-making. Yes, I understand they are driven by profits, but they are humans too, many self-proclaimed to be "mission-driven" and wanting to "move humanity forward," yet they pour billions of dollars into literally engineering addiction under the guise of "retention" and "engagement" by "growth PMs," with no one in the process concerned for the effects of these products on users' mental health. They lower the threshold for addiction then quickly abdicate all responsibility by blaming users for not exhibiting adequate self-control and discipline. It is Evil and that is not an exaggeration.

You can rupture your GI sutures if you do not adhere to the post-op diet, and risk death.

Amazon can finance at virtually interest-free rates due to their negative working capital.

The ultimate problem is a pervasive lack of meaning in today’s society. The cowboys of the past lived to fulfill a larger purpose: freedom, community service & prosperity, and unity with God.

Today, the wells of purpose have dried up. Economic prosperity feels out of reach for many, social media has turbocharged narcissism, corporations have reduced service workers to automatons, we’ve spent decades ignoring the importance of the family unit and telling people religion is stupid without at least giving them an alternative.

People aren’t lonely, they’re purposeless.

You’re absolutely right. There’s understanding how people tick, then there’s feeling it too.

It’s why nerds hate MBA-types. They see little value in understanding and engaging with the qualitative side of being human.

I think the hacker culture of the ‘90s to early ‘00s is behind us, and it really saddens me. I’ve yet to find a corner of the current tech / startup landscape that ignites the same excitement I felt over a decade ago. It’s too commercial now.

I’m mostly talking about Harvard, Stanford, Wharton etc MBA grads who run the treadmill of BigTech and see YC as another badge to collect.

That makes sense. My issue is that the MBA-types I have spoken to are mostly interested in YC for resume-building. They are typically not driven by mission, passion, or curiosity beyond advancing themselves. And they’re getting in. YC seems to be, more than ever, over-indexing on brand name experience for candidacy, when IMO that runs counter to the spirit of the program.

No worries – appreciate the insights you provided.

NYC has irreversibly put me off public transportation.

Can you shed light on Miami's poor management?

Have you been to NYC? The roads here are pretty tattered. Re: coastal access, I was providing my overall view of the city, which was pretty obvious.

Would you mind providing more info on why you left? Did the city push you out or did you pursue opportunity elsewhere? Outside of the issues you outlined for tech, how is life there otherwise?

I'd like to hear some perspectives on this too.

Just recently came back from yet another trip to Miami and in my opinion it puts most other US metropolitan cities to shame. Miami's sprawling development, balance of urban density and natural open spaces, network of enclaves / hubs of activity, relative cleanliness, paved roads, coastal access, and obviously weather, have all made me seriously consider it for my next move. I've lived in both LA and NYC for over a decade each and have grown so disheartened by their states of utter disrepair. When people start to believe the grunge and filth of a city is part of its charm, you know Stockholm Syndrome has set in. I used to be that way until I started spending extended time in cities with more thoughtful planning and a modicum of self-respect.

The MAGA phrase itself is certainly not a grassroots invention, but it does capture a pervasive grassroots sentiment. If you’ve spoken to any within the movement, it’s clear their involvement is largely driven by their own personal experiences. Whether or not the movement accurately and productively attributes those experiences is a separate issue.

There is a pervasive hubris throughout tech that I’ve had trouble understanding: namely, that the mechanisms of human interaction between individuals and with the world are well understood, and are thus replicable.

Their reductive view of humans as manipulable minds in a mechanical sack of flesh has led us to nothing but isolation and disconnect.

But the truth is, we are integrated beings integrated in a world we do not and may never fully understand. Tech should thus help us deepen and enrich our sense of embodiment. Instead, it has done the exact opposite.

The MAGA movement has a strong anti-VC-and-BigTech bent. I wouldn’t be surprised if they do take action.

Congrats, you are also the problem.

The most tragic part is you don’t even recognize it. You peddle loaded language with the broadest of strokes without seeing that you yourself are the very thing you believe you’re fighting against.

Genuinely believing every single one of those hispanic grads or doctors were misguided or uninformed, tells me you haven’t had many good faith conversations with people across the aisle. Nowhere do you even acknowledge the legitimacy of or a desire to understand the grievances and concerns that led to their voting behavior. But you’re certainly quick to insults and labeling.

Don’t be an Intellectual Yet Idiot.

“The IYI pathologizes others for doing things he doesn’t understand without ever realizing it is his understanding that may be limited.”

https://medium.com/incerto/the-intellectual-yet-idiot-13211e...

Yes, I’ve seen the stats.

Let me ask:

Do you think all 30% of college-educated Hispanics who voted for Trump were wholly misguided? Do you believe none of them had legitimate reasons for supporting him?

How about the 8% of black college grads, or the 26% of doctors?

None of these people were competent enough to make an informed decision?

Never did I claim it was an arbitrary banning. In fact, it indeed was the opposite. I addressed this in a downstream comment.

I’m going to assume you’re responding in good faith. “Fucking cuck” is honest-to-god no worse than the numerous insults I’ve seen hurled at conservatives by left-leaning subs. I’m a little surprised that’s the worst you could come up with.

Its worst content was no worse than what you saw (and still see) on other subreddits.

You would be disingenuous to not acknowledge the political forces at play. Mods were on high alert because they knew admins were waiting for the most microscopic of reasons to ban the sub. And we know these forces exist. Twitter is proof positive of political bias in content moderation.

People of all backgrounds were on the_donald, which should make you question why they were tolerant of much of the content you likely perceived as hateful. If your answer is simply that they’re bigots, then I suggest you have more conversations.

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