Paul, you really need to stop being honest in public. The world doesn't want honesty, it wants lies. It wants to feel good. Wake people up from their politically correct Utopian dream and they will attack you viciously. Just go with the flow and speak freely only to a close group of friends.
As I recall last time PG was honest about founders with heavy accents not doing well due to communication problems he attacked as well. American culture (founded on freedom of expression) has turned into a culture of witch hunts and public shaming. Leading more people to simply stop talking about important and many times controversial topics. From freedom of expression to fear of expression, who's the witch hunt's next victim?
It's this bizarre twitter/social justice generation. After seeing the phenomenon where merely saying the word 'female' is considered sexist, nothing surprises me anymore. It's better to never speak about gender differences.
To the list of shibboleths that includes "third wave feminism" I will now add "social justice". Thank you. It's convenient that people that hold views like yours are so willing to mark themselves.
I just want to say that it is very refreshing to see your comments on these types of issues. You're one of the apparently very few people on HN that actually understands what sexism/racism is in the tech-world.
What's your angle on the usage of "third wave feminism"? It always seemed like a legit thing to me, and a marker for caring about things like intersectionality and trans issues.
I get the rhetorical strategy you're using here, but the truth might be pretty close to what you're actually saying. If reputation is potential energy, then Paul Graham has a lot of energy bound up in what he writes about startups. He also has a lot of the habits and proclivities of a Usenet nerd (takes one to know &c &c). It's a risky combination and may have blown up on him here.
I do think that people are more reluctant to tackle important issues head on because of the approach of shaming expressions about things in culture that one doesn't like. The danger of your views being misconstrued and then being tarred and feathered by the uninformed online mob is just too high to be personally worth it for most people. I think that's a really important thing that not enough people discuss.
As I recall last time PG was honest about founders with heavy accents not doing well due to communication problems he attacked as well. American culture (founded on freedom of expression) has turned into a culture of witch hunts and public shaming. Leading more people to simply stop talking about important and many times controversial topics. From freedom of expression to fear of expression, who's the witch hunt's next victim?