posted on October 03, 2020 06:18 AM by
u/sue_me_please
74
u/SettraDontSurf48 pointsat 1601734603.000000
But there’s some slightly weird parallel universe where Trump comes
up with a wild-sounding idea that actually reduces the cost of the fence
by, like, a factor of ten, an idea with the same level of rationality as
“let’s build a rocket out of steel” or “what if we make a really tiny
expensive computer that people can, like, carry around” or “you know
this internet thing that people are talking about and that is probably
not going to be relevant long-term? let’s try selling books on it!
yeah!”
This is a child’s understanding of technological development, as if
the smart phone was just something some Super Duper Smart Guy thought up
one day and not the result of decades of gradual iterative improvements
on existing technology.
This is Steve Jobs's fault for mythologizing technological development into some pantheon story of singular god-like genius. Before that there was nothing to grab the public-- incremental progress by nondescript dudes with 70s glasses and names like Dennis and Richard isn't interesting or mentally digestible
While I agree with the overall sentiment, that isn’t remotely true as a matter of history
The public imagination about technology was enraptured by people like Sinclair in the 1980s, the Jobs phenomenon was more about a focus on design rather than a focus on technology
Jobs made a lot of things cool, but he didn’t invent the idea of the cool innovator, and was at various times dismissed as exactly the same kind of dorky nerd that you’re referencing here
Sinclair was not at all the same level of celebrity status as Jobs. Jobs was flat-out a celebrity culture/pop culture figure. Sinclair is closer to idk Jeff Bezos today or something. Ask anyone under 21 to name *one* figure in tech and they'll say Jobs-- his persona has lived on and penetrated into the public consciousness. Elon Musk could only have been the reddit/tech bro celebrity he is because Jobs did it first
I haven’t asked anybody under 21 so I can’t comment empirically but even though I’m not a betting man I’d put a bet on the name “Elon Musk” coming up over Jobs
But this misses the point: Sinclair was still a tech celebrity of sorts in the long years before anyone could reliably “just google it”
We shouldn’t lose sight of the wide gap between the culture of 40 years ago and now; I’m 27 years old and I try to keep myself level by considering this point when it comes to people like Sinclair
I'm in my 40s, and many people in my age cohort correctly remember that Steve Jobs never actually fucking invented any tech in his life; he stole it, borrowed it, cheated other people out of it, or threw tantrums and overworked his engineers to get it. Steve Jobs was the 20th century Edison.
Hey you take that back! Superman doesn't toil very much. Nor does he need to.
If these people idolise a comic book character, it would probably be Batman with his inherited wealth and plotbreaking intelligence/foresight. Or, for those of the Marvel persuasion, Tony Stark and his ex-nihilo inventions and arms-dealing business acumen.
True captains of industry, standing on nobody's shoulders but their own.
What a stupid saying, too. The vast majority of the time ridiculous ideas AREN'T secretly genius. It doesn't make sense to treat them all as secretly genius the way these chumps do.
Y'see, the main metallurgical flaw in Musklord's implementation of materials for his spacefaring vessel is that Rearden Metal hasn't been discovered yet.
Night on the Galactic Railroad is a pretty good book tbh.
Also, Starlink is bad enough- I would rather not have Earth's orbit cluttered with more of Musk's playthings.
If Trump suggested that we paint a tunnel on the side of a mountain
and then drop an Acme brand anvil on any migrant who wasn’t deterred by
it, would you jump through this many hoops to explain why that’s
actually a really smart idea and not incredibly stupid?
Mod: please take this alligator moat idea seriously.
lol @op funny
flashback.
(I have noticed before that people seem very weird about justifying
the various stupid ideas Trump has. Like people blaming the forest fires
on California not cleaning up the leaves).
Trump: What about snakes in a moat?
Motte: Actually, we should entertain the lunatic fringe
Poster: What about acme anvils on migrants? MOD:
FALLACIOUS AND IRRELEVANT
What a horrible example. It’s one thing to kick around nuking
hurricanes with your scientist friends who aren’t on your payroll and/or
have no problem telling you how stupid it is. It’s another to do this
with your “yes sir Mr. Trump sir” lackeys. You could tell from the
bleach press conference these are not freewheeling exchanges of
ideas.
Exactly. Blue-sky thinking is relatively tolerable if done in one's own backyard/on one's own time. Cranks can keep on trying to prove the earth is flat for all I care.
Things start to get messy if those in power use the trappings of startup culture/big data/rationalism (eg "disruption" strategies) as smoke and mirrors to obscure their lack of competence. Especially if surrounded by a cabinet of yes-men. The consequent misguided policies and misuse of public resources will affect everyone.
Moving fast and breaking things is dubious enough; moving fast and breaking people is unforgivable.
This is a child’s understanding of technological development, as if the smart phone was just something some Super Duper Smart Guy thought up one day and not the result of decades of gradual iterative improvements on existing technology.
[deleted]
I like how it immediately becomes about Greta Thunberg
Mod: please take this alligator moat idea seriously.
lol @op funny flashback.
(I have noticed before that people seem very weird about justifying the various stupid ideas Trump has. Like people blaming the forest fires on California not cleaning up the leaves).
Trump: What about snakes in a moat?
Motte: Actually, we should entertain the lunatic fringe
Poster: What about acme anvils on migrants?
MOD: FALLACIOUS AND IRRELEVANT
How has TheMotte never ended up on AHS?
What a horrible example. It’s one thing to kick around nuking hurricanes with your scientist friends who aren’t on your payroll and/or have no problem telling you how stupid it is. It’s another to do this with your “yes sir Mr. Trump sir” lackeys. You could tell from the bleach press conference these are not freewheeling exchanges of ideas.
Radioactive cobalt moat or riot
Wow.