4 ms·

Every time I read about Stripe, it seems that the most interesting people work/have worked there (Julia Evans, Aditya Mukerjee, Mudge, Brandur, Greg Brockman).

by dmazin 6y ago

Every time I read about Stripe, it seems that the most interesting people work/have worked there (Julia Evans, Aditya Mukerjee, Mudge, Brandur, Greg Brockman). And it seems like a great culture. But the CEO's "progress studies" thing repels me because it reeks of the Kochs' efforts to implant conservatism into education. I don't want to enable that. It sucks. BTW, I am one of the people who had their YC app reviewed by patio11 and it was a great experience. It's amazing how much time he's able to dedicate to individual Stripe Atlas participants -- thanks!

patio11 6y ago
You're welcome!
titanomachy 6y ago
Can you explain what stood out to you as conservative about the "progress studies" article? Wikipedia defines conservatism as "a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization". Patrick Collison's article [1] to me seems to be saying "we should be a lot more systematic and scientific in figuring out the drivers of societal progress, and aggressively invest in those things." That seems in direct opposition to conservatism, since it advocates a dramatic overhaul of ineffective institutions. Collison's definition of progress does seem narrowly focused on measurable economic metrics. Is that the source of your grievance? I think that developments like women's suffrage and racial desegration should be included in discussions of "progress studies", whether or not they led to improvements in measurable metrics. Collison neglects to include examples of this type in his article, but it's not clear to me that he considers them unworthy of study. [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/we-need-new-science-progress/594946/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/we-need-...
- Riverheart 6y ago
  He's not saying its conservative, he dislikes business leaders using their influence to pursue ideological change in society.
exolymph 6y ago
> But the CEO's "progress studies" thing repels me because it reeks of the Kochs' efforts to implant conservatism into education. I don't want to enable that. It sucks. If you had that amount of money (and that reputation), you'd probably try to improve the world _according to your vision of improvement_ too.

by dmazin 6y ago

patio11 6y ago

You're welcome!

titanomachy 6y ago

Can you explain what stood out to you as conservative about the "progress studies" article? Wikipedia defines conservatism as "a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization". Patrick Collison's article [1] to me seems to be saying "we should be a lot more systematic and scientific in figuring out the drivers of societal progress, and aggressively invest in those things." That seems in direct opposition to conservatism, since it advocates a dramatic overhaul of ineffective institutions. Collison's definition of progress does seem narrowly focused on measurable economic metrics. Is that the source of your grievance? I think that developments like women's suffrage and racial desegration should be included in discussions of "progress studies", whether or not they led to improvements in measurable metrics. Collison neglects to include examples of this type in his article, but it's not clear to me that he considers them unworthy of study. [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/we-need-new-science-progress/594946/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/we-need-...

Riverheart 6y ago
He's not saying its conservative, he dislikes business leaders using their influence to pursue ideological change in society.

exolymph 6y ago

> But the CEO's "progress studies" thing repels me because it reeks of the Kochs' efforts to implant conservatism into education. I don't want to enable that. It sucks. If you had that amount of money (and that reputation), you'd probably try to improve the world _according to your vision of improvement_ too.