Sam Harris often makes an argument that I both hate and kind of agree with. He says that exchanging arguments and having a debate only works when the two arguing parties share a foundation. The debate’s purpose is to reconcile a measurable difference of opinion.
In this case, I feel there’s no shared foundation. Half of the commenters here don’t seem to understand what money is or how it works. There's no soil in which to plant an argument, because there's no understanding of what a billion dollars represents. There’s no genuine desire to understand the counterparty either.
Very disturbing.
Well, with the extreme levels of income stratification that we have in the US and greater world, money literally means a different thing to the few folks who've escaped the poverty trap ... just like hunting means a different thing for the hunters as it does for the prey.
I understand finance well enough to discuss money.
I read the first half of PG’s essay and was left wondering if I should read the whole thing, just in case there was something in half 2 that redeemed half 1.
Most startups fail! Ignoring that reality, and only focusing on the slope of money growth is like saying that if you hit the right drafts you will survive falling out of a high rise window.
There is no such thing as a free lunch. The payoff for doing startups is the (incredibly small chance that you succeed) * (the absurd payout if you do).
Even VC funds fail.
If PG brought up survivorship bias at any point, it would have significantly armored his case.
A debates purpose is surely to reveal if there’s a measurable difference to be reconciled in the first instance. Any actual reconciliation is a nice bonus on top.
So even if the debate reveals that no, there wasn’t a viable reconciliation, the debate was still worthwhile.
>He says that exchanging arguments and having a debate only works when the two arguing parties share a foundation. The debate’s purpose is to reconcile a measurable difference of opinion.
I've observed this in a lot of internet arguments, but have not been able to put it into words until you said this. It feels like everyone is more concerned about 'winning' the argument more than anything else.
Perhaps, but I see zero desire from pg to understand the counterparty either. When engaging at such a superficial level, don’t be surprised when that’s what comes back.