Ask HN: Is anyone satisfied with the future they are helping create? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Is anyone satisfied with the future they are helping create?

17 pointsrosviprince15 comments

The ethics of some of the behind the scenes stuff going on in this industry are a little.. interesting. What do you all think?

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I am not helping create any future. I provide labor and services in exchange for money. I am not in management or a board member therefore I do not participate in decision making. Ideally I would vote in elections to help create a future but given the alternatives I am not participating in that either.

It is sad to me when I see people who work in software industry thinking their work is shaping the future, I mean it is in that technology empowers people to do what they want be it good or evil. But what saddens me is that the nice wages earned and free time could be used to make an actual difference instead of hoping your company will do it for you -- essentially transfering responsibility to C-suite managers.

I would prefer if proper legislation and law enforcement worked and much of why it doesn't boils down to money.

I have a responsibility to take care of myself and those closest to me before caring about the collective's future and my career decisions reflecct that. I will work for any company not affiliated with a military force so long as it empowers me as an individual to do as I wish without depending on the company.

If companies who help create a better future has an easier time hiring than companies who help create a worse future, well, that's a direct incentive you can be a part of.

You might not care or prioritize it, but then you probably don't have the right to expect the rest of the world to do that either?

I don't know, I'm just trying to figure this out for myself...

I don't care for hiring being hard from them. Practices that hurt others or shape a bad future should be illegal outright. Regulating companies is something I pay a tax to my government on.

Companies are not individuals, their existence itself is a privilege and they have no rights or liberties.

You are shaping the future simply by voting for where you work and then doing that work to the best (or worst) of your ability.

This is the same b.s. they use for enviornmentalism. Blame individuals part instead of corporate and government policy. I would be glad to discuss legislative change, changes in government even armed and violent change but I will not vote by wallet, habits or employment because that is not my responsibility. Privileged entities like corporations are regulated and have no rights, if they are not being regulated properly then the regulators or legislators need to be held accountable.

It's false to think that industries are an "all together now" kind of participatory future-building exercise where ethics are intented and chosen. It is individual economic survival shaped by market realities, occasionally nudged by an ideal. Products and services that provide little value are commonplace. The emphasis of the market is on reassigning credit with various tricks first, because value creation is much harder, and many valuable organizations(to society) can barely manage break-even profit. Huge profits often come with low competition and easy rent.

The more important ethical factor is in how one lives their "life as a whole". Not just the career, but the entire premise of living well. Does living well mean living large? Does it mean living minimally? Does it mean giving back? Does it mean sacrificing some personal aspirations? These are more encompassing questions than "do or do not work for BadCo" because some people will calculate that they need the extra income to, e.g., raise kids, and others won't - they'll see an option that reduces the amount of money needed, or they willfully forgo having the kids altogether. A really adeptly lived life can find ways through that work well in any ethical framework, and these successes become stories told to the next generation, of "how to be successful". It is reinvented each time, after all.

Can you list an example of "some of the behind the scenes stuff" and add more detail besides the quoted "little ... interesting"? It's harder to start a discussion when people have to make guesses.

I'm satisfied with the future I'm creating. Mostly open source software. Like I said I'm not sure what your question is about.

Having an effect on the future is not a simple thing.

With experience you get some idea about what it takes, how much time, how many ppl will be required, what personality types etc to push groups in different directions. But if you haven't built up that experience then chances are high, you will fail to influence outcomes no matter what you do. So the question becomes - how do you build up that experience?

If I respect/trust the leaders I usually tell them I disagree but will do things their way. Its then their call whether they want me on the team or not. If I don't trust the leaders, but think the group has good people I can learn a lot from, I put off bringing anything up for some fixed time (3 months/6 month etc). If things have gotten worse by then I am ready to bring it up/take what I have learnt and check out if it comes to it.

Almost any technology can be used for 'good or evil'. The Internet. Personal computing. Mobile phones. All can be used in a productive way to make people's lives easier and more fulfilled. All can be used in a destructive way to make everyone miserable.

I am working on a new general-purpose data management system https://didgets.com/ that helps people analyze data quickly and easily.

Do I worry that someone might use it for something destructive? A little, but I don't stop working on it because that might happen.

I'm working on VR software and while I'd be lying if I said there were no dystopian concerns I am still quite excited about it.

I think the version of this conversation we have in 10 years might be between our avatars in a virtual cocktail lounge or something.

I find that exciting and satisfying, though I've come to realize a lot of people find it bizzare and annoying.

Its arrogant and ignorant to think that you personally create the future.

There is no "global nexus" that is slowly trying to enslave you into some monstrous juggernaut and misuse everything you make.

There is some diffusion in the system. It is hard to tell why we are moving in the direction we are moving.

Which industry?

I am quite pleased. People are getting the future they deserve, and they're getting it good and hard. The wage of obedience is death.

Yeah, fuck those kids that haven’t yet had the chance to willfully disobey the system as a whole.

They earned this. They could have told mom and dad to turn off those cartoons and stop buying food they like. Insist their parents stop participating in modern slavery like a couple of fucking drones. Or maybe just one drone. Who knows. The kid might have failed to keep their parents together.

“Don’t buy that cell phone for me, Dad. I’d rather technologically isolate myself than be chattel.” See? Was that so hard? Jesus, you’d think this were rocket science.

Adults have made a lot of bad choices. But kids? They haven’t even lived long enough to make that many. They haven’t even had time to completely ruin their lives. Pathetic. They don’t deserve opportunities, like I had, through no actions of my own. I would have liked more, but those kids, they haven’t earned it.

Hang on that most certainly didn’t sound right when I read it out loud.

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