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Comment by JPKab | Hacker News Reader

Excellent point on the automatic car.

I love driving a manual transmission. But I also understood why it was so hard for me to find a new Jeep Wrangler with a manual transmission a few years ago.

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The automatic transmission gives us more dexterity for... what exactly? Fiddling with the dash, reaching for something in the back seat, texting? The best case human has much more control but the average case seems worse off.

I'd say most automatics give you less direct control over the engine. I always feel like I'm having to tease a gear shift out of the car when I'm driving an automatic. Until very recently, the typical car couldn't see the traffic light changing or the hills ahead so it couldn't possibly change gears as effectively as a competent driver.

I think of themselves as very practical - I drive a manual, I fix my own cars, I do my own house projects, I cook my own meals.

Which is part of the reason these anti-AI screeds fall on deaf ears for me. My generation has willingly abandoned all of these legitimately useful hard-skills But there's also nothing preventing you from picking and choosing what you care about.

What's wrong with choosing to care about coding manually then?

I'm not actually against manual coding. I just think people need to be honest about about why it's valuable.

I don't work on my own car because I believe that everyone should fix their own cars. But I think enough people should be knowledgeable and have these skills in society - if for no other reason than to keep mechanics and automakers and dealerships honest. I am not personally upset if you work on your own used car or take it to your dealership.

I am against the idea that everyone should somehow be against AI coding.

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