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Vagueness, name dropping, [cargo cult entrepreneurship], hubris, and absurd sentences like 'If you have nothing better to do, let's change the world.' All in th

Vagueness, name dropping, [cargo cult entrepreneurship], hubris, and absurd sentences like 'If you have nothing better to do, let's change the world.' All in the context of a world with enough information on starting web businesses online to read past this level of naivety. All things hackers intend to bristle at. On the scale from savvy to clueless, this doesn't rate well. But the snarky tone of the headline isn't any better. Sequoia isn't even spelled properly...

matt1 18y ago
What does "iconoclasm" mean in this context?
- DaniFong 18y ago
  I meant two things: 1) Worship of icons and behaviors instead of the things which they represent; that is, cargo cult entrepreneurship. This is my own vague and probably incorrect usage. 2) If someone exclaims "Let's change the world," I would ask "Which part? Why?" Iconoclasm has a secondary meaning "A person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions." Changing the world does; to do so vaguely, or at random, or without actually mentioning the target, is not always such a sane thing to do.
  - swombat 18y ago
    Iconoclasm actually means the opposite. Iconoclasts were a bunch of people in the middle ages who had something against religious images and so went around breaking them. Icons = images. Clasm = break. So the traditional meaning of iconoclast in this context would be someone who seeks to break accepted imagery on a specific topic.
    - DaniFong 18y ago
      Thanks for pointing that out.
dbrush 18y ago
I could more readily agree with what you're saying if a great resource like Hacker News didn't consistently get high-ranked items with headlines like "10 Ways To Get Motivated To Change The World By Starting A Startup" For what it's worth: the CraigsList poster is light years ahead of midwestern Union workers are with their compulsions to invest in Quixtar and 'systems' from Carleton Sheets. But really, who is to judge? I think it's cool that this person is, at the very least, pretending to try.
- DaniFong 18y ago
  I think it's cool too. And I'd give them encouragement. And I'd try to resist the urge to pat them on the head. But as for why it's getting voted up, that's my assessment. Honestly, I really dislike the self-consciously self-focused articles we've been getting like our "10 Ways to Get Motivated..." articles. It's so... contentless. I come here for "Hacker News," not "'Hacker News,' News."

matt1 18y ago

What does "iconoclasm" mean in this context?

DaniFong 18y ago
I meant two things: 1) Worship of icons and behaviors instead of the things which they represent; that is, cargo cult entrepreneurship. This is my own vague and probably incorrect usage. 2) If someone exclaims "Let's change the world," I would ask "Which part? Why?" Iconoclasm has a secondary meaning "A person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions." Changing the world does; to do so vaguely, or at random, or without actually mentioning the target, is not always such a sane thing to do.
- swombat 18y ago
  Iconoclasm actually means the opposite. Iconoclasts were a bunch of people in the middle ages who had something against religious images and so went around breaking them. Icons = images. Clasm = break. So the traditional meaning of iconoclast in this context would be someone who seeks to break accepted imagery on a specific topic.
  - DaniFong 18y ago
    Thanks for pointing that out.

dbrush 18y ago

I could more readily agree with what you're saying if a great resource like Hacker News didn't consistently get high-ranked items with headlines like "10 Ways To Get Motivated To Change The World By Starting A Startup" For what it's worth: the CraigsList poster is light years ahead of midwestern Union workers are with their compulsions to invest in Quixtar and 'systems' from Carleton Sheets. But really, who is to judge? I think it's cool that this person is, at the very least, pretending to try.

DaniFong 18y ago
I think it's cool too. And I'd give them encouragement. And I'd try to resist the urge to pat them on the head. But as for why it's getting voted up, that's my assessment. Honestly, I really dislike the self-consciously self-focused articles we've been getting like our "10 Ways to Get Motivated..." articles. It's so... contentless. I come here for "Hacker News," not "'Hacker News,' News."