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I think the question is more "do you have to be amoral to run a large organisation?" There are endless numbers of idiots in black turtlenecks being absolute di
by marcus_holmes 2y ago
I think the question is more "do you have to be amoral to run a large organisation?"
There are endless numbers of idiots in black turtlenecks being absolute dicks to other co-working space members because they believe that being a dick is a prerequisite to commercial success. They are clearly cargo-culting something.
Most CEOs of large organisations appear to be psychopaths. Is this because you need to be a psychopath to run a large organisation? Or because you need to be a psychopath to get to be a CEO of a large organisation? (these are different things).
It does make sense that non-psychopathic founders don't build the kind of scale of organisation that we're having such problems with. A "normal" person can accept an exit at the merely "more money than you'll ever be able to spend in your lifetime" level, rather than scaling to FAAANG level. Likewise, non-psychopathic executives are probably at a disadvantage when climbing a career ladder.
Psychopathic CEOs make psychopathic decisions, based on their own mental dysfunction. We're seeing this in the Enshittification of Everything; though probably more immediately and clearly in Musk's antics at X: ego over every other consideration.
If we could wave a wand and appoint non-psychopathic CEOs at all the large tech companies, would we see them change behaviour and solve a lot of the problems themselves? Or is it inherent in the organisation culture now, or a required feature of the organisational culture in order to grow so large?
We have historically curbed the extreme capitalist tendencies that build such large organisations. We have anti-trust laws, and all sorts of regulations to control the damage that unbridled capitalism does, and break up large monopolistic organisations. Do we need to draw that line a lot lower for tech?
- WalterBright 2y ago> clearly in Musk's antics at X I like Musk's version of twitter better than the old version. His tweets often make me laugh.
- marcus_holmes 2y agoThat's kinda sad, though, isn't it? Someone with that much power and influence, running the de-facto platform for all our journalism and politics, and he's just laughable. I find that sad. Like watching a clown performing a slapstick routine and then realising that that isn't a clown and the slapstick is an important part of our societal infrastructure.
- WalterBright 2y agoI don't find having a sense of humor "sad".
- marcus_holmes 2y agoLaughing with him or at him?