4 ms·

Hubris

by flarg 5y ago

Hubris

sammalloy 5y ago
This is apocryphal, but I've heard it said that the reason Silicon Valley didn't start in the UK (where they obviously had a head start), was because they were biased against anoraks and boffins, and couldn't see the potential of future commercial computing opportunities.
- osullivj 5y ago
  Possibly because the British ruling classes tend to have an humanities education [1]. Cf Boris quoting Sophocles, and Kermit the Frog, at the UN earlier this week. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Cultures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Cultures
  - sammalloy 5y ago
    So with the Chinese ruling class coming from predominantly engineering backgrounds (and yes, I've read the previous hn threads on this topic, which are fascinating), should we expect the future of innovation to come from China, or is there another aspect or component at work? My personal take is that Silicon Valley took off in the US because of its timing with WWII defense spending.
    - osullivj 5y ago
      Francis Spufford's Red Plenty is fascinating on engineering culture in closed societies. The recent Chernobyl drama series addresses the same point too. Technical problem solving and innovation work best in open societies where there's minimal political interference in the flow of information. The US overtook the UK as economic #1 in 1870, and is still #1. Despite 100 years of decline the UK is still top 10. IMHO domestic market size, effective autarky, an open society and drawing the smartest immigrants globally has kept the US at #1, and will continue to do so despite challenges in the 80s from the Japanese and more recently the Chinese.
- redis_mlc 5y ago
  There is one salient thing that held back British technology researchers - the Official Secrets Act. Computer pioneers who served in WW2 were not allowed to discuss their work or get funding after the war - in fact, banks would snitch on them to the govt. when a loan application crossed their desk. In addition, Britain did not "win" WW2 - they were bankrupted and had ration lines for 9 years afterwards. Meanwhile in the US, there was unlimited funding during the Cold War, and the US govt. had healthy partnerships with industry. For example, there were CDC and Cray supercomputers everywhere across the US.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

Hubris

by flarg 5y ago

Hubris

This is apocryphal, but I've heard it said that the reason Silicon Valley didn't start in the UK (where they obviously had a head start), was because they were biased against anoraks and boffins, and couldn't see the potential of future commercial computing opportunities.

osullivj 5y ago
Possibly because the British ruling classes tend to have an humanities education [1]. Cf Boris quoting Sophocles, and Kermit the Frog, at the UN earlier this week. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Cultures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Cultures
- sammalloy 5y ago
  So with the Chinese ruling class coming from predominantly engineering backgrounds (and yes, I've read the previous hn threads on this topic, which are fascinating), should we expect the future of innovation to come from China, or is there another aspect or component at work? My personal take is that Silicon Valley took off in the US because of its timing with WWII defense spending.
  - osullivj 5y ago
    Francis Spufford's Red Plenty is fascinating on engineering culture in closed societies. The recent Chernobyl drama series addresses the same point too. Technical problem solving and innovation work best in open societies where there's minimal political interference in the flow of information. The US overtook the UK as economic #1 in 1870, and is still #1. Despite 100 years of decline the UK is still top 10. IMHO domestic market size, effective autarky, an open society and drawing the smartest immigrants globally has kept the US at #1, and will continue to do so despite challenges in the 80s from the Japanese and more recently the Chinese.
redis_mlc 5y ago
There is one salient thing that held back British technology researchers - the Official Secrets Act. Computer pioneers who served in WW2 were not allowed to discuss their work or get funding after the war - in fact, banks would snitch on them to the govt. when a loan application crossed their desk. In addition, Britain did not "win" WW2 - they were bankrupted and had ration lines for 9 years afterwards. Meanwhile in the US, there was unlimited funding during the Cold War, and the US govt. had healthy partnerships with industry. For example, there were CDC and Cray supercomputers everywhere across the US.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]