Anthony Levandowski Pardoned
I have to say there is quite a lot to learn from Levandowski.[0] I am not a fan of corruption but it&#x27;s undeniable that he played whatever cards he had in life and played them hard. He&#x27;ll probably be a shadowy billionaire quite soon.<p>One quote stood out to me at the very end of the article:<p>“The only thing that matters is the future,” he told me after the civil trial was settled. “I don’t even know why we study history. It’s entertaining, I guess—the dinosaurs and the Neanderthals and the Industrial Revolution, and stuff like that. But what already happened doesn’t really matter. You don’t need to know that history to build on what they made. In technology, all that matters is tomorrow.”<p>I&#x27;ve always been obsessed by history but always struggled with this same sentiment: that I was escaping reality and my responsibility to try interesting things by plunging into the past.<p>[0]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.newyorker.com&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;2018&#x2F;10&#x2F;22&#x2F;did-uber-steal-googles-intellectual-property" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.newyorker.com&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;2018&#x2F;10&#x2F;22&#x2F;did-uber-steal...</a><p>edit: to clarify my thoughts given the sudden replies: I don&#x27;t mean to say I argue for a wholesale casting off of the past. Clearly, I understand the trivial observation that such a view of history has naive aspects, but that&#x27;s not at all what I am interested in. For me and most other people here that enjoy history and such things, ignoring history would be impossible anyway because the draw is too great. I&#x27;m merely putting out a reminder that all our inner or outer debates about the finer points of politics or history or other such topics are often a way to escape seeing what we can do in the present.<p>Looking at people like Levandowski, you might see yet another arrogant techie that has a blinkered view of the world, (and that is more or less true) but at the same time they are out there doing bold things and living life on the edge for better or for worse. They essentially act like the historical figures we read about, although I am not implying that he is some important figure as of yet (though who knows in the future) just that he shows the same zest for life.<p>I&#x27;m essentially speaking for those whose main problem is the opposite of Levandowski: too much intellectual masturbation, too much thought as entertainment, and too little meaningful application of whatever lessons you may or may not have learned. You may harp on about how history matters, but how many of you have actually been presented with choices that mattered beyond the parameters of your own life?