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Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

Posted July 08, 2014 12:18 PM

From TG Daily:

A Google employee has taken to the web to analyse the company's culture. Avery Pennarun, a software engineer at the tech powerhouse, posted an update on his blog last week, entitled "The Curse of Smart People", in which he delivered a back-handed compliment to his employer. "I continue to be amazed at the overall smartness of people at this place," Pennarun wrote. "Overall, very nearly everybody, across the board, surprises or impresses me with how smart they are." However, he quickly revealed that this is also an inherent problem, adding, "Smart people have a problem, especially (although not only) when you put them in large groups. That problem is an ability to convincingly rationalize nearly anything."

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70AARCuda
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#1

Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/08/2014 2:54 PM

Sounds like The Peter Principle, i.e.: a "collection" of people who have all "risen" to their collective "...levels of incompetency..."

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#2

Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/08/2014 2:58 PM

Has Google become a religion?

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70AARCuda
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#3
In reply to #2

Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/08/2014 3:16 PM

...or, a cult?

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#4
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Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/08/2014 6:02 PM

Do a search and look them up.
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#5
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Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 7:53 AM

Good idea. I'll just google that and... Hey, wait a sec!!

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#6
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Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 8:24 AM
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#7
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Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 9:11 AM

STOP!

If you Google The Google on Google, won't the resulting self-refrential search exceed the information density of the local space and create a black hole, or rip open spacetime, or what ever is supposed to happen when you divide by zero?

I just divided by zero! Oh cra-

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#10
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Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 11:36 AM

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1995-06-09/?CmtOrder=Rating&CmtDir=DESC
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#11
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Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 12:59 PM

Love that comic.

Although any decent engineer can divide by zero, or rather look at the equation and see what needs to be done to make the 'divide by zero' make sense.

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#12
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Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 2:21 PM

It may be time for you to move into theoretical astrophysics. :-)
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#13
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Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 2:56 PM

Knowing how to 'divide by zero' without dividing is simple:

Are we looking at a percentage of a running count? [ a/(a+b) ] if a+b = 0 then the count hasn't started, so the percentage of the running count is zero.

If we're looking at an effect over time, and trying to determine what is happening at a particular instant, instead of averaging over a time span, then that's just basic derivative calculus, look at the limits when the denominator approaches zero.

If a divide by zero crops up in other situations, where there would be no logical reason to divide by zero, then you need to move back a few steps and figure out where you screwed up while simplifying your equations. (The classic 'proof' that 1=2 comes to mind, the sequence only works because you divide both sides by (a-b) when it was originally stated that a=b.)

Or you could just do it the easy way and ask Chuck Norris.

Wait, how does that go again? Oh, I misspoke just now. Chuck Norris doesn't divide by zero, zero divides by Chuck Norris.

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#8

Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 9:21 AM

"That problem is an ability to convincingly rationalize nearly anything."

I have also seen this in other organisations, and it can be very puzzling. You can see some very smart and switched-on people doing the most outrageously stupid things, and they are clearly convinced they are doing the right thing. You end up wondering if they are just being malicious, or if they are just more stupid than they seem, it just doesn't add up.
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#16
In reply to #8

Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 4:50 PM

"That problem is an ability to convincingly rationalize nearly anything."

This is universally true, not just a problem smart people suffer from. The only thing that changes from intelligence level to intelligence level is what constitutes convincing evidence.
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#9

Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 9:40 AM

Reminds me of a quote I used to have posted on my wall at work:

"Never underestimate the stupidity of people in large groups."
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#14

Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 4:25 PM

The intelligence of a group is inversely proportionate to the number in the group.The same applies to the number of tattoos a person has.
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#15

Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 4:27 PM

Bing Google until it Yahoos...
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#20
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Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/10/2014 5:13 PM

Bing Google until it Yahoos and leaves a Dogpile.

I use the Dogpile search engine. It's fun to see what Arfie is up to today.

When I use another computer I leave the Dogpile shortcut on their desktop.
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Lynn.Wallace
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#17

Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/09/2014 5:29 PM

Intelligence does not equal wisdom.

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#21
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Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/11/2014 3:30 PM

He said they were smart not intelligent. There is a difference.

I work with a bunch of geniuses. Unfortunately I have to show them how to use basic tools, screwdriver, wrench, etc.

There's also things like ambition, drive, enthusiasm, etc. I've seen high IQ types with such low self-esteem that they never get anywhere. Conversely, I've met some of the most ignorant people that are exceedingly overconfident, willing to fight for what they 'know' despite the fact that it's wrong.

Fortunately, most folks are somewhere in between.
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#18

Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/10/2014 12:34 PM

Well with everybody thinking outside the box, the box ceases to exist....theorhetorically speaking....

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#19
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Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/10/2014 12:39 PM

I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.
― Terry Pratchett
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#22

Re: Google Company Culture Delusional Says Employee

07/11/2014 4:01 PM

We put the "cult" in culture.

When two people share a fantasy they are called lovers.

When two hundred people share a fantasy it's called a cult.

When two million people share a fantasy it's called culture.
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