>My kid was really surprised to find out that Sam cofounded this company.
>Sam is going better than you. Do better.
Etc. I don’t know that you’re right, since these do sound like praise, but it’s kind of a funny game to change the tone and make them into catty insults.
The American convention is to look for the positive and assume that was intended. The English convention is to look for the negative and assume that was the real meaning.
E.g. “Sam is going better than you. Do better.” Could mean “Even that incompetent dipshit Sam is going to do better than you can, that’s how much of a hole you’re in.”
That anecdote prompted me to do the same (in corporate battlefields). Works great.
> The most alarming thing I've read about AI in recent memory. And if Sam thinks this, it's probably true, because he's an expert in both AI and persuasion.
There certainly isn't the paternal warmth you might expect from a proud mentor.
The other thing is that if you take a look at Paul Graham's blog posts, he used to regularly thank Sam at the bottom of these -- this isn't something you do if you don't like or respect someone. However, on the other hand, perhaps they fell out at some point? I can't personally make out that signal from the little data there is.
Also, I doubt pg would hold a grudge for years on end. You learn many lessons in life and some you are bound to repeat because of stubbornness or whatever.
