From the crew that ruined tech investing with VC bubbles, commandeered innovation to make a surveillance state, sold out the middle class to H1B and DEI, politicized tech media, then laid everyone off.
Poor Marc, such a victim of his own success. I’ve seen him speak live, and it was clear from listening to him that he was very out of touch with reality. He was insightful on technology, and he definitely had a good understanding of business, but I had a feeling this was somebody who did great things long ago and has been coasting on their reputation and their money ever since. I wonder if in his personal life anyone ever tells him he's wrong or pushes back on him.
Interesting how a person who wrote something as deep as The Techno-Optimist Manifesto could hold views like these at the same time. First you achieve a rare level of insight that can only come through serious introspection about society, then you deny the value of introspection outright.
I guess the level of open-mindedness needed to become a successful tech entrepreneur also enabled that same cohort to consider a set of extremely counter-intuitive ideas that would have been immediately dismissed by most.
Interesting thing to tell people - this means any change of heart or apology from Marc should be viewed purely through a cold realist self interest lens and not be afforded any of the trappings of humanity.
I think when Andreessen said “long-term memory is mostly fake” he probably meant that we fabricate a lot of our memories, not that it’s impossible for a human to ever remember something. The author could keep in mind the principle of charity.
I wonder if this lack of interiority is a common trait amongst the most economically successful. I wouldn’t be surprised. The less introspection I do the more I end up optimizing for wealth, it’s pretty much the default in our society unless you consciously pick something else.
I don’t think I like that guy
I guess the level of open-mindedness needed to become a successful tech entrepreneur also enabled that same cohort to consider a set of extremely counter-intuitive ideas that would have been immediately dismissed by most.
Don’t anthropomorphise the lawnmower indeed.
I wonder if this lack of interiority is a common trait amongst the most economically successful. I wouldn’t be surprised. The less introspection I do the more I end up optimizing for wealth, it’s pretty much the default in our society unless you consciously pick something else.