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This is what happens when you have VCs putting on hackathons at NorCal universities and scooping people off the campuses before they ever get their degrees. If

This is what happens when you have VCs putting on hackathons at NorCal universities and scooping people off the campuses before they ever get their degrees. If you take a guy under the age of 25, give him millions of dollars, and tell him he's a genius, he's going to develop a personality disorder.

steveBK123 2mo ago
And many start with a personality disorder already so it only compounds
jimbob45 2mo ago
Same with D1 NCAAF athletes. They’re getting millions starting at age 18 from NIL. There’s just no way that’s healthy even if we all agree NIL was the morally correct path forward.
- tacomonstrous 2mo ago
  The true morally correct path would have been to take big money out of college sports (not to mention high school sport) entirely. Of course this is now essentially impossible without what I imagine will be extensive rioting countrywide.
  - jimbob45 2mo ago
    How? Charge stadium ticket prices and jerseys at cost?
    - Gud 2mo ago
      This is only a problem in the USA. In Sweden, we don't have enormous college stadiums.
    - labcomputer 2mo ago
      Sure, why not? The founding charter of every D1 football school claims that it is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of education. It is still a mystery to me how recruiting "student athletes", with well below-average academic qualifications and superior athletic qualifications, giving them full-ride scholarships (which can be revoked if they fail to perform on the field) and allowing them to take the easiest courses (with dedicated tutoring staff looking over their shoulders), all while paying coaches the highest salaries on campus and using ticket sales to fund ever-bigger stadiums, has anything at all to do with education. Perhaps the connection to education is that it is meant to be an object lesson (for the rest of the student body) in how to spot corruption and hypocrisy within power structures. So I see two paths forward: Admit that the whole thing is a sham and just pay the football players their due; or turn legit and take the big money out of college sports by having actual student-athletes (who are students first).
aleph_minus_one 2mo ago
> This is what happens when you have VCs putting on hackathons at NorCal universities and scooping people off the campuses before they ever get their degrees. > If you take a guy under the age of 25, give him millions of dollars, and tell him he's a genius, he's going to develop a personality disorder. I think it is a little bit more complicated: I think there exists some very specific personality trait (my guess is either narcissism or at least some predisposition for narcissism; for the rest of this post, let's assume that this is the personality trait) which makes some people prone to this phenomenon. So, at these hackathons, VCs look for students with two properties: 1. smart (e.g. achieving a good place in the hackathon) 2. has a predisposition for narcissism It should be obvious why VC have very limited use for people who are not smart. On the other hand, students who don't have a predisposition for narcissism will be much harder to control via the mechanism that you mentioned. So, even if such a student initially get the attention of some VC, he will sooner or later get "dropped" by the VC.
- TheOtherHobbes 2mo ago
  I had a friend who tried to get a job as a trader with one of the big banks. They fired him after six months because he "wasn't hungry enough." People with NPD make terrible leaders and they literally have a very tenuous grip on reality. These are exactly the people who get promoted to billionaire status, which hugely amplifies their ability to damage everything and everyone. The entire system is insane.
- red-iron-pine 2mo ago
  why would you willingly look for a narcissist in a junior, albeit it sharp, coder? these people are terrible to work with and delusional af you look for ambitious, maybe, but anti-social personality traits are a burned bridge waiting to happen. the sociopaths, narcissistic or not, know to STFU and roll with it until there is a conflict of interest

steveBK123 2mo ago

And many start with a personality disorder already so it only compounds

jimbob45 2mo ago

Same with D1 NCAAF athletes. They’re getting millions starting at age 18 from NIL. There’s just no way that’s healthy even if we all agree NIL was the morally correct path forward.

tacomonstrous 2mo ago
The true morally correct path would have been to take big money out of college sports (not to mention high school sport) entirely. Of course this is now essentially impossible without what I imagine will be extensive rioting countrywide.
- jimbob45 2mo ago
  How? Charge stadium ticket prices and jerseys at cost?
  - Gud 2mo ago
    This is only a problem in the USA. In Sweden, we don't have enormous college stadiums.
  - labcomputer 2mo ago
    Sure, why not? The founding charter of every D1 football school claims that it is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of education. It is still a mystery to me how recruiting "student athletes", with well below-average academic qualifications and superior athletic qualifications, giving them full-ride scholarships (which can be revoked if they fail to perform on the field) and allowing them to take the easiest courses (with dedicated tutoring staff looking over their shoulders), all while paying coaches the highest salaries on campus and using ticket sales to fund ever-bigger stadiums, has anything at all to do with education. Perhaps the connection to education is that it is meant to be an object lesson (for the rest of the student body) in how to spot corruption and hypocrisy within power structures. So I see two paths forward: Admit that the whole thing is a sham and just pay the football players their due; or turn legit and take the big money out of college sports by having actual student-athletes (who are students first).

aleph_minus_one 2mo ago

> This is what happens when you have VCs putting on hackathons at NorCal universities and scooping people off the campuses before they ever get their degrees. > If you take a guy under the age of 25, give him millions of dollars, and tell him he's a genius, he's going to develop a personality disorder. I think it is a little bit more complicated: I think there exists some very specific personality trait (my guess is either narcissism or at least some predisposition for narcissism; for the rest of this post, let's assume that this is the personality trait) which makes some people prone to this phenomenon. So, at these hackathons, VCs look for students with two properties: 1. smart (e.g. achieving a good place in the hackathon) 2. has a predisposition for narcissism It should be obvious why VC have very limited use for people who are not smart. On the other hand, students who don't have a predisposition for narcissism will be much harder to control via the mechanism that you mentioned. So, even if such a student initially get the attention of some VC, he will sooner or later get "dropped" by the VC.

TheOtherHobbes 2mo ago
I had a friend who tried to get a job as a trader with one of the big banks. They fired him after six months because he "wasn't hungry enough." People with NPD make terrible leaders and they literally have a very tenuous grip on reality. These are exactly the people who get promoted to billionaire status, which hugely amplifies their ability to damage everything and everyone. The entire system is insane.
red-iron-pine 2mo ago
why would you willingly look for a narcissist in a junior, albeit it sharp, coder? these people are terrible to work with and delusional af you look for ambitious, maybe, but anti-social personality traits are a burned bridge waiting to happen. the sociopaths, narcissistic or not, know to STFU and roll with it until there is a conflict of interest