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Do people actually find this kind of dunk content interesting? It's super popular but I wonder if people find it insightful or entertaining. I watched a little

by arjie 10mo ago

Do people actually find this kind of dunk content interesting? It's super popular but I wonder if people find it insightful or entertaining. I watched a little of Stephen Colbert and John Oliver and it's mostly boring stuff that is pretty much characterized as "This guy IS AN IDIOT!" and "They're LOSING" and whatnot. It seems like the equivalent of those "Charlie Kirk owns feminists with FACTS and LOGIC". If you go to /r/all you'll see that it's almost all dunk content. I get the appeal in an abstract sense. I get a real kick out of watching yet another Manchester United manager cock it up. But all I do is see the scores and enjoy a bit of schadenfreude. The audience for these guys seems highly enthusiastic about their content. It's like if I watched every United game to get as much enjoyment out of watching them suck. It's particularly annoying because people are clearly not posting this guy because he's right often or because he's good at predicting stuff. They're posting because he's dunking on people they dislike.

fabian2k 10mo ago
Haven't read this one, and there is certainly plenty of useless rage bait on the internet. But in general it is important and serves a purpose to criticize people wielding a lot of power. This doesn't have to be constructive, if those people are idiots and doing harmful things.
fuzzy2 10mo ago
People must find it click-worthy, otherwise why would we get the amount of "we got him"-type of content we do?
concinds 10mo ago
Gary Marcus is a terrific self-promoter and grifter, and there are very large audiences for that sort of stuff. It's simple. He does more than dunks though, I don't think that's really fair to him. He's trying to position himself as a public intellectual and expert.
- arjie 10mo ago
  I did a quick Algolia search https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=garymarcus.substack.com&sort=byDate&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... If I'm being honest, the combination of the HN audience and him is that he's just a dunk machine. It's all right. I get it. People here like this kind of content. I have to killfile the domain and users who post positively about it if I want to improve my personal feed. That's on me to curate rather than to post Yet Another Complaint Comment (the lesser known yacc). The rapid rise and slow decline of Sam Altman Let's be honest, Generative AI isn't going all that well Marcus Weighs in (Mostly) for LeCun Why ChatGPT can't be trusted with breaking news The AI bubble is all over now, baby blue Six (or seven) predictions for AI 2026 from a Generative AI realist The Core Misconception That Is Driving American AI Policy "Scale Is All You Need" Is Dead ChatGPT 3 turned 3 today. It still hasn't come close to meeting expectations A trillion dollars (potentially) wasted on gen-AI Has the bailout of generative AI begun? Yann LeCun originated none of his ideas Hot take on Google's Gemini 3 The False Glorification of Yann LeCun Sam Altman's pants are on fire Is Vibe Coding Dying? OpenAI probably can't make ends meet. That's where you come in Five signs that Generative AI is losing traction Usage may be declining Could China devastate the US without firing a shot? Five signs that Generative AI is losing traction Is vibe coding dying? Erdosgate AGI is not imminent, and LLMs are not the royal road to getting there Game over for pure LLMs. Even Rich Sutton has gotten off the bus New AI hype "Our language models are so 'conscious' we need to give them rights" Peak Bubble OpenAI's Future, Foretold?
TSiege 10mo ago
You're conflating Charlie Kirk trying to foment anger and humiliate random non-public figures to one of the most public and powerful person in the tech industry. Sam has made bombastic claims that were key to his success along with his shrewdness in the business and tech world. Reporting on this and looking at how his public and private profile have changed are an important part of an open and free society as it helps the general public understand the people and forces shaping their world. Is this particular article important in the grand scheme of things ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But I wouldn't throw the entire genre out

by arjie 10mo ago

fabian2k 10mo ago

Haven't read this one, and there is certainly plenty of useless rage bait on the internet. But in general it is important and serves a purpose to criticize people wielding a lot of power. This doesn't have to be constructive, if those people are idiots and doing harmful things.

fuzzy2 10mo ago

People must find it click-worthy, otherwise why would we get the amount of "we got him"-type of content we do?

concinds 10mo ago

Gary Marcus is a terrific self-promoter and grifter, and there are very large audiences for that sort of stuff. It's simple. He does more than dunks though, I don't think that's really fair to him. He's trying to position himself as a public intellectual and expert.

arjie 10mo ago
I did a quick Algolia search https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=garymarcus.substack.com&sort=byDate&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... If I'm being honest, the combination of the HN audience and him is that he's just a dunk machine. It's all right. I get it. People here like this kind of content. I have to killfile the domain and users who post positively about it if I want to improve my personal feed. That's on me to curate rather than to post Yet Another Complaint Comment (the lesser known yacc). The rapid rise and slow decline of Sam Altman Let's be honest, Generative AI isn't going all that well Marcus Weighs in (Mostly) for LeCun Why ChatGPT can't be trusted with breaking news The AI bubble is all over now, baby blue Six (or seven) predictions for AI 2026 from a Generative AI realist The Core Misconception That Is Driving American AI Policy "Scale Is All You Need" Is Dead ChatGPT 3 turned 3 today. It still hasn't come close to meeting expectations A trillion dollars (potentially) wasted on gen-AI Has the bailout of generative AI begun? Yann LeCun originated none of his ideas Hot take on Google's Gemini 3 The False Glorification of Yann LeCun Sam Altman's pants are on fire Is Vibe Coding Dying? OpenAI probably can't make ends meet. That's where you come in Five signs that Generative AI is losing traction Usage may be declining Could China devastate the US without firing a shot? Five signs that Generative AI is losing traction Is vibe coding dying? Erdosgate AGI is not imminent, and LLMs are not the royal road to getting there Game over for pure LLMs. Even Rich Sutton has gotten off the bus New AI hype "Our language models are so 'conscious' we need to give them rights" Peak Bubble OpenAI's Future, Foretold?

TSiege 10mo ago

You're conflating Charlie Kirk trying to foment anger and humiliate random non-public figures to one of the most public and powerful person in the tech industry. Sam has made bombastic claims that were key to his success along with his shrewdness in the business and tech world. Reporting on this and looking at how his public and private profile have changed are an important part of an open and free society as it helps the general public understand the people and forces shaping their world. Is this particular article important in the grand scheme of things ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But I wouldn't throw the entire genre out