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Programming in the Apocalypse

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Re: Programming in the Apocalypse

#241

Post by tasuki »

boringg wrote: post #106
tasuki wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The pandemic taught me a lot about apocalypse. I don't think it has taught you much. All things considered, despite all the suffering by unlucky individuals, when you consider humanity as a whole, covid is an insignificant blip. If it's significant at all, it's only because of our response to it. > Covid looked nothing like a pandemic film, thank god. Covid was not 1% as bad as any pandemic featured in a film. Huma…

Our response was actually what made it a much more insignificant blip (thanks public health + vaccines), and technically we aren't through it yet.

Wikipedia says 0.1-0.3% global population lost [0]. It would have been perhaps 0.5% without any response whatsoever. That's still insignificant compared to all the other pandemics, which seem to often kill 20-50% of the regional population.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_epidemics

Re: Programming in the Apocalypse

#242

Post by Vecr »

imwillofficial wrote: post #109
soco wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they don't need to care about consequences. No matter how high the sea level rises, enough money gets you a higher place to stay.

No, it shows they don’t believe it. Obama’s recently purchased beachfront property is a testament to this.

Massive sea level rise is a meme, no way it's going over a few feet until Obama is long dead.

Re: Programming in the Apocalypse

#243

Post by ajuc »

poulpy123 wrote: post #78
ajuc wrote: post #6

I doubt global warming will negatively affect amount of time spent on open source/programming language design. Currently we're wasting a lot of time on social media, Netflix, games, etc. There's lots of fat to cut. Also historically bad conditions were when people wrote books and focused on studies. If OS is important - it will develop. On the other hand x as a service and cloud based stuff will likely die off. Good…

Economical collapse will affect how much free time people can donate to open source. Paying open source (like Linux kernel) will not be more impacted that closed source but the rest yes

Economic collapse can just as easily mean more free time. The relationship isn't linear nor straightforward. For example substinence farming leaves you A LOT of free time, just provides very little surplus and you risk starvation.

Re: Programming in the Apocalypse

#244

Post by arczyx »

_dain_ wrote: post #209
mtinkerhess wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be more than happy to give up almost everything if it would stop climate change, but unfortunately even if I make all those changes, everybody else will continue driving cars, so it seems my personal choices have nothing to do with whether global warming happens or not. The way around this is collective (government) action to guarantee everyone will participate, but for a variety of reasons we don't have the…

what is the purpose of "corporate / industrial" energy usage if not ultimately to serve the needs of a consumer at the end of the supply chain?

consumer's demand is indeed part of the problem, but the corporate/industrial's perpetual quest for growth is also part of it IMHO. if corporations are okay with not growing, planned obsolescence won't be a thing and we will also probably get less ads shoved on our face to trigger our impulse to buy.

Re: Programming in the Apocalypse

#245

Post by thematrixturtle »

Virtually all of this is laughably stupid, but there's one thing buried in there that's true today:

> Mobile will be the only computing people have access to and they'll need to be more aware of data pricing.

For the vast majority of the planet, mobile is already the only computing they ever use.

> There's no reason to think telecoms won't take advantage of their position to increase data prices under the guise of maintenance for the towers.

This, though, is straight up wrong, since in any competitive market data prices becomes a commodity. In India you can get a 1 GB data plan for 15 rupees (~US$0.20) per month. Emphasis on the "competitive" bit there though: as usual, Canadians will be screwed.

Re: Programming in the Apocalypse

#246

Post by jrumbut »

madrox wrote: post #172
jotm wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Well, d'uh. Also, everything will require a network connection (which is where ubiquitous Internet via cable or satellite comes in). No Internet? Pfft, what, do you live without electricity, too? 2. Pay for these kinds of professions (ever increasing complexity, whether necessary or self-made + decently mentally taxing) will only go up. Not everyone can be a programmer, or a lawyer, doctor, video/audio editor, ele…

The reason I'm low confidence on pay is because I think there will be even more disparity among programmer salaries and the median will be far lower. Will it be possible to make a million a year as an engineer in 30 years (forget inflation for a moment)? Sure. However, I think there will be a lot more engineers making five figures. We're lowering the bar to do simple work all the time. Much like the other professions…

I would agree though for a different reason.

If society has to rebuild/replace infrastructure destroyed by more hurricanes, raise ports above new sea levels or build new ports, upgrade the power grid, food takes more resources to grow, etc, all using materials that are being desperately sought by every other nation on earth that's going to take every penny we can find anywhere and that means most salaries will be squeezed.

I'm torn about the high end, but my guess is even they will suffer because money is going to basic needs and even if you can help produce them for efficiently there isn't the kind of surplus we see today to reward you.

Re: Programming in the Apocalypse

#247

Post by dr_mork »

What about technological singularity, alternate power sources, starlink like projects, energy efficient appliances, etc?

Also, China/India are in survival/growth mode, so "sustainability" is least of their concerns right now :( and btw resource consumption per person is higher in first-world countries, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/american-consumpt... . This is a mindset issue and needs to addressed as well.

P.S. I am hopeful!

Re: Programming in the Apocalypse

#248

Post by Toutouxc »

cassepipe wrote: post #152
madrox wrote: post #97

The pandemic taught me a lot about apocalypse. While people are a lot slower to buy into collective action and changing their way of life than I thought, society is far more robust than I expected. Covid looked nothing like a pandemic film, thank god. With that in mind, I have some ideas on what programming will look like in 30 years: 1. New frameworks and abstractions for making apps even more disposable while maint…

I feel the same about 5. Do 3d movies still exist by the way ? Or IMax movies ?

IMAX is much bigger (brand + technologies) than what you probably think it is. As far as I know, IMAX and Dolby and maybe a few others are today's cutting edge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAX

Re: Programming in the Apocalypse

#249

Post by erddfre3423 »

coryrc wrote: post #213
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Something like 5 million people die every year, Then why do we mount anything at all, death count of all terrorist attacks and shooting combined is insignificant

Why have we spent $2 trillion so far on Iraq (even if you believed it was linked to 9/11 and 3000 deaths) when Alzheimer's disease costs $200B annually and costing about 5 million a few decades of life? (I'm approximating lost QALY as ~5 million/year, or about 20x 9/11s every year) We should be investing in high ROI life-saving actions, not emotional impulses. Let's put serious money behind defeating aging, which cur…

Defeating aging sounds like a horrible idea as long as we aren't able to conquer space. The planet is badly overpopulated already as it is.

Re: Programming in the Apocalypse

#250

Post by erddfre3423 »

titzer wrote: post #123
tasuki wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The pandemic taught me a lot about apocalypse. I don't think it has taught you much. All things considered, despite all the suffering by unlucky individuals, when you consider humanity as a whole, covid is an insignificant blip. If it's significant at all, it's only because of our response to it. > Covid looked nothing like a pandemic film, thank god. Covid was not 1% as bad as any pandemic featured in a film. Huma…

What COVID taught me is that the human ability to not give a fuck is apparently infinite. I have trouble processing the fact that a million people died (in the USA) and there is no mourning, no shared sense of tragedy or loss, no looking more kindly on other people, just a madder, faster dash on cash and even more finger-pointing. > Covid was not 1% as bad as any pandemic featured in a film. I'll be generous and not…

Still, historically people have died from diseases at a much higher rate than even during the worst of COVID pandemics. I think if anything people should be more accepting towards death, recognizing it as a part of life that is eventually unavoidable to us all.

I guess one problem is that nowadays in Western world people often spend their last times in a hospital, rather than at home and their local communities. This doesn't give space for healthy mourning.

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