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Do All Problems Have Technical Fixes?

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Re: Do All Problems Have Technical Fixes?

#71

Post by __MatrixMan__ »

tomjen3 wrote: post #58
Terr_ wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you in the first sentence, but the second doesn't make sense to me. All 4 combinations of (not-)solved-by-tech and (not-)caused-by-tech are possible.

Can you give a concrete example of caused by technology, but not solvable (in principle if that was what you meant) by technology? I am having trouble coming up with one.

Seems to me like the initial causing of the problem would have to be a one-time self-destructive event. Like maybe we blow up the moon or something and then don't survive the aftermath. We can't use tech to solve the problem if the problem is that we're extinct.

I think that's pretty far out from the sort of thing that people are thinking of when they talk about things you can and can't do with technology, so I think it's more sensible to just say that the category is empty.

Re: Do All Problems Have Technical Fixes?

#72

Post by __MatrixMan__ »

_cenw wrote: post #9
__MatrixMan__ wrote: post #7

It sort of bugs me when people who claim that a problem cannot be solved with technology act like that problem was caused by technology. You get both or neither, you can't have just one.

Of course you can. Technology can irreversibly change societies. Do you have a technical solution to the potential for mutually assured destruction through nuclear weapons?

Things like stuxnet.

Re: Do All Problems Have Technical Fixes?

#73

Post by lesuorac »

jansan wrote: post #41
mettamage wrote: post #24

My gripe with titles like this is that problems as a class are much bigger than technical problems. For example: Many people on HN seems to have dating problems. Whenever an article on dating is in the front page, I see those issues in the comments. In most cases, that class of problem requires people to work on themselves. Online dating for sure as hell isn’t solving it. Some of my comments outlined how to solve dat…

Online dating could probably help a lot if it was optimized for actually providing a solution instead of maximizing profit. If these services actually manage to find a matching long-term partner, they will lose two customers.

Perhaps you'd lose two customers but uh people are a renewable resource. If your service actually worked well you'd have an endless supply of future customers as your previous customers reproduced.

But its definitely a problem that actually doing matchmaking isn't as profitable as a chat app. Well for a publicly traded company in today's environment of short-term thinking; perhaps if it was a dividend company it would be feasible.

Re: Do All Problems Have Technical Fixes?

#74

Post by saturn8601 »

xyzzy123 wrote: post #6

I feel like the framing in the article is wrong. Tech startups are desperately searching for solutions that will generate value. When a "new hammer" is developed or discovered (lets say, radiation) there's a natural inflection point. People will try marketing radioactive medicines, radioactive soft drinks, radioactive toys, radioactive jewelry.... etc etc. Everything will be thrown at the wall to see what sticks. The…

That sounds like the what I am seeing in the consumer packaged goods industry. In desperation of growth they are throwing everything at the wall.

ex: that 'flamin hot' thing took off and post pandemic they put it in everything including soda and ice cream. Lets not forget every merchandising opportunity under the sun.

Re: Do All Problems Have Technical Fixes?

#75

Post by Terr_ »

tomjen3 wrote: post #58
Terr_ wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you in the first sentence, but the second doesn't make sense to me. All 4 combinations of (not-)solved-by-tech and (not-)caused-by-tech are possible.

Can you give a concrete example of caused by technology, but not solvable (in principle if that was what you meant) by technology? I am having trouble coming up with one.

> a concrete example of caused by technology, but not solvable

Consider any kind of unrest caused by the automation of tasks that formerly required a professional human, such as how the industrial revolution affected textile-manufacturing and the Luddite reaction. The new technology is a major and necessary cause of the situation, yet even with 200 years of hindsight it's hard to imagine any new followup invention that would promptly solve it.

Another category would be ecological or pollution issues, which in many cases involve social and legal solutions. For example, the new chemical technology of leaded gasoline. We didn't solve by inventing a De-Leadifier Device, or even the Cheaper New Formula, but because it became (mostly) banned.

It probably goes without saying, but for "solvable with technology" I am not including things like inventing a time-machine to go back and make it never-have-happened, or the idea that it'll be solved eventually when the Ascension Device elevates our descendants beyond such mortal concerns, etc.

Re: Do All Problems Have Technical Fixes?

#76

Post by saturn8601 »

msandford wrote: post #65
sameoldtune wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s the trickle down theory all over again. If our toys are /extremely/ nice then surely global poverty will be relieved!?

Well I mean folks in the developing world now have mobile phones which is really changing the way things work. It doesn't immediately install a new government and raise everyone instantly out of poverty but it's likely a big improvement to quality of life. I'm sure it's not all upside either. But I suspect that this is one case if trickle down actually working.

And eventually the Chinese will sell every person in the third world a dirt cheap electric mini car. Sounds like in some areas the technology solution is changing lives and improving the situation despite poor governance.

Re: Do All Problems Have Technical Fixes?

#77

Post by javier_e06 »

I strong recommend the book The Wizard and The Prophet. We are all here enjoying over abundance of food thanks the third agricultural revolution. Technology defeated COVID. Our technology wizards keep scoring big points. The prophets claim that our wizards no only are not averting the global collapse of civilization, they are accelerating it.

Nobody needs a microwave oven but who can wait a few minutes to warm up their food?

Re: Do All Problems Have Technical Fixes?

#78

Post by _cenw »

jjk166 wrote: post #50
_cenw wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course you can. Technology can irreversibly change societies. Do you have a technical solution to the potential for mutually assured destruction through nuclear weapons?

Mutually assured destruction is a technical solution - when it is suicidal for either side to attack each other (because of a large and robust nuclear arsenal), both can be confident the other won't attack. There are potentially other technical solutions. Anti-ballistic missile systems could make nuclear strikes non viable, as could more advanced defenses. One could imagine weapons designed to remotely pre-detonate n…

You are misunderstanding me bringing up mutually assured destruction. Sure, it prevents preemptive strikes, but it doesn't prevent accidental launches, broken early warning systems and bad communication.

Do you think the fact that we haven't done any of these other measures to a degree that the danger is no longer substantial in 70 or so years is a matter of technology or priority? If it's priority, how do we prioritize? Is that, perhaps, a non-technical problem? If it's a tech advancement problem, how do not constantly have a rolling window of uncontrolled potentially civilization-ending technology?

Re: Do All Problems Have Technical Fixes?

#79

Post by fuzzfactor »

arminiusreturns wrote: post #68

As the sysadmin/ops dude who has always been on the practical end of things, most problems are leadership and not technical imho.

Exactly, there are tonnes of technical problems that don't have viable technical solutions for that reason.

Or where solutions are simply standing by in readiness until there is a landscape free of leadership deficiencies and their accompanying obstacles, before deployment can commence.

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