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6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

joanwestenberg.com

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Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#41

Post by taurath »

monero-xmr wrote: post #18

If you are grounded in religious faith, your whole life won’t revolve around whatever your job is. The author seems very intertwined with his job and the output. I’m not saying you shouldn’t analyze the meaning of your work, but he seems fairly un-anchored

One can ground themselves in many ways, many of which don’t necessarily include ceasing further inquiry as many relgious faiths utilize as cheap mental crutches. Becoming un-anchored is a reasonable place to be while trying to hash out what makes meaning for you.

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#42

Post by wnc3141 »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #21
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's pretty demonstrably not true, historically. The explosion of the middle class of the 20th century was because technology still required a huge amount of labor, but it increased productivity to the point where that labor could live much more comfortably on their wages.

Productivity has been increasing even more rapidly, but the middle class is collapsing, so I'm skeptical that these two things are very strongly related

A great many of our problems (in much of the developed world to varying extent) stem from just this.

Below: a chart of "share of gross national income from wages", read this as "Labor Share of Income."

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/W270RE1A156NBEA

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#43

Post by seoulmetro »

>Give me a half-baked startup idea, a semi-charismatic founder and a fistful of VC dollars, and I could write a story compelling enough it barely mattered whether there was an ounce of truth in it.

Pretty sure anyone can do this. The setup is not in the writing of the story but in the things you just listed...

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#44

Post by seoulmetro »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #3

While this author is of a younger generation, this really resonated with me as a Gen Xer. I feel there is so much disillusionment among folks that came of age during the 90s because there was so much techno optimism then, and it didn't quite turn out like we envisioned. Two things made me think about this recently: 1. I saw a Reddit post that was titled something like "The 90s were peak humanity. Enough tech to make…

Tech is fine. It's the money we made along the way that ruined it.

Somehow money ruins everything. The internet just made it easier for people to extract money from everything.

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#45

Post by akira2501 »

extr wrote: post #24

This person acts like they were disseminating propaganda for the reich. I get that doing corporate PR probably feels very cynical in general but coaching founders not to fumble the bag in an interview or writing blog posts about funding rounds are on the lesser evils side I think. Who is the victim of manipulation there? VCs? Lol

> This person acts like they were disseminating propaganda for the reich.

I think part of the comfort one could enjoy when working for the Reich is that you are working for your own government and you are part of a large network of people that are actively telling the same lies you are. You might also assume that large parts of the population know you are lying, but you're lying "patriotically," so you feel much less guilt or confrontation over it.

> are on the lesser evils side I think.

It is interesting that this _often_ takes a much larger toll on people than those working in war. More interesting that people think a little moral relativism is the obvious cure. "It could be worse. You could be a Nazi."

> Who is the victim of manipulation there? VCs?

Did you read the article? This person clearly believes that VCs are poisonous entities that pervert the original vision of the founders they invest in so that they may see larger and faster returns on their speculative investments.

So.. probably.. the entire industry?

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#46

Post by ryandrake »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #3

While this author is of a younger generation, this really resonated with me as a Gen Xer. I feel there is so much disillusionment among folks that came of age during the 90s because there was so much techno optimism then, and it didn't quite turn out like we envisioned. Two things made me think about this recently: 1. I saw a Reddit post that was titled something like "The 90s were peak humanity. Enough tech to make…

I used to love computers and software. When the next great thing came out, I’d be an enthusiastic early adopter, and enjoyed the new powers the technology gave me.

Now, whenever something new comes out, my first thought is: “how is this thing going to suck up my personal data and monetize me?” And my second thought is “how is this going to wreck some part of life and/or humanity and turn it into profits for the rich?” You can’t be a techno-optimist anymore. Everyone is working on a similar, but slightly different wealth-siphoning Torment Nexus these days.

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#47

Post by arthurofbabylon »

cen4 wrote: post #10
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #3

While this author is of a younger generation, this really resonated with me as a Gen Xer. I feel there is so much disillusionment among folks that came of age during the 90s because there was so much techno optimism then, and it didn't quite turn out like we envisioned. Two things made me think about this recently: 1. I saw a Reddit post that was titled something like "The 90s were peak humanity. Enough tech to make…

Well people have discovered you can make cash irrespective of the quality of tech you pump out. Two routes have been discovered and milked to high heaven - Financial engineering - this is where if you accumulate more capital and faster than the next guy you win. Add to that globalization ie arbitrage on interest rates/tax rates/forex/labor cost/rent/real estate/govt regulation in generating capital. Demand engineerin…

This strikes as both optimistic and pragmatic. We do have reason to believe the current model is not permanent, and it is most empowering to believe we can play a role in crafting the new model.

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#48

Post by randomdata »

wnc3141 wrote: post #42
bluefirebrand wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Productivity has been increasing even more rapidly, but the middle class is collapsing, so I'm skeptical that these two things are very strongly related

A great many of our problems (in much of the developed world to varying extent) stem from just this. Below: a chart of "share of gross national income from wages", read this as "Labor Share of Income." https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/W270RE1A156NBEA

Doesn't that suggest that the working-class is collapsing rather than the-middle class?

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#49

Post by portaouflop »

trashtensor wrote: post #16
XorNot wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right but..for whom? Again: AI existing doesn't stop people doing writing or making art. What it does stop is getting paid for those activities where they are paid for: but then, that's not "unbridled creativity" anymore - that's "corporate says we need a stylized picture of a man standing in a field by tomorrow". Or it's the exact thing the author in the linked blog here is talking about: what was their actual job?…

... There is no AI or anything that can do your laundry or dishes. There is AI that can do your hobby. That's literally all the quote is pointing out. You can talk about how capitalism ruins art, sure, but that's a different topic than the quote.

There is a machine that does laundry and dishes. You don’t need „AI“ for that - by the way it’s actually machine learning - AI is another bullshit term.

One of my hobbies is creating art with machine learning tools - so that’s the opposite, it is enabling me to do my hobby.

I get the dangers of this technology but I really don’t see why it would prevent anyone from pursuing their hobbies.

Edit:// oh an capitalism doesn’t ruin art, quite the opposite. Any political system needs art, and in capitalism it’s extremely individualistic art that is needed, which is why I would argue humanity has produced more and more varied art since capitalism exists than ever before.

Re: 6 months ago, I left the bullshit industrial complex

#50

Post by disqard »

roenxi wrote: post #22
zdragnar wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing about the quote is related to gainful employment or monetary transaction. It is entirely about the prospect of technology serving people by freeing their time from chores to pursue luxury activities. Instead of that expectation, the reality of technological advancement that AI has given us so far has been to do those pursuits of pleasure for us, while we still have to do mundane, unfulfilling chores in our da…

Something can be a joke and still be worth taking seriously. In this case, the joke is misleading on an important topic - the existence of AI changes economic realities but has no bearing on how humans spend their leisure time, or how much of that leisure time they have. In fact, it probably will increase the amount of leisure time available on net since it is freeing us up as a species from needing to do a bunch of…

> "freeing us up as a species from needing to do a bunch of artistic and creative chores."

Would you please clarify something? You're saying that we need to be freed from "artistic and creative chores" -- so that we can be free to do what?

For me personally, the highest-quality leisure I can think of is to follow creative pursuits and hone my artistic abilities (e.g. playing a musical instrument, making something with my hands, etc.)

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