3 ms·

The evils of abstraction.

• pjc50 11y ago
  Cryptic comment: abstraction in the programming sense, or the slightly old-fashioned use to mean "stealing"?
  • plesner 11y ago
    Not my comment but I think of it in exactly the same terms. You abstract the details of the company away and reduce it to some key numbers, the company viewed at a high level of abstraction. The company gets to abstract away information that might cast them in a bad light, like bad working conditions, environmental impact, bad financials, etc., and maybe lets them screw over investors. But what makes it really "evil" (thought I don't think evil is a helpful concept to invoke) is that it can also help investors by giving them plausible deniability, they can invest without being bothered by unpalatable "implementation details". It can be used to make it easier to externalize the cost of doing business for both company and investors, to the detriment of the public. Not necessarily what the original comment meant but it's why I think of it in those terms.
    • arethuza 11y ago
      Isn't that abstraction that investors get limited liability? If I invest in a company I don't want to be liable for any possible losses other than the capital I invest.