4 ms·

Sources? Are HF traders known to be objectively more “evil” people than others in the finance industry, or vicars of country churches, or social workers, or ca

Sources? Are HF traders known to be objectively more “evil” people than others in the finance industry, or vicars of country churches, or social workers, or cabinet ministers? If so, I’d love to see the studies.

pron 13y ago
I base this on the few people I know in this industry. Not scientific by any means. Now, people are hardly ever "evil", and they certainly never consider themselves evil. But even strangers would hardly call traders evil; they're just... how shall I put this... if you know some people working on (in?) Wall Street then you know the type. Of course, there are plenty of technical people working on the highly technical aspects of HFT with little regard to the domain itself, who don't fit the prototype; still, there are very few idealists in that industry.
- javert 13y ago
  > they're just... how shall I put this... if you know some people working in Wall Street then you know the type. Well, I don't know anyone working on Wall Street and I don't know the "type." Can you give concrete examples or details to substantiate your claim and make it specific? What is it in particular that you object to about these people? No offense, but as a disclaimer, I don't want to come across as giving your claim too much credence. In the abstract, any form of trading is a life-supporting activity (someone is voluntarily choosing to trade with you to mutual benefit) and thus is noble, other factors being equal (e.g. you're not committing fraud, etc.).
  - pron 13y ago
    You're right. I'm sorry for taking the ad-hominem path. We should discuss the practice, not the practitioners (what is it that some Christians say? Love the sinner, hate the sin? ;)
    - javert 13y ago
      I'm actually still curious about your anecdotal experience, though, if there's anything you'd like to share. Just because quants are not evil "in principle" doesn't mean there might not be certain personality traits that pop up often. I don't know anybody who works in that space.
      - pron 13y ago
        I don't think it would be appropriate at this point in the discussion. There are numerous articles and books about Wall Street culture; some of them are very true to life.
- theorique 13y ago
  Fair point. There is a certain ambitious Wall Street vibe that isn’t what I would call ‘evil’, exactly, but I wouldn’t consider it to be ‘socially conscious’ or ‘kind’ either. Sort of blandly self-interested. That said, I’m not sure that HFT is ‘worse’ than other sectors of the finance world, or law, or consulting, for this particular vibe.

pron 13y ago

I base this on the few people I know in this industry. Not scientific by any means. Now, people are hardly ever "evil", and they certainly never consider themselves evil. But even strangers would hardly call traders evil; they're just... how shall I put this... if you know some people working on (in?) Wall Street then you know the type. Of course, there are plenty of technical people working on the highly technical aspects of HFT with little regard to the domain itself, who don't fit the prototype; still, there are very few idealists in that industry.

javert 13y ago
> they're just... how shall I put this... if you know some people working in Wall Street then you know the type. Well, I don't know anyone working on Wall Street and I don't know the "type." Can you give concrete examples or details to substantiate your claim and make it specific? What is it in particular that you object to about these people? No offense, but as a disclaimer, I don't want to come across as giving your claim too much credence. In the abstract, any form of trading is a life-supporting activity (someone is voluntarily choosing to trade with you to mutual benefit) and thus is noble, other factors being equal (e.g. you're not committing fraud, etc.).
- pron 13y ago
  You're right. I'm sorry for taking the ad-hominem path. We should discuss the practice, not the practitioners (what is it that some Christians say? Love the sinner, hate the sin? ;)
  - javert 13y ago
    I'm actually still curious about your anecdotal experience, though, if there's anything you'd like to share. Just because quants are not evil "in principle" doesn't mean there might not be certain personality traits that pop up often. I don't know anybody who works in that space.
    - pron 13y ago
      I don't think it would be appropriate at this point in the discussion. There are numerous articles and books about Wall Street culture; some of them are very true to life.
theorique 13y ago
Fair point. There is a certain ambitious Wall Street vibe that isn’t what I would call ‘evil’, exactly, but I wouldn’t consider it to be ‘socially conscious’ or ‘kind’ either. Sort of blandly self-interested. That said, I’m not sure that HFT is ‘worse’ than other sectors of the finance world, or law, or consulting, for this particular vibe.