7 ms·
I'm not a big sucker for this kind of un-nuanced "us vs them" rhetoric, but I gotta admit, the title is a stroke of genius.
by skrebbel 11mo ago
I'm not a big sucker for this kind of un-nuanced "us vs them" rhetoric, but I gotta admit, the title is a stroke of genius.
- scandox 11mo agoClassic example of humour as stop-think
- sach1 11mo agoClassic example of motivated reasoning as stop think. Condescend at your own peril.
- scandox 11mo agoAs far as I knew I was agreeing with the commenter not condescending. The title is a great example of it's kind. It's funny enough to stop one interrogating the proposition it makes.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- skrebbel 11mo agoYou're replying to a single-sentence comment that both calls out the ridiculousness of this book's argument and its funny title. Clearly I can hold two ideas in my head at once and maybe, just maybe, other people can too. I struggle to imagine that anyone not already sympathetic to the high school classic "nerds suck" world view is going to suddenly be swayed by this funny book title.
- jamil7 11mo agoIt's cute but are there any actual nerds left in big tech leadership? Of the magnificent seven we basically only have Jensen Huang left as a technical leader and maybe you can count Zuckerberg.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- jve 11mo agoElon Musk must be one. Seems enough techy to me: Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink - software being used for the hardware in innovative ways. Edit: Oh, wow, mentioning this guy is surely controversial, sorry. However discussing whether he is a nerd, understands engineering on very deep level/gets his hands dirty OR he only manages people - there must be some psychological aspect related, a form of disagreement to discredit or have a hard time believing it can actually be true. Here is a list of credible persons commenting on Musk whether he understands engineering or not. With all the sources: https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/k1e0ta/evidence_that_musk_is_the_chief_engineer_of_spacex/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/k1e0ta/eviden...
- adev_ 11mo ago> Elon Musk must be one Spoiler: He is not. But he is very good at faking it. Anytime he tries to give a serious opinion on anything related to computers: It is laughably bad and out of touch (SQL, compilers, languages, performance, etc... ). He definitively has a scientific background but definitively not "Tech" as far as computer are concerned.
- n4r9 11mo agoGood example if anyone wants it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZslebJEZbE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZslebJEZbE
- sam-cop-vimes 11mo agoIt doesn't matter. He knows enough to be able to harness it for realising his worldview - and that is the problem.
- imtringued 11mo agoElon Musk is probably one of the most cutthroat businessmen on the planet. His skills don't lie in technological implementation whatsoever. Martin Eberhard was the technical co-founder of Tesla and Elon Musk is trying his best to erase his contributions to Tesla.
- nephihaha 11mo agoThere is a better one. It was about how the far right was trying to take over Furry Fandom... The title was "the Furred Reich".
- sillyfluke 11mo agohah, had to look this up to make sure this was a real thing. But disagree on which is better, the Nerd Reich has a better ring to it. When you say the other one out loud it sounds like "deferred Reich".
- rolandog 11mo agoPerhaps the nuance is in the eye of the beholder? I don't think it's sustainable to go about our lives wearing blinders and averting our gaze from the misuse of technology because one might be afraid of unhappy feelings creeping in. One must not be so cowardly as to deny that materials and technology can be misused or deny that their purpose is of oppression for fear of being attacked by group-thinkers. "The unexamined life is not worth living" as Socrates put it. So, I invite you not play the usual game of narrowly looking at a single if statement and conclude "there's nothing political in this"; but rather look at the bigger picture... the asymmetry in access to information, resources, weapons, and how that impacts everyone's lives... If we don't admit that there's a couple dozen people with immeasurable wealth and resources who have questionable intentions and opinions that affect our day-to-day lives, then we won't be able to prevent worse outcomes in a timely manner.
- tim333 11mo ago>deny that their purpose is of oppression... A lot of the uber-nerds are just regular nerds who got lucky, not part of some evil genius cabal. By all means keep an eye on them but I think for the most part they are regular people.
- array_key_first 11mo agoThey're some of the most powerful people in America and, by extension, the world. Wielding such power required immense restraint, control, and consideration.
- paulryanrogers 11mo agoPeople don't stay 'regular' for long after gaining immense power or money. I imagine it's quite difficult to stay grounded and humble in such situations, especially with legions of sycophants and yes-people hyping them up.
- lo_zamoyski 11mo agoPeople live mostly by convention, not reason (including those who think they don’t). When social sensibilities change, people move with them regardless of whether they are good or bad, because people in general are cowards. They fear life outside the crowd. For most, majority opinion - whether manufactured or not - is God. Most float downstream (including those who think they don’t); few swim upstream.
- sillyfluke 11mo ago>I'm not a big sucker for this kind of un-nuanced "us vs them" rhetoric Everyone usually has this stance by default until they think some batshit crazy redlines have been crossed regardless of what end of the political spectrum they reside in and decide to adopt an "us vs them, hope for peace, prepare for war" approach. I'm sure you have some "if they actually do <xyz> then I'll adopt a more alarmed stance" line in the sand, it's just drawn at a different point probably. That's why it's best to talk specifics of the case instead of declaring an abstract high-road stance.
- skrebbel 11mo agoYou misunderstand my point. I made no remark about whether big tech bosses behave harmfully or not (and in fact I believe that many do). My point is about blaming “nerds” or “Silicon Valley” for power grabs by a few asshole billionaires. As a nerd running a startup, I dislike the tendency of many journalists to blanket blame “nerds” for the behavior of nutjobs like Musk. It’s pure “us vs them” thinking, blaming the group for the behavior of a few.
- sillyfluke 11mo agoFair enough, but you have to admit it's virtually impossible to infer your two paragraphs here from that one sentence above. The calling out of "us vs them" rhetoric is what's stated clearly (as well as the fondness for the title).
- skrebbel 11mo agoFair! I traded clarity for internet points. Though then again, who could the “them” be if not “nerds” and “Silicon Valley”? That’s who the book calls the enemy.
- zrn900 11mo agoThe uncomfortable reality is that there does exist an 'us vs them' situation in every other aspect of society today, and those who ignore it end up on the losing side.
- tremon 11mo agoIt's not new. Quoth one of the best lyricists of the past century: > There is a war between those who say there is a war and the ones who say there isn't - Leonard Cohen, 1974
- dialup_sounds 11mo agoA statement so vague and ominous it could have been uttered at any point in human history by persons of any ideology without loss of meaning.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- kgwxd 11mo agoNot really, the "nerds" aren't in control any more. It's just typical assholes, cosplaying as "nerds", ruing everything.