Mastodawn

Cory Doctorow Oct 14, 2024

"There's nothing special about Musk, Altman, or Zuckerberg. Accepting that requires you to also accept that the world itself is not one that rewards the remarkable, or the brilliant, or the truly incredible, but those who are able to take advantage of opportunities, which in turn leads to the horrible truth that those who often have the most opportunities are some of the most boring and privileged people alive."

-Ed Zitron, You Can't Make Friends With The Rockstars
https://www.wheresyoured.at/rockstars/

You Can't Make Friends With The Rockstars

You cannot make friends with the rock stars...if you're going to be a true journalist, you know, a rock journalist. First, you never get paid much, but you will get free records from the record company. [There’s] fuckin’ nothin' about you that is controversial. God, it's gonna get

Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At

Show thread

William Gunn Oct 14, 2024

@pluralistic I think I understand what that essay is trying to do - point at the role of privilege - but it's vastly overstating its case. A quick glance at the list of Nobel Prize winners reveals many from relatively humble backgrounds. The statement also requires people to deny the evidence of their eyes and ears. A lot of people have met someone who really is truly impressive, ambitious, and effective, who has gone on to do great things. Privilege obviously exists, and so does talent.

Show thread

William Gunn

@pluralistic Also, there are many stories from people who have met Altman personally over the years and they all tell a similar story: the guy has a superpower at attaining power. Whether that's going to be net positive for humanity is yet to be seen, and the ongoing departures of executives concerned about safety from OpenAI is concerning, but it's hard to claim there's literally nothing special about the guy.