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Actually, the main point of the article was not really that Thiel had done something wrong. The point was that, given the average person's (not tech nerds, mind

Actually, the main point of the article was not really that Thiel had done something wrong. The point was that, given the average person's (not tech nerds, mind you) understanding of silicon valley's utopian dreams, the revelation of Thiel's secrecy is not going to look good. It's a matter of public opinion, whether or not that's fair. I agree, actually. I think big tech would be wise to put its money where its mouth is or face a public revolt.

internaut 10y ago
> The point was that, given the average person's (not tech nerds, mind you) understanding of silicon valley's utopian dreams, the revelation of Thiel's secrecy is not going to look good. Believe me, the average person doesn't know jack shit about our utopian ideals. The idea they have even heard of them in passing is probably a Silicon Valley conceit. Do a vox pop on the streets of a city that is not San Francisco. Draw up any list of shared/common ideals we have. Unless you lead the interviewee by generalizing wildly my guess is that you'll get no response at all. This isn't to dismiss the public. It's just that the only place you'd have heard of our ideas is places like HN or otherwise being directly involved in geek culture.
- davesque 10y ago
  You'd better hope this is true/continues to be true. If there's anything the latest election season has shown us, it's that a lot of people resent big, secret money.
  - nostrademons 10y ago
    Like Trump's fortune? I think a better lesson would be that a lot of people are angry, and all too happy to follow anyone who gives them a target for that anger. Both this case and the press cycle following it are examples of that.
    - davesque 10y ago
      I don't think Trump supporters give a crap about that. They're too dumb to care. I was mostly referring to the Bernie camp of which I am not necessarily a member.
nostrademons 10y ago
TBH, I know a fair number of non-techies, and very few of them know about or care about the Thiel/Gawker case. For the most part, they file it under the heading of "rich people behaving like middle-schoolers" and move on. It seems to be a much bigger deal in media & tech circles; I think many of the reporters covering this are projecting their own fear & anger at Silicon Valley onto the general public. The press cycles that I actually hear people talking about are the UCLA shootings, gorilla baby, and Donald Trump. Baffling to me, but I think that in the Gandhi cycle, the general public is still stuck between the "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you", and it's only certain industries that are being directly disrupted by Silicon Valley (media & music, particularly) that are in the "then they fight you" stage.

internaut 10y ago

> The point was that, given the average person's (not tech nerds, mind you) understanding of silicon valley's utopian dreams, the revelation of Thiel's secrecy is not going to look good. Believe me, the average person doesn't know jack shit about our utopian ideals. The idea they have even heard of them in passing is probably a Silicon Valley conceit. Do a vox pop on the streets of a city that is not San Francisco. Draw up any list of shared/common ideals we have. Unless you lead the interviewee by generalizing wildly my guess is that you'll get no response at all. This isn't to dismiss the public. It's just that the only place you'd have heard of our ideas is places like HN or otherwise being directly involved in geek culture.

davesque 10y ago
You'd better hope this is true/continues to be true. If there's anything the latest election season has shown us, it's that a lot of people resent big, secret money.
- nostrademons 10y ago
  Like Trump's fortune? I think a better lesson would be that a lot of people are angry, and all too happy to follow anyone who gives them a target for that anger. Both this case and the press cycle following it are examples of that.
  - davesque 10y ago
    I don't think Trump supporters give a crap about that. They're too dumb to care. I was mostly referring to the Bernie camp of which I am not necessarily a member.

nostrademons 10y ago

TBH, I know a fair number of non-techies, and very few of them know about or care about the Thiel/Gawker case. For the most part, they file it under the heading of "rich people behaving like middle-schoolers" and move on. It seems to be a much bigger deal in media & tech circles; I think many of the reporters covering this are projecting their own fear & anger at Silicon Valley onto the general public. The press cycles that I actually hear people talking about are the UCLA shootings, gorilla baby, and Donald Trump. Baffling to me, but I think that in the Gandhi cycle, the general public is still stuck between the "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you", and it's only certain industries that are being directly disrupted by Silicon Valley (media & music, particularly) that are in the "then they fight you" stage.