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Reflections on Palantir

(nabeelqu.substack.com)
479 points freditup | 2 comments | 16 Oct 24 02:18 UTC | HN request time: 0.407s | source
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danw1979 ◴[17 Oct 24 12:37 UTC] No.41869077[source]▶
> These were seriously intense, competitive people who wanted to win, true believers; weird, fascinating people who read philosophy in their spare time, went on weird diets, and did 100-mile bike rides for fun. This, it turned out, was an inheritance from the Paypal mafia.

Sounds like a fucking awful place to work.

replies(2): >>41869795 #>>41871792 #
1. mandmandam ◴[17 Oct 24 14:04 UTC] No.41869795[source]▶
100 mile bike rides are awesome. So is reading philosophy. Competition can be fun and motivating. Experimenting with weird diets can be fantastic exploration.

Fuck Palantir. Not because sometimes they act like human beings, but because sometimes they don't.

The worst attitude fta by far was the "Well at least we're at the table" justification. Weak rationalization presented as rationality; a thin veneer over "might makes right". "Gray areas" - yeah okay buddy.

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2. AnarchismIsCool ◴[17 Oct 24 14:57 UTC] No.41870270[source]▶
I think you've hit the rationalist nail on the head. They look thoughtful and intellectually honest but in reality they're just kit bashing philosophy to paper over absolutely insane biases and political positions. You don't see any of them espousing leftist/egalitarian views, they're always sitting around thinking "this ethnic cleansing makes me feel good, how can I justify my participation?"