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why do you think startups don't advance humanity especially compared to doctors!? most doctors don't participate in clinical trials, they just do what they are

by pas 4y ago

why do you think startups don't advance humanity especially compared to doctors!? most doctors don't participate in clinical trials, they just do what they are told to do by protocols. (of course most startups fail, and they do whatever is hype at the time.)

eastbound 4y ago
Everything is advancing humanity, then. Selling weapons might be seen as advancing humanity. Startups aren’t particularly human in average, neither in their goals nor internally. It’s just that, at the beginning of a new industry, all the low hanging fruits like “Register everyone in a big directory with photos”, “Make a video app where you can learn things” seem like advancing humanity, because it’s a leap forward. But they’re no better than in a mature industry, doing proper business. A doctor, a nurse talking with a dying person is advancing humanity. You, noticing a depressed man in the office; a kid talking to the bullied kid in class, that’s advancing humanity. No, Jira isn’t advancing humanity, no more than Carrefour negotiating rebates on vegetables against farmers.
- pas 4y ago
  Just that there's a spectrum, and because most things are very close to zero (and because there's a lot of small positive things) it doesn't mean that everything is above zero :) And ... selling weapons might be positive might be negative. Selling weapons to defend against Russia might be positive right now. Selling weapons to dumbass US civilians who then can't keep it safe seems negative. How is talking to anyone dying actually advancing humanity? Hitting the brakes on the cult of meaningless clinging to life in hospitals would be some advance. Allowing people to say goodbye while they still can... Jira definitely is from hell, but when it was not this cruel cloud-crazy incumbent it was doing some things better than the alternatives back then. I'm not saying startups are good because they are small/new/risk-taking, but I'm trying to say that incumbents are usually bad because they have more monopolistic tendencies (than the startups that want of course also usually want to eat the market).

by pas 4y ago

eastbound 4y ago

Everything is advancing humanity, then. Selling weapons might be seen as advancing humanity. Startups aren’t particularly human in average, neither in their goals nor internally. It’s just that, at the beginning of a new industry, all the low hanging fruits like “Register everyone in a big directory with photos”, “Make a video app where you can learn things” seem like advancing humanity, because it’s a leap forward. But they’re no better than in a mature industry, doing proper business. A doctor, a nurse talking with a dying person is advancing humanity. You, noticing a depressed man in the office; a kid talking to the bullied kid in class, that’s advancing humanity. No, Jira isn’t advancing humanity, no more than Carrefour negotiating rebates on vegetables against farmers.

pas 4y ago
Just that there's a spectrum, and because most things are very close to zero (and because there's a lot of small positive things) it doesn't mean that everything is above zero :) And ... selling weapons might be positive might be negative. Selling weapons to defend against Russia might be positive right now. Selling weapons to dumbass US civilians who then can't keep it safe seems negative. How is talking to anyone dying actually advancing humanity? Hitting the brakes on the cult of meaningless clinging to life in hospitals would be some advance. Allowing people to say goodbye while they still can... Jira definitely is from hell, but when it was not this cruel cloud-crazy incumbent it was doing some things better than the alternatives back then. I'm not saying startups are good because they are small/new/risk-taking, but I'm trying to say that incumbents are usually bad because they have more monopolistic tendencies (than the startups that want of course also usually want to eat the market).