LinchZhang (u/LinchZhang)

LinchZhang commented on Middlemen Are Eating the World (and That's Good, Actually) inchpin.substack.com/p/mi... · Posted by u/LinchZhang

russelldjimmy · 4 months ago

If I happen to think of one, I will let you know for sure. Also, remember that on the internet, only those who have an issue with something will make a comment. There is always a vast silent majority of people who would say, “this is actually fine with me and I have no issues with it” if asked. It’s safe to say your title is not bad. There will always be someone for whom it doesn’t work and the internet has a selection bias to give only them a voice.

Edit: while writing my earlier comment, I didn’t realise that you were the author. I did not mean to say your title is clickbait. I was only trying to make a concession to anyone who thought so.

LinchZhang · 4 months ago

Thank you for your kind words and empathy! I appreciate it. Writing to the void is hard, and while I care a lot about improving and not being wrong, I also appreciate it when people realize that the writer on the other side of the screen is a real person, and deliver their feedback with kindness and empathy.

LinchZhang commented on Middlemen Are Eating the World (and That's Good, Actually) inchpin.substack.com/p/mi... · Posted by u/LinchZhang

bokohut · 4 months ago

Ah, the term "Middlemen" of which I have personally been one in fintech as the core architectural founder several times.

Given that much of technology originates and is perfected by the adult content industry, for those unaware, payments is no exception to this rule just as live video and audio software development was directly impacted from this adult content demand. It is claimed that sex sells and I can attest 100% to this claim being correct as a movie was even made about the payment system I was foundational in building and that movie was ironically called "Middlemen". I was younger then and the personal stories from those days I carry could have a great mini series created.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Men_(film)

Stay Healthy!

LinchZhang · 4 months ago

Thanks, appreciate the anecdote!

LinchZhang commented on Middlemen Are Eating the World (and That's Good, Actually) inchpin.substack.com/p/mi... · Posted by u/LinchZhang

russelldjimmy · 4 months ago

I think many readers have a hard time letting go of whatever expectation the title created in their mind and then refocusing to try and understand the broader point. Not that I support clickbait titles or poor communication, but I do agree with you that it’s generally more helpful to let go of the semantic details as long as the broader point is understood. But many people choose to get hung up over the words (probably) because of an inability to self soothe the first shock.

LinchZhang · 4 months ago

If you have suggestions on a better title, please let me know! I tried pretty hard to come up with different ones, giving time constraints, and this was the best one I had. I'm really bad at titles and this is an area of active growth for me :)

LinchZhang commented on Middlemen Are Eating the World (and That's Good, Actually) inchpin.substack.com/p/mi... · Posted by u/LinchZhang

ToucanLoucan · 4 months ago

These examples are not good, almost none of those are what most people would call middlemen. A perfect example of an actual middleman would be the type of hustle grindset loser who sets up an Amazon store that sells merchandise from Alibaba at steep price hikes while contributing nothing to the product or its delivery. That’s a middle man.

LinchZhang · 4 months ago

Why fixate on a specific word rather than the overall idea? If the idea is clear enough I don't think it's worth fighting over semantics.

LinchZhang commented on Middlemen Are Eating the World (and That's Good, Actually) inchpin.substack.com/p/mi... · Posted by u/LinchZhang

JohnFen · 4 months ago

Boy did this set off my pendant side!

> “middlemen” (e.g. accounting, salespeople, lawyers, bureaucrats, DEI strategists).

I wouldn't call any of those positions "middlemen", though. A middleman is an entity that sits between a producer and a purchaser and takes a cut, usually by connecting the two. None of the examples listed are that.

LinchZhang · 4 months ago

I agree I used the word substantially more expansively than some other people use it. That's why I defined it in the beginning so people can understand the local scoping of the relevant word! :)

(That said "salespeople" are in the middle layer under your definition as well)

The other term I was thinking of using for this post was "bullshit jobs." So titling my post "bullshit jobs are real jobs" but I didn't want to fight against the motte-and-bailey of specific jobs being possibly bullshit jobs.

("coordinators" presumed the conclusion too much and also points to a specific thing )

LinchZhang commented on Middlemen Are Eating the World (and That's Good, Actually) inchpin.substack.com/p/mi... · Posted by u/LinchZhang

LinchZhang · 4 months ago

I think many people have some intuition that work can be separated between “real work“ (farming, say, or building trains) and “middlemen” (e.g. accounting, salespeople, lawyers, bureaucrats, DEI strategists). “Bullshit jobs” by David Graeber is a more intellectualized framing of the same intuition. Many people believe that middlemen are entirely useless, and we can get rid of (almost) all middleman jobs, RETVRN to people doing real work, and society would be much better off.

Like many populist intuitions, this intuition is completely backwards. Middlemen are extremely important! Coordination problems are real problems, and the bottlenecks to global wealth and flourishing.

The post goes into details for why.

LinchZhang commented on OpenAI subpoena'd various nonprofits to get them to shut up on SB 53 twitter.com/_NathanCalvin... · Posted by u/LinchZhang

LinchZhang · 5 months ago

The supposed excuse was Elon Musk's lawsuit, but they interpreted the discovery process very broadly.

LinchZhang commented on Intellectual Jokes That Teach linch.substack.com/p/inte... · Posted by u/LinchZhang

LinchZhang · 6 months ago

I compiled a list of my favorite intellectual jokes, as well as offer a short treatise on why intellectual jokes aren't just "jokes about smart people"

In xenosociology class we learned about a planet full of people who believe in anti-induction: if the sun has risen every day in the past, then they think it’s very unlikely that it’d rise again.

As a result, these people are all starving and living in poverty. An Earth xenosociologist visits the planet and studies them assiduously for 6 months. At the end of her stay, she asked to be brought to their greatest scientists and philosophers, and poses the question: “Hey, why are you still using this anti-induction philosophy? You’re living in horrible poverty!” The lead philosopher of science looks at her in pity as if she’s a child, and replies:

“Well, it never worked before…” __ Did you know? The moon landing was staged. It was faked by Stanley Kubrick.

But Kubrick was a perfectionist, so he insisted that they shoot on location.