Yep - that's another way of stating the consequentialist view, which is a class of normative ethical theories.
( edited as my first take could be seen as condescending.)
2,069 karma · joined December 9, 2009
( edited as my first take could be seen as condescending.)
When I was first looking at python frameworks, I had to spend a not insignificant amount of time evaluating the various frameworks before deciding which one to hitch my wagon to. Had I decided on Ruby over Python, the choice would have been easy given the clear dominance of Rails.
I have limited time to learn new tools since coding is not my primary focus, and one thing that is holding me back from learning a javascript framework is trying to decide which one to dedicate my time to. They all have pros and cons, and I hope a dominant framework emerges soon, and the bulk of the community rallies around it to make it better and better.
Obligatory: https://xkcd.com/927/
A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time. Small variations in the environment (which can’t be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean you must have quality assurance checks smartly distributed across the line so that customers all the way down the supermarket don’t get pissed off and buy someone else’s product instead.
Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort.
The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP, third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution — on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. They solved the problem by using some high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box weighing less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done.
A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. “That’s some money well spent!” - he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.
It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use. It should’ve been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren’t picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.
Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed. A few feet before it, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin.
“Oh, that — one of the guys put it there ’cause he was tired of walking over every time the bell rang”, says one of the workers.
They are unlikely to be reading stuff like this...Surfing the 'Net is a deadly timesuck...
Ouch.
This first one, "Next, Please" reminds me that we can't just wait for something amazing to happen in our lives, thinking that some day it surely will all on its own. We need to be proactive and make things happen.
Next, Please
Always too eager for the future, we
Pick up bad habits of expectancy.
Something is always approaching; every day
Till then we say,
Watching from a bluff the tiny, clear
Sparkling armada of promises draw near.
How slow they are! And how much time they waste,
Refusing to make haste!
Yet still they leave us holding wretched stalks
Of disappointment, for, though nothing balks
Each big approach, leaning with brasswork prinked,
Each rope distinct,
Flagged, and the figurehead with golden tits
Arching our way, it never anchors; it's
No sooner present than it turns to past.
Right to the last
We think each one will heave to and unload
All good into our lives, all we are owed
For waiting so devoutly and so long.
But we are wrong:
Only one ship is seeking us, a black-
Sailed unfamiliar, towing at her back
A huge and birdless silence. In her wake
No waters breed or break.
To Failure
You do not come dramatically, with dragons
That rear up with my life between their paws
And dash me butchered down beside the wagons,
The horses panicking; nor as a clause
Clearly set out to warn what can be lost,
What out-of-pocket charges must be borne,
Expenses met; nor as a draughty ghost
That’s seen, some mornings, running down a lawn.
It is these sunless afternoons, I find,
Instal you at my elbow like a bore.
The chestnut trees are caked with silence. I’m
Aware the days pass quicker than before,
Smell staler too. And once they fall behind
They look like ruin. You have been here some time.
Without Mercy, the Rains Continued (by David St. John)
There had been
A microphone hidden
Beneath the bed
Of course I didn't realize it
At the time & in fact
Didn't know for years
Until one day a standard
Khaki book mailer
Arrived & within it
An old
Stained cassette tape
Simply labeled in black marker
"Him / Me / September 1975"
& as I listened I knew something
Had been asked of me
Across the years & loneliness
To which I simply responded
With the same barely audible
Silence that I had chosen thenSo, it would seem knowing the floor number would be super helpful (though maybe not a regulatory requirement as you say.)
This poses a problem in dense urban areas with high-rise buildings. The private sector companies mentioned in the article who "zipping ahead" of carriers can provide an altitude using things like wifi tracking, but that still needs to be cross-referenced to an actual floor number. (Keep in mind some buildings don't have a 13th floor, etc.) Barometers in phones don't work well indoors either...
So, this may be a case where an FCC regulation is next to impossible to meet, unless someone can figure out how to map altitudes to actual building floor numbers at scale. Seems like that would be pretty labor intensive effort...
A the end of the day, we look for the meaning of/in life to ultimately be happy, or at least content. For that, we need a "purpose", and the philosopher Daniel Dennentt has some good advice here:
“Find something more important than you are, and dedicate your life to it.”
So, how do you find your purpose - something that is "more important than you are"? For many people, the answer is based in religious belief. Others may find value in a letter penned by 20 year old Hunter S. Thompson:
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/11/04/hunter-s-t...
Key quote:
"In every man, heredity and environment have combined to produce a creature of certain abilities and desires—including a deeply ingrained need to function in such a way that his life will be MEANINGFUL. A man has to BE something; he has to matter.
As I see it then, the formula runs something like this: a man must choose a path which will let his ABILITIES function at maximum efficiency toward the gratification of his DESIRES."
I would add that the DESIRES need to be aligned with, and perhaps subservient to, that thing which is "more important than you are", otherwise ==> hedonism.
Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist by authorities in power at the time, and was accused of treason, as is Snowden I believe. History judges Mandela otherwise, and deems him a hero. Will the same be true for Snowden? I guess it really is the same old debate that has been going on - is Snowden a hero or a traitor guilty of treason, and how will the answer to that question differ, if at all, in 25 to 30 years? Nothing new here besides the context in which the question is posed, which may or may not be valid.
I'm recalling a conversation I had with someone born and raised in South Africa, who said Mandela was in jail for a reason as he was a terrorist who broke the law, (which of course has been much discussed recently). Someone else chimed in something like "it's different when you break laws to right an injustice..."
It's a complex issue, and I'd be surprised if someone hasn't already made the connection.
Edit: clarity
"Never take down a fence until you understand why it was put up."
I used to use that one a lot with developers trying to improve on a predecessor's code...
If so, was wondering if you found any big differences in functionality/features over mindmup.
Don't be that guy....
Look at how many people solve complex crossword and sudoku puzzles everyday for free...
http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2012/11/additive-m...
I'm leery of calling "hype" on new technology simply because practical uses are not immediately evident.
I remember reading that most people in the late 1800's couldn't imagine an economy that was based on jobs that were not related to some aspect of farming...
Edit: In the early days of Twitter, most people couldn't think of anything useful coming out of tweeting 140 characters.