https://youtu.be/59pI2mwAWbw

Comments, please!

TIA

Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om 10:46:45 UTC+2 schreef Dan Koren:
> https://youtu.be/59pI2mwAWbw

And next year Taiwan - etc. etc.

Power is the ability to restrict the freedom of action of others, one of my bosses once said.
Has the relationship between power and paranoia ever been researched?

Henk

On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 2:24:42 AM UTC-7, HT wrote:
> Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om 10:46:45 UTC+2 schreef Dan Koren:
> > https://youtu.be/59pI2mwAWbw
>
> And next year Taiwan - etc. etc.
>
> Power is the ability to restrict the freedom of action of others, one of my bosses
> once said. Has the relationship between power and paranoia ever been researched?

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Paranoia-Narrative-American-1940-1950/dp/0231062850

And probably more.

dk

On 3/28/2023 5:24 AM, HT wrote:
> Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om 10:46:45 UTC+2 schreef Dan Koren:
>> https://youtu.be/59pI2mwAWbw
>
> And next year Taiwan - etc. etc.
>
> Power is the ability to restrict the freedom of action of others, one of my bosses once said.
> Has the relationship between power and paranoia ever been researched?
>
> Henk
>
>
>

No disrespect to your former boss, but I would have thought that was intuitively obvious.

On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 2:24:42 AM UTC-7, HT wrote:
>
> Power is the ability to restrict the freedom of
> action of others, one of my bosses once said.

You had a "boss" ?!?

dk

Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om 16:49:33 UTC+2 schreef Dan Koren:
> On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 2:24:42 AM UTC-7, HT wrote:
> >
> > Power is the ability to restrict the freedom of
> > action of others, one of my bosses once said.
> You had a "boss" ?!?
>
> dk

More than one!

Henk

On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 8:22:22 AM UTC-7, HT wrote:
> Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om 16:49:33 UTC+2 schreef Dan Koren:
> > On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 2:24:42 AM UTC-7, HT wrote:
> > >
> > > Power is the ability to restrict the freedom of
> > > action of others, one of my bosses once said.
> >
> > You had a "boss" ?!?
>
> More than one!

OMG! How did you survive?

Were they anything like
Herman or Marc S? ;-)

dk

Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om 16:49:29 UTC+2 schreef Frank Berger:
> On 3/28/2023 5:24 AM, HT wrote:

> No disrespect to your former boss, but I would have thought that was intuitively obvious.

It was intuitively obvious for those who knew him well ...

Henk

Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om 17:24:39 UTC+2 schreef Dan Koren:

> Were they anything like
> Herman or Marc S? ;-)

There is nothing bossy about those two. There is a vast difference between restricting behaviour and hoping that behaviour will be restricted.

Henk

On 3/28/2023 11:26 AM, HT wrote:
> Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om 16:49:29 UTC+2 schreef Frank Berger:
>> On 3/28/2023 5:24 AM, HT wrote:
>
>> No disrespect to your former boss, but I would have thought that was intuitively obvious.
>
> It was intuitively obvious for those who knew him well ...
>
> Henk

I suppose there are good bosses somewhere. I never encountered one, though some were worse than others. I think it may depend more on the structure of the organization than the individuals themselves. Bosses in bureaucracies tend to be the worst. None of this means that bad bosses are bad people. Just normal people responding to weird incentives.

On 3/28/2023 11:35 AM, HT wrote:
> Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om 17:24:39 UTC+2 schreef Dan Koren:
>
>> Were they anything like
>> Herman or Marc S? ;-)
>
> There is nothing bossy about those two. There is a vast difference between restricting behaviour and hoping that behaviour will be restricted.
>
> Henk

How can you tell what they would do if they were in a position of power? I don't think any assumptions are warranted.

On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 8:46:54 AM UTC-7, Frank Berger wrote:
> On 3/28/2023 11:26 AM, HT wrote:
> > Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om 16:49:29 UTC+2 schreef Frank Berger:
> >> On 3/28/2023 5:24 AM, HT wrote:
> >
> >> No disrespect to your former boss, but I would have thought that was intuitively obvious.
> >
> > It was intuitively obvious for those who knew him well ...
>
> I suppose there are good bosses somewhere. I never
> encountered one, though some were worse than others.

My experience has been that good managers are far
rarer and harder to find than good engineers, even
though popular opinion claims the opposite.

Managers coming out of Amazon and Microsoft in
particular appear to be irrevocably brainfucked.

dk

On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 4:46:45 AM UTC-4, Dan Koren wrote:
> https://youtu.be/59pI2mwAWbw
>
> Comments, please!
>
> TIA

I listened to about 5 minutes, and get the impression he knows even less about the history of the Balkans than I do. No mention that Yugoslavia began to fall apart after Tito died, no mention of what exactly Serb nationalists under Milosevic were doing in Bosnia and Kosovo. He begins with a grand analogy between the United States and the Roman Empire as if making such a comparison automatically makes it true. He sounds like a tankie, as someone in an ivory tower with zero contact with the people and cultures he is analyzing.

> How can you tell what they would do if they were in a position of power? I don't think any assumptions are warranted.

It is not out of the question that someone may come to power who had no power before. In that case, he will do what other people in power do. The same applies to the aforementioned colleagues.
The question is only whether, all else being equal, that will ever happen. Their ambitions clearly lie elsewhere. Herman believes in self-regulation of his colleagues, and Marc S believes in Dan.

Henk

On 3/28/2023 12:13 PM, Dan Koren wrote:
> On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 8:46:54 AM UTC-7, Frank Berger wrote:
>> On 3/28/2023 11:26 AM, HT wrote:
>>> Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om 16:49:29 UTC+2 schreef Frank Berger:
>>>> On 3/28/2023 5:24 AM, HT wrote:
>>>
>>>> No disrespect to your former boss, but I would have thought that was intuitively obvious.
>>>
>>> It was intuitively obvious for those who knew him well ...
>>
>> I suppose there are good bosses somewhere. I never
>> encountered one, though some were worse than others.
>
> My experience has been that good managers are far
> rarer and harder to find than good engineers, even
> though popular opinion claims the opposite.
>
> Managers coming out of Amazon and Microsoft in
> particular appear to be irrevocably brainfucked.
>
> dk

At the bank, all of my bosses were fair to good economists (not stars) who saw advancement in terms of management rather than research. The idea that an accomplished technician or scholar might have something to offer in the way of mentoring/supervising more junior staff is completely logical, except that IMO, the best managers are the best scholars, but the best scholars don't want to be managers as they are succeeding as it is. Good genes are good genes. If you're good at one thing you're likely to be good at another. So you end up with mediocre people as managers who often get tons of management training, but remain mediocre. My own career was a little different. I was an excellent programmer and decent economist who got into management because I couldn't make enough money otherwise. I liked the idea of managing, but wasn't good at it, not because I was bossy, demanding, inflexible. I was the opposite. As a natural introvert, it was very difficult for me to mentor/supervise people. I ignored them too much. Nevertheless I got excellent performance reviews for my management of people. The secret was that I hired the very best programmers and research assistants I could and I guess the made me look good. At least to people who wouldn't know good management if they saw it.

On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 10:30:19 AM UTC-7, Frank Berger wrote:
>
> Good genes are good genes. If you're good at
> one thing you're likely to be good at another.

So you think one could play in the NBA
because one is a good programmer?

Or maybe one should join the Bolshoi
Ballet.... intriguing thought ....

dk

On 3/28/2023 8:33 PM, Dan Koren wrote:
> On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 10:30:19 AM UTC-7, Frank Berger wrote:
>>
>> Good genes are good genes. If you're good at
>> one thing you're likely to be good at another.
>
> So you think one could play in the NBA
> because one is a good programmer?
>
> Or maybe one should join the Bolshoi
> Ballet.... intriguing thought ....
>
> dk

There is a positive correlation between looks and brains, I've read a few places. That holds in a population, not each and every individual. All of which is conveyed to a sharp reader by my use of the word "likely."

On 2023-03-28 16:13:56 +0000, Dan Koren said:

> On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 8:46:54 AM UTC-7, Frank Berger wrote:
>> On 3/28/2023 11:26 AM, HT wrote:> > Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om
>> 16:49:29 UTC+2 schreef Frank Berger:> >> On 3/28/2023 5:24 AM, HT
>> wrote:> >> >> No disrespect to your former boss, but I would have
>> thought that was intuitively obvious.> >> > It was intuitively obvious
>> for those who knew him well ...>> I suppose there are good bosses
>> somewhere. I never> encountered one, though some were worse than others.
> My experience has been that good managers are farrarer and harder to
> find than good engineers, eventhough popular opinion claims the
> opposite.
> Managers coming out of Amazon and Microsoft inparticular appear to be
> irrevocably brainfucked.
> dk

When I was younger I wanted to work for Apple, or IBM or one of the big
tech giants. What a mistake that would have been!

Some of the best engineers I've met would have made absolutely horrible
managers, due to their lack of social skills. Also, there's a class of
CEOs who think they're the next Steve Jobs (think Elizabeth Holmes) and
can send a company down the toilet fast.

-Owen

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 7:14:37 AM UTC-7, Owen Hartnett wrote:
> On 2023-03-28 16:13:56 +0000, Dan Koren said:
>
> > On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 8:46:54 AM UTC-7, Frank Berger wrote:
> >> On 3/28/2023 11:26 AM, HT wrote:> > Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om
> >> 16:49:29 UTC+2 schreef Frank Berger:> >> On 3/28/2023 5:24 AM, HT
> >> wrote:> >> >> No disrespect to your former boss, but I would have
> >> thought that was intuitively obvious.> >> > It was intuitively obvious
> >> for those who knew him well ...>> I suppose there are good bosses
> >> somewhere. I never> encountered one, though some were worse than others.
> >
> > My experience has been that good managers are
> > far rarer and harder to find than good engineers,
> > event hough popular opinion claims the opposite.
> > Managers coming out of Amazon and Microsoft
> > in particular appear to be irrevocably brainfucked.
>
> When I was younger I wanted to work for Apple, or
> IBM or one of the big tech giants. What a mistake
> that would have been!

I missed your opportunity to be IBM-formed! ;-)

> Some of the best engineers I've met would have made
> absolutely horrible managers, due to their lack of social
> skills. Also, there's a class of CEOs who think they're the
> next Steve Jobs (think Elizabeth Holmes) and can send a
> company down the toilet fast.

Check Elon Musk.

dk

On 2023-03-29 15:32:52 +0000, Dan Koren said:

> On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 7:14:37 AM UTC-7, Owen Hartnett wrote:
>> On 2023-03-28 16:13:56 +0000, Dan Koren said:>> > On Tuesday, March 28,
>> 2023 at 8:46:54 AM UTC-7, Frank Berger wrote:> >> On 3/28/2023 11:26
>> AM, HT wrote:> > Op dinsdag 28 maart 2023 om> >> 16:49:29 UTC+2 schreef
>> Frank Berger:> >> On 3/28/2023 5:24 AM, HT> >> wrote:> >> >> No
>> disrespect to your former boss, but I would have> >> thought that was
>> intuitively obvious.> >> > It was intuitively obvious> >> for those who
>> knew him well ...>> I suppose there are good bosses> >> somewhere. I
>> never> encountered one, though some were worse than others.
>>>
>>> My experience has been that good managers are> > far rarer and harder
>>> to find than good engineers,> > event hough popular opinion claims the
>>> opposite.> > Managers coming out of Amazon and Microsoft> > in
>>> particular appear to be irrevocably brainfucked.>> When I was younger I
>>> wanted to work for Apple, or> IBM or one of the big tech giants. What a
>>> mistake> that would have been!
> I missed your opportunity to be IBM-formed! ;-)

They made me an offer, but it was way too low. Plus it would've
involved a lot more travel.

>
>> Some of the best engineers I've met would have made> absolutely
>> horrible managers, due to their lack of social> skills. Also, there's a
>> class of CEOs who think they're the> next Steve Jobs (think Elizabeth
>> Holmes) and can send a> company down the toilet fast.
> Check Elon Musk.

Not just twitter. Except for Apple, all the tech giants are shedding
staff like dead skin.

I worked for a company that had a successful video editing
software/hardware package that sold in the neighborhood of $17K. Ran
on a Mac, which was where most of the video editing market was at the
time. Our genius CEO decided to replace it with an about to be written
Windows version costing $66000. Apple had just come out with Final Cut
Pro which sold for $1000 (didn't use hardware), which took up a lot of
the low end market. Of course delivery was overpromised and
underdelivered. They "sold" 10 whole units, that they had to
ultimately take back and refund all of them. The company sold
preferred stock in order to stay afloat, which when they went
completely belly up, all the original common stock holders got screwed
out of everything.

-Owen