Top all-time · #24
Venkatesh Rao
Personal blog · ribbonfarm.comculturephilosophybusiness
Venkatesh Rao writes Ribbonfarm, a personal blog at ribbonfarm.com about culture, philosophy and business. Since 2009, 821 different Hacker News readers have linked it 1,423 times, most often “The Gervais Principle, or the Office According to “The Office” (2009)”. No feed was found, so read it on the site itself.
Often recommended · 16 of 40 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Venkatesh Rao's ribbonfarm.com, mainly The Gervais Principle, to explain office politics as sociopaths, clueless and losers, plus essays on mediocrity and power.
- Recommended for · 16 comments
- Called very thought-provoking, a great piece, a nice article, and 'a ton of truth to this'; told readers to read it.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 40 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Ribbonfarm is a long-running blog by Venkatesh Rao on technology, organizations, culture, and magical thinking. 2007–2024.
Most-linked posts?
- The Gervais Principle, or the Office According to “The Office” (2009)206 people · 253 mentions · first linked 2017-04-03
- The Gervais Principle, or The Office According to "The Office"62 people · 84 mentions · first linked 2009-10-14
- The Gervais Principle42 people · 55 mentions · first linked 2017-06-28
- The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millenial31 people · 35 mentions · first linked 2017-08-18
- A Big Little Idea Called Legibility (2010)27 people · 41 mentions · first linked 2017-03-22
- The Gervais Principle20 people · 21 mentions · first linked 2011-10-21
- The Internet of Beefs15 people · 19 mentions · first linked 2020-01-17
- The Gervais Principle II: Posturetalk, Powertalk, Babytalk and Gametalk12 people · 12 mentions · first linked 2009-11-12
- Ways people speak to each other: Posturetalk, Powertalk, Babytalk and Gametalk11 people · 12 mentions · first linked 2017-06-21
- /2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/9 people · 10 mentions · first linked 2026-06-12
What Hacker News says?
The "American dream" is a perfect example of what jwz is talking about. The american dream is "designed to help a small predatory class dominate a larger prey class" - http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2011/11/16/the-evolution-of-the-am... Weaving myths to manipulate underlings to your advantage is a tradition old as time.
Comment linking /2011/11/16/the-evolution-of-the-american-dream/
on “Watch a VC use my name to sell a con”Submitted The Daredevil Camera as a story · 1302 points
HN discussionit doesn't mention the power struggle because this article is PART of the power struggle. The journalist who wrote the article is basing the story based on the people who they have interviewed (who are the ones who are struggling for power) as well as the continuing narrative surrounding Uber (which is the story the people struggling for power are trying to create) you should read this very interesting (but simplifi…
Comment linking /2009/11/11/the-gervais-principle-ii-posturetalk-powertalk-babytalk-and-gametalk/
on “Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.”Submitted Artem vs. Predator as a story · 651 points
HN discussionThe A,B and C teams seem to line up with the Sociopath, clueless, and losers in Gervais Principle.. or at least from this url( https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-... )
Comment linking /2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/
on “How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)”Submitted The Internet of Beefs as a story · 513 points
HN discussionI completely understand this. I spent 10+ years trying to "save the world" just to learn that the world doesn't want to be saved. The problem is that most companies (the big ones especially) are [inherently pathological][gervais principle]. The more you try to solve actual problems the more resistance you encounter. I solved this problem by becoming a contractor. Now I work for the same big companies but I don't get…
Comment linking /the-gervais-principle/
on “Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?”Submitted The Gervais Principle, or The Office According to "The Office" as a story · 307 points
HN discussionPerfect time to read again The Gervais Principle! https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-...
Comment linking /2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/
on “uBlock Origin is no longer available on the Chrome Store”Submitted How to Take a Walk as a story · 273 points
HN discussionSounds like "The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millennial" https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2017/08/17/the-premium-mediocre-l... No, I don't know how I came to be replying about Ribbonfarm a day late to a comment deep in a thread I haven't read most of.
Comment linking /2017/08/17/the-premium-mediocre-life-of-maya-millennial/
on “Linus Torvalds: “Somebody is pushing complete garbage for unclear reasons.””Submitted The Gervais Principle, or the Office According to “The Office” (2009) as a story · 260 points
HN discussionThe part of the lifecycle where the clueless have taken over: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-...
Comment linking /2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office
on “Linus Torvalds: “Somebody is pushing complete garbage for unclear reasons.””Submitted The Gervais Principle, or the Office According to “The Office” (2009) as a story · 258 points
HN discussionWhite collar sociopathy. These guys at the top lack an empathetic intuition. https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-...
Comment linking /2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/
on “Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview”Submitted The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millenial as a story · 197 points
HN discussionSounds like a "nicer" rehash of the Gervais Principle. I haven't read Developer Hegemony, but from the looks of the author's blog, I would recommend "cutting out the middleman" and going straight to the source material: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/the-gervais-principle/
Comment linking /the-gervais-principle/
on “Why I Quit Google to Work for Myself”Submitted Immortality Begins at Forty as a story · 190 points
HN discussionSounds like the Gervais theory of management: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/11/11/the-gervais-principle-...
Comment linking /2009/11/11/the-gervais-principle-ii-posturetalk-powertalk-babytalk-and-gametalk/
on “Why I Quit Google to Work for Myself”Submitted Ribbonfarm Is Retiring as a story · 178 points
HN discussionThe rationale is that an egregore called Apple, inc. is blindly fumbling ahead, unable to see the lives it is trampling. Note that this has nothing to do with the actual well meaning (mostly - see leadership emails leaks) people forming the egregore. The purpose of the company structure is isolating it from liabilities, and as the regulation which would force it to recognize the damage it did is mostly missing, thus…
Comment linking /2010/07/26/a-big-little-idea-called-legibility/
on “Apple has locked my Apple ID, and I have no recourse. A plea for help”Submitted A Brief History of the Corporation: 1600 to 2100 as a story · 161 points
HN discussionYou seem to have re-iterated the Gervais principle: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-... (although leader, model worker, autopilot are more polite terms than sociopath, clueless, and losers)
Comment linking /2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/
on “Learning at work is work, and we must make space for it”Submitted A Text Renaissance as a story · 159 points
HN discussioninteresting, thanks for the reference to https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-...
Comment linking /2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/
on “Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?”Submitted A Big Little Idea Called Legibility (2010) as a story · 146 points
HN discussionIt must have been a couple of months because... > I keep this link sitting around and enjoy dusting it off every couple of months or so > https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-...
Comment linking /2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/
on “Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?”Submitted Why we don’t understand heavier-than-air flight as a story · 133 points
HN discussionThis is the idea of premium mediocre: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2017/08/17/the-premium-mediocre-l...
Comment linking /2017/08/17/the-premium-mediocre-life-of-maya-millennial/
on “But what if I want a faster horse?”Submitted The Locust Economy as a story · 128 points
HN discussion
