Serious question though, how do we design for philosophical principles while also turning a profit? I've worked in Silicon Valley and startups over a decade, and my experience is that almost no one with money gives a hoot about any of this.
It's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get any sort of financial support as a solo builder unless you're well-connected or can demonstrate market success. In my experience, there is zero grace for a more holistic approach that builds from first principles unless perhaps you have a pedigree or a letter of introduction, metaphorically speaking.
Founders' philosophical justifications tend to be post facto and ad hoc; only survivors are permitted to pontificate, usually in the form of subtle marketing posing as podcast interviews or Substack posts. The inner machinery and pressures of a startup founder is usually 10x more chaotic than the ordered and considered air of a philosophical symposium, as I'm sure many of your attendees know from first-hand experience. How can they realistically incorporate these noble aims into an enterprise in a non-superficial way?
Maybe the answer is lots of institutional support. I've been trying to build startups on my own with no support for over ten years, I never had the luxury of an organization or team backing me. On the one hand, I'm jealous. On the other hand, I wonder what happens when philosophical rigor meets market rigor. You can understand how efforts like these could be seen cynically as a form of self-delusion that can only be maintained within an insulated environment, whether that's a mega-corporation or an academic institution.
Do you guys believe that solo philosophical-builders can make it? Or is it the idea to train engineers who will advocate for change from within larger orgs? I fear what will happen if people like me are run over by big labs and big capital. The world needs rogues. AI can potentially empower us, but if the only way to engage with building AI itself philosophically is to subordinate our efforts to those of large corporations, then the solo philosophical-builder is doomed.
I hope my comments aren't interpreted as an attack; far from it. I wish I had found you guys earlier. I believe in what you're doing, I'm just genuinely curious as someone who has struggled in the trenches for years with the exact same questions what the game plan is for implementation. The industry can be brutal.
I count 5 copies of Being and Time...
Serious question though, how do we design for philosophical principles while also turning a profit? I've worked in Silicon Valley and startups over a decade, and my experience is that almost no one with money gives a hoot about any of this.
It's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get any sort of financial support as a solo builder unless you're well-connected or can demonstrate market success. In my experience, there is zero grace for a more holistic approach that builds from first principles unless perhaps you have a pedigree or a letter of introduction, metaphorically speaking.
Founders' philosophical justifications tend to be post facto and ad hoc; only survivors are permitted to pontificate, usually in the form of subtle marketing posing as podcast interviews or Substack posts. The inner machinery and pressures of a startup founder is usually 10x more chaotic than the ordered and considered air of a philosophical symposium, as I'm sure many of your attendees know from first-hand experience. How can they realistically incorporate these noble aims into an enterprise in a non-superficial way?
Maybe the answer is lots of institutional support. I've been trying to build startups on my own with no support for over ten years, I never had the luxury of an organization or team backing me. On the one hand, I'm jealous. On the other hand, I wonder what happens when philosophical rigor meets market rigor. You can understand how efforts like these could be seen cynically as a form of self-delusion that can only be maintained within an insulated environment, whether that's a mega-corporation or an academic institution.
Do you guys believe that solo philosophical-builders can make it? Or is it the idea to train engineers who will advocate for change from within larger orgs? I fear what will happen if people like me are run over by big labs and big capital. The world needs rogues. AI can potentially empower us, but if the only way to engage with building AI itself philosophically is to subordinate our efforts to those of large corporations, then the solo philosophical-builder is doomed.
I hope my comments aren't interpreted as an attack; far from it. I wish I had found you guys earlier. I believe in what you're doing, I'm just genuinely curious as someone who has struggled in the trenches for years with the exact same questions what the game plan is for implementation. The industry can be brutal.
I am building for this:
https://barlocbedlam.substack.com/p/creation-stewardship-commons?r=7fr2c5&utm_medium=ios
Frankenstein forever https://freeparadox.substack.com/p/the-new-idolatry?r=5vspk&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay