[SteveGerencser]

> don't aspire to be like Altman

Aspire to be like Aaron Schwartz.

[oooyay]

I've read a lot about Aaron's time at Reddit / Not A Bug. I somewhat think his fame exceeds his actual accomplishments at times. He was perceived to be very hostile to his peers and subordinates.

Kind of a cliche, but aspire to be the best version yourself every day. Learn from the successes and failures of others, but don't aspire to be anyone else because eventually you'll be very disappointed.

[wongarsu]

That's what happens to martyrs. They become larger than life and history remembers an idealized version of them

[bayindirh]

The gist is, when you find your biggest flaw, work on it, and repeat; you’ve already gone great distance.

[baudehlo]

I knew Aaron back in my IRC days. He hung out with us to talk about RDF for a good couple of years. We chatted almost every day.

He was lovely. And a genius. Maybe he changed, but he was a truly nice person.

[reaperman]

* Swartz

But yes.

[some_furry]

(Except for the tragic ending, of course.)

[lukan]

If more would be like him, there might be a happy ending.

[_hcuq]

Don't sell your soul, is all.

But survive. This too will pass.

[ddingus]

Indeed

[ponector]

Why should kids aspire to be like Aaron if it is not rewarded in our society? Comparing with such "kings" as Altman or Musk.

[barnabee]

Why should anyone aspire to do what is rewarded over what they believe in and what will satisfy them?

[gessha]

Not everything virtuous is rewarded monetarily but we aspire to be virtuous, no?

[cratermoon]

Try to imagine a society where people only did things that were rewarded. Could such a society even exist? Thought experiment: make a list of all the jobs, professions, and vocations that are not rewarded in the sense you mean, and imagine they don't exist. What would be left?

[skeeter2020]

Because only one person can be king, but everybody can participate and contribute. Also there's too many things out side of just being "the best" that decide who gets to be king. Often that person is a terrible leader.

[miramba]

Upvoted not because I agree, but I think it‘s a valid question that shouldn‘t be greyed out. My kids dream job is youtube influencer, I don‘t like it but can I blame them? It‘s money for nothing and the chicks for free.

[uoaei]

Because kids' brains are not as poisoned into believing the most profitable things to do are the most meritorious. Not yet, anyway.

[CalRobert]

We need them to help us build a better society.

[ibejoeb]

AaronSw exfiltrated data without authorization. You can argue the morality of that, but I think you could make the argument for OpenAI as well. I'm not opining on either, just pointing out the marked similarity here.

edit: It appears I'm wrong. Will someone correct me on what he did?

[gessha]

Arguing for the morality of OpenAI is a little bit harder given their history and actions in the last few years.

[ceejayoz]

> edit: It appears I'm wrong. Will someone correct me on what he did?

He didn't do it without authorization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz

> Visitors to MIT's "open campus" were authorized to access JSTOR through its network.