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I think he's saying it's like an organically-derived algorithm that meets halfway between "I don't know you so I'm skeptical of your value" and "I may be skepti

by NSX2 19y ago

I think he's saying it's like an organically-derived algorithm that meets halfway between "I don't know you so I'm skeptical of your value" and "I may be skeptical but if this many people think it's worthwile, perhaps I'll take a look." I don't know what famous people you're talking about ... I'm assuming we're leaving out "celebrities" and concentrating on "useful" famous people in business/academia? If so, you'd be surprised at how much correspondence they can have. Not to mention I'm not sure if you realize how many of the "emails" on things like VC pages are bogus on purpose. Like when they say, "mail your business plans attention "Business Plan Manager" ... that's usually code for "just toss this in the paper shredder. Here: test this out. Think of 5 famous people and email them something you think surely would catch their attention. See if you can find their real emails and if they bother reading it. Use one of those "verification of opened email" services. It just doesn't happen that often. If anything it gets sent to an assistant who sends it to another assistant who sends it to the intern who gives it to his little sister who gives it to the cat. I think this would be a good "idea" if not necessarily one that translates into a business.

dfranke 19y ago
I won't pick out five new ones, but in the past few months I've corresponded with PG, ESR, Bruce Schneier, Randall Munroe, and JD Frazer.
- NSX2 19y ago
  Um ... I'm not 100% sure, but I suspect what the poster had in mind was a little bit different. I'm thinking perhaps he meant like if you wanted to get in touch with Bill Gates or Larry Page or Steve Jobs or something like that. That's a tad bit different.
  - dfranke 19y ago
    Well, Bill Gates is just about equal to a head-of-state. The other two I'm pretty sure I could pull some strings and get in touch with (off the top of my head, they're each a friend of a friend of a friend), but I'm not about to waste their time for the sake of a social experiment.
    - NSX2 19y ago
      Right. Case in point. Even though you can get to them through personal connections, you're reluctant to "waste their time." So what about people who can't get to them through 2 degrees of contact. What if they wanted to contact them with an affirmation of the value of their proposals? As in, "I don't know you and I don't want to waste your time, but 83,000 people in this industry think what I have to tell you is important enough for you to drop everything and read." That in itself is something. Now compare that to the next guy who may be able to say, "That guy's idea is good. But my idea is sooooo good, 210,000 people in the industry think you should read and consider what I have to say." As someone with limited time, which one, all other things equal, would you open first and which second? And if the third next idea only had 300 votes and you were pressed for time, you'd skip it most likely, right?
      - dfranke 19y ago
        My point is that there are very few people on this planet whom I couldn't get in touch with if I had something useful to say to them. The five people I initially listed are people who travel many of the same circles that I do, so it's common that I have comments that are worth their attention (Schneier less so than the others; that was basically just a fan letter that got answered). Somebody like Larry Page is further outside my circle, and correspondingly it would be both harder to get hold of him and less likely that I would have any good reason to. In the most extreme case, it's both seriously doubtful that I'd be able to get in touch with George Bush, and seriously doubtful that I could say anything to him that he wouldn't consider a waste of his time upon hearing it. These are all examples of how the filters that form through organic social interaction are already very efficient. Trying to create some kind of voting mechanism to supersede them is like trying to beat a market economy with a planned one.
        NSX2 19y ago
        > Trying to create some kind of voting mechanism to supersede them is like trying to beat a market economy with a planned one. HUH??? I'm not sure what this has to do with planned economies and such, but if you put it that way, I see it as exactly the opposite. People who he talks about are hard to get to by design - mostly by the design of their administrative assistants. On the other hand, tons of people voting your idea up is by definition the very essence of a market-based decision-making system. In the spirit of your reply, I'll give it a go now: "Disagreeing with me is like trying to replace the Constitution with the manual for your DVD player."

by NSX2 19y ago

dfranke 19y ago

I won't pick out five new ones, but in the past few months I've corresponded with PG, ESR, Bruce Schneier, Randall Munroe, and JD Frazer.

NSX2 19y ago
Um ... I'm not 100% sure, but I suspect what the poster had in mind was a little bit different. I'm thinking perhaps he meant like if you wanted to get in touch with Bill Gates or Larry Page or Steve Jobs or something like that. That's a tad bit different.
- dfranke 19y ago
  Well, Bill Gates is just about equal to a head-of-state. The other two I'm pretty sure I could pull some strings and get in touch with (off the top of my head, they're each a friend of a friend of a friend), but I'm not about to waste their time for the sake of a social experiment.
  - NSX2 19y ago
    Right. Case in point. Even though you can get to them through personal connections, you're reluctant to "waste their time." So what about people who can't get to them through 2 degrees of contact. What if they wanted to contact them with an affirmation of the value of their proposals? As in, "I don't know you and I don't want to waste your time, but 83,000 people in this industry think what I have to tell you is important enough for you to drop everything and read." That in itself is something. Now compare that to the next guy who may be able to say, "That guy's idea is good. But my idea is sooooo good, 210,000 people in the industry think you should read and consider what I have to say." As someone with limited time, which one, all other things equal, would you open first and which second? And if the third next idea only had 300 votes and you were pressed for time, you'd skip it most likely, right?
    - dfranke 19y ago
      My point is that there are very few people on this planet whom I couldn't get in touch with if I had something useful to say to them. The five people I initially listed are people who travel many of the same circles that I do, so it's common that I have comments that are worth their attention (Schneier less so than the others; that was basically just a fan letter that got answered). Somebody like Larry Page is further outside my circle, and correspondingly it would be both harder to get hold of him and less likely that I would have any good reason to. In the most extreme case, it's both seriously doubtful that I'd be able to get in touch with George Bush, and seriously doubtful that I could say anything to him that he wouldn't consider a waste of his time upon hearing it. These are all examples of how the filters that form through organic social interaction are already very efficient. Trying to create some kind of voting mechanism to supersede them is like trying to beat a market economy with a planned one.
      - NSX2 19y ago
        > Trying to create some kind of voting mechanism to supersede them is like trying to beat a market economy with a planned one. HUH??? I'm not sure what this has to do with planned economies and such, but if you put it that way, I see it as exactly the opposite. People who he talks about are hard to get to by design - mostly by the design of their administrative assistants. On the other hand, tons of people voting your idea up is by definition the very essence of a market-based decision-making system. In the spirit of your reply, I'll give it a go now: "Disagreeing with me is like trying to replace the Constitution with the manual for your DVD player."