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> servile wave of infantile 'technologists' that are beholden to FAANG so this is clearly what happens when even 'smart people' get things wrong: they try to ju

by 1996 6y ago

> servile wave of infantile 'technologists' that are beholden to FAANG so this is clearly what happens when even 'smart people' get things wrong: they try to justify their errors with these campaign smears. Which is why I'm glad so many are leaving CA, hopefully it can go back to it's cypherpunk roots it had in the 80s and 90s. So true. I wish I had had the opportunity to live in the golden age cypherpunk CA of the 1970-1990s. > Their work is not their own, and they are beholden to their employers for identity and purpose, and Bitcoin is just a reminder of why it might have been a waste of time when M1 and M2 spikes happen. So true. If only they could listen. But they are too emotionally invested in their mistakes. So they try to find meaning and happiness with the peanuts that are thrown at them. > They thought they had it so good, for so long, so now when something comes along and shows them that their jails are opened they suffer from a sort of anxiety when they're not in one Thanks a lot for taking the time to write that. It helps me understand them better. Like you, I have tried to understand the people who single hand reject crypto on HN. My conclusion is that it is due in part to the golden jail (good paying job in FANG tech) + not wanting to bite the hand that feeds (corporate overlords / governmnent) + intellectual laziness coming from a mix of a golden jail + old age (most people here seem to be over 40) - but the icing on the cake is this anxiety. I have talked with some people like arcticbull (a HN permabull on all things crypto) and he said he also has the irrational fear of being defrauded. I think it is a manifestation of the anxiety you describe: the fear their effort were meaningless. > lets just build it for them, but give them a key they can keep inside and use if and when they are ever ready The airdrops were like that. I have seen myself very intelligent people sell their airdrops for a handful of dollars. In a way, this free crypto was lost on them. They got a few burgers. More patient people got at least a car. If you have friends you want to help, don't give them crypto: they will immediately sell it, regardless of the price, because they are afraid of the variance and not very rational. They are the kind of people who would eat the seed gains instead of planting it. They are unable to think long term (maybe from growing up poor, or having to work a job to get money?) Instead, keep the crypto for them, and bestow a part of it when the time is right, in fiat, at an amount you think adequate to their immediate needs. You can always give them more later.

Melting_Harps 6y ago
It is sad, and as a Californian (SoCal) with family ties to the valley from that golden era I hated the SV post 2000s and what it represented.When my time came I left for Boulder as the system there looked entirely alient to me made up by only money hungry people willing to defraud useful idiots at VCs. Again, Silicon Valley hits too close to home if you've ever been there for a reason. But I always thought giving them the benefit of the doubt was the best strategy only to see how absurd it was for being so trusting... still I think it doesn't matter, we have so many of the Silicon Valley king makers on our side, YC included, so they will just follow when the time comes. I wish I could find the academic research paper, but their was study on massive paradigm shifts throughout History and it concluded that in some of the most momentous, from things like the US and French revolutions to the migration of users from Myspace to Facebook, it was only between 5-15% of a studied populace to make them successful, and the rest just follow what those aforementioned do. This is incredibly sad to me, because while I detest the spying business models this generation of SV guys work under, I always respected their intelligence which is why I keep coming back here, now I'm seeing they are susceptible to the same rationalizations that we see in the so called 'normies' that made ultimately made us bond despite disagreeing on talents/skills/interests as technologists. Still... I think we're only now entering the enterprise and institutional adoption curve, they have a chance to pivot and use their immensely bloated salalries and still do ok, but I don think that is what is the core issue: they have delusions of being Chamath, or Elon being some low tier coder not realizing that the paradigm they function in is antithetical in ever creating another wave of Chamths let alone another Elon. They will sabotage you and your startup, and even short the living fuck out you if you're already public while praising your efforts in public, if they have the slightest chance and fund both sides so that at best they will use you to get a fat IPO exit for something as stupid as doordash that relies on consolidation of any Industry for Megacorps.

by 1996 6y ago

Melting_Harps 6y ago

It is sad, and as a Californian (SoCal) with family ties to the valley from that golden era I hated the SV post 2000s and what it represented.When my time came I left for Boulder as the system there looked entirely alient to me made up by only money hungry people willing to defraud useful idiots at VCs. Again, Silicon Valley hits too close to home if you've ever been there for a reason. But I always thought giving them the benefit of the doubt was the best strategy only to see how absurd it was for being so trusting... still I think it doesn't matter, we have so many of the Silicon Valley king makers on our side, YC included, so they will just follow when the time comes. I wish I could find the academic research paper, but their was study on massive paradigm shifts throughout History and it concluded that in some of the most momentous, from things like the US and French revolutions to the migration of users from Myspace to Facebook, it was only between 5-15% of a studied populace to make them successful, and the rest just follow what those aforementioned do. This is incredibly sad to me, because while I detest the spying business models this generation of SV guys work under, I always respected their intelligence which is why I keep coming back here, now I'm seeing they are susceptible to the same rationalizations that we see in the so called 'normies' that made ultimately made us bond despite disagreeing on talents/skills/interests as technologists. Still... I think we're only now entering the enterprise and institutional adoption curve, they have a chance to pivot and use their immensely bloated salalries and still do ok, but I don think that is what is the core issue: they have delusions of being Chamath, or Elon being some low tier coder not realizing that the paradigm they function in is antithetical in ever creating another wave of Chamths let alone another Elon. They will sabotage you and your startup, and even short the living fuck out you if you're already public while praising your efforts in public, if they have the slightest chance and fund both sides so that at best they will use you to get a fat IPO exit for something as stupid as doordash that relies on consolidation of any Industry for Megacorps.