Silicon Valley Techno-Utopianism

808fasciststate

ok, i take it back, it's all ok if Thiel is like

http://www.me.gr/m/photos/get_image/file/c4a5ed918dd0eb0c058b5cfa95afc85d.jpg

forwarded this link with subject: "smug silicon valley shits want to create a randian/fascist utopia" which is pretty much all i can really think to say about this

what is that gatefold from??

prodigy - music for the jilted generation

I think there's something about the combination of ego inflation AND deflation that they experience -- one world telling them they are geniuses and another telling them they are losers at the same time

Interestingly enough the thesis of Amy Chua's follow-up book was that this combo was at the root of Jewish-Chinese greatness

on second thought that's not actually that interesting

i, for one, welcome our asshole-technofascist overlords.

http://recode.net/2014/03/15/marc-andreessens-latest-tweetathon-naughty-fun-leads-to-ruined-lives-in-anonymous-apps/

this ding-dong has this sweet new bulleted point twitter rant style that seems pretty indicative of the dystopian trend

http://supost.com/post/index/129734920

This may not be the right place if you:

already seen this list republished about twenty times on twitter

is that a suggestion to add to their list?

hah, sure!

Could you live in Startup Castle?

but this is a good place for it as well

oh sorrry yeah

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CIxGwLRWcAAnWLt.jpg

haha omg

let's not get trolled by the SeekingArrangement dude, come on

jesus what a dolt

https://twitter.com/BenedictEvans/status/636183145776181248
https://twitter.com/BenedictEvans/status/635472257008058368

barf

dude needs an ascot and a pipe to really complete the full elitist WASPy asshole picture

yet *another* article about these guys:

http://www.theawl.com/2015/09/good-luck-to-human-kind

really good too

funny enuf this came out today too (have not read)

http://www.vox.com/2015/9/29/9411117/silicon-valley-politics-charts

wait what's that pancake machine tho

http://www.paulgraham.com/sim.html

https://twitter.com/AdamBalkin/status/684179869631135744

Somesaid Paul Graham was full of shit but I wasn't totally sure yet, but now I get it.

startups are good

startups create inequality

therefore inequality is good

'attack poverty' ok

Kinder shows you what expression is on your child's face so you don't have to look at it.

is there inequality where you live? shock and awe the problem with one of our poverty seeking opportunity bombs

remember when pg lived in cambridge and wrote lisp for a living

yeah this is actually good http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/paulgraham/jmc.ps

Not sure what thread this belongs in...

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/magazine/the-happiness-code.html?_r=0

I agree with the basic premise of self improvement methods here. But wow these people seem insufferable. All optimization of systems and practices of extreme rationality should be performed in the privacy of ones own home and not shacked up with a bunch of tech bros shoving their hands in your leftover curry.

Is Soylent involved?

Asher is a singing, freestyle rapping, former international Quidditch All-American turned software engineer.

yea nytimes is very obsessed w/ silly lifestyles of tech bros, this is like one of a dozen pieces in the past few years

This is the problem though

Last year, President Obama established a Social and Behavioral Sciences Team at the White House; based on its findings, he recently ordered federal agencies to use behavioral-economics strategies to improve participation in their programs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiz_Kids_(Department_of_Defense)

I have some "visions of the future" type book I got at a book sale that is a publication of the RAND corporation from the 70s, I need to dig that out

This administration has been really receptive to basically any techbro idea that isn't total political poison on its face; while that doesn't inevitably lead to SecDef Zuckerberg leading us into a war that his algorithms tell us we can win because science, it does make me increasingly uncomfortable for about a zillion other reasons and the presumptive 45th POTUS doesn't seem to have any interest in changing course

also seriously is there nobody around to point out that this shit is Esalen All Over Again or is that just understood and accepted because it's California, dude?

if it was a little less based in "research" it'd be scientology

that dude who has no formal training but is into the singularity is a good reference point, though

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/may/02/nudge-unit-has-it-worked
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge_theory

:-(

You know what Cass Sunstein did at OIRA? He wrote a memo that said that .gov website feedback forms could get through the Paperwork Reduction Act process in 90 days or less. This was called the Fast Track process. And then delayed the hell out of a bunch of EPA regulations on ozone. Guy's a fuckin' genius.

i was in dc for the first time a couple of weeks ago tombot and i described https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-digital-service to ppl there and they straight up laughed at the idea

actually i laughed at the bit where i said government websites are now responsive by de facto regulation

i mean it's utopian and sinister to apply #product design to government but having dealt with both governments as a resident i know which i prefer

http://giphy.com/gifs/2016-journalism-journalist-3o7rbU8oYEVkUwyMs8

https://media.giphy.com/media/3o7rbU8oYEVkUwyMs8/giphy.gif

seriously who did you tell that to? 'Cause Barack straight up hired Mikey from Google and started this shit last year and it's the new hotness all over the local version of "trade press"

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/08/11/fact-sheet-improving-and-simplifying-digital-services

https://www.whitehouse.gov/digital/united-states-digital-service

I actually threw my resume in the ring on a recommendation from a guy who was leaving for greener pastures, they gave me a phone interview and then told me I wasn't their type about four months later

I mean there was a 2011 executive order on customer service which was straight ripped off y'all's gov.uk initiatives and serious talk about driving down the federal web footprint to the absolute minimum necessary - they even put my team's domain on the chopping block

I am having fun relating these tales in outdated parody blogger voice