4 ms·

I don't usually criticize articles but this one I can't let pass. What kind of drivel is this where breaking the other guy's wrist is supposed to make me happy

by chime 17y ago

I don't usually criticize articles but this one I can't let pass. What kind of drivel is this where breaking the other guy's wrist is supposed to make me happy in life? This is the kind of advice I would expect a mid-level manager at a used car dealership to dish out to new salesmen. This is Hacker News, a place where I get to directly converse with the folks who run the coolest and most promising startups in the world. There is no place for cheesy articles like this here. I wish there was a "does not belong here" flag.

dkarl 17y ago
My first thought was satire. Since there are a couple good rules, my second thought was troll. But this is also a new twist on an old bit of link-bait: it's the narcissistic sociopath fantasy applied to business instead of dating. Given the last sentence of the first paragraph, it might be meant satirically. (If so, it failed. Satire makes something impossible to take seriously, but this post evokes the opposite reaction: I can't believe we have to take this shit seriously.) So I think this is a trollish satirical representation of the arrogant sociopath model of dating. Anyway, it does have some interest, since the limitations of the arrogant sociopath model are more obvious in the business context than in dating. People looking for dating advice are, for various reasons, willing to ascribe all kinds of weird thought processes to women. With business, we all know a little too much to swallow this. For example, it's obvious that rule 6 is a perfect recipe for impressing dumb people quickly while screwing up a situation. Better have a good exit strategy when your unwillingness to listen to nagging doubts, or your inability to have doubts, finally catches up to you. God, I hate working with people who follow rule 6, because the only way to pull it off is to be blindly, willfully stupid. (Good people who try to follow rule 6 are known as workaholics.) Number 5 just makes you autistic or a belligerent dick unless you really have the "strength" you're advertising. Advertising dominance that you haven't earned has only four possible effects: 1. You look autistic. 2. You look like a belligerent dick. 3. You make yourself a target of other belligerent dicks. 4. You fool stupid people. #4 is supposed to be the key to swimming in poontang, since women (of course) are not only ruthless and overly emotional but also complete idiots. Who cares if most people think you're an ass if you get to bang a few hot, damaged bottle blondes, right? Okay, even granting that this might actually work in real life dating, how the hell is this supposed to work in business? You only do business with easily bluffed idiots? Right, all those insanely rich and successful easily bluffed idiots who have all the money and connections you want.

by chime 17y ago

dkarl 17y ago

My first thought was satire. Since there are a couple good rules, my second thought was troll. But this is also a new twist on an old bit of link-bait: it's the narcissistic sociopath fantasy applied to business instead of dating. Given the last sentence of the first paragraph, it might be meant satirically. (If so, it failed. Satire makes something impossible to take seriously, but this post evokes the opposite reaction: I can't believe we have to take this shit seriously.) So I think this is a trollish satirical representation of the arrogant sociopath model of dating. Anyway, it does have some interest, since the limitations of the arrogant sociopath model are more obvious in the business context than in dating. People looking for dating advice are, for various reasons, willing to ascribe all kinds of weird thought processes to women. With business, we all know a little too much to swallow this. For example, it's obvious that rule 6 is a perfect recipe for impressing dumb people quickly while screwing up a situation. Better have a good exit strategy when your unwillingness to listen to nagging doubts, or your inability to have doubts, finally catches up to you. God, I hate working with people who follow rule 6, because the only way to pull it off is to be blindly, willfully stupid. (Good people who try to follow rule 6 are known as workaholics.) Number 5 just makes you autistic or a belligerent dick unless you really have the "strength" you're advertising. Advertising dominance that you haven't earned has only four possible effects: 1. You look autistic. 2. You look like a belligerent dick. 3. You make yourself a target of other belligerent dicks. 4. You fool stupid people. #4 is supposed to be the key to swimming in poontang, since women (of course) are not only ruthless and overly emotional but also complete idiots. Who cares if most people think you're an ass if you get to bang a few hot, damaged bottle blondes, right? Okay, even granting that this might actually work in real life dating, how the hell is this supposed to work in business? You only do business with easily bluffed idiots? Right, all those insanely rich and successful easily bluffed idiots who have all the money and connections you want.