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I'll take a sinner turned saint over continued arrogance any day.

by pcunite 12y ago

CamperBob2 12y ago
(Shrug) It's easier to trust people who don't do things like that in the normal course of business. Can a leopard change its spots?
- csallen 12y ago
  This leopard-changing-its-spots analogy is the wrong way to look at things. It assumes that ethics and morality are permanently writ onto our cores, and that to change those values, one would have to become another person entirely. This is a false belief. As I mentioned in a comment below, numerous studies have shown that a person's ethics are heavily influenced by their present circumstances and environment, not some unchangeable inner nature.
  - davidp 12y ago
    > a person's ethics are primarily dictated by their present circumstances and environment Citation needed. I can accept "influenced by" or even "heavily influenced by" without too much argument, but "primarily dictated by" is an extraordinary claim, requiring extraordinary proof.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
    - csallen 12y ago
      Don't know why people are downvoting you. I support your comment, and changed my wording.
    - ThomPete 12y ago
      It is rather normal for people to change their political stance over the years as they go from young people who think they live forever to people with kids and responsibilities. Its probably not as obvious here in the US with a two party system but other places like Denmark and Sweden you see this change more clearly.
- adventured 12y ago
  Your rhetorical fails instantly. People aren't leopards, they don't have fixed 'spots.' So yes, most adults can change their value systems any time they choose to. In my personal experience they frequently do. In fact, I've never known a single person that didn't change quite a lot every five years or so.
  - CamperBob2 12y ago
    I don't necessarily disagree, but I'd prefer that this call be made by the judicial system whenever possible. When someone does something bad and escapes punishment for it, it can be harder to forgive. Is that such a stretch? Very interesting moderation in this thread. HN is not doing itself proud at the moment.
fit2rule 12y ago
At what point can you decide, rationally, that you've made the right take? After the fact? Before the fact? Fact: there is no such thing as a right time to write AARD code. Its a sin, pure and simple. Don't wait until the sinner is famous and rich...
rdrdss23 12y ago
What's sort of peculiar is - as far as I've seen/read - he's never been penitent about his past unethical behavior. No: "Yeah, I used to be a dick. I regret leading my company that way" or anything like that. Maybe I'm not well read enough about it though
- hyperbovine 12y ago
  Being a billionaire means never having to say you're sorry.

I'll take a sinner turned saint over continued arrogance any day.

by pcunite 12y ago

I'll take a sinner turned saint over continued arrogance any day.

(Shrug) It's easier to trust people who don't do things like that in the normal course of business. Can a leopard change its spots?

csallen 12y ago
This leopard-changing-its-spots analogy is the wrong way to look at things. It assumes that ethics and morality are permanently writ onto our cores, and that to change those values, one would have to become another person entirely. This is a false belief. As I mentioned in a comment below, numerous studies have shown that a person's ethics are heavily influenced by their present circumstances and environment, not some unchangeable inner nature.
- davidp 12y ago
  > a person's ethics are primarily dictated by their present circumstances and environment Citation needed. I can accept "influenced by" or even "heavily influenced by" without too much argument, but "primarily dictated by" is an extraordinary claim, requiring extraordinary proof.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - csallen 12y ago
    Don't know why people are downvoting you. I support your comment, and changed my wording.
  - ThomPete 12y ago
    It is rather normal for people to change their political stance over the years as they go from young people who think they live forever to people with kids and responsibilities. Its probably not as obvious here in the US with a two party system but other places like Denmark and Sweden you see this change more clearly.
adventured 12y ago
Your rhetorical fails instantly. People aren't leopards, they don't have fixed 'spots.' So yes, most adults can change their value systems any time they choose to. In my personal experience they frequently do. In fact, I've never known a single person that didn't change quite a lot every five years or so.
- CamperBob2 12y ago
  I don't necessarily disagree, but I'd prefer that this call be made by the judicial system whenever possible. When someone does something bad and escapes punishment for it, it can be harder to forgive. Is that such a stretch? Very interesting moderation in this thread. HN is not doing itself proud at the moment.

fit2rule 12y ago

At what point can you decide, rationally, that you've made the right take? After the fact? Before the fact? Fact: there is no such thing as a right time to write AARD code. Its a sin, pure and simple. Don't wait until the sinner is famous and rich...

rdrdss23 12y ago

What's sort of peculiar is - as far as I've seen/read - he's never been penitent about his past unethical behavior. No: "Yeah, I used to be a dick. I regret leading my company that way" or anything like that. Maybe I'm not well read enough about it though

hyperbovine 12y ago
Being a billionaire means never having to say you're sorry.