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'Increasingly, People in Silicon Valley Are Losing Touch With Reality' (500ish.com)

Longtime commentator MG Siegler writes: You can see it in the tweets. You can hear it at tech conferences. Hell, you can hear it at most cafes in San Francisco on any given day. People -- really smart people -- saying some of the most vacuous things. Words that if they were able to take a step outside of their own heads and hear, they'd be embarrassed by. Or, at least, these are stances, thoughts, and ideas that these people should be embarrassed by. But they're clearly not because they keep saying them. This isn't only about Facebook -- far from it. That's just the most high profile and timely example of a company suffering from some of this. And in that case, it's really more in their responses to the Cambridge Analytica situation, rather than the situation itself (which is another matter, though undoubtedly related). They don't know the right things to say because they don't know what to say, period. Because they've slipped out of touch.

But again, I feel like this is increasingly everywhere I look around tech. It's an industry filled with some of the most brilliant people in the world, which makes it all the more disappointing. I won't name names but also because I don't have to. I'd wager everyone reading this will have clear and obvious examples of what I'm talking about in their own circles -- even if only in their own virtual circles. This is everywhere. I don't know the cause of this. Perhaps we can blame part of it on Trump, even if only indirectly (a man who has gotten ahead in life by saying asinine things). If I had to guess, I'd say the root is an increasing sense of entitlement as the tech industry has grown in stature to become the most important from a fiscal perspective and arguably from a cultural perspective as well.

4 of 458 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not just the valley. by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hey, internet junkies are just like F18 pilots. Both freak out when they find NO CARRIER.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  2. For those needing examples... by rs1n · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...the article itself was example.

  3. Re:Idiot post about Silicon Valley by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Funny
    Too bad, because you missed the key sentence:

    I’m honestly not even sure that some individuals—people I know—could pass the Turing test at this point

    This article was clearly written by a robot.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  4. Re:Idiot post about Silicon Valley by eaglesrule · · Score: 1, Funny

    That's some great logic.

    mod up: heads, I win

    mod down: tails, you lose.

    Oh, and overuse of playing the victim card is another trait of a SJW. Yes, that was a microaggression.