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

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

#201

Post by vovavili » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 3:27 PM UTC

ianbutler wrote: post #32

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…

I don't think this is really entirely true. Everyone who isn't a FAANG or Frontier Lab seem to be absolutely starving for good talent. It's far more often that I hear "we interviewed someone we thought looked good and they couldn't even write a for loop, where are all the good engineers". I think you have far more leverage than you think in most places still.

>It's far more often that I hear "we interviewed someone we thought looked good and they couldn't even write a for loop, where are all the good engineers".

Absolutely insane claim to make coming from the other side of the process. You get FAANG-style Leetcode Hard assessments, day-long takehomes with no pay and complete nonsense rejections even for very run-of-the-mill companies. The kind of feedback you're usually getting is so unfounded it can't even be considered in the category of wrong or right. But that's not a problem, since most of the time you're just getting ghosted. And all of that is assuming you're landing interviews, which in an optimistic scenario is going to take you weeks, sometimes over a month.

Anybody who claims they "can't find engineers" either has a broken hiring pipeline or enormously big self-esteem - based on my conversations with founders and people responsible for hiring, it's usually both.

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

#202

Post by sureglymop » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 3:32 PM UTC

cambaceres wrote: post #180

helloplanets wrote: post #33

In the same vein, Jonathan Blow's modestly named "Preventing the Collapse of Civilization" talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSRHeXYDLko Crazy how time flies, given that talk is seven years old at this point. But could've been given today, with the points being more relevant than ever.

This concept of knowledge degenerating between generations is relevant for software developmnent of today, since many junior developers have a hard time finding a job and if they do they just prompt the AI until they get a result.

Can't blame them. What they need is a senior dev as a mentor to pass down tacit knowledge and experience. They might not get that even if they can find a job.

Then they not only stagnate but simply have to prompt to even deliver anything.

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

#203

Post by throw1234567891 » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 3:43 PM UTC

voidfunc wrote: post #142

__MatrixMan__ wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like we could fix this if we did a better job of holding FAANG accountable for the sorry state of technology. So many needless social problems have been introduced by technology and it happened on their watch. That prestige... we could poison it. Maybe working at FAANG should be something to be embarrassed of.

The prestige is the total comp not the company. Nobody gives a fuck you worked for Facebook or Google but they do care you made 700K doing it.

Oh I can guarantee you there are many places where people give many fucks. Maybe you don’t because you have never reached a place where coming out of those companies is considered a fast track to whatever.

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

#204

Post by SR2Z » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 3:47 PM UTC

autoexec wrote: post #26

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…

> In the past, software engineers had a lot more agency than they do now, because nowadays the supply/demand ratio no longer favors software engineers, and as a result we have weaker negotiation power. Now we're more afraid of being fired and not being able to find a job, and managers aren't afraid of us quitting and not being able to replace us. This sounds like a job for unions. It would have been advantageous to h…

I am 100% sure that I make more than the average person in my role and level (tbh more money than I even thought I'd make in my life).

Why should I support a union? If the company couldn't fire me they wouldn't pay me so much. If a union advocates for everyone else, it's gonna be harder for me to get paid so much.

I don't really mind the constant layoffs; I think that those are horrific for morale and lead to disengaged engineers and the bare minimum of work being done, but that's true with or without the union. I certainly look at the lack of opportunities for career growth and the constant threat of layoffs as a good reason to take it easy.

What I think the union would be AMAZING at is the same thing unions are always amazing at in this country: stopping anyone from being fired and ending merit based promotions.

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

#205

Post by vinyl7 » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 3:47 PM UTC

staticshock wrote: post #66

The comments here indicate a surprisingly, in my view, mixed reception, for such an unambiguously good talk? The main thrust is simple: - Technology is not good or bad, it is an amplifier of human values and our collective ambitions. - Those of us who are terrified of where technology is going are actually terrified that humans are, on the net, bad, and technology will amplify that, bringing about dystopia. - Believi…

> - Those of us who are terrified of where technology is going are actually terrified that humans are, on the net, bad, and technology will amplify that, bringing about dystopia.

I think this is true in that people will do what they need to in order to get ahead. If you play a game by the rules against someone who is cheating, then you will lose. The only way to stay competitive and have a chance to win is to also cheat. When people see others who act in an anti-social way (PE destroying companies, enshittification of software, etc.) go unpunished and reap massive rewards...then they too have to be anti-social just to stay on the same level or have a chance of succeeding. It's the descent into a low-trust society and a general race to the bottom.

The hope for me was that humans have learned from history, from all the past mistakes of failed civilizations and collapse of authoritarian regimes to build a modern world that is equitable. But there will always be narcissistic psychopaths who are able to say the right words and sweet talk those they need to in order to gain power and repeat history.

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

#206

Post by swat535 » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 3:49 PM UTC

goodpoint wrote: post #175

leecommamichael wrote: post #28

> “I almost fell into this trap (...) I was raised by conservative Christian parents and thereby had so, so much to learn, and unlearn, in order to date comfortable and confidently. Is this engagement bait? Is this a cultural critique? What is meant to be said here? At any rate, this is the kind of speech which will alienate a lot of people. Look, I'm more on the progressive end of things, I get it, but I think this…

Religious trauma is documented in psychology. People suffer when they are indoctrinated by their parents. > this just feels mean and divisive from the perspective of a conservative OR a Christian If they feel offended maybe they should ask themselves some hard questions instead of demanding the speaker to hide his experience.

What does "indoctrinated by their parents" mean? Everyone learns from their parents and is "indoctrinated" by their values.

If you grow up as an adult and discover that you disagree with their values, it doesn't mean that they "indoctrinated" you.

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

#207

Post by al_borland » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 3:49 PM UTC

ianbutler wrote: post #32

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…

I don't think this is really entirely true. Everyone who isn't a FAANG or Frontier Lab seem to be absolutely starving for good talent. It's far more often that I hear "we interviewed someone we thought looked good and they couldn't even write a for loop, where are all the good engineers". I think you have far more leverage than you think in most places still.

A few years ago I was tasked with doing the technical interview for an operations team in the Chicago area. The job was mostly restarting services on windows and Linux. Running variously automated processes. Rebooting stuff. Be a resource on outage calls. Everything was documented, it was pretty entry level.

I interviewed over 100 people. The number of people who didn’t even know how to search with Google was mind boggling. Some wouldn’t even make an attempt. The people who knew their stuff laughed at the end of the interview and said, “is that it?” But even the most basic questions, that some found laughable, knocked out 80% of applicants. Many people who claimed to know Linux, interviewing for a server support role, had never touched the CLI.

It was rough. By the end of the hiring window, they were just making offers to anyone, so they didn’t lose the positions. I wasn’t happy about that.

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

#208

Post by leecommamichael » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 3:53 PM UTC

hilariously wrote: post #157

leecommamichael wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate the response, and I can relate. Perhaps I'm too sensitive to some rumblings I'm perceiving in the US at the moment. I don't know. I genuinely do not know.

The rumblings as in - the push back on the enormous takeover by christian conservatives of the united states, taking away women's rights, voting to teach the bible in schools, and doing their best to mass disenfranchise voters? Fuck 'em honestly.

There has got to be a way to be strong against a cause without being strong against the people who represent it. I believe this devolves to violence otherwise.

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

#209

Post by leecommamichael » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 3:55 PM UTC

watwut wrote: post #161

leecommamichael wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you say "listen before rejecting," what would you have me do differently? To call what I'm saying "rejection" seems a bridge too far from what I am intending to say, also. I am making an appeal to civility and compassion in the event that he intended to say what he said knowing that people might feel badly by it.

The comment was not "uncivil" and it was not "lacking compassion". Yes people can feel bad when you say them actions of some in their group affected a person negatively. That does not mean it is uncivil to say "a thing conservative person did affected me negatively". The "you cant talk about something that negatively affected you, because a conservative person might feel bad" is not compassion. Its effect is biasing…

I don't feel that the way you are paraphrasing me represents what I am trying to say at all, and I feel misunderstood. I do think the phrase "appeal to civility" was fine, but the negation of that phrase doesn't exactly equate to an accusation of being "uncivil," if you know what I mean. I don't disagree with what you're saying in the abstract, and I've had this conversation elsewhere in the thread.

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

#210

Post by natbennett » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC

leecommamichael wrote: post #28

> “I almost fell into this trap (...) I was raised by conservative Christian parents and thereby had so, so much to learn, and unlearn, in order to date comfortable and confidently. Is this engagement bait? Is this a cultural critique? What is meant to be said here? At any rate, this is the kind of speech which will alienate a lot of people. Look, I'm more on the progressive end of things, I get it, but I think this…

If you haven’t interacted much with people raised by conservative Christians in the United States, they often have strong feelings about how they were raised.