Why Learning to Code Won't Save Your Job | Hacker News Reader

Why Learning to Code Won't Save Your Job

fastcompany.com

15 pointsnols16 comments

I'm not sure I agree. Sure a little coding on the side won't save you. But being able to create something out of thin air, to look at a problem and solve it, that will always be worth something. Problems won't magically go away. There's no one-size-fits-all recipe to run a business, so there's always room for improvement.

I find developing a decent product requires people to be on a proper 'jelled' team.

Hiring freelancer may get you a nice MVP. But to build a proper product, you need really good communication between customers and various departments, team work, and slick processes.

Cutting code is a small part of a software devs job.

agreed. but (at my current job anyway), i'm paid to put a smile on my CTO's face each day, not make a decent product. very, very different goals.

That sounds like a form of prostitution.

All work is a form of prostitution.

No - at least not using conventional definitions. Prostitution, in this context, means doing something immoral for money. Producing something that other people need isn't immoral. (Unless you define it to be immoral to not give away what you produce, but then it's your definition that's the problem.)

Putting a smile on the CTO's face rather than producing something of value is arguably immoral. It's not producing what you're "supposed to" produce. (Whether it is actually immoral depends on how you define "supposed to", and what weight you give it.)

Prostitution, in this context, means doing something immoral for money.

I think a better definition would be "giving up something intimate and precious for money" (beyond simply one's time and good humor). Or other words, giving up a significant piece of oneself (beyond simply a smile, or the fake-friendly vibe demanded by many work environments).

Putting a smile on the CTO's face rather than producing something of value is arguably immoral.

And this I disagree with you on also; however it's a purely subjective disagreement. (Arguably making people smile is producing something of value, if it smooths over bumps and helps them get through the day. But that's just how I see things).

BTW, I for one don't see prostitution as immoral (or any more immoral than, say, selling junk food); and it can even be legitimately therapeutic in some cases.

Worked in healthcare, some of our practices were much more immoral (not illegal) than trading sex for money. Part of why I'm not there anymore.

Please do elaborate, if you can.

This is, at best, weakly reasoned. A variant on many statements of the form "A and B have similar, overlapping qualities; therefore, A == B" (or is a form of B, etc). When actually there are important distinctions between the two, and the distinctions do matter.

In economic terms, we've reached 'peak people'.

It takes the a fraction of the manpower to maintain the current level of human culture, traditions, knowledge, and capabilities. Technology and the arts have accelerated so much in such a short time that we're running out of creative, original ideas faster than the masses can consume them.

Coding will remain relevant but most other jobs related to the day-to-day maintenance of mankind's existence will be automated out of existence.

Not unless we can solve the energy problem. The reality we've known all our lives is not a sustainable trend.

Sustaining human life, especially in 'developed' nations requires a lot more than energy.

People focus on energy, technology, and conservation as the solution. It's like trying to patch a bullet wound with a band-aid. Nothing saves resources more effective than reducing the population and the overall human population is still growing at a dramatic rate.

Don't forget that automation is expensive and fragile. It will cost a lot to maintain automated systems and it will cost less to keep people alive. So sooner or later people will just be hired to do jobs that require dexterity and creativity, for a little bit of money, which will be more than enough to buy a comfortable life.

"Temporary job security at best" perfectly describes my situation. I never struggled with the math, nor felt threatened by job automation, but learning how to program and develop apps over the past year hasn't exactly saved me either. My only leads, if ever, are small gigs I find through personal connections. My first and only real job (as a developer) was a nightmare, being asked to fix bugs on cancelled projects to, as they said, "prove myself". The cherry on top was when they decided to stop paying me halfway through. Now I'm out thousands in unpaid wages I have to fight for...

Interesting, is this the reason more people are looking at basic income ?

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