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I'm sure there are intelligent criticisms of Andreesson's manifesto, but this piece doesn't seem to contain any. I stopped reading after the second straw man ar

I'm sure there are intelligent criticisms of Andreesson's manifesto, but this piece doesn't seem to contain any. I stopped reading after the second straw man argument it made. The best I can say of this piece is that it made me aware of the existence of this manifesto. I don't think I'll be able to sleep without finding and reading it.

LewisVerstappen 3y ago
The fact that this is on the front page shows how steep the decline in intelligence of the average HN reader has been. People literally don't read articles anymore. They just upvoted based on the title (and if they agree with it)
- fdschoeneman 3y ago
  Well it did catch my eye. I need to publicize an open source project I'm working on soon, so perhaps I can learn from the techniques used. Maybe I will write badly on why my project will fail, encouraging rubberneckers...
  - LewisVerstappen 3y ago
    No seriously, when you write your title, base it on something the HN community agrees with even if it's completely irrelevant to your article. It'll do a lot better since HN readers now just upvoted based on the title without looking at the article. Been my observation at least as I've noticed a steady drop in HN quality and more politics BS on the front page.
- rmah 3y ago
  Indeed. I'm sure a reasonable case can be made to oppose Andressen's screed. But this author doesn't make one. The entire article can be summed up as: I disagree, and Andreessen is a poo poo head! It's sorta ironic that the author writes for gizmodo, literally living off the backs of what tecno-utopists built (or at least financed). The lack of self-awareness is just... I can't find the words.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
treyd 3y ago
Care to elaborate on what points you're saying are strawmans? Sure it's a gizmodo piece, written in the typical style, but that doesn't preclude it from making legitimate criticisms.
- yanderekko 3y ago
  >Andreessen’s newly espoused ideology did not spring up in a vacuum. Instead, it’s part of a broader movement that seeks to take all the guardrails off of technological development and push forward with “progress,” whatever the cost may be. Pretty clear strawman starting at the third paragraph. I'm sure we could dig up many more. This article is just a snarky rant. Embarassing.
  - chaps 3y ago
    How is that a strawman?
    - Supermancho 3y ago
      > a broader movement that seeks to take all the guardrails off of technological development and push forward with “progress,” whatever the cost may be. The manifesto starts with this as a defining motif. Growth is life, no-growth is death. Homeostasis be damned!
    - yanderekko 3y ago
      Do you seriously think that Andreesen would advocate for technological progress regardless of an arbitrarily high cost to human welfare?
      - chaps 3y ago
        When he's one of the biggest backers of the surveillance state and is advocating for even more of that.. yep. I do. I'll raise a strawman of my own: pretty indicative to see one of the co-authors of the Fascist Manifesto listed in Andreessen's list of "patron saints". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascist_Manifesto https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascist_Manifesto

LewisVerstappen 3y ago

The fact that this is on the front page shows how steep the decline in intelligence of the average HN reader has been. People literally don't read articles anymore. They just upvoted based on the title (and if they agree with it)

fdschoeneman 3y ago
Well it did catch my eye. I need to publicize an open source project I'm working on soon, so perhaps I can learn from the techniques used. Maybe I will write badly on why my project will fail, encouraging rubberneckers...
- LewisVerstappen 3y ago
  No seriously, when you write your title, base it on something the HN community agrees with even if it's completely irrelevant to your article. It'll do a lot better since HN readers now just upvoted based on the title without looking at the article. Been my observation at least as I've noticed a steady drop in HN quality and more politics BS on the front page.
rmah 3y ago
Indeed. I'm sure a reasonable case can be made to oppose Andressen's screed. But this author doesn't make one. The entire article can be summed up as: I disagree, and Andreessen is a poo poo head! It's sorta ironic that the author writes for gizmodo, literally living off the backs of what tecno-utopists built (or at least financed). The lack of self-awareness is just... I can't find the words.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

treyd 3y ago

Care to elaborate on what points you're saying are strawmans? Sure it's a gizmodo piece, written in the typical style, but that doesn't preclude it from making legitimate criticisms.

yanderekko 3y ago
>Andreessen’s newly espoused ideology did not spring up in a vacuum. Instead, it’s part of a broader movement that seeks to take all the guardrails off of technological development and push forward with “progress,” whatever the cost may be. Pretty clear strawman starting at the third paragraph. I'm sure we could dig up many more. This article is just a snarky rant. Embarassing.
- chaps 3y ago
  How is that a strawman?
  - Supermancho 3y ago
    > a broader movement that seeks to take all the guardrails off of technological development and push forward with “progress,” whatever the cost may be. The manifesto starts with this as a defining motif. Growth is life, no-growth is death. Homeostasis be damned!
  - yanderekko 3y ago
    Do you seriously think that Andreesen would advocate for technological progress regardless of an arbitrarily high cost to human welfare?
    - chaps 3y ago
      When he's one of the biggest backers of the surveillance state and is advocating for even more of that.. yep. I do. I'll raise a strawman of my own: pretty indicative to see one of the co-authors of the Fascist Manifesto listed in Andreessen's list of "patron saints". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascist_Manifesto https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascist_Manifesto