Computing is in a sad state today, but not because of
    fucking callbacks. It's in a sad state today because 
    we're still thinking about problems on this level at all.

The unfortunate part about thinking about problems is it that problems are relative - i.e. they are problems only relative to a context. Nobody even in the tech world has a clue how solving a simple problem just to satisfy some intellectual curiosity can affect life on the planet. What meaning does Wiles' proof of Fermat's last theorem have on the part of the world that's sleeping hungry every night?

The stuff we're talking about here has irked some pretty decent brains enough for them to go out and make ... another textual programming language.

Folks like Musk are an inspiration indeed for boldly thinking at the high level they do and seeing it through. However, that's exactly what's easy for press to write up on. Stuff like the moon speech is what's easy to communicate. It is also simple to attribute some great deed to one of these great "visions". But behind each such vision lies the incremental work of millions - each of it, I say, worth every penny - unsung heroes, all of them.

On a related point, not all the time where we've heard a call to greater action do we see the ability in those folks to imagine how that might come about.

edit: typos.