Don't Take the Black Pill [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: Don't Take the Black Pill [video]

#191

Post by ThrowawayR2 » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 1:18 PM UTC

strken wrote: post #127

hungryhobbit wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he was being a little hyperbolic, but the core concern (that programmers look competent right up until you have them write a FizzBuzz) is very real. (Source: I've helped hire lots of programmers.)

Fizzbuzz is interesting because it relies on either the candidate remembering the modulo operator, or the interviewer allowing them to write a modulo function. I can understand why a candidate could forget how to find the remainder from an integer division. The bigger issue is not having seen fizzbuzz before, really.

I've always wondered how people who write code could possibly be unaware of the modulo operator. In the 8-bit and 16-bit CPU era, or even just when working with data types of that width, one has to be aware of wraparound / overflow if the value gets too large and that's what modulo is. Is it just developers who came of age in the 64-bit CPU era that have this gap?

Re: Don't Take the Black Pill [video]

#192

Post by dzonga » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 1:44 PM UTC

people like Andrew give me hope - that they're smart people out there with a moral compass.

Re: Don't Take the Black Pill [video]

#193

Post by tptacek » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 1:48 PM UTC

jrflowers wrote: post #139

tptacek wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry, you've lost me. I was responding to the claim that any man-made system was breakable. The most obvious example of a man-made system that is unlikely to be breakable in our lifetimes (so, I'll say, "ever") is SHA2. Then someone responded that SHA2 wasn't an interesting target. It doesn't have to be; it just has to be man-made, or concede the narrowing of the original claim.

lmao at substituting “ever” for “in our lifetimes” “That will never happen” and “I think I’ll die before that happens” aren’t interchangeable. Hydrogen will never have two protons, SHA-2 will be broken. “I personally don’t consider a future where I’m not around as existing” is like busting out an Uno reverse card when you lose a hand at poker

This objection doesn't make sense in the context of the thread.

Re: Don't Take the Black Pill [video]

#194

Post by ryandrake » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 2:10 PM UTC

sokoloff wrote: post #170

strken wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fizzbuzz is interesting because it relies on either the candidate remembering the modulo operator, or the interviewer allowing them to write a modulo function. I can understand why a candidate could forget how to find the remainder from an integer division. The bigger issue is not having seen fizzbuzz before, really.

I’ve personally experienced devs who could not sum a collection of ints, “in any language of your choice”. I’m not talking about devs who got hung up on integer overflow issues (or even off-by-one errors), but rather “just couldn’t get started at all”. I have no idea what they did before or what they expected to do if they got the job, but I doubt it would turn out well.

Yep, I've seen that too. I start with "sum an array of ints" due to the known problems using fizzbuzz, and there are software engineer candidates who can't or won't do it. Nobody believes you until they see a candidate like this themselves.

My pet theory: A lot of companies are very, VERY big, and a clever person who doesn't know how to do their job but can identify a weak manager, can simply get lost in them. Hiding away getting the paycheck, but doing nothing except convincing their manager they're doing things. I've definitely met a few people in my career that I believe were doing exactly that.

Re: Don't Take the Black Pill [video]

#195

Post by catlover76 » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 2:22 PM UTC

9dev wrote: post #156

dpark wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> * Everyone who isn't a FAANG or Frontier Lab seem to be absolutely starving for good talent.* I think this is largely a pay gap problem. There’s a bit of prestige involved (why work for random corp’s dev dept when you could work at FAANG) but a huge part is that most those random corps are paying way less. The best talent generally goes where the money is.

Yeah, maybe - but you know what one of the perks of not working for FAANG is? Not working for FAANG. Some people prefer having a spine over selling their integrity. There’s heaps of opportunity for doing interesting work in a less toxic environment in places other than Silicon Valley, if you accept a little less pay.

[dead]

Re: Don't Take the Black Pill [video]

#196

Post by thin_carapace » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC

slyall wrote: post #165

thin_carapace wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

may i ask a bit more specifically why your comment evaluating the abstract concept of goodness and its relation to faith is related to this sentence? i'm still not seeing the connection.

"who failed to live their faith" - ie if they had lived up to their faith would have been good. I'm saying that the practice of "faith" and being "good" are largely unconnected. There are plenty of faithful Christians in prison. By "good" I mean nice, polite, not murdering people. Generally accepted moral behavior.

if someone agrees on what it means to be good, their definition of the term has been subjectively qualified. muslims agree its good to cover their women, you probably dont, both these statements are true. seems to be a central aspect of religion, agreeing on codified morality. im fairly confident that not killing is a moral purported by christianity, therefore it doesnt seem logical to label murderers as christians - based on their murderous behaviour, murderers do not agree with christianity, regardless as to what they verbally state. would you label buddhists as immoral if an individual decided to call himself buddhist post-massacre?

Re: Don't Take the Black Pill [video]

#197

Post by sporadicism » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 2:47 PM UTC

abetusk wrote: post #147

sporadicism wrote: post #63

I didn't find any of the arguments for optimism compelling, even if I wanted to agree with the talk's message. Free software is about the worst example, as it has inadvertently built the technology that has, more than any other, concentrated corporate power and debased the profession.

[0]: > If you refrain from participating in the software of the commons, the only thing that you're doing is surrendering more of our collective agency to abusive centralized powers. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLZwpH5lCD4&t=1622s

Yes, that is the argument from the video I was referencing.

Re: Don't Take the Black Pill [video]

#198

Post by akerl_ » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 3:06 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #193

jrflowers wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lmao at substituting “ever” for “in our lifetimes” “That will never happen” and “I think I’ll die before that happens” aren’t interchangeable. Hydrogen will never have two protons, SHA-2 will be broken. “I personally don’t consider a future where I’m not around as existing” is like busting out an Uno reverse card when you lose a hand at poker

This objection doesn't make sense in the context of the thread.

I wonder when Kalshi will start offering bets where one side doesn’t pay out until the end of the universe.

Re: Don't Take the Black Pill [video]

#199

Post by tarpitt » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 3:19 PM UTC

javcasas wrote: post #53

tptacek wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because man made SHA-2, so it must be breakable. I don't dispute that there are systems humans make that are breakable (that would be weird given my career).

Well, if you are that picky, then you will have to wait. MD5 was created in 1991, the first collision was found in 2004.

Okay, so you are saying that there may be a design flaw we just haven't seen yet, based on historical precedent. Which is a very weak argument, because you are just making the case for the possibility that you may be correct, and you are just pointing to a historical precedent.

Can you prove that there is no hash function that is not vulnerable? If anything man-made is vulnerable, then there cannot any invulnerable system. That is what you need to prove to win the argument. And if we can prove that any system is unbreakable, you are wrong.

Re: Don't Take the Black Pill [video]

#200

Post by sureglymop » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 3:22 PM UTC

spudlyo wrote: post #19

So in case you're worried about watching a 35 minute video and wishing you hadn't, here is what I think is an interesting observation that the speaker starts coming around to at around the 7 minute mark. Why does software suck? Management often has other priorities, and isn't interested in doing the hard work required to increase the reliability and reduce the technical debt in software. Engineers who care about such…

"You can be fired, you can be reprimanded if caught, you can be retaliated against or lose political advantage."

You could also silently burn out. Especially if fighting this as your own personal sisyphean uphill battle.

I think especially people driven by passion and curiosity are at risk of this. And I mean, that's pretty much what the "hacker mindset" of many people on here amounts to. There's also a reason why people with a lot of passion are often taken advantage of, e.g. game development industry.