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For those who wants to find the "Crucial Message" quickly, I think it is hidden in the 4th last paragraph : "That’s why there is and will be an even greater pu

For those who wants to find the "Crucial Message" quickly, I think it is hidden in the 4th last paragraph : "That’s why there is and will be an even greater pushback against the idea that a small group of companies and executives can reap vast rewards, dictate the architecture of the online, cloud, AI, and robotic worlds and maintain an insular, parochial, and narrow worldview marked by groupthink." Or was it somewhere else? To be fair, it is not a small group of companies, but rather clusters of companies working decades together to make it all happen, and I was hoping there was at least a tiny bit of appreciation in the article. But I quickly realized that while the author did the name dropping he had to point out Amazon is not technically in the Valley but part of the equation. I was hoping he could find companies like Western Digital is also making most of the hard drives that contribute to whatever agenda he thinks the silicon valley is doing.

discodave 9y ago
This is the 'crucial message' that the author is trying to promote: > His rationale, according to a piece in the Wall Street Journal, is that the Valley is now a politically intolerant culture, left-leaning in the extreme and to the exclusion of any contrarian viewpoints And it is bullshit. Who can be found shutting down democracy via gerrymandering? Republicans. Who can be found threatening the media from one of the most powerful pulpits in the land? Trump, who seems to have the unyeilding support of the Republican party. Who runs online harrassment campaigns with the explicity aim of silencing people? Gamergate and the red-pill brigade. The left has made some mistakes and could do a lot of things better, but they can't hold a candle to the right when it comes to insular, parochial, and narrow worldviews marked by groupthink
- owens99 9y ago
  Don't forget climate change denial.
- ramblerman 9y ago
  None of your examples are in the valley though. I do agree online debate is extremely toxic and partisan on both sides, to the detriment of everyone and leading to groupthink. But that is not what's discussed here.
- elefanten 9y ago
  No, it's bullshit simply because it's prima facie bullshit. "The Valley" (something no one here says out loud) has the same liberal bias it's had for decades. It has changed in some ways, much the same way our national politics have changed over time. There are ebbs and flows in what's liberal vs conservative, to what degree, on which issues... etc. But "the Valley" has not suddenly become some unique bastion of intolerance (beyond the general shift in polarization that's been, again, nationwide) or 'groupthink', the newly beloved piece of mud to sling by right-y cultural agitators. It's just a large target for the current wave of culture clash and change. Thiel is welcome to go chill wherever he feels happy. But no need to be such a baby about it really.
- oh_sigh 9y ago
  Your entire ridiculous post is predicated upon an incorrect assumption: OP says > left-leaning in the extreme and to the exclusion of any contrarian viewpoints You respond with an attack on Republicans, but they are not the only group or philosophy which fits the description 'any contrarian viewpoints'. Even if you didn't make that assumption, you assumed that people with 'contrarian viewpoints' don't vote for your coveted Democratic party as well, and they simply don't believe in the 'left-leaning in the extreme' vision but prefer it for other reasons.
- shard972 9y ago
  This is just exactly the kind of attitude that keeps people like myself on the other side. The issue Tiel is obviously talking about is within the context of silicon valley and the online platforms they control. It's irrelevant that repubs are gerrymandering, that trump talking about suing the media as a private citizen or that you believe that gamergate was a harassment campaign. Yet you lay them out as if it's some solid evidence to imply right wing views are being discounted justly. That the current situation is just a case of bad opinions being beaten up on fairly.

discodave 9y ago

This is the 'crucial message' that the author is trying to promote: > His rationale, according to a piece in the Wall Street Journal, is that the Valley is now a politically intolerant culture, left-leaning in the extreme and to the exclusion of any contrarian viewpoints And it is bullshit. Who can be found shutting down democracy via gerrymandering? Republicans. Who can be found threatening the media from one of the most powerful pulpits in the land? Trump, who seems to have the unyeilding support of the Republican party. Who runs online harrassment campaigns with the explicity aim of silencing people? Gamergate and the red-pill brigade. The left has made some mistakes and could do a lot of things better, but they can't hold a candle to the right when it comes to insular, parochial, and narrow worldviews marked by groupthink

owens99 9y ago
Don't forget climate change denial.
ramblerman 9y ago
None of your examples are in the valley though. I do agree online debate is extremely toxic and partisan on both sides, to the detriment of everyone and leading to groupthink. But that is not what's discussed here.
elefanten 9y ago
No, it's bullshit simply because it's prima facie bullshit. "The Valley" (something no one here says out loud) has the same liberal bias it's had for decades. It has changed in some ways, much the same way our national politics have changed over time. There are ebbs and flows in what's liberal vs conservative, to what degree, on which issues... etc. But "the Valley" has not suddenly become some unique bastion of intolerance (beyond the general shift in polarization that's been, again, nationwide) or 'groupthink', the newly beloved piece of mud to sling by right-y cultural agitators. It's just a large target for the current wave of culture clash and change. Thiel is welcome to go chill wherever he feels happy. But no need to be such a baby about it really.
oh_sigh 9y ago
Your entire ridiculous post is predicated upon an incorrect assumption: OP says > left-leaning in the extreme and to the exclusion of any contrarian viewpoints You respond with an attack on Republicans, but they are not the only group or philosophy which fits the description 'any contrarian viewpoints'. Even if you didn't make that assumption, you assumed that people with 'contrarian viewpoints' don't vote for your coveted Democratic party as well, and they simply don't believe in the 'left-leaning in the extreme' vision but prefer it for other reasons.
shard972 9y ago
This is just exactly the kind of attitude that keeps people like myself on the other side. The issue Tiel is obviously talking about is within the context of silicon valley and the online platforms they control. It's irrelevant that repubs are gerrymandering, that trump talking about suing the media as a private citizen or that you believe that gamergate was a harassment campaign. Yet you lay them out as if it's some solid evidence to imply right wing views are being discounted justly. That the current situation is just a case of bad opinions being beaten up on fairly.