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Buried at the bottom, Levandowski's controversial world wisdom - "The only thing that matters is the future,” [Levandowski] told me after the civil trial was s

Buried at the bottom, Levandowski's controversial world wisdom - "The only thing that matters is the future,” [Levandowski] told me after the civil trial was settled. “I don’t even know why we study history. It’s entertaining, I guess—the dinosaurs and the Neanderthals and the Industrial Revolution, and stuff like that. But what already happened doesn’t really matter. You don’t need to know that history to build on what they made. In technology, all that matters is tomorrow." To what extent does this attitude represent Silicon Valley? More usefully, could we avoid some ill-bred start-up ideas and venture capital wasted if the attitude of Silicon Valley was changed to include just a little more care about history?

dmitrygr 8y ago
Sadly 100%. Most startups try to "disrupt" things they do not understand. Often with predictable results.
- onion2k 8y ago
  But occasionally with unpredictable results, which topples incumbent corporations who refuse to innovate or reduce costs, which is why startups succeed. In that respect maybe the startup's attitude isn't so bad.
rm_-rf_slash 8y ago
That is very sad. I can only hope that Levandowski someday stumbles upon James Burke’s documentary series Connections and gains an appreciation for how science and technology can develop in unpredictable ways far beyond the expectations or aims of the creators. A hundred years from now I bet history professors will bring up Levandowski as “one of those Silicon Valley jackasses who thought they were building the future but had no idea how they arrived at the present.”
Fezzik 8y ago
Levandowski's sentament seems extraordinarily ignorant. I immediately thought of the "you should skate where the puck is going" quote which, I think, implies the importance of having information about the history of the puck and how the puck behaves, while acknowledging that the future is the goal. Obviously you want to end up in the future, where the puck is, but it is well-nigh impossible to get there unless you have good information about the past.

dmitrygr 8y ago

Sadly 100%. Most startups try to "disrupt" things they do not understand. Often with predictable results.

onion2k 8y ago
But occasionally with unpredictable results, which topples incumbent corporations who refuse to innovate or reduce costs, which is why startups succeed. In that respect maybe the startup's attitude isn't so bad.

rm_-rf_slash 8y ago

That is very sad. I can only hope that Levandowski someday stumbles upon James Burke’s documentary series Connections and gains an appreciation for how science and technology can develop in unpredictable ways far beyond the expectations or aims of the creators. A hundred years from now I bet history professors will bring up Levandowski as “one of those Silicon Valley jackasses who thought they were building the future but had no idea how they arrived at the present.”

Fezzik 8y ago

Levandowski's sentament seems extraordinarily ignorant. I immediately thought of the "you should skate where the puck is going" quote which, I think, implies the importance of having information about the history of the puck and how the puck behaves, while acknowledging that the future is the goal. Obviously you want to end up in the future, where the puck is, but it is well-nigh impossible to get there unless you have good information about the past.