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Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

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Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#91

Post by unified101 »

firefoxd wrote: post #66

I think the phenomena we are experiencing is "change". That's what change looks like. Out with the old, in with the new. It feels like nothing matters only because this is all happening too fast. Since we are talking about AI, I'll bring up one thing that hasn't changed, or hasn't been solved at least by AI. Understanding. We are producing so much more than ever, yet we are not understanding the world better. You can…

A lot of the old world's benefit was the gatekeeping of (legitimate) knowledge and understanding. You had to spend a lot of time to grok it, and you could then exploit this for money.

LLMs completely kill this gatekeeping, for good or bad. And we're seeing the after effects. I don't know how to feel about this.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#92

Post by unified101 »

piloto_ciego wrote: post #83
solarized wrote: post #67

We have to adapt. This what happened to textile workers during Industrial Revolution. Satisfaction of crafting things disappeared once machines automated the work. I literally hesitated to code manually again because I've figured out how to drive this “creature” properly. It can do almost anything faster than me. (for production context). Upgrade toward sales and management ?. At least cover our basic daily needs, so…

All I ever wanted to do in this universe was fly airplanes. And I did it professionally for nearly 15 years. Then I got sick, and couldn’t do it anymore. Suddenly, all my skills were meaningless and unemployable. I got over it. But it took time. I reinvented myself - I had always liked writing code. So I pivoted to this and literally went back to grad school to study AI. I’m watching a lot of people right now flounde…

You're right on target. Indeed this is what it is.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#93

Post by esbeeb »

lelandbatey wrote: post #54

Not particularly because: the LLMs can code, but holy hell can they not operate or plan appropriately for ACTUALLY high stakes operational situations. When you absolutely cannot cause downtime, if you hand Fable/Sol/Kimi the reigns and say "do this 30 million token novel thing and absolutely don't screw up customer traffic" they'll blow it after the first compaction, every time. This is on things like "we have to mig…

Yep, everyone has forgotten the term "TCO", it seems

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#95

Post by solarized »

piloto_ciego wrote: post #83
solarized wrote: post #67

We have to adapt. This what happened to textile workers during Industrial Revolution. Satisfaction of crafting things disappeared once machines automated the work. I literally hesitated to code manually again because I've figured out how to drive this “creature” properly. It can do almost anything faster than me. (for production context). Upgrade toward sales and management ?. At least cover our basic daily needs, so…

All I ever wanted to do in this universe was fly airplanes. And I did it professionally for nearly 15 years. Then I got sick, and couldn’t do it anymore. Suddenly, all my skills were meaningless and unemployable. I got over it. But it took time. I reinvented myself - I had always liked writing code. So I pivoted to this and literally went back to grad school to study AI. I’m watching a lot of people right now flounde…

I really feel for you. One of my friends was also a pilot, licensed to fly Airbus planes. He had to quit because of COVID. I still remember seeing Thai Airways pilots and crew working as street vendors during that time.

It’s become much harder to get back into the airline industry now because of the supply-demand situation.

Anyway, my friend now became regular staff at local factory, doing something completely unrelated to aviation and aerospace knowledge. It’s really painful to break out of our “locked-in” comfort zone.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#96

Post by xtracto »

bm3719 wrote: post #11

Corollary to your complaints: Another downside that I haven't seen on anyone's AI hatelist yet is that it crowds out all other discussion. What happened to everyone talking about languages, protocols, algorithms, architecture, etc.? We can't have those conversations anymore because we're not even sure they matter now. In fact, we probably suspect they don't, hence the not bothering. Also, anything we do write will ju…

We need to start talking about real Software Engineering concepts. The stuff we will write to guide agents to build our software.

We will be building architectural blueprints for software "buildings" same as Civic Engineers and Architects do for bridges and towers.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#97

Post by newsomix9xl »

I've tried AI and it takes either an expert to steer and evaluate or enormous patience and some level of expertise to make it work at all.

Its a false sense of efficacy. Like looking at a dating app and thinking you could date any or all those people: the reality is no you can't and you don't even know it.

So cheer up: life is still hard as f*ck.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#98

Post by paul7986 »

RoadieRoller wrote: post #77
paul7986 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

curious how long have you been in the field? Ive been wondering if it's my age or my LinkedIn algorithm changed for the worse in February once I updated it. I hadnt updated it in many years previously.

I am not the one who posted before. But try this to maximize LinkedIn. Consciously, "Like" job posts. That is, in the feed section of linkedin, "like" any type of jobs that you see others post. Linkedin will show you more job posts in your feed, which others post. You "like" that too. Then it will show more job postings. Keep liking that too from your feed. But don't like or view or read any other posts while you do…

Thank you but from 2012 to Jan. 2026 I only used LInkedIn when a recruiter sent me a message about a UX Research/Design and or Developer job they were trying to fill. I would get about a handful of these messages every month for all those years.

I like being in demand and not have to chase or be in a massive pile of others vying for a job. Hence why i am getting into mid level medical jobs where there is a large shortage of these types of workers. Yet, it's less pay and more stress but stability, I get to help people and with a shortage of workers I should be able to boost my pay as I did in tech.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#99

Post by paul7986 »

bm3719 wrote: post #11

Corollary to your complaints: Another downside that I haven't seen on anyone's AI hatelist yet is that it crowds out all other discussion. What happened to everyone talking about languages, protocols, algorithms, architecture, etc.? We can't have those conversations anymore because we're not even sure they matter now. In fact, we probably suspect they don't, hence the not bothering. Also, anything we do write will ju…

This Ask HN received 116 points and was on the front page. How come it vanished from the front page, the 2nd page and so forth here on HN?

This is important topic to a huge portion of HN readers and to see how were feeling / thinking during these times of uncertainity.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#100

Post by ramesh31 »

paul7986 wrote: post #99
bm3719 wrote: post #11

Corollary to your complaints: Another downside that I haven't seen on anyone's AI hatelist yet is that it crowds out all other discussion. What happened to everyone talking about languages, protocols, algorithms, architecture, etc.? We can't have those conversations anymore because we're not even sure they matter now. In fact, we probably suspect they don't, hence the not bothering. Also, anything we do write will ju…

This Ask HN received 116 points and was on the front page. How come it vanished from the front page, the 2nd page and so forth here on HN? This is important topic to a huge portion of HN readers and to see how were feeling / thinking during these times of uncertainity.

Yeah it seems dang has some kind of nether region to vanish these types of discussions to. Shame, seemed to have really hit a deep nerve.
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