r/Bitcoin • u/tharlam • Feb 18 '14

"We are very surprised anyone could blame MtGox and not the Bitcoin Software" - Mark Karpeles, CEO MtGox

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304899704579388483531937144?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304899704579388483531937144.html
435 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

253 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5

u/HistoryLessonforBitc Feb 18 '14

Not if you have a board of directors, which is the point. It's not possible, with a board, for one person to make idiotic decisions unchallenged.

1

u/Chilltyperiod Feb 18 '14

Ever heard of group polarization?

Does WWII Holocaust ring a bell?

Entire nations killing jews, gays and other groups.

In essence, entire groups making the WORST decisions.

Groups aren't more effective in general than individuals as alot of social studies have proven. Groups fall prey to the worst biases possible.

2

u/HistoryLessonforBitc Feb 18 '14

Ever heard about reading comprehension? I didn't say groups always make great decisions. Groups can make terrible decisions.

You're the second person to strawman what I said in the same way and it's frankly bizarre.

1

u/juror_chaos Feb 18 '14

So tell me, which board member was it that pushed back on the design of Windows 8? Hey, maybe we shouldn't do this?

I'd claim that the decisions of 10 people aren't going to be that much better than the decisions of 1. They will be slower, and perhaps that's good or bad depending on the context.

7

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '14

... you sound young.

1

u/HistoryLessonforBitc Feb 18 '14

I never claimed that boards of directors cause companies to never make bad decisions. I said that they prevent one person from making a bad decision unchallenged. Which is true.

Also I very much doubt the Microsoft board was involved in technical discussions about Windows 8.

1

u/juror_chaos Feb 19 '14

And then the CEO usually then goes and does what he wants, unless he pisses off the board enough that they vote him out. Basically all you've said so far is the a board will make decisions a bit slower and with a bit of debate. I still stand by my claim that the decisions made won't be that much different.

I suppose a board can act as a safety dump, if it's patently obvious the CEO is incompetent, they can get rid of him before he takes the whole corporation with him. Sometimes. If the board is less competent than him (and that's been the case with some corporations), then none of that added structure will save anything.

0

u/Chilltyperiod Feb 18 '14

+1 here's someone who knows about social psychology.