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I could be mistaken, but I think that line is a reference to an interview with Jeff Hammerbacher: Hammerbacher looked around Silicon Valley at companies like h

by rquantz 14y ago

I could be mistaken, but I think that line is a reference to an interview with Jeff Hammerbacher: Hammerbacher looked around Silicon Valley at companies like his own, Google (GOOG), and Twitter, and saw his peers wasting their talents. "The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads," he says. "That sucks." http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_17/b4225060960537.htm http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_17/b42250609... Which, I hope not coincidentally, echoes Allen Ginsberg's Howl.

mikeash 14y ago
It strikes me as a self-contradictory statement. If these minds are so great, why are they working on such mundane things? There's more to this equation than raw intelligence. Being one of the "best minds" also requires experience, drive, and the wisdom to apply one's talents usefully.
- rquantz 14y ago
  And that's been discussed here earlier today: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5087065 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5087065 However, I would be willing to forgive even the best minds for taking a high paying job with good benefits at Google or Facebook. These are hard decisions to make, and a hard world to live in with ideals. That being said, I'd rather the energy and treasure of our society go towards things other than consumerism.
phil 14y ago
It's also a reference to the opening line of Howl, of course: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/179381 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/179381 I don't know if that's what Jeff intended or not, but a lot of readers are going to have a strong association with the phrase "the best minds of my generation."