Ask HN: How can intellects protect themselves against backstabbing?

9 points by diminium 13 years ago | 3 comments

Tesla, Turing, Oppenheimer.. great men, great scientists, great intellects - all harmed and some destroyed by the people they helped protect.

I've been reading the biographies of some of the greatest minds in science. I'm saddened with what I found. While intellects will protect other intellects, intellects have little power to protect themselves against the majority who control society. While those like Oppenheimer got off with a small beating - Tesla and Turner were destroyed by the ruthlessness of the world they lived in and ironically, gave a future to.

To those who say modern society has grown beyond that, I'll point to modern 21st century Massachusetts as just one example of how the iron fist the leaders with the support of the majority has controlled intellectualism there.

(Of course, all these examples are nothing compared to some counties who slaughtered all their intellectuals during a populist revolution. Their biographies, unfortunately, were never written.)

What options are there for an intellect to protect themselves while still allowing them to continue studying what they desire?

sokoloff 13 years ago |

Ignore the (percieved) risks and simply do great work. That's overwhelmingly likely to have the highest EV. Any amount of time spent fretting over the possibility of unfair treatment is wasted time. (all of this is merely opinion, of course)

daneel 13 years ago |

Well, I would think that ridding oneself of naïveté would be a good first step. Many intellectuals refuse to acknowledge the political climate they operate within, believing their efforts to be "above" it all. While I do agree that intellectual pursuits _are_ above petty politics, the fact remains that the politics aren't going away.

Take a page from the people in power: surround yourself with the protections necessary to prolong that power. I wish it didn't have to be that way, but it is.

johnbm 13 years ago |

Don't trust anyone more than you need to. Get everything in writing. Do an honest cost/benefit analysis for all parties involved.

What do you think young 20 somethings who work 80 hour weeks at a startup for the promise of stock ownership are doing?