I didn't know that was a real thing Marc Andreesen actually said. What is up with all these psychos masquerading as humans? It's so depressing because I used to idolize folks like Andreesen, Musk, Bezos, Page, etc. Now I find them all basically disgusting weirdos. Not sure if it's a mix of having to be kinds narcissistic/psychopathic to achieve that level of success in the first place, or if being so outlandishly wealthy insulated you from normal human guardrails (probably both).
But in any case, I don't quite get how folks who work at a16z can look at themselves in the mirror everyday.
There's something about becoming rich that seems to corrupt a high percentage of people. You can tell which ones, they are the ones who keep trying to get more money.
The ones who don't get corrupted tend to live quiet lives after they reach a high level of wealth.
The most common misunderstanding that people have about the extreme rich like Bezos or Musk, is that they're trying to get more money as their motivation. It's a remarkable failure of understanding, a kind of overly simplistic boiling down. Akin to: Iraq was about the oil (it was about power and control over the Middle East more broadly, oil is a trinket like the USD, secondary; the Middle East is a great powers battleground, between the US and Russia (and more recently China)).
They're trying to get their way, money is one means. They're trying to implement something they have in mind, outcomes, money is very useful for that in most cases. They're not trying to get more money as the thing unto itself, it's a tool of power/control/influence.
People that have never been near extreme wealth usually fall back to the very primitive reasoning of: it's just money grubbing, it's base greed. Because that's bumper sticker simple thinking that is easy to cuddle up to.
Back in reality, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, et al. these people are humans, they want things, they want outcomes, they have notions for how they think the world should be. Money helps them pursue that, it's nothing but a tool for them, a means to an end. It's comically foolish to think the money is the end.
> They're not trying to get more money as the thing unto itself, it's a tool of power/control/influence.
But this is exactly why people shouldn't be able to accumulate that level of wealth and progressive taxation levels should reach 100% beyond a certain level and we should fix the tax code to tax all wealth and not just standard income.
That much wealth accumulation is anti-democracy.
Nobody elected them to have as much power as that wealth buys them.
This take is ill-informed. He's just saying you can't get hung up on your previous investments, decisions, etc. Keep moving forward. A16Z folks are very human, terrific at what they do and good people.
Can you please stop making personally mean comments about people's personal attributes on HN? This is not a site for people who think this is the way to discuss things, and eventually we have to ban people who keep doing it.
It's fine to debate and critique people's actions. But these repeated sneering, belittling snarls about someone's knowledge level and even physical characteristics are off limits here, no matter who they're about.
This is a site for people who have higher standards of themselves than this. Please read the guidelines carefully and have a think about if this is really the right place for your style of discourse. <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html">https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
Sorry, but I have no compunction when it comes dunking on the appearance or tics of ultra wealthy white men who proudly proclaim their own free speech absolutism as cover for their support of rising authoritarianism.
I wouldn't say such things about a normal person, but punching up on powerful people who are actively harming society is always morally correct.
And what he said about the history of introspection was just idiotic babble.
You're not punching anyone. People like that aren't reading this garbage. The only people reading it are other HN readers who are almost all just employees and indie developers trying to make a living. If you want to make an actual difference to the world, come up with interesting new ideas that can actually change things. Otherwise, stop wasting everyone's time, your own most of all.
The guidelines make it clear what is and isn't welcome here, and combat is offtopic no matter what the topic, but especially when the topic is a person's passing.
I've read a ton of Andreesen's pronouncements over the recent years, including many things that were specifically in his own words, e.g. <a href="https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/" rel="nofollow">https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/
Frankly, if I had to compare that manifesto with the Unabombers', I think the Unabomber's makes a lot more sense. Everything I've ever heard out of Andreesen's mouth is "whatever advancements that have made me a mega billionaire are great, and anybody who says otherwise wants to murder children." The absolute cluelessness over even willing to contemplate that technological advancements have some real downsides is so self serving it's gross.
You say "A16Z folks are very human, terrific at what they do and good people." I accept they're very human and terrific at what they do, but no, I don't think they are good people. Hardly anybody ever really thinks "maybe we're the baddies?", and people can tell themselves all sorts of stories about why they're good people as they're raking in millions of dollars. But I'm sick of pretending that people at that level don't have a choice, and what they're choosing to do is cash in while investing in a shitload of things that have negative societal impact. I mean, someone at a16z greenlit the Doublespeed (aka "AI bot farm") investment, and I'm sure they think of themselves as a good person.
JSR_FDED · · focus · HN ↗
georgemcbay · · focus · HN ↗
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hn_throwaway_99 · · focus · HN ↗
But in any case, I don't quite get how folks who work at a16z can look at themselves in the mirror everyday.
FlowingRiver · · focus · HN ↗
zhivota · · focus · HN ↗
The ones who don't get corrupted tend to live quiet lives after they reach a high level of wealth.
altmanaltman · · focus · HN ↗
adventured · · focus · HN ↗
They're trying to get their way, money is one means. They're trying to implement something they have in mind, outcomes, money is very useful for that in most cases. They're not trying to get more money as the thing unto itself, it's a tool of power/control/influence.
People that have never been near extreme wealth usually fall back to the very primitive reasoning of: it's just money grubbing, it's base greed. Because that's bumper sticker simple thinking that is easy to cuddle up to.
Back in reality, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, et al. these people are humans, they want things, they want outcomes, they have notions for how they think the world should be. Money helps them pursue that, it's nothing but a tool for them, a means to an end. It's comically foolish to think the money is the end.
georgemcbay · · focus · HN ↗
But this is exactly why people shouldn't be able to accumulate that level of wealth and progressive taxation levels should reach 100% beyond a certain level and we should fix the tax code to tax all wealth and not just standard income.
That much wealth accumulation is anti-democracy.
Nobody elected them to have as much power as that wealth buys them.
[deleted] · · focus · HN ↗
[deleted]
pbreit · · focus · HN ↗
georgemcbay · · focus · HN ↗
tomhow · · focus · HN ↗
It's fine to debate and critique people's actions. But these repeated sneering, belittling snarls about someone's knowledge level and even physical characteristics are off limits here, no matter who they're about.
This is a site for people who have higher standards of themselves than this. Please read the guidelines carefully and have a think about if this is really the right place for your style of discourse. <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html">https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
georgemcbay · · focus · HN ↗
Sorry, but I have no compunction when it comes dunking on the appearance or tics of ultra wealthy white men who proudly proclaim their own free speech absolutism as cover for their support of rising authoritarianism.
I wouldn't say such things about a normal person, but punching up on powerful people who are actively harming society is always morally correct.
And what he said about the history of introspection was just idiotic babble.
tomhow · · focus · HN ↗
You're not punching anyone. People like that aren't reading this garbage. The only people reading it are other HN readers who are almost all just employees and indie developers trying to make a living. If you want to make an actual difference to the world, come up with interesting new ideas that can actually change things. Otherwise, stop wasting everyone's time, your own most of all.
The guidelines make it clear what is and isn't welcome here, and combat is offtopic no matter what the topic, but especially when the topic is a person's passing.
hn_throwaway_99 · · focus · HN ↗
Frankly, if I had to compare that manifesto with the Unabombers', I think the Unabomber's makes a lot more sense. Everything I've ever heard out of Andreesen's mouth is "whatever advancements that have made me a mega billionaire are great, and anybody who says otherwise wants to murder children." The absolute cluelessness over even willing to contemplate that technological advancements have some real downsides is so self serving it's gross.
You say "A16Z folks are very human, terrific at what they do and good people." I accept they're very human and terrific at what they do, but no, I don't think they are good people. Hardly anybody ever really thinks "maybe we're the baddies?", and people can tell themselves all sorts of stories about why they're good people as they're raking in millions of dollars. But I'm sick of pretending that people at that level don't have a choice, and what they're choosing to do is cash in while investing in a shitload of things that have negative societal impact. I mean, someone at a16z greenlit the Doublespeed (aka "AI bot farm") investment, and I'm sure they think of themselves as a good person.