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It's a loss to the sector to lose somebody who thinks deeply (Zero to One is a good book), cares and wants to make the World better through technology and inves

It's a loss to the sector to lose somebody who thinks deeply (Zero to One is a good book), cares and wants to make the World better through technology and investment in firms dedicated to the same. It's not a loss to the sector to lose somebody who thinks the path to doing that is intolerance, dominance, lack of accountability and an insistence on some Ayn Rand-ian gibberish philosophy of the World. He was intolerant of Gawker. He dominated them by suing them to the hilt via the Hogan case. He is anti-regulation which in this case is a synonym for anti-accountability. Most of his political and economic philosophy seems to be the same gauche pastiche of SV's obsession with Rand. So, yeah, good riddance. If software is eating the World, it's important the people building and operating it are as diverse as possible, otherwise there is a risk it unconsciously or consciously becomes biased in its actions and consequences towards a single social group at the expense of others. Of course a one-party political philosophy is a problem in the long term, but so is Trump's stance on equality - one Thiel endorses - and for now at least it's important the voices of diversity and accountability win out for the long run. TL;DR: Bye! Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out! Come back when you've got a little more mature and empathic towards others if you want!

mieseratte 9y ago
> He was intolerant of Gawker. Given what Gawker did to him, I can hardly shed a tear. There are plenty of reasons to dislike the man, but that ain't one.
- tuna-piano 9y ago
  Thiel is intolerant of Gawker, true! I'm intolerant of Nazis. The commentor is intolerant of Peter Thiel. It's better to discuss the actual merits of a position, rather than just saying "They're intolerant".
  - milankovic 9y ago
    Silly me, being tolerant of everything...
- s_dev 9y ago
  They were in the same league as the British Daily Mail. Trash journalism and it's better they're gone. Completely agree -- I think most people hold it against Thiel that he supported Trump getting the presidency.
tuna-piano 9y ago
I feel like we're living in different universes. -You seem to say diversity is good, but not diversity of political thought? -What are Thiels stances on equality that you see as so abhorrent? -He was involved (as a financier) of a lawsuit... I struggle to see the huge moral deal here. He didn't decide the outcome - six jurors did, abiding by the laws, in a court![1] -Is being a strong supporter of Ayn Rand a good reason that someone shouldn't be involved in Silicon Valley? [1]http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/gawker-trial-jurors-made-absolutely-correct-decision-awarding/story?id=37887552 http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/gawker-trial-jurors-made...
- moomin 9y ago
  It’s funny the way that supporters of Ayn Rand always seem to be keen on using the courts to get their way on things unrelated to their business. Just like John Galt. And diversity of thought is for new interesting ideas, not discredited old ones.
  - Turing_Machine 9y ago
    "Discredited old ones" like, say, Marxism?
    - matt4077 9y ago
      That's actually an apt comparison, at least in regards to the prescriptive parts of Marx's writings. One remaining difference was that Marxism was at least well-intentioned, whereas Ayn Rand basically turned enjoyment of other's suffering into a philosophy. And, luckily, it seems we will be spared any attempts to implement Randian cruelty, since it has turned from an actual political force to no more than many people's college embarrassment, even in SV.
      - splintercell 9y ago
        > One remaining difference was that Marxism was at least well-intentioned, whereas Ayn Rand basically turned enjoyment of other's suffering into a philosophy. Irrespective of what you think she said, her core point was that "If a man lives for anyone but himself, he will be a deeply, deeply sad man". Ayn Rand herself get that question asked to her whenever she did something which your misconception about her idea would lead you to believe that it should be a contradiction by her philosophy to act in such a way. For instance she supported her husband's art venture for a while, and the interviewer asks her why would she do that, and she explains the same thing. [1] Clearing of this misconception DOES NOT mean that you agree with her, I'm just saying that your point of disagreement isn't what you think it is. Her philosophy doesn't think (which was made clear in Galt's speech) that a mother buying food for her kids by forgoing to not buy a fancy hat for herself is a 'sacrifice'. She values her children's wellbeing more than the hat. The problem also does not come in when Bill Gates gives up majority of his wealth to a charity as long as he truly does want to do that. The problem comes in when society takes 99% of these 'non-sacrificial actions', creates a moral scale out of it and asks everyone to follow it. It translates to two levels of action: Individual level: "I don't really want to become a doctor but my mom and dad would get upset if I didn't so I will". Societal level: "Sure you don't want to pay for poor people's healthcare because you'd rather buy an XBox, but you must make this sacrifice for society's sake". Rand's core philosophy of Objectivism says that both these paths to individual (like Peter Keating in Fountainhead) and societal unhappiness (like any socialist/communist society out there). 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQVrMzWtqgU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQVrMzWtqgU
mft_ 9y ago
> intolerance, dominance, lack of accountability and an insistence on some Ayn Rand-ian gibberish philosophy of the World. > Most of his political and economic philosophy seems to be the same gauche pastiche of SV's obsession with Rand. So, yeah, good riddance. > TL;DR: Bye! Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out! Come back when you've got a little more mature and empathic towards others if you want! LOL... I really don’t understand where he got the idea that there's an intolerance of conservatism in SV... /s
- duozerk 9y ago
  There's conservatism, and then there's white supremacy. Thiel firmly belongs in the later.
  - Fins 9y ago
    Is there some actual proof of that?
    - duozerk 9y ago
      Here's a good introduction: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/silicon-valley-tech-alt-right-racism-misogyny/ https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/silicon-valley-... There's nothing definitive in this article specifically, mind you; but for one you can read more about his and his buddy Yarvin's toxic philosophy here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment#Summary_of_core_ideas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment#Summary_of_... ... and then read various essays by Thiel himself, where you'll encounter more dog whistles than in a dog training center.
      - Fins 9y ago
        Well, this is all guilt by association at best.
kbmarx 9y ago
Maturity and Silicon Valley -- oh well. The whole Silicon Valley political correctness thing is a farce designed to sell more ads to salon socialist kids from rich families.
a_bouncing_bean 9y ago
Yes! This! We need it to be diverse as possible. Thank you! Diversity in everything, EVERYTHING, except of course diversity of option.
- funkythingss 9y ago
  :D These diversity preachers are just a bunch pathetic weasels who haven't learned to work with/accept people with differing opinions
  - dang 9y ago
    This comment obviously breaks the HN guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. Worse, your account has been using HN primarily for ideological battle. We ban accounts that do this, for reasons I've explained at length at the links listed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16402816 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16402816. If you'd please look through some of those, reread the guidelines, and use HN only as intended from now on, we'd appreciate it.
- knieveltech 9y ago
  Diversity of opinion is one of those facile concepts that look good on paper until someone uses it to prop up support for shit like white supremacy and trickle down economics. Not all opinions are equally informed, or equally valid.
  - Fins 9y ago
    Marxism, say, works far worse that trickle-down, but is far more welcome in SV. Or is it the right kind of diversity?
    - knieveltech 9y ago
      You seem to be distracted. To return to the central point, not all opinion is equally informed or equally valid.
funkythingss 9y ago
How can you advocate for someone leaving Silicon Valley based on his "philosophical jibberish", and at the same time promote diversity? "Diversity" increasingly means nothing. SV is one hell of a political echo chamber. Diversity of thought, REGARDLESS of age,sex, skin color etc should be the goal, not ideological purity.
- matt4077 9y ago
  I'm not sure if we want "diversity of thought" on the usefulness of democracy, the rule of law, or freedom of the press. To use "diversity" in this sense seems to just be an attempted to co-opt the other side's label.
  - funkythingss 9y ago
    what do you want then? Everyone is supposed to have the same opinion?
malvosenior 9y ago
> He was intolerant of Gawker Gawker outed him, and leaked a sex tape of Hulk Hogan (and did a bunch of other really terrible things). He was lucky enough to have the money to bring them justice. I've honestly never heard of anyone taking Gawker's side in this.
- rectang 9y ago
  Billionaires buying the justice needed to wipe out a major news outlet... in secret... This is an argument where people who feel differently about "money as free speech" tend to have wildly divergent opinions. I find it quite alarming that billionaires have the power to squelch the free press.
  - malvosenior 9y ago
    I think you could make the argument that illegally leaking a sex tape isn't "free press". Granted I don't think you should have to be a billionaire to achieve justice, but sadly it costs a lot of money to take on a company like Gawker. Many people look at what Thiel did as a public service.
    - rectang 9y ago
      > Many people look at what Thiel did as a public service. How they feel about that is going to closely track partisan allegiance. And what constitutes "justice", in the context of a sex tape or other journalistic malpractice? Tens of millions of dollars? Uncountable millions? Any number of millions so long as it's enough to put the company out of business? I don't agree that shutting down Gawker was the appropriate remedy. Damages yes, annihilation no.
      - malvosenior 9y ago
        > I don't agree that shutting down Gawker was the appropriate remedy. Damages yes, annihilation no. Couldn't disagree more.
Fins 9y ago
If it is "mature and empathic" that you want, SV is not the place to be looking for them, with or without Thiel. It is always somewhat amusing to see that for "voices of diversity" to win, diverse woices need to be silenced.
factsaresacred 9y ago
> If software is eating the World, it's important the people building and operating it are as diverse as possible > TL;DR: Bye! Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out! The cognitive dissonance in this comment is astounding. This bizarre drive to purge different points of view is really grating. Not everybody has to share the same values as you. Respecting that is exactly what diversity means.
ArialAnemone 9y ago
>If software is eating the World, it's important the people building and operating it are as diverse as possible, otherwise there is a risk it unconsciously or consciously becomes biased in its actions and consequences towards a single social group at the expense of others. Of course. We must have the most superficial diversity be promoted as necessary. The fact that wealth is being more and more concentrated should be completely ignored. What's important is that we have x number of women and x number of racial category. It's not like money is the ultimate uniter of class interests that seek to divide and conquer with false ideological conflicts. Why is your superficial diversity more important than not being beholden to the doublefaced moneyed who preach it and yet live in very undiverse neighborhoods where the majority of people are one race? How is your diversity realistic when you benefit from vacuuming the entire world of intellectual human capital? You can't play the game of world bully forever.
johnnyfived 9y ago
Sorry you lost your job at Gawker.
andrepd 9y ago
>wants to make the World better through >thinks the path to doing that is intolerance, dominance, lack of accountability and an insistence on some Ayn Rand-ian gibberish philosophy of the World. He was intolerant of Gawker. He is anti-regulation which in this case is a synonym for anti-accountability. Most of his political and economic philosophy seems to be the same gauche pastiche of SV's obsession with Rand. I have trouble figuring how you reconcile these two views. What about Thiel makes you say he "wants to improve the world"? Is it because he says so? Because anybody can say, like, they are "committed to improving the world through technology"; what actually matters is actions. And all his actions seem to indicate he his passionate about accumulating wealth and accumulating power to himself, very little else.

mieseratte 9y ago

> He was intolerant of Gawker. Given what Gawker did to him, I can hardly shed a tear. There are plenty of reasons to dislike the man, but that ain't one.

tuna-piano 9y ago
Thiel is intolerant of Gawker, true! I'm intolerant of Nazis. The commentor is intolerant of Peter Thiel. It's better to discuss the actual merits of a position, rather than just saying "They're intolerant".
- milankovic 9y ago
  Silly me, being tolerant of everything...
s_dev 9y ago
They were in the same league as the British Daily Mail. Trash journalism and it's better they're gone. Completely agree -- I think most people hold it against Thiel that he supported Trump getting the presidency.

tuna-piano 9y ago

I feel like we're living in different universes. -You seem to say diversity is good, but not diversity of political thought? -What are Thiels stances on equality that you see as so abhorrent? -He was involved (as a financier) of a lawsuit... I struggle to see the huge moral deal here. He didn't decide the outcome - six jurors did, abiding by the laws, in a court![1] -Is being a strong supporter of Ayn Rand a good reason that someone shouldn't be involved in Silicon Valley? [1]http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/gawker-trial-jurors-made-absolutely-correct-decision-awarding/story?id=37887552 http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/gawker-trial-jurors-made...

moomin 9y ago
It’s funny the way that supporters of Ayn Rand always seem to be keen on using the courts to get their way on things unrelated to their business. Just like John Galt. And diversity of thought is for new interesting ideas, not discredited old ones.
- Turing_Machine 9y ago
  "Discredited old ones" like, say, Marxism?
  - matt4077 9y ago
    That's actually an apt comparison, at least in regards to the prescriptive parts of Marx's writings. One remaining difference was that Marxism was at least well-intentioned, whereas Ayn Rand basically turned enjoyment of other's suffering into a philosophy. And, luckily, it seems we will be spared any attempts to implement Randian cruelty, since it has turned from an actual political force to no more than many people's college embarrassment, even in SV.
    - splintercell 9y ago
      > One remaining difference was that Marxism was at least well-intentioned, whereas Ayn Rand basically turned enjoyment of other's suffering into a philosophy. Irrespective of what you think she said, her core point was that "If a man lives for anyone but himself, he will be a deeply, deeply sad man". Ayn Rand herself get that question asked to her whenever she did something which your misconception about her idea would lead you to believe that it should be a contradiction by her philosophy to act in such a way. For instance she supported her husband's art venture for a while, and the interviewer asks her why would she do that, and she explains the same thing. [1] Clearing of this misconception DOES NOT mean that you agree with her, I'm just saying that your point of disagreement isn't what you think it is. Her philosophy doesn't think (which was made clear in Galt's speech) that a mother buying food for her kids by forgoing to not buy a fancy hat for herself is a 'sacrifice'. She values her children's wellbeing more than the hat. The problem also does not come in when Bill Gates gives up majority of his wealth to a charity as long as he truly does want to do that. The problem comes in when society takes 99% of these 'non-sacrificial actions', creates a moral scale out of it and asks everyone to follow it. It translates to two levels of action: Individual level: "I don't really want to become a doctor but my mom and dad would get upset if I didn't so I will". Societal level: "Sure you don't want to pay for poor people's healthcare because you'd rather buy an XBox, but you must make this sacrifice for society's sake". Rand's core philosophy of Objectivism says that both these paths to individual (like Peter Keating in Fountainhead) and societal unhappiness (like any socialist/communist society out there). 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQVrMzWtqgU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQVrMzWtqgU

mft_ 9y ago

> intolerance, dominance, lack of accountability and an insistence on some Ayn Rand-ian gibberish philosophy of the World. > Most of his political and economic philosophy seems to be the same gauche pastiche of SV's obsession with Rand. So, yeah, good riddance. > TL;DR: Bye! Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out! Come back when you've got a little more mature and empathic towards others if you want! LOL... I really don’t understand where he got the idea that there's an intolerance of conservatism in SV... /s

duozerk 9y ago
There's conservatism, and then there's white supremacy. Thiel firmly belongs in the later.
- Fins 9y ago
  Is there some actual proof of that?
  - duozerk 9y ago
    Here's a good introduction: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/silicon-valley-tech-alt-right-racism-misogyny/ https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/silicon-valley-... There's nothing definitive in this article specifically, mind you; but for one you can read more about his and his buddy Yarvin's toxic philosophy here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment#Summary_of_core_ideas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment#Summary_of_... ... and then read various essays by Thiel himself, where you'll encounter more dog whistles than in a dog training center.
    - Fins 9y ago
      Well, this is all guilt by association at best.

kbmarx 9y ago

Maturity and Silicon Valley -- oh well. The whole Silicon Valley political correctness thing is a farce designed to sell more ads to salon socialist kids from rich families.

a_bouncing_bean 9y ago

Yes! This! We need it to be diverse as possible. Thank you! Diversity in everything, EVERYTHING, except of course diversity of option.

funkythingss 9y ago
:D These diversity preachers are just a bunch pathetic weasels who haven't learned to work with/accept people with differing opinions
- dang 9y ago
  This comment obviously breaks the HN guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. Worse, your account has been using HN primarily for ideological battle. We ban accounts that do this, for reasons I've explained at length at the links listed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16402816 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16402816. If you'd please look through some of those, reread the guidelines, and use HN only as intended from now on, we'd appreciate it.
knieveltech 9y ago
Diversity of opinion is one of those facile concepts that look good on paper until someone uses it to prop up support for shit like white supremacy and trickle down economics. Not all opinions are equally informed, or equally valid.
- Fins 9y ago
  Marxism, say, works far worse that trickle-down, but is far more welcome in SV. Or is it the right kind of diversity?
  - knieveltech 9y ago
    You seem to be distracted. To return to the central point, not all opinion is equally informed or equally valid.

funkythingss 9y ago

How can you advocate for someone leaving Silicon Valley based on his "philosophical jibberish", and at the same time promote diversity? "Diversity" increasingly means nothing. SV is one hell of a political echo chamber. Diversity of thought, REGARDLESS of age,sex, skin color etc should be the goal, not ideological purity.

matt4077 9y ago
I'm not sure if we want "diversity of thought" on the usefulness of democracy, the rule of law, or freedom of the press. To use "diversity" in this sense seems to just be an attempted to co-opt the other side's label.
- funkythingss 9y ago
  what do you want then? Everyone is supposed to have the same opinion?

malvosenior 9y ago

> He was intolerant of Gawker Gawker outed him, and leaked a sex tape of Hulk Hogan (and did a bunch of other really terrible things). He was lucky enough to have the money to bring them justice. I've honestly never heard of anyone taking Gawker's side in this.

rectang 9y ago
Billionaires buying the justice needed to wipe out a major news outlet... in secret... This is an argument where people who feel differently about "money as free speech" tend to have wildly divergent opinions. I find it quite alarming that billionaires have the power to squelch the free press.
- malvosenior 9y ago
  I think you could make the argument that illegally leaking a sex tape isn't "free press". Granted I don't think you should have to be a billionaire to achieve justice, but sadly it costs a lot of money to take on a company like Gawker. Many people look at what Thiel did as a public service.
  - rectang 9y ago
    > Many people look at what Thiel did as a public service. How they feel about that is going to closely track partisan allegiance. And what constitutes "justice", in the context of a sex tape or other journalistic malpractice? Tens of millions of dollars? Uncountable millions? Any number of millions so long as it's enough to put the company out of business? I don't agree that shutting down Gawker was the appropriate remedy. Damages yes, annihilation no.
    - malvosenior 9y ago
      > I don't agree that shutting down Gawker was the appropriate remedy. Damages yes, annihilation no. Couldn't disagree more.

Fins 9y ago

If it is "mature and empathic" that you want, SV is not the place to be looking for them, with or without Thiel. It is always somewhat amusing to see that for "voices of diversity" to win, diverse woices need to be silenced.

factsaresacred 9y ago

> If software is eating the World, it's important the people building and operating it are as diverse as possible > TL;DR: Bye! Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out! The cognitive dissonance in this comment is astounding. This bizarre drive to purge different points of view is really grating. Not everybody has to share the same values as you. Respecting that is exactly what diversity means.

ArialAnemone 9y ago

>If software is eating the World, it's important the people building and operating it are as diverse as possible, otherwise there is a risk it unconsciously or consciously becomes biased in its actions and consequences towards a single social group at the expense of others. Of course. We must have the most superficial diversity be promoted as necessary. The fact that wealth is being more and more concentrated should be completely ignored. What's important is that we have x number of women and x number of racial category. It's not like money is the ultimate uniter of class interests that seek to divide and conquer with false ideological conflicts. Why is your superficial diversity more important than not being beholden to the doublefaced moneyed who preach it and yet live in very undiverse neighborhoods where the majority of people are one race? How is your diversity realistic when you benefit from vacuuming the entire world of intellectual human capital? You can't play the game of world bully forever.

johnnyfived 9y ago

Sorry you lost your job at Gawker.

andrepd 9y ago

>wants to make the World better through >thinks the path to doing that is intolerance, dominance, lack of accountability and an insistence on some Ayn Rand-ian gibberish philosophy of the World. He was intolerant of Gawker. He is anti-regulation which in this case is a synonym for anti-accountability. Most of his political and economic philosophy seems to be the same gauche pastiche of SV's obsession with Rand. I have trouble figuring how you reconcile these two views. What about Thiel makes you say he "wants to improve the world"? Is it because he says so? Because anybody can say, like, they are "committed to improving the world through technology"; what actually matters is actions. And all his actions seem to indicate he his passionate about accumulating wealth and accumulating power to himself, very little else.