Inherently we aren't good or bad, but just provide tools to do things with.
Our users have built some pretty positive businesses though, so I'd say yeah.
Ask HN: Does your job make the world a better place?
11–20 of 45 posts
Re: Ask HN: Does your job make the world a better place?
#12Yes.
Re: Ask HN: Does your job make the world a better place?
#13Yes and I'd say the same for my previous job. Prior to these positions I spent years in the CATV industry and I still feel bad when I see people living their lives in front of the boob-tube.
Re: Ask HN: Does your job make the world a better place?
#14I like to ask whether I’m making a gun, a hammer or a pencil. Technically you can use any of those for good or bad, but you have to jump through a few more mental hoops to justify the gun. I try and stick to pencils.
Re: Ask HN: Does your job make the world a better place?
#15I like to ask whether I’m making a gun, a hammer or a pencil. Technically you can use any of those for good or bad, but you have to jump through a few more mental hoops to justify the gun. I try and stick to pencils.
Absolutely, a good way to approach this. I like to use the Tarot Cards of Tech[1] to inspect complex products.
Re: Ask HN: Does your job make the world a better place?
#16Ehh, on a macro level.. does advertising help make earth a better place. I’d guess no.
On the micro, we do have thousands of happy customers whose business are more profitable, so those folks’ worlds are much better places.
Re: Ask HN: Does your job make the world a better place?
#17I like to ask whether I’m making a gun, a hammer or a pencil. Technically you can use any of those for good or bad, but you have to jump through a few more mental hoops to justify the gun. I try and stick to pencils.
I'm less worried about objects, and much more worried about systems. For example systems of surveillance, systems of oppression, and systems that are used to kill.
For example take the targeted killings in Afghanistan: In my mind the person facilitating the database(s) that enable the Taliban to go door to door to exterminate people is much more at fault than someone who repairs or builds firearms. The gun is an interchangeable tool in a long chain of events that leads to oppression, the database is not.
Re: Ask HN: Does your job make the world a better place?
#18In my previous job I helped wonderful people do questionable things. I worked in ad-tech in a company that was overflowing with friendly, intelligent people who were a joy to work with. But as we got deeper and deeper into the tracking, click-bait, SERP pages and marketing for gambling apps it just got harder and harder to justify. I'm not saying it's the only reason I left but every day I stayed I received constant reminders that I was fostering addiction, tracking people, and/or just wasting their time. Did I help make a lot of money for the mainstream media? Yeah. Is THAT even a good thing? Sometimes I'm not so sure.
Re: Ask HN: Does your job make the world a better place?
#19Yes.
Re: Ask HN: Does your job make the world a better place?
#20Yes, but clients might disagree. I've been on a contract with my states unemployment office trying to help them manage the overwhelming number of claims that are still over 10 times the normal filing level. It's frustrating at times looking at the systems in place and wondering how they kept up under a normal load, but I can see where my work has helped people get paid and avoid getting sucked into a cycle of debt, and that feels good.