Sam Altman was headed in the right direction but his point is completely malformed. He shouldn’t have used the term “Political Correctness.” He also shouldn’t

Sam Altman was headed in the right direction but his point is completely malformed. He shouldn’t have used the term “Political Correctness.” He also shouldn’t have provided the examples he used because they distracted from what he was trying to say. I am sad that he took an opportunity to have this conversation (finally) and gave the people who are actually ruining Silicon Valley more ammunition to push their agenda. What Sam is talking about is the insane level of unidirectional groupthink that has invaded Silicon Valley and turned everyone against one another under the guise of protecting minorities and other victims. Proponents of this approach - which, frankly, overwhelmingly demonizes and targets white men - will point to the endless list of infractions that keep surfacing in the media. They have a great point. There is abundant evidence that minorities and women are being unfairly treated in Silicon Valley. Unfortunately, the constant warring against this unfairness has gutted Silicon Valley and now no one trusts one another. Everyone looks at white people as the enemy and the level of discourse has become so toxic that everyone is fleeing the state. I have experienced this myself in interacting with my Bay Area colleagues. I feel that every word I say is being policed for content, that I have to walk on eggshells constantly with certain people or risk getting drawn and quartered on Twitter the next day. So Liberals can have this version of safety. People focused on building things aren’t willing to live in a cultural police state. The biggest problem in attempting to argue against this trend is that it is an argument of degree. These are the hardest Arguments to have because your opppnent automatically rounds everything up to the “nearest Hitler.” Example: You: Hey we shouldn’t focus so much attention on gender diversity. Them: you hate women. You: Maybe your theories on diversity and privilege re not entirely true or accurate. Them: You hate minorities. You: Maybe we shouldn’t excommunicate this person because he tried to hit on someone at a company party while drunk, men do stupid things and are motivated by sex genetically. Them: You hate women. Don’t give bad men a pass, you are enabling rape culture. You: I am really sick of having 80% of conferences focus exclusively on diversity topics, I can’t stand being lectured to constantly. Them:You are Hitler. So I don’t see a resolution. It is impossible to push back on what has happened to Silicon Valley’s culture without being labeled a bigot. Arguments of degree are the hardest to have, and at this point I think only a severe economic downturn and reset is going to fix it. The culture of the Bay Area is dead, it was caused by having the culture of our educational institutes teach these ways of viewing the world. I have no hope that will change. We are living in the most privileged country in the world but we have taught all our kids that they are oppressed. It’s a lie.