Solving All the Wrong Problems • Hacker News Board

Re: Solving All the Wrong Problems

#11

Post by ixtli » Mon, Sep 12, 2016, 8:32 PM UTC

im_down_w_otp wrote: post #5

> "As one colleague in tech explained it to me recently, for most people working on such projects, the goal is basically to provide for themselves everything that their mothers no longer do." Ha! I've used the exact same characterization. Anyway, this seems entirely predictable given a couple different considerations. 1) People are most apt to effectively solve problems for which they have some context. 2) People who…

I came here to say exactly this, although I do not think that the doomsaying about the Wall•E-sque dystopia is really called for.

Re: Solving All the Wrong Problems

#12

Post by aetherson » Mon, Sep 12, 2016, 8:33 PM UTC

It's pretty un-self-aware for someone to simultaneously bitch that:

1. Some populations are underserved because they aren't sexy and high profile and interesting.

2. Some apps are solving small problems instead of tackling global warming.

The truth is that many (perhaps all) of those apps will fail, and if any succeed, most of the successes will be kind of marginal successes that don't upend the world. So what? That's how it works most of the time -- small incremental improvements to people's lives.

Re: Solving All the Wrong Problems

#13

Post by ixtli » Mon, Sep 12, 2016, 8:33 PM UTC

I believe the salient point that "the goal is basically to provide for themselves everything that their mothers no longer do" is a direct effect of lack of diversity in our field. Homogenous, largely white, largely male, largely safe people are not going to detect the problems the author appears to be implying are going untreated.

Re: Solving All the Wrong Problems

#14

Post by anotheryou » Mon, Sep 12, 2016, 8:33 PM UTC

It's very difficult, sometimes even dangerous to try to solve problems that are not yours. I think it would be important to do it with the effected people, but certainly not just for them.

Re: Solving All the Wrong Problems

#15

Post by forrestbrazeal » Mon, Sep 12, 2016, 8:34 PM UTC

"I’m concerned that such a focus on comfort and instant gratification will reduce us all to those characters in “Wall-E,” bound to their recliners, Big Gulps in hand, interacting with the world exclusively through their remotes."

I found this quote puzzling in light of the rest of the article. The author's main argument seems to be that tech "innovators" are focused on providing frivolous solutions to imaginary problems, while society crumbles in the background. But this quote -unless I'm misunderstanding it - ascribes a hugely far-reaching, dystopian power to technology that undercuts her overall point.

You can't have it both ways. Either tech products are mostly irrelevant, or they are fundamentally changing the most basic aspects of our existence. Which is it?

Re: Solving All the Wrong Problems

#16

Post by giglamesh » Mon, Sep 12, 2016, 8:34 PM UTC

I fail to see how "And a new proposal to create an app designed to stop police killings." fits on the list of problems that don't need to be solved. Am I missing something?

Re: Solving All the Wrong Problems

#17

Post by otoburb » Mon, Sep 12, 2016, 8:36 PM UTC

giglamesh wrote: post #16

I fail to see how "And a new proposal to create an app designed to stop police killings." fits on the list of problems that don't need to be solved. Am I missing something?

My interpretation from the article is that app was included to emphasize just how many frivolous apps crossed her radar except for that particular one that was truly solving a meaningful problem.

Re: Solving All the Wrong Problems

#18

Post by ixtli » Mon, Sep 12, 2016, 8:37 PM UTC

giglamesh wrote: post #16

I fail to see how "And a new proposal to create an app designed to stop police killings." fits on the list of problems that don't need to be solved. Am I missing something?

There are definitely ways this _could_ make sense in the context of the article but you're right that without proper explanation is seems at best heartless and at worst pretty racist.

Re: Solving All the Wrong Problems

#19

Post by ixtli » Mon, Sep 12, 2016, 8:37 PM UTC

otoburb wrote: post #17

giglamesh wrote: post #16

I fail to see how "And a new proposal to create an app designed to stop police killings." fits on the list of problems that don't need to be solved. Am I missing something?

My interpretation from the article is that app was included to emphasize just how many frivolous apps crossed her radar except for that particular one that was truly solving a meaningful problem.

Maybe it's a rhetorical failure then? I feel like to get that reading requires you to assume a lot about the emphasis placed on the word "And".

Re: Solving All the Wrong Problems

#20

Post by throwanem » Mon, Sep 12, 2016, 8:40 PM UTC

otoburb wrote: post #17

giglamesh wrote: post #16

I fail to see how "And a new proposal to create an app designed to stop police killings." fits on the list of problems that don't need to be solved. Am I missing something?

My interpretation from the article is that app was included to emphasize just how many frivolous apps crossed her radar except for that particular one that was truly solving a meaningful problem.

Although I would argue that it's worth asking whether or not that's a problem best addressed by means of an app. I'm not going to presume that that's why the author included it in the list, but it does seem a worthy question nonetheless.