Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 394 posts

Re: Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming?

#141

Post by falcolas »

Epenthesis wrote: post #137
falcolas wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did the "taxi mafia" encourage a class of laborers who sleep in their cars for less than a minimum wage while depriving them of any kind of protections normally associated with employment?

...yes? Are you really unfamiliar with how medallion owners used to treat their drivers?

Perhaps I have rose colored glasses, but the "sleeping in the car" problem seems new. But I could very well be wrong.

That said, how are we really in a better place? Same problem, different master.

Re: Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming?

#142

Post by claytoncorreia »

If you’re looking for a job where you can do good as a programmer, we’re always interested in speaking with talented people at Chimp. Our platform, chimp.net, is built to dramatically improve the human experience of participating in charity by helping people, communities and corporations to make bigger impacts on causes they care about.

I personally have been at Chimp for over 5 years. I can tell you that it’s a pretty amazing feeling to come into work every day, sit in a comfy chair, wiggle my fingers on a keyboard and, as a result, help get hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into the charitable sector. All while getting paid a competitive salary at a stable company that’s poised for massive growth.

If this sounds interesting, checkout https://chimp.net/careers or email jobs@chimp.net if you don’t see a role posted that matches your skill set. Again, we’ll always connect with talented people that we think we can work with.

Re: Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming?

#144

Post by simplicitea »

dragonbonheur wrote: post #143

Have you noticed the word "encyclopedia" at the end of the sentence? Now try to imagine Samuel L. Jackson screaming "English, m *? Do you speak it?".

already looked it up. do you ever find that a human response lends insight or relevant, current links that an encyclopedia lacks? I sure do.

Re: Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming?

#145

Post by valarauca1 »

qntty wrote: post #99
valarauca1 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I incorrectly worded my post. And placed too much focus on the individual, when I was as attempting to stress the individual AS A software developer. But nonetheless I do agree with the final output. An individual is largely incapable of doing anything ALONE. Only thought organized and mass action are things accomplished on societal scale. Change requires work... this is physics. A large change requires a lot of work…

I tend to agree with you, but somehow seeing someone else say what I feel made me realize that this is the wrong way to think about the issue. Individuals can do exactly what they can do, and it isn't nothing.

>Individuals can do exactly what they can do, and it isn't nothing.

Effort exerted without results is technically doing something. You are burning energy. But you are not making change happen, you are NOT doing work.

Re: Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming?

#146

Post by dragonbonheur »

simplicitea wrote: post #144
dragonbonheur wrote: post #143

Have you noticed the word "encyclopedia" at the end of the sentence? Now try to imagine Samuel L. Jackson screaming "English, m *? Do you speak it?".

already looked it up. do you ever find that a human response lends insight or relevant, current links that an encyclopedia lacks? I sure do.

You know what? Thank you. You've made me question yet again why I even bother going to HN. This place is just full of compulsive arrogant hair-splitters passing for geniuses.

Re: Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming?

#147

Post by [deleted] »

nyargh wrote: post #109
tacostakohashi wrote: post #12

Work as a programmer for whoever will pay you the most. Invest, and donate money to causes you care about.

People are going to shit on the parent comment - but honestly, anyone with more than a few years of experience in a tight tech job market is going to easily be in the top decile of earners. The highly-committed individuals that do the brutally hard work on the ground for non-profits or NGOs make a pittance in comparison. Committing a quarter of your salary would pay the entirety of theirs. Consider that for a moment.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming?

#148

Post by vivekd »

nyargh wrote: post #109
tacostakohashi wrote: post #12

Work as a programmer for whoever will pay you the most. Invest, and donate money to causes you care about.

People are going to shit on the parent comment - but honestly, anyone with more than a few years of experience in a tight tech job market is going to easily be in the top decile of earners. The highly-committed individuals that do the brutally hard work on the ground for non-profits or NGOs make a pittance in comparison. Committing a quarter of your salary would pay the entirety of theirs. Consider that for a moment.

I'm suspicious of the notion that throwing money at problems can solve them.

Re: Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming?

#149

Post by whistlerbrk »

lngnmn wrote: post #80

as a species, no less? ;) Education then.

Besides the brevity of your answer I can't imagine a possible explanation as to why you would be downvoted. Education is by far the best way to implement positive change on a generational and self propagating basis.

Re: Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming?

#150

Post by caseyohara »

PrintReleaf is a platform for automated reforestation https://printreleaf.com/

We measure paper consumption for businesses, equate that to forest impact, then automate the planting of those trees back into the environment at planting projects around the world. We're always looking for talented designers and developers that want to do social and environmental good through technology.

Post reply on HN