I’d take a nice person of average intelligence over a smart asshole any day of the week.

> "Think about it. Think of the most average person you know. 50% are more stupid than them. And you won't get any value out of speaking to those"

That right there is very telling. They don't know the difference between median and average

Anyone trying to express intelligence in a single dimension has already failed to understand the topic.

> [They] simply can't understand why I'd want to interact with people they perceive as less intelligent than them.

"Who would you have me speak to instead? It’s not like I’m surrounded with geniuses anyway."

> "Think about it. Think of the most average person you know. 50% are more stupid than them. And you won't get any value out of speaking to those"

Possible response: “And yet they’re all still more intelligent, compassionate, interesting, and a better company than you.”

There are many others: “The average person I know is pretty smart. I’m sorry to hear about your family, though.”

Or: “You’re right, I do indeed not get any value out of listening to you. I feel stupider already.”

Alright, alright, let’s actually try to be kind and change some minds: “There are different kinds of intelligence, and everyone has a full life rich in perspectives that we know nothing about. Making a blanket statement that someone we never met is “stupid” is reductive, lacking in empathy, and stifling to our own personal growth. To put it in your terms: What’s the best <relevant tech stack>? The answer is, of course, that it depends. They all have strengths and weaknesses and to be good you must learn to identify what those are. People are similar. If you only hang out with one type of person, you are the proverbial hammer who sees everything and everyone as nails.”

The scary part to me is that it actually works. Not practically, but that upper management and whatnot actually buy it.

Most early stage startups around me right now are built on the premise of replacing groups of people. There's a startup strapping sensors and cameras onto blue collar workers in developing countries to take "egocentric" data and train "world models" to the get robots to replace skilled physical labor. Lots of "ambient capture" to then automate away the work of the employees getting recorded.

Even what I'm building right now, which was initially just a tool to help me with my ADHD and memory problems is slowly getting twisted towards the same direction based on where the money is.

I would love to know how to build a company that serves real humans rather than the accumulation of capital and the extractive nature of corporations.

Yes. But in my limited experience, the practically useful fresh takes come from people who have immersed themselves deeply into a problem, not from people who spend a weekend with ChatGPT.

I've literally heard someone say that we should remove the protection circuits because it's two dollars of parts protecting under a dollar of amplifiers.

Yes, the amplifiers are cheap, but the rest of the board isn't and if the amplifiers get blown up that's 1000 dollars in support costs and RMAs, bad customer opinion and a line stoppage to boot.