An initial thought: Is Soylent still a thing?
It is! Wow.
Anybody here still living on it?
The worst thing I read this year, and what it taught me (2016)
71–80 of 83 posts
Re: The worst thing I read this year, and what it taught me (2016)
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Psychologists help cure anxiety, depression, addiction, etc. all the time without actually suffering from it themselves. They're "privileged" not to suffer from it themselves or even necessarily have any friends or family who suffer from it. They just do good user research before creating a solution presumably. Also, conversely, plenty of people who have "lived experience" of how they cured their anxiety with a cult…
" They just do good user research before creating a solution presumably. " That would kind of be the point, right? Rather than saying, "Just do X", they try to understand the problem first and don't just throw out ideas that solve what they a-priori think the problem is while also being what they think of as easy to implement.
Yup.
Re: The worst thing I read this year, and what it taught me (2016)
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Psychologists help cure anxiety, depression, addiction, etc. all the time without actually suffering from it themselves. They're "privileged" not to suffer from it themselves or even necessarily have any friends or family who suffer from it. They just do good user research before creating a solution presumably. Also, conversely, plenty of people who have "lived experience" of how they cured their anxiety with a cult…
Just curious if you know any psychologists that fit into this category? I know a handful pretty well and all specialize in areas they have direct experience with. They also 'experience' their clients pain, similar to a masseuse. Perhaps it's like being a developer without hands on experience with css, networking, or virtualization etc... You can still be a really good developer, but you probably can't say you're grea…
Not personally, but I'm sure there's a mix of both types.
Re: The worst thing I read this year, and what it taught me (2016)
#74I know most of you hate this word, but this is a great example of what privilege looks like: thinking you can solve a problem you have zero experience with, and not including people who do. Another example: I was at a hackathon and met this kid who wanted to build a wristband for domestic violence victims so they could push a button and call for help when they were being abused. Great idea, he wants to use his tech k…
Harsh words. If they can persuade even a single person to gather enough domain knowledge to validate their efforts, I suppose they could do some good. That said, whenever I see someone doing the Dunning Kruger Maneuver, I try to approach with compassion and communicate the constraints they are missing without mocking them, humiliating them, and forcing them into a corner where they publicly lose face. Misplaced confi…
> communicate the constraints they are missing without mocking them, humiliating them, and forcing them into a corner
This. We need debate that's not about "dunking".
Re: The worst thing I read this year, and what it taught me (2016)
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
I see what you're saying, but let me try to explain what I see as the difference between the two situations. Curing cancer is about biology, chemistry, etc. It literally does not require any experience having cancer as you stated. Just lots of research and college education. However, if you said you were going to write an app to cure "the mental anxiety associated with having cancer," and you've never had cancer, but…
Psychologists help cure anxiety, depression, addiction, etc. all the time without actually suffering from it themselves. They're "privileged" not to suffer from it themselves or even necessarily have any friends or family who suffer from it. They just do good user research before creating a solution presumably. Also, conversely, plenty of people who have "lived experience" of how they cured their anxiety with a cult…
You are ignoring what I wrote. Please re-read my comments because I already explicitly addressed this both times: it is not "privilege" when the psychologists literally consult their patients and work together on a solution.
It is helpful to frame it this way because someone who has no first hand experience, nor have they consulted with those who have, are claiming a solution. Think of privilege as a class of arrogance that comes from ignorance.
Re: The worst thing I read this year, and what it taught me (2016)
#76Speaking as an American who emigrated to a Nordic country, when I go back to visit I feel like I'm leaving a more civilized land for a less civilized land. The feeling largely comes from how harshly the US government treats its citizens, and how that harshness is an expression of public will. As but one example, in any forum discussing any infamous man on trial, and there is inevitably a significant number of people talking about how excited they are for him to be anally raped. Prison as a concept is an opportunity for average American to indulge their inner sadist.
Related, no matter how well a company is paid to deliver services to the public, those services are inevitably sub-par, and expected to be so. Whether prisons, schools, public utilities, welfare, public transportation, medical care: if it's paid for by taxes, it's gotta be shitty.
I don't like the response article, either. It's written in that grating, self-righteous tone of the smug moral scold. This is a person who is not actually helping, but helping himself build a reputation for helping, by moral screeching and bullying.
At least the original essay was honest.
Re: The worst thing I read this year, and what it taught me (2016)
#77If the linked excerpt is supposed to be the epitome of outrage, I don’t get it. The idea is a bit odd but seems worth exploring and is better than the current alternatives.
> If the linked excerpt is supposed to be the epitome of outrage, I don’t get it. The idea is a bit odd but seems worth exploring and is better than the current alternatives.
The original blog post was an unholy combination of profound ignorance, arrogance, and the belief that problems can be solved exclusively through an almost mindless application of tech fads and buzzwords.
A lot of tech people display that same unholy combination, and the Ethan Zuckerman article has a lot of good advice for overcoming it.
Re: The worst thing I read this year, and what it taught me (2016)
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Psychologists help cure anxiety, depression, addiction, etc. all the time without actually suffering from it themselves. They're "privileged" not to suffer from it themselves or even necessarily have any friends or family who suffer from it. They just do good user research before creating a solution presumably. Also, conversely, plenty of people who have "lived experience" of how they cured their anxiety with a cult…
You are ignoring what I wrote. Please re-read my comments because I already explicitly addressed this both times: it is not "privilege" when the psychologists literally consult their patients and work together on a solution. It is helpful to frame it this way because someone who has no first hand experience, nor have they consulted with those who have, are claiming a solution. Think of privilege as a class of arrogan…
I read what you wrote which is why I replied saying calling it “privilege” is a weird way of phrasing what is essentially “user research” or “due diligence”. How is the “privilege” and “lived experience” framing helpful? Nobody would care if the solution was good. All that matters is the solution itself, not who came up with it. But of course, one is more likely to come up with a good solution if they do good user research first. I think “laziness” is a better descriptor.
By the way, I mentioned psychologists the second time not as a repeat example to curing cancer, but as an example of something which is more about “lived experience” of people, yet is still cured by people without the “lived experience”. You literally mentioned anxiety in your example, so I brought it up that people cure it all the time without suffering from it themselves.
Re: The worst thing I read this year, and what it taught me (2016)
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
We're not talking about cancer. We're talking about things that involve human psychology and behavior. Privilege is why they didn't do "better user research": the person making the proposal doesn't even consider those they would impact.
> We're not talking about cancer. We're talking about things that involve human psychology and behavior. Yes, it's a slightly different field. I don't see how that changes the point. The point is that plenty of people who aren't first hand victims of something still come up with solutions for it. This is just an example of someone who didn't. I don't really see how framing it about privileged vs not privileged invent…
Bringing up privilege is important because someone who is aware of it can cut off this sort of mistake before they make them. We indeed agree that user research is good. So I'd imagine we agree that it's good to think "I should put the perspective and experiences of my users front and center." And that's exactly what it takes to not be privileged.
Re: The worst thing I read this year, and what it taught me (2016)
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
What happens when a rowdy prisoner breaks the VR headset and is suddenly trapped alone in a box for 10 years. What state do you think he’ll be in when he’s let out? Ridiculous idea
Lobotomy was used for this purpose for many years to make unruly prisoners docile. The practice is still legal (and doesn't use an ice pick any longer), however it is rarely used today. There are however an array of medications that could be administrated to force compliance and do not cause a permanent state like a lobotomy would. But yes, the entire idea is dehumanizing in my opinion.
Prison is dehumanizing. Any gain in dehumanization may well be made up for by the incredibly reduction in rape.