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Doug was at times blunt, but he was fundamentally a kind and generous person, and he had a dedication to his vision and to the people who worked alongside him t
by brundolf 3y ago
Doug was at times blunt, but he was fundamentally a kind and generous person, and he had a dedication to his vision and to the people who worked alongside him that has to be admired. He will be missed.
I worked at Cycorp (not directly with Doug very often, but it wasn't a big office) between 2016 and 2020
An anecdote: during our weekly all-hands lunch in the big conference room, he mentioned he was getting a new car (his old one was pretty old, but well-kept) and he asked if anybody could use the old car. One of the staff raised his hand sheepishly and said his daughter was about to start driving. Doug gifted him the car on the spot, without a second thought.
He also loved board games, and was in a D&D group with some others at the company. I was told he only ever played lawful good characters, he didn't know how to do otherwise :)
Happy to answer what questions I can
- late25 3y agoI don’t know much about him. What makes you start by saying he’s blunt?
- brundolf 3y agoIt was a part of his personality, as it is for many people who are intelligent and opinionated, and some can mistake that for unkindness. But I wanted to emphasize that in his case it wasn't.
- late25 3y agoGot it. I was merely curious if there were any particular stories, rumors, or legends about his bluntness (like there is Linus).
- brundolf 3y agoNo, it was never anything at that level. I would describe (pre-reformed) Linus as more than just "blunt"
- chefandy 3y agoI haven't read much by Lenat, and haven't seen anything that would lead me to believe he was particularly blunt, I disagree with attributing bluntness to intelligence. Some of the most intellectually blunt people I've met were some of the most conversationally blunt, and some of the most brilliant were absolute social butterflies. Making people needlessly uncomfortable when communicating is a shortcoming regardless of your intellectual capacity. Even if difficulty communicating appropriately and intelligence are correlated somewhat through common neuropsychiatric profiles, the relationship is not causal.
- chmod775 3y ago> Making people needlessly uncomfortable when communicating is a shortcoming regardless of your intellectual capacity. Emphasis on needlessly. Some bluntness is a good thing, even if it makes people uncomfortable. The alternative usually is prolonged awkwardness and beating around the bush, which likely will make people uncomfortable anyways. Just get it over with like an adult. Don't drag an uncomfortable thing out or even risk people not getting the message at all the first time around.
- chefandy 3y agoSure— the word choice was deliberate. If someone is known as a blunt person broadly, chances are they sucked at communicating appropriately.
- 3y ago
- zitterbewegung 3y agoI would expect lawful good because it would be the most logical.
- colordrops 3y agoWhy is that?
- djha-skin 3y agoThat's a very neutral thing to say.
- skylyzz 3y agoMay i ask, if you believe CYC cannot achieve intelligence / commonsense, what are the main reasons ? Or what are the reasons you believe it could ?