Edit: (One person reading this reports below that this made them more reluctant to come forward with their story, and so that seems bad to me. I have mentally updated as a result. More relevant discussion below.)
I notice that there’s not that much information public about what Geoff actually Did and Did Not Do. Or what he instigated and what he did not. Or what he intended or what he did not intend.
Um, I would like more direct evidence of what he actually did and did not do. This is cruxy for me in terms of what should happen next.
Right now, based just on the Medium post, one plausible take is that the people in Geoff’s immediate circle may have been taking advantage of their relative power in the hierarchy to abuse the people under them.
See this example from Zoe:
A few weeks after this big success, this person told me my funding was in question — they had done all they could do to train me and thought I might be too blocked to sufficiently progress into a Master on the project. They and Geoff were questioning my commitment to and understanding of the project, and they had concerns about my debugging trajectory.
“They and Geoff” makes it sound like Zoe’s supervisor basically name-dropped Geoff as a way to add weight to a scare tactic. Like “better watch out cuz the boss thinks you’re not committed enough...” But it’s not really clear what the boss actually said or did not say… This supervisor might just be using a move. (I welcome additional clarity.)
The most directly ‘damning’ thing, as far as I can tell, is Geoff pressuring people to sign NDAs.
A lot of the other stuff seems like it’s due to the people around Geoff elevating him to an unreasonable pedestal and treating him like a savior. Maybe Geoff should have done more to stop this from escalating / done more to make people chill out about him and his supposed specialness. But him failing to control his flock is a different failure from him feeding them lies or requiring worship. I’m not seeing any statements about this. I welcome more information and clarity.
I am wanting clarity here because I am very aware of people’s strong desire for a [cult] leader. It can be pretty severe. And this is very much a co-participation between leaders and followers.
I know what it’s like from the inside to want someone to be my cult leader, god or parent figure. And I have low-tolerance for narratives that try to take my personal agency away from me—that claim I was a victim of mind control or whatever, rather than someone who bottom-level gave up my power to them.
Even if I didn’t consciously give away my power and it just sort of happened, I think it’s still wrong to write a narrative where I merely blame the other person and absolve myself of all responsibility or agency. This sounds unhealthy to hold onto, as a story.
I’m def not trying to absolve Geoff (or anyone) of responsibility, accountability, or agency. But also ew scapegoating is gross?
My main desire is for more information, or for people to realize that we might not be meeting relevant cruxes for how to move forward, and that we should continue to investigate and hold off on taking heavy actions.
RE: “Lots of upper middle class adults hardly know how to have conversations...”
I will let Anna speak for herself, but I have evidence of my own to bring… maybe not directly about the thing she’s saying but nearby things.
I have noticed friends who jumped up to upper middle class status due to suddenly coming into a lot of wealth (prob from crypto stuff). I noticed that their conversations got worse (from my POV).
In particular: They were more self-preoccupied. They discussed more banal things. They spent a lot of time optimizing things that mostly seemed trivial to me (like what to have for dinner). When I brought up more worldly topics of conversation, someone expressed a kind of “wow I haven’t thought about the world in such a long time, it’d be nice to think about the world more.” Their tone was a tad wistful and they looked at me like they could learn something from me, but also they weren’t going to try very hard and we both knew it. I felt like they were in a wealth/class bubble that insulated them from many of the world’s problems and suffering. It seemed like they’d lost touch with their real questions and deep inner longings. I don’t think this was as true of them before, but maybe I wasn’t paying sufficient attention before, I dunno.
It’s like their life path switched from ‘seeking’ to ‘maintaining’. They walked far enough, and they picked a nice spot, and now that’s where they at.
I used to work in tech. My coworkers were REALLY preoccupied with trivial things like Pokemon Go, sports, video games, what to eat/drink, new toys and gadgets, how to make more money, Marvel movies, career advancement. Almost to the point of obsession. It was like an adult playground atmosphere… pretty fun, pretty pleasant, and pretty banal. Our job was great. The people were great. The money was great. And I personally had to get the f out of there.
This isn’t to say that they aren’t capable of having ‘real conversations’ about the world at times. But on the day-to-day level, I sensed an overwhelming force trying to keep them from looking at what the world is actually like, the part they’re playing in it, what really matters, etc. It felt like a dream world.
They also tended to have an alcohol or drug ‘habit’ or ‘hobby’ of some kind. Pot or alcohol; take your pick.
My more NY-flavored / finance-or-marketing-or-whatever-flavored friends like to drink, own nice watches, wear nice suits, have nice apartments, etc. Different flavor from the West Coast tech scene, but the same thing going on. They appear happy, happier than before. But also… eh. Their preoccupations again seem not-very-alive and have an artificial smell. They seem a bit blocked from having interesting and life-changing thoughts.
I don’t really judge the people I am talking about. I am sad about the situation but don’t feel like they’re doing something wrong.
I think the upper middle class capitalist dream is not all it is cracked up to be, and I would encourage people to try it out if they want to… but also to get over it once they’re done trying it? It’s nice for a while, and I like my friends having nice things and having money and stuff. But I don’t think it’s very character-building or teaching them new things or answering their most important questions. I also don’t like the way it insulates people from noticing how much death, suffering, and injustice there is going on.