4 ms·

Seriously, the best advice I've received as a Palantir employee is "stop reading the news." Suddenly all this stuff about the election, the Supreme Court, targe

Seriously, the best advice I've received as a Palantir employee is "stop reading the news." Suddenly all this stuff about the election, the Supreme Court, targeted drone strikes, reproductive rights, police brutality happening to people other than me, rampant disease, and riots in the streets goes away. All that's left is me enjoying a sunny September afternoon in cozy, charming Palo Alto, counting down the hours until my company IPOs!

icedchai 6y ago
Nice. So how much will you be worth tomorrow?
- legerdemain 6y ago
  If the price on the private market is anything to go by, $6 times several tens of thousands of stock units, minus the astronomical cost to exercise, minus confusing Trump taxes. Oops, I just said the T-word! Better stop thinking about the news again! Ha ha!
  - icedchai 6y ago
    Congrats! You've won the options lottery. I'm going to watch the stock and maybe pick up a few shares later in the week.
    - legerdemain 6y ago
      I mean, what's your reason for optimism? The private market price has been $1-$2 below the option strike price for a few years now. Most employees who received options as part of their comp for the last five years or so would have been underwater if they exercised them. The company even started compensating in RSUs, despite many years of opposition to them.
      - icedchai 6y ago
        Well, I said "maybe." I have to watch it. I am not entirely optimistic, but am a bit of a gambler. The last direct listing I bought (Slack aka WORK) went badly.
tw4l 6y ago
That's rather... convenient advice for employees of a company that is alleged to be involved in human rights violations. Just yesterday, by means of example: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chantaldasilva/2020/09/28/palantirs-ice-contracts-raise-human-rights-concerns-report-warns-as-firm-prepares-to-go-public/#5be604b43792 https://www.forbes.com/sites/chantaldasilva/2020/09/28/palan...
burntbridge 6y ago
Just make sure you vote.
quaa55 6y ago
so the best advice is to look the other way?
- hgs3 6y ago
  To be fair I do the same thing. It's for my mental health and focus.
  - quaa55 6y ago
    i see how that came off a bit direct. i agree the 24 hour news cycle is way way too much. and one issue after another is totally depressing. but we can't ignore problems as general advice, that's not how things get solved.
    - rwnspace 6y ago
      Well, is it how things get fixed? The way we collectively attribute passive attention and consume information seems less and less up to us, the longer we're surrounded by the digital equivalent of slot machines. The media is more give and less take than ever; and the longer this stress goes on, the more emotionally charged the process of memetic exchange becomes. Still, talking to people is as good as it ever was, if you're determined about it. While these days it does require significant care and patience to avoid the memes and the trigger phrases, it's still more than possible to gesture at the ideas behind the noise and get something fresh going - to get minds exchanging.
      - haidut 6y ago
        The one thing that is guaranteed is that if your M.O. is to ignore the issues that threaten to cause nationwide (or global) collapse then things will never get fixed. I am astounded to see several comments in this thread that are basically the approach the crew of sinking Titanic embraced - i.e. the ship is sinking and the people are running around like headless chickens so we better get those bands ready and playing festive music. Unbelievable!
ac42 6y ago
/s
- haidut 6y ago
  I am pretty sure he/she was NOT joking or being /s, and is now downvoting my comments. To make matters worse, his comments shows up as the top comment for the thread currently, so apparently quite a few top HN contributors agree with this "approach".
  - legerdemain 6y ago
    I just got to 500 karma the other day, so, no, I've never downvoted any comments on this site, and I don't expect to. I think downvoting is spiteful and breeds suspicion of other contributors. Also, I think commenting on voting activity is considered bad form here. Whether I'm /s or not is, frankly, immaterial. My comment is true de facto. It doesn't really matter if I passively benefit from Palantir's activity while sitting pretty or while racked with moral agony. Similarly, I can't think of a life decision I've taken as a result of reading the news. Sure, I could donate my stock to charity or strive to work at the WHO, but I am almost certainly not going to.
    - haidut 6y ago
      >Also, I think commenting on voting activity is considered bad form here. OK, sorry if it was a personal attack. As far as the actual commenting on downvotes - well, if such downvotes are in support/defense of obvious signs of mental illness (e.g. the exact term in this case is "learned helplessness") then I will point that out even if it is against the HN culture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness Medical reality trumps culture any time, at least for me. >Whether I'm /s or not is, frankly, immaterial. My comment is true de facto. It actually matters, a lot. If a significant portion of the population acquires "learned helplessness" that will in and of itself lead to collapse. I have to ask - does this approach work for you? Namely, being disengaged from life and trying forcing yourself to enjoy it when it is quite obvious things are pretty bad right now? So bad in fact, that 1 in 4 young Americans are seriously contemplating suicide - an "unraveling" of the social fabric? https://theintercept.com/2020/08/28/the-social-fabric-of-the-u-s-is-fraying-severely-if-not-unravelling/ https://theintercept.com/2020/08/28/the-social-fabric-of-the...
dTal 6y ago
Bloody hell, I hope this is satire.
- d0mine 6y ago
  Actually "stop reading the news" is a good advice. Though it doesn't mean that you should stop participating in your community. There are better sources of information, I imagine, for almost any topic. > “The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them, inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.” https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/thomas-jefferson-had-some-issues-newspapers/ https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/thomas-jefferson-ha...
haidut 6y ago
Is this a joke?? So, the "best" advice you got from Palantir psychopaths is to engage in disinformationally-induced delusion?? What happens when that police brutality starts happening to you because you ignored the police's abuse of the, severely eroded already, civil rights of everybody else?? What is money good for if you wake up one day and realize everything that made your own life worthwhile is gone or severely compromised? Or do you think the money you will soon get will compensate for all of that? Seriously, if you truly believe you got good advice there you, no offense whatsoever, might want to check with a mental health professional.
bitwize 6y ago
If you had any doubts that privilege exists, this is what it looks like.

icedchai 6y ago

Nice. So how much will you be worth tomorrow?

legerdemain 6y ago
If the price on the private market is anything to go by, $6 times several tens of thousands of stock units, minus the astronomical cost to exercise, minus confusing Trump taxes. Oops, I just said the T-word! Better stop thinking about the news again! Ha ha!
- icedchai 6y ago
  Congrats! You've won the options lottery. I'm going to watch the stock and maybe pick up a few shares later in the week.
  - legerdemain 6y ago
    I mean, what's your reason for optimism? The private market price has been $1-$2 below the option strike price for a few years now. Most employees who received options as part of their comp for the last five years or so would have been underwater if they exercised them. The company even started compensating in RSUs, despite many years of opposition to them.
    - icedchai 6y ago
      Well, I said "maybe." I have to watch it. I am not entirely optimistic, but am a bit of a gambler. The last direct listing I bought (Slack aka WORK) went badly.

tw4l 6y ago

That's rather... convenient advice for employees of a company that is alleged to be involved in human rights violations. Just yesterday, by means of example: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chantaldasilva/2020/09/28/palantirs-ice-contracts-raise-human-rights-concerns-report-warns-as-firm-prepares-to-go-public/#5be604b43792 https://www.forbes.com/sites/chantaldasilva/2020/09/28/palan...

burntbridge 6y ago

Just make sure you vote.

quaa55 6y ago

so the best advice is to look the other way?

hgs3 6y ago
To be fair I do the same thing. It's for my mental health and focus.
- quaa55 6y ago
  i see how that came off a bit direct. i agree the 24 hour news cycle is way way too much. and one issue after another is totally depressing. but we can't ignore problems as general advice, that's not how things get solved.
  - rwnspace 6y ago
    Well, is it how things get fixed? The way we collectively attribute passive attention and consume information seems less and less up to us, the longer we're surrounded by the digital equivalent of slot machines. The media is more give and less take than ever; and the longer this stress goes on, the more emotionally charged the process of memetic exchange becomes. Still, talking to people is as good as it ever was, if you're determined about it. While these days it does require significant care and patience to avoid the memes and the trigger phrases, it's still more than possible to gesture at the ideas behind the noise and get something fresh going - to get minds exchanging.
    - haidut 6y ago
      The one thing that is guaranteed is that if your M.O. is to ignore the issues that threaten to cause nationwide (or global) collapse then things will never get fixed. I am astounded to see several comments in this thread that are basically the approach the crew of sinking Titanic embraced - i.e. the ship is sinking and the people are running around like headless chickens so we better get those bands ready and playing festive music. Unbelievable!

ac42 6y ago

haidut 6y ago
I am pretty sure he/she was NOT joking or being /s, and is now downvoting my comments. To make matters worse, his comments shows up as the top comment for the thread currently, so apparently quite a few top HN contributors agree with this "approach".
- legerdemain 6y ago
  I just got to 500 karma the other day, so, no, I've never downvoted any comments on this site, and I don't expect to. I think downvoting is spiteful and breeds suspicion of other contributors. Also, I think commenting on voting activity is considered bad form here. Whether I'm /s or not is, frankly, immaterial. My comment is true de facto. It doesn't really matter if I passively benefit from Palantir's activity while sitting pretty or while racked with moral agony. Similarly, I can't think of a life decision I've taken as a result of reading the news. Sure, I could donate my stock to charity or strive to work at the WHO, but I am almost certainly not going to.
  - haidut 6y ago
    >Also, I think commenting on voting activity is considered bad form here. OK, sorry if it was a personal attack. As far as the actual commenting on downvotes - well, if such downvotes are in support/defense of obvious signs of mental illness (e.g. the exact term in this case is "learned helplessness") then I will point that out even if it is against the HN culture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness Medical reality trumps culture any time, at least for me. >Whether I'm /s or not is, frankly, immaterial. My comment is true de facto. It actually matters, a lot. If a significant portion of the population acquires "learned helplessness" that will in and of itself lead to collapse. I have to ask - does this approach work for you? Namely, being disengaged from life and trying forcing yourself to enjoy it when it is quite obvious things are pretty bad right now? So bad in fact, that 1 in 4 young Americans are seriously contemplating suicide - an "unraveling" of the social fabric? https://theintercept.com/2020/08/28/the-social-fabric-of-the-u-s-is-fraying-severely-if-not-unravelling/ https://theintercept.com/2020/08/28/the-social-fabric-of-the...

dTal 6y ago

Bloody hell, I hope this is satire.

d0mine 6y ago
Actually "stop reading the news" is a good advice. Though it doesn't mean that you should stop participating in your community. There are better sources of information, I imagine, for almost any topic. > “The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them, inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.” https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/thomas-jefferson-had-some-issues-newspapers/ https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/thomas-jefferson-ha...

haidut 6y ago

Is this a joke?? So, the "best" advice you got from Palantir psychopaths is to engage in disinformationally-induced delusion?? What happens when that police brutality starts happening to you because you ignored the police's abuse of the, severely eroded already, civil rights of everybody else?? What is money good for if you wake up one day and realize everything that made your own life worthwhile is gone or severely compromised? Or do you think the money you will soon get will compensate for all of that? Seriously, if you truly believe you got good advice there you, no offense whatsoever, might want to check with a mental health professional.

bitwize 6y ago

If you had any doubts that privilege exists, this is what it looks like.