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I don't see what one has to do with the other. Professional athletes get caught cheating all the time, but I don't doubt they still love their sports. One may

I don't see what one has to do with the other. Professional athletes get caught cheating all the time, but I don't doubt they still love their sports. One may as well doubt that Hitler actually liked being a vegetarian.

Retra 11y ago
It's a funny way of showing love to a sport when you subvert the rules that make it fair. No doubt if everyone cheated all the time, practically nobody would love the sport. One may as well think that Hitler eating meat remains a vegetarian.
- drumdance 11y ago
  It's a funny way of showing love to a sport when you subvert the rules that make it fair. Uber and AirBnB are subverting rules and breaking laws in hundreds of municipalities. Do you think they don't care about what they're building over there? Is it just money-money-money and no serious interest in technology? Does that mean, by proxy, that Paul Graham only cares about money? Is it really so hard to believe that people can have more than one thing that motivates them? Why did Ray Ozzie join such an evil beast? Surely he's just motivated by greed! Black and white thinking will be the death of us all.
  - Retra 11y ago
    I don't know where you got black and white thinking from. I wouldn't say Bill Gates doesn't love computers, just that he loves something else more. Something that may very well not be good for computing. Uber and AirBnB? Do they love the work they do? Maybe. But they love themselves more. They love the idea of being "disruptors" or "innovators" or "rich" more than they care about transportation, housing, or their customers. And those guys who love sports? Maybe they love winning more. It's easy to feign passion, after all. Especially when you're already committed to investors.
    - drumdance 11y ago
      I like to accept what people say at face value until evidence suggests otherwise. People go on about Bill Gates and antitrust, but do they really think Steve Jobs or Scott McNealy or even Page & Brin would behave differently? Bill Gates' biggest fear was not losing the OS monopoly. His fear was of Microsoft turning into IBM -- always having to run everything you do by lawyers. MS-DOS wouldn't even exist if IBM hadn't had the justice department watching their every move.
      - eli_gottlieb 11y ago
        And Microsoft wouldn't exist if the Bush Administration hadn't ordered their monopoly conviction pardoned.
Anechoic 11y ago
Professional athletes get caught cheating all the time, but I don't doubt they still love their sports. I very much doubt that cheating athletes love the sport. They may love the fame and benefits that come with the sport, but if they loved the sport, they would work hard to become better at it rather than cheating. I love my job. I read up on research, volunteer at conferences, tinker/hack on my own time, and provide lots of free consulting. Heck, the only reason I don't provide more free consulting is, well, because I have bills to pay. I certainly can't imaging expressing my love for the field by engaging in unethical, immoral or illegal activities. I suppose if it was the money I loved foremost, it might be different.

Retra 11y ago

It's a funny way of showing love to a sport when you subvert the rules that make it fair. No doubt if everyone cheated all the time, practically nobody would love the sport. One may as well think that Hitler eating meat remains a vegetarian.

drumdance 11y ago
It's a funny way of showing love to a sport when you subvert the rules that make it fair. Uber and AirBnB are subverting rules and breaking laws in hundreds of municipalities. Do you think they don't care about what they're building over there? Is it just money-money-money and no serious interest in technology? Does that mean, by proxy, that Paul Graham only cares about money? Is it really so hard to believe that people can have more than one thing that motivates them? Why did Ray Ozzie join such an evil beast? Surely he's just motivated by greed! Black and white thinking will be the death of us all.
- Retra 11y ago
  I don't know where you got black and white thinking from. I wouldn't say Bill Gates doesn't love computers, just that he loves something else more. Something that may very well not be good for computing. Uber and AirBnB? Do they love the work they do? Maybe. But they love themselves more. They love the idea of being "disruptors" or "innovators" or "rich" more than they care about transportation, housing, or their customers. And those guys who love sports? Maybe they love winning more. It's easy to feign passion, after all. Especially when you're already committed to investors.
  - drumdance 11y ago
    I like to accept what people say at face value until evidence suggests otherwise. People go on about Bill Gates and antitrust, but do they really think Steve Jobs or Scott McNealy or even Page & Brin would behave differently? Bill Gates' biggest fear was not losing the OS monopoly. His fear was of Microsoft turning into IBM -- always having to run everything you do by lawyers. MS-DOS wouldn't even exist if IBM hadn't had the justice department watching their every move.
    - eli_gottlieb 11y ago
      And Microsoft wouldn't exist if the Bush Administration hadn't ordered their monopoly conviction pardoned.

Anechoic 11y ago

Professional athletes get caught cheating all the time, but I don't doubt they still love their sports. I very much doubt that cheating athletes love the sport. They may love the fame and benefits that come with the sport, but if they loved the sport, they would work hard to become better at it rather than cheating. I love my job. I read up on research, volunteer at conferences, tinker/hack on my own time, and provide lots of free consulting. Heck, the only reason I don't provide more free consulting is, well, because I have bills to pay. I certainly can't imaging expressing my love for the field by engaging in unethical, immoral or illegal activities. I suppose if it was the money I loved foremost, it might be different.