3 ms·

There's some saying about rich people being cheap is what made them rich in the first place, but I'm not super convinced this carries over into business. It is

by rtpg 12y ago

There's some saying about rich people being cheap is what made them rich in the first place, but I'm not super convinced this carries over into business. It is extremely frustrating that a lot of tech companies have ended up like so many other companies : caring only about that dollar metric, and not considering the human aspect. So what if it costs more? At least you can feel better about yourself for not treating people as slaves. For a while I was naive enough to think that SV, being so awash with cash, would not feel the need to become filled with money-grubbers.

crdoconnor 12y ago
http://www.pnas.org/content/109/11/4086.full http://www.pnas.org/content/109/11/4086.full "Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals. In studies 1 and 2, upper-class individuals were more likely to break the law while driving, relative to lower-class individuals. In follow-up laboratory studies, upper-class individuals were more likely to exhibit unethical decision-making tendencies (study 3), take valued goods from others (study 4), lie in a negotiation (study 5), cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize (study 6), and endorse unethical behavior at work (study 7) than were lower-class individuals. Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that upper-class individuals’ unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed. " This doesn't explain which way the causality flows, but my own experience with silicon valley glitterati suggests that they start out nice (or at least pretty normal) and the money and power very, very gradually turns them into assholes. As always, there are numerous exceptions.
- ars_technician 12y ago
  The research that comes from this particular UC Berkeley group is frankly terrible. One of the studies to see if rich people break the law was done by seeing if BMW drivers follow traffic laws less frequently than other cars. It completely ignores that many rich people don't get BMWs and that many are just middle class "car" people. Their experiments are essentially an extension of their preconceived notions and the fact that their many flaws don't keep it from being published is a black mark on that entire field of "research".

by rtpg 12y ago

crdoconnor 12y ago

http://www.pnas.org/content/109/11/4086.full http://www.pnas.org/content/109/11/4086.full "Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals. In studies 1 and 2, upper-class individuals were more likely to break the law while driving, relative to lower-class individuals. In follow-up laboratory studies, upper-class individuals were more likely to exhibit unethical decision-making tendencies (study 3), take valued goods from others (study 4), lie in a negotiation (study 5), cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize (study 6), and endorse unethical behavior at work (study 7) than were lower-class individuals. Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that upper-class individuals’ unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed. " This doesn't explain which way the causality flows, but my own experience with silicon valley glitterati suggests that they start out nice (or at least pretty normal) and the money and power very, very gradually turns them into assholes. As always, there are numerous exceptions.

ars_technician 12y ago
The research that comes from this particular UC Berkeley group is frankly terrible. One of the studies to see if rich people break the law was done by seeing if BMW drivers follow traffic laws less frequently than other cars. It completely ignores that many rich people don't get BMWs and that many are just middle class "car" people. Their experiments are essentially an extension of their preconceived notions and the fact that their many flaws don't keep it from being published is a black mark on that entire field of "research".