

Why do we care about likes? - armansu
https://medium.com/what-i-learned-today/19846f375b21

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lutusp
Quote" ... He is one of the key people who drove Facebook’s growth from 30
million users in 2005 to 550 million users in 2011 (the year he left)."

He was present, but how can anyone meaningfully claim that he "drove" or was
in any way responsible for the increase in users? Facebook now has over a
billion users, half of whom signed up since this person left Facebook.

I mention this only because too many claims like this are made based on zero
evidence of a cause-effect relationship.

~~~
armansu
It's a team effort, no doubt. But how do they introduce Linus Torvalds, Kevin
Systrom or David H. Hansson? 'The man who created Linux', 'the creator of
Instagram', DHH introduces himself as 'the creator of Ruby on Rails'.
Obviously, singlehandedly they haven't created what we understand by those
products, they started them and were principal forces, but haven't CREATED
them. This simplification (the proxy of the reality) is the accepted norm in
respectful introductions. My statement about Chamath was merely that.

~~~
lutusp
> This simplification (the proxy of the reality) is the accepted norm in
> respectful introductions.

Yes, true enough. It shows the limited role played by science and scientific
thinking in everyday life.

Of a group of 256 people tossing fair coins, one of them has a better than 50%
probability of throwing eight heads in a row, in eight throws. Does that mean
he's a genius, deserving a special introduction at public meetings?

~~~
armansu
Don't you think the world's best distance runners from Kenya and Ethiopia do
deserve a special intro at public meetings? Aren't genetic endowments and
natural advantages an equivalent of 'throwing eight heads in a row':
[http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2013/09/09/130...](http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2013/09/09/130909crat_atlarge_gladwell?currentPage=all)?

