Oh God no. YC is too unimaginative. They settle for "also rans" and are too prepared to lose.
And Steve could never tolerate the money-fixation of PG and co. Steve was always about blowing people's minds and changing the world with transformative technology.
This is why I will always be a great admirer of Steve (despite his glaring weaknesses) and disdain YC.
Having a track record really helps. If you've already put out something cool or remarkable into the world, and you have an audience, post a want ad. I'm just saying this because it's worked for me (although I'm not promoting anything so I'm not going to get into details).
Otherwise, you could go to developer meetups, hackathons and the like and get chummy with people. Personality counts bigtime, as does your perceived competence. Be direct with what you need, and if your idea is awesome and you can sell the dream, you'll be on your way.
You claim insects are like "machines" that "mercilessly slaughter". If insects have no sentient attributes like mercy, how can they slaughter others mercilessly?
I think Page and Plant did know. We learn and live by how others react to us. It's how we get a sense of who we are, how "good looking" and "smart" we are. It's a constant process of self and peer evaluation and grading, although often implicit.
Page didn't always rock. No doubt he had to figure it out like everyone else, but when he did he was clearly a Great song writer and riff maker. And that's Great with a capital G.
And Steve could never tolerate the money-fixation of PG and co. Steve was always about blowing people's minds and changing the world with transformative technology.
This is why I will always be a great admirer of Steve (despite his glaring weaknesses) and disdain YC.