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vgr's profile
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
@vgr

Tweets

Venkatesh Rao

@vgr

This is my conversational account. For my work follow @ribbonfarm, @breaking_smart, @artofgig. Tweets are 90% vacuous views, apathetically held. Mediocritopian.

Los Angeles, CA
venkateshrao.com
Joined August 2007

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    Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 7 Sep 2019
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    I get the sense the deeper you penetrate into elite circles, the harder it is to not become complicit in something ugly. To some extent elite cultures are almost defined by a kind of mutually assured destruction condition of collective complicity.

    5:21 PM - 7 Sep 2019
    • 24 Retweets
    • 184 Likes
    • ~~~ Flash Gordon Alert 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐡𝐚 Umesh like the molecule Frank Scholten Willy Adrian Parsons Anthony Di Franco
    11 replies 24 retweets 184 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. hewhocutsdown‏ @hewhocutsdown 7 Sep 2019
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        Replying to @vgr

        It's incredible to me how much I've returned to this piece.https://sweettalkconversation.com/2015/10/09/secret-handshakes-and-reputational-suicide-pacts/ …

        2 replies 2 retweets 20 likes
      3. Toby‏ @tobyshorin 7 Sep 2019
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        Replying to @hewhocutsdown @vgr

        I came here to post this, thought about it frequently since refactor camp. It only got better with age :/

        1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      4. 11 more replies
      1. New conversation
      2. Peter Wang‏ @pwang 8 Sep 2019
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        Replying to @vgr

        Not quite - the narratives shift. You are treated like a Titan of Industry, or a Luminary of Science, or a Patron of Sacred Arts. The heavy weight on your shoulders is to make the *tough* calls; mere mortals don't understand. But we do. "We've all been there", "we get it".

        2 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
      3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 8 Sep 2019
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        Replying to @pwang

        That’s the outer ring of self-congratulatory pageantry. The inner rings aren’t quite like that. There’s the “you can’t handle the truth” inner ring of self-righteous, self-justifying abuse of power, and a parallel inner ring of naked secretive abuse.

        1 reply 0 retweets 5 likes
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      2. mrgunn‏ @mrgunn 7 Sep 2019
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        Replying to @vgr

        That's not my take. I think there's a sense, not just among elites, of how people are multi-dimensional and do good and bad things. The difference is that the bad can be used to attack elites in a way that it can't be used elsewhere.

        2 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
      3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 7 Sep 2019
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        Replying to @mrgunn

        My point is elites do their bad things in networks of complicity. It’s not a “take”. It’s an observation.

        1 reply 0 retweets 6 likes
      4. 2 more replies
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      2. Ari Paul  ⛓️‏Verified account @AriDavidPaul 7 Sep 2019
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        Replying to @vgr

        I occasionally think the same but wonder if it’s more simply a function of raw power. From one perspective every US citizen is an “elite” who benefits from US global actions, including the immoral ones.

        2 replies 1 retweet 11 likes
      3. Ari Paul  ⛓️‏Verified account @AriDavidPaul 7 Sep 2019
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        Replying to @AriDavidPaul @vgr

        2/ im not sure if adding variables beyond power to the model improves its resolution.

        0 replies 1 retweet 3 likes
      4. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. Paras Chopra‏ @paraschopra 7 Sep 2019
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        Replying to @vgr

        It’s the other way round also. It’s harder not to get into elite circles as you start getting complicit in something ugly.

        1 reply 0 retweets 8 likes
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