Around the time that I became a parent, I remember a friend’s wife emphatically telling me why one should never ever give fruit juice to a child. Later in the evening, she recounted an anecdote where a bout of constipation was cured with prune juice. I could not help myself from commenting “but isn’t that fruit?”
somehow this thread reminds me of that conversation.
have you never visited a rural neighborhood? or an affluent neighborhood?
there are still many neighborhoods where people leave their doors unlocked because it is actually that safe. not every location is rife with criminal activity, and many are well protected.
Cheap ubiquitous distributed power systems will change the world in many weird ways. Watch small modular nuclear offer home installation for ~$reasonable and getting cheaper every year.
Fast forward 20 years from the advent of essentially infinite energy results in WWIII and a new “Great Detente” but only after all the assholes have wreaked all the havoc they can.
There are dark days ahead but ultimately a brighter future. Sucks to live through that transition phase though.
The cost of code production is trending to zero. Therefore, the things that come before it and after it become much more crucial.
On the “pre” side, the specification of the problem becomes much more important. On the “post” side: QA and verification that the change has its desired effect, and no ill effects, also becomes much more important.
Sure, these are the next things to be automated, and people will try, but it’s easier on the backend (testing/verification can be automated) than the front end (the spec will be human-written as long as someone cares = forever for brands that matter), there will always be a need for humans on the specification side.
> Treating anti-micro-plastics as a "religion" rather than a subculture based on a meme deserves a bit more nuance.
Agreed, and I think we satisfy your two conditions and many more.
If I read you right, question 1 pertains to irrationality, and question 2 pertains to powerful storytelling.
OK here’s one example that shows you are on the right track, but there is still more.
My ex-wife is gluten free. This single choice never comes alone. in my ex-wife’s case, she also believes in the healing power of crystals and essential oils. (Irrationality checkbox); I cannot describe her vision of cosmic creation but I guarantee it involves witchcraft/folk
magic and differs from
traditional dogma (Storytelling checkbox).
BUT THERE IS AT LEAST ONE MORE VERY IMPORTANT CHECKBOX! A good religion also prescribes a proper way to behave and act in the world for maximum benefit in the afterlife. In these newer religions, the afterlife is “the health of the planet”, so one must do everything in this life to ensure you do not hurt that future.
Sorry if I offended you; fwiw I was describing a phenomenon that I observe. My own attitude about this whole situation was left unspecified, so I’ll add a few notes here: I do actively pick up litter (sometimes bigtime: I cleared a derelict boat from a lake today!) and I try to not litter. I try to respect the planet. I do use a lot of plastic.
> requires buying a whole new set of things that distinguish them from their peers
No, it requires buying a whole new set of things to fit in with and be accepted by their peers, to distinguish themselves from the outgroup, the plastic users.
I don’t necessarily believe this is some emergent elitism; I see it more as a modern religion with many many rules about eating and consumption (using plastic is now a sin).
Like any religion, sinners (for example plastic users) are mostly pitied because they are ignorant, but those who know and choose to use plastic anyway, well, it’s OK to hate them.
maybe that’s the point. in the SV mentality I wouldn’t refer someone solely based on their credentials or a superficial connection either. It would be because I had an engaging conversation that made me think of you, and then thinking that you would also find value in having conversation with that person.
Because I know you’re curious and want the latest new ideas, it’s perceived as a gift in SV-land. I wouldn’t offer an experience that wasn’t win-win.
EDIT: thinking further about this, it’s really a difference in sampling techniques to ascertain reality and strategy.
In SV, you want to gather as many wild and crazy ideas as possible. You’re not upset if you have the occasional low-value conversation, because you have so many conversations with so many people that you can synthesize a hi-res picture of what you’re looking at.
I feel maybe the East Coast mentality is the inverse: I want to sample from few sources, whose quality is guaranteed to be very high.
I had negative wealth and no meaningful connections when I moved to the SF Bay, so you’re wrong on that.
But I did know to move there, so you’re right on that.
And yes, while the pay-it-forward culture is still very much alive and you can find it if you look, I don’t think it has the ubiquity today that it did back then. You’re also right that the culture has shifted a bit.
When I was first trying to start companies, I would ask everyone for advice. Some people are more engaging and helpful than others. Some people expect something in return.
In SV, in the 90s/00s, no one wanted anything in return. Everyone was there to help. We all understood that the entrepreneur’s path is a nearly impossible one, and if you have somehow followed it to success, you want to try to guide others to that successful place.
After ~20 years I’ve left SV but I retain the mentality :) AMA
But I can’t disagree that it’s more exciting to imagine terror dreams.