But what is natural?
A human is as natural as a chimpanzee. The consequences of us existing is necessarily also natural.
Sex, laughter, sleep
But also airplanes, heroin, computers.
The line between natural and artificial is blurry and we are irrational about it.
*Of course, the money machine has priced this information in nonconsciously as organic, “all natural”, foods and soaps and comforters and lifestyles.
Why the stigma against the artificial? Like it’s somehow inherently worse. We should look at a thing and judge it objectively.
The organic startup myth
Is how all founders (even exited, but especially current) try to sell their startup, because things that are natural, that are organic, are irrationally given more value.
Where is the startup story where a founder wanted to make money then went out and did it?
—> The stories that get shared are the stories that sell are the stories that make the audience feel good 1.
Founders themselves say some form of “just do what genuinely interests you” 2
But success is hard. They did it on purpose and that’s why it happened at all.
- Greed and raw competency and chance are respectively gross, belittling, and discouraging to the composite Bay Area audience.↩
- The exited founder is bound by cliches. They must tell the enthusiastic young man it won’t satisfy. They must wear their (affected, likely) painful smiles for the “blissful ignorant” and knowing ones for the fellow afflicted.↩