I remember when this story(the lie) was first circulating there was one thing that didn't really make sense to me, although the person who said they created it took inspiration from hispanic foods he grew up eating, flamin' hot cheetos has a cayenne flavor which to me reminds me of the US south and Tabasco sauce and nothing like anything anything from Mexico(besides that its spicy).
Right, but the pepper is the key ingredient in Tabasco sauce. It's like saying a soy-based sauce invented in the US is "nothing like anything anything from China" when soy sauce originated there.
Follow the incentives! Which option has more opportunity for the lizard brain to feel good watching the number in the top right go up?
There is much more opportunity to earn virtue points with a rags to riches story (regardless of the truth of the story) because it naturally breeds all sorts of "this could never happen at BigCo" contrarian take which then lends itself to all sorts of tropes and anecdotes about perverse HR policies, evil capitalists, inept bureaucracies, internal politics, team churn, etc, etc. There are tons more virtue points up for grabs in that type of circle jerk than there are in response to an article that debunks the story.
780 points, 4 years ago, 356 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20227175
406 points, 2 years ago, 261 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25510351
The reality:
336 points, 2 years ago, 145 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27173859
I guess HN prefers a good story about rags-to-riches underdogs!