This is a twofer:
- The article itself
- HN’s take on it
Tech bro ennui, the societal problem.
In this essay I will explore solutions to this problems.
Solution 1. Really high marginal tax rates. Oh, this solves the problem, guess my work here is done.
Just the opening alone, doesn’t know what to do with his life, but mentions ‘NPC coworkers’ (that is also so fucking weird, I don’t think I have worked with much people who gave off an NPC vibe off at all, like people always seemed like people with lives and hobbies, social lives, families interests, stuff they cared about, etc.
It started to dawn on me that what I actually wanted was to look like Elon, and that is incredibly cringe. It hurts to even type this out.
My reactions to this ‘ow come on, you call others NPCs?!’ and ‘at least he knows it is cringe’
When I got back home and regaled my friends with my mountain stories, one of my friends joked that I should work for Elon and Vivek at DOGE and help America get off its current crash to defaulting on its own debt. So I reached out to some people and got in.
This has got to be a parody.
So now I’m in Hawaii. I’m learning physics.
Ha, I recently watched, this video billionaires want you to know they could have done physics by actual Theoretical Physicist, Angela Collier. I’m quite sure he will not be getting an actual degree in physics.
I don’t have the energy to read the orange site comments.
I love that video because until I watched it, I didn’t realise how much of a thing it was. Physics seems to be a magnet for the “iamverysmart” types; I feel sorry for actual physicists
Remember that actual physicists can fall into the same trap, and believe themselves to be very smart too. Plenty suffer an irresistible urge to fix every other field that’s doing it wrong.
As an alternative to the various xkcds on the subject, have an smbc instead.
Yes, quite. As a scientist (biochemistry), I sometimes have to catch myself on this too.
A tension that I see within the sciences and beyond is not sufficiently factoring in how good communication is essential to good research. Some of my peers disagree with me vehemently here, arguing that good research is good research regardless of one’s ability (or willingness) to dress up said research with pretty words, but I argue that the whole point of publishing papers or going to conferences is because science relies on communicating our research. I see a weird amount of hostility directed towards scientists who branch out into science communication. I speculate that an analogue of the “physicist instinct” is at the core of this — a disregard of the skill involved in interdisciplinary research, and an unwillingness to recognise how situated one’s own knowledge is.
It is a field that attracts a lot of cranks (who are pretty recognizable as being cranks via various patterns). Being a well known physicist must be hell.
Back when I was an undergrad I saw a letter addressed to the department from a German gentleman who claimed to have invented a perpetual motion machine (this was the department of mechanics). I remember the letter being quite typographically florid and especially the author’s likeness in silhouette.
My advisor had fun finding the flaw in the proposal. Took a few minutes.
I often wondered if demolishing a PM suggestion would be a good extra credit question on an exam.
You don’t even have to be well-known to get crank attention. Post anything with “quantum” in the title on the arXiv and they’ll find your e-mail.
Source: this is one of the few times when I can say “trust me, bro” and be entirely sincere about it
Funnily enough, Angela Collier also made some pretty good videos for “actually” studying physics. Spoiler: no need to go to Hawaii, or anywhere further than your own couch/desk!
Ah man. 30K could turn my life around, and for some people it’s a night out. Well, may everyone get what they deserve, in this life or the next.
The only justice in this world is that which we forge in the fires of chaos with our own bare hands, wrought of empathy and imagination and the blood of a thousand violent ancestors.
To wish for divine intervention to balance the scales is to abdicate your responsibility to your forebears and progeny.
at what goddamn point did you see this person wishing for a godhead to step in, wtf
responsibility to your forebears and progeny
“all that matters is family” groaannnnnnn
I tried forging justice once but couldn’t find any chaos fire. I gave up and watched Monkey Man instead.
gotta be an undiscovered french artist from some nowheresville tiny mountains town to really forge justice, otherwise it’s just sparkling retribution
When I got back home and regaled my friends with my mountain stories, one of my friends joked that I should work for Elon and Vivek at DOGE and help America get off its current crash to defaulting on its own debt. So I reached out to some people and got in.
What a fucking idiot. Also a fascist collaborator, but importantly, a fucking idiot.
The combination of ‘I realized wanting to be elon is cringe’ to -> ‘im gonna join doge’ -> ‘no im gonna do physics’ (like elon).
Yo dude you were so close at first, you almost had it! You fool!
Really hope that friend was also just joking because he knew there would be no crash as the default can be extended. (But, considering rich peoples friends are usually all in the same mindspace as the rich person (see for example the text messages revealed in the Musk vs Twitter lawsuit) I doubt this).
‘no im gonna do physics’ (like elon).
At first I was like “wait, didn’t Elon have a B.Sc. in Economics” so I searched him and apparently he also has a… B.A. in Physics?
How do you get a liberal arts degree in Physics, what is this even
EDIT: Apparently there are allegations he didn’t even finish that and he’s lying about it, I don’t care enough to actually look into it
When you are rich/famous universities give you degrees. For honour. (e: Turns out the degree thing is a bit more complicated here, according to snopes, im wondering if this was backdated (also of arts? It is a real thing but it feels a bit fishy), but im getting very conspiratorial here, so sorry yes he does have a BA in physics).
it was really hard to read the article when my hands wouldn’t stop making the wanker motion every time this fuckhead decided to whinge about yet another not-problem they’re having. money poisoning’s a fuck of a thing, isn’t it?
anyway I don’t think this is a parody or if it is they’re incredibly dedicated to the bit
Within 2 minutes of talking to the final interviewer for DOGE, he asked me if I wanted to join. I said “yes”. Then he said “cool” and I was in multiple Signal groups.
I’m kinda amazed it’s not multiple Telegram groups, but not at all surprised DOGE is ramshackle enough that this is what passes for organization. it goes to show why they’d hire someone who’d just come hot off of losing interest in robotics after 2 weeks of barely trying and also almost killed themselves doing rich kid vanity hiking, who would then quit their surely extremely important position at DOGE after about a month
If this means I’ll never do something as spectacular as Loom, so be it.
wait, I know that name. loom is just a video and screen recorder with unnecessary social networking and AI features that I’m pretty sure charges a lot for a subscription. loom is fucking Unregistered Hypercam 2 for Workgroups. that’s the product this kid is wanking about? that’s the fucking height of human achievement? fuck you
why are none of these people working on 3d printing guillotines. reading this blog post, there’s clearly a use case
I’m glad I don’t see other people as NPCs, otherwise I couldn’t delight in these vapid grifters’ perpetual insatisfaction.
Within 5 minutes of my first hike, the trees smiled at me and whispered their simple wisdom.
This probably only sounds profound to people who haven’t been outside in 7 years. Don’t get me wrong hiking is good for the soul. But if it hits you that hard after five minutes you’re probably terminally online.
Also why can’t trees have complex wisdom gosh darn it?Drugs
To be fair, he could just be a really, really shitty writer.
reminder: one does not, under any circumstances, have to “give it to them”. these weird fuckers already have all the water carriers they need
and no, it doesn’t appear to be the case that this person is merely a shitty writer
(nor is that the only thing they’re shitty about)
To be fair, he is a really, really shitty writer in addition to the other flaws.
