4 ms·

Unfortunately, benefit to society seems to very rarely be the goal anymore. Cynically, as time goes on, it feels more and more as though we exist to be maximal

by mway 2y ago

Unfortunately, benefit to society seems to very rarely be the goal anymore. Cynically, as time goes on, it feels more and more as though we exist to be maximally extracted from, rather than to enjoy any intended benefit (where the benefit is not a happy byproduct that exists only because it is massively subsidized by aforementioned extraction).

gary_0 2y ago
> Unfortunately, benefit to society seems to very rarely be the goal anymore. If it ever was. Most of these businesses are still owned by the same people--the Sam Altmans, the Brins and Pages, the Elon Musks, the Steve Huffmans--who started out with the "not in it for the money" and "do no evil" rhetoric, and now their actions show that all that was just a lie from the start.
- appendix-rock 2y ago
  > just a lie from the start Ugh. Such a naive and simplistic take. People change, for better and worse. And the figureheads that unaccountable nerds love to bash here are sometimes just that, figureheads.
  - Eisenstein 2y ago
    And apologists are sometimes just that, too.
  - exe34 2y ago
    no, money seems to only change people for the worse. the rich ones who are good were good all along.
- OrigamiPastrami 2y ago
  Call me naïve, but I actually suspect Brin started out believing in "do no evil" and changed over time after becoming ridiculously wealthy. Having the misfortune of actually knowing some of the other people though, I firmly believe they were shitty from the beginning.
  - gary_0 2y ago
    Not living up to your word because you lack the moral fortitude, rather than having ill intent from the beginning, is still lying. You said you would do something, then ended up doing effectively the opposite. "I didn't lie, circumstances changed" is a bullshit cop-out, especially when it's a billionaire saying it.
    - sokoloff 2y ago
      When I was five, I said I was going to be an astronaut. As an adult, I took no action to make that happen; was I a big fat liar?
      - worble 2y ago
        Yes, but at least the only person affected by that was yourself, and not millions of people.
      - Eisenstein 2y ago
        Is a doctor allowed to abandon their Hippocratic oath because they aged 15 years?
        cgriswald 2y ago
        If he does, did he lie when he swore the oath?
        Eisenstein 2y ago
        If he lied when he swore the oath, is he still a doctor? BTW, I like this game: 'endlessly avoid making a point'. The winner is the person who gets the other one to end up questioning something that is required for a shared reality -- thus effectively admitting they might as well be arguing with themselves.
        cgriswald 2y ago
immibis 2y ago
This has been the norm for most of human history, except for brief periods of time after the people being extracted from organised themselves enough to kill the people doing the extracting.

by mway 2y ago

gary_0 2y ago

> Unfortunately, benefit to society seems to very rarely be the goal anymore. If it ever was. Most of these businesses are still owned by the same people--the Sam Altmans, the Brins and Pages, the Elon Musks, the Steve Huffmans--who started out with the "not in it for the money" and "do no evil" rhetoric, and now their actions show that all that was just a lie from the start.

appendix-rock 2y ago
> just a lie from the start Ugh. Such a naive and simplistic take. People change, for better and worse. And the figureheads that unaccountable nerds love to bash here are sometimes just that, figureheads.
- Eisenstein 2y ago
  And apologists are sometimes just that, too.
- exe34 2y ago
  no, money seems to only change people for the worse. the rich ones who are good were good all along.
OrigamiPastrami 2y ago
Call me naïve, but I actually suspect Brin started out believing in "do no evil" and changed over time after becoming ridiculously wealthy. Having the misfortune of actually knowing some of the other people though, I firmly believe they were shitty from the beginning.
- gary_0 2y ago
  Not living up to your word because you lack the moral fortitude, rather than having ill intent from the beginning, is still lying. You said you would do something, then ended up doing effectively the opposite. "I didn't lie, circumstances changed" is a bullshit cop-out, especially when it's a billionaire saying it.
  - sokoloff 2y ago
    When I was five, I said I was going to be an astronaut. As an adult, I took no action to make that happen; was I a big fat liar?
    - worble 2y ago
      Yes, but at least the only person affected by that was yourself, and not millions of people.
    - Eisenstein 2y ago
      Is a doctor allowed to abandon their Hippocratic oath because they aged 15 years?
      - cgriswald 2y ago
        If he does, did he lie when he swore the oath?
        Eisenstein 2y ago
        If he lied when he swore the oath, is he still a doctor? BTW, I like this game: 'endlessly avoid making a point'. The winner is the person who gets the other one to end up questioning something that is required for a shared reality -- thus effectively admitting they might as well be arguing with themselves.
        cgriswald 2y ago

immibis 2y ago

This has been the norm for most of human history, except for brief periods of time after the people being extracted from organised themselves enough to kill the people doing the extracting.