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The giveaway here is that anyone who invokes this comment, only ever does so while determinedly extrapolating the worst-possible motives and character traits fr

The giveaway here is that anyone who invokes this comment, only ever does so while determinedly extrapolating the worst-possible motives and character traits from it, rather than engaging in a nuanced, fair-minded discussion. I can imagine there being quite an interesting discussion that could be had about a 19-year-old future tech billionaire making this comment, and what it says about their psychology at that time and in the time since, but I've not ever seen anyone raise it with the intention of having that kind of discussion. It's only ever invoked as an attempted mic-drop, but due to being entirely repetitive and predictable, has no rhetorical impact at all.

PavlovsCat 8y ago
> The giveaway here is that anyone who invokes this comment, only ever does so while determinedly extrapolating the worst-possible motives and character traits from it, The giveaway is that you feel comfortable to say this when in this instance, the argument is basically "it shouldn't be surprising he talks down to users", while complaining about lack of nuance or fairness.
- tomhoward 8y ago
  People who are invested in this issue could do with some soul-searching about their need to engage in what looks every bit like good old-fashioned scapegoating. I get the temptation to trace the origin of much of the world's current mess to some douchey thing a 19-year-old said 15 years ago. But over-simplifying complex problems down to a single external cause and pinning the blame for it all on some other person has a very long but not very distinguished history. It only takes a little awareness of history and philosophy to realise what this is really all about.
  - PavlovsCat 8y ago
    > I get the temptation to trace the origin of much of the world's current mess to some douchey thing a 19-year-old said 15 years ago. How could you not, you just made it up. You're probably the world's primary expert on this thing you just invented.
    - tomhoward 8y ago
      Scapegoating in its literal form is described in the old testament. And the concept Jung described as the "shadow" 70+ years ago, goes back to ancient mythology. Your desire to attack and sneer rather than reflect and learn is notable.

PavlovsCat 8y ago

> The giveaway here is that anyone who invokes this comment, only ever does so while determinedly extrapolating the worst-possible motives and character traits from it, The giveaway is that you feel comfortable to say this when in this instance, the argument is basically "it shouldn't be surprising he talks down to users", while complaining about lack of nuance or fairness.

tomhoward 8y ago
People who are invested in this issue could do with some soul-searching about their need to engage in what looks every bit like good old-fashioned scapegoating. I get the temptation to trace the origin of much of the world's current mess to some douchey thing a 19-year-old said 15 years ago. But over-simplifying complex problems down to a single external cause and pinning the blame for it all on some other person has a very long but not very distinguished history. It only takes a little awareness of history and philosophy to realise what this is really all about.
- PavlovsCat 8y ago
  > I get the temptation to trace the origin of much of the world's current mess to some douchey thing a 19-year-old said 15 years ago. How could you not, you just made it up. You're probably the world's primary expert on this thing you just invented.
  - tomhoward 8y ago
    Scapegoating in its literal form is described in the old testament. And the concept Jung described as the "shadow" 70+ years ago, goes back to ancient mythology. Your desire to attack and sneer rather than reflect and learn is notable.