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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?

#181

Post by throw-the-towel »

piloto_ciego wrote: post #179
throw-the-towel wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true too! I have ADHD-like executive problems, and sometimes doing the boring but necessary stuff is so painful I abandon the project entirely. Now, though? I entrust it to the agent, and even if it's slop it's still done, and this actually gives me the impetus to start moving again.

I am not an ADHDer (though I often wonder if I'm on some spectrum or another), but this is one of the things I have found great success in. If I can yeet through most of the busy work associated with a project, and focus on the stuff that really matters?

TBH, if you're wondering if you're on a spectrum but never bothered to check, my advice is to check. I was always distrusting of labels, then got diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at the ripe old age of 31. And holy mother of Czestochowa, the story of my life suddenly made so much sense.

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

#182

Post by Tanoc »

rbtms wrote: post #130
xtracto wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don't think it speaks well of Software Engineers the will to delegate the construction of blueprints to unreliable workers. Architects and Civil Engineers know that licensed, professional people that have experience and know-how will execute it in a nearly flawless way. Compared to that, agents might hallucinate, build something completely different to the intended project or leave subtle bugs behind that, in the c…

A parallel to what you're describing would be the Hyatt Regency collapse. Meticulously designed, yet one small change under the surface lead to one of the worst engineering disasters of that century.

I don't want to think of what the digital equivalent of the Hyatt Regency collapse would be, considering that the software could be deployed all around the globe rather than in one place in one building.

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

#183

Post by allthetime »

RoadieRoller wrote: post #42
allthetime wrote: post #15

Anyone can do it? Is everyone you know making a million dollars a year with their software startup? Are you?

Anyone with internet connection, a phone/laptop, and a few dollars to spare can create anything. Earlier it was not like this. All of a sudden, your competition is anyone from anywhere in the world. Yes, to really make a million dollars, you need more than making the software. Even if you end up making a million dollars, you have 1000s of copy-cats from all parts of the world stealing your pie in no time. An average…

Every single one of my clients, early in their business, tried to underpay for foreign labour. Every single one of my clients came to me, willing to pay full price, to remake what cheap foreign contractors failed to do - or partially succeeded, but then failed to maintain. Good software business is so much more than code. It's communication and reliability and relationship building and maintenance. Clients pay me full price because we are in similar time zones and can clearly communicate to get things done properly so that they don't need to be remade next year and they have the guarantee that I will still be here.

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

#184

Post by jpillora »

diydsp wrote: post #46

This is a form of ego death and should be taken seriously. Your/our place(s) in society have been shaken up like dice in a cup...and someone may not even care to pour them out and see what numbers come out. What are you like when no one is watching? Like any death, it will re-arrange your values. Fortunately existentialist philosophers have been grasping with this for some time. The secret is you have to make your ow…

This is the answer - software engineering and your job has changed - find the new mastery in it

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

#186

Post by williamsss »

AznHisoka wrote: post #134
add-sub-mul-div wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To go along with that, it's also crowding out a whole generation's worth of labor and innovation. We're not curing cancer, we're churning out TPS reports faster and drowning in Show HN shovelware.

To be fair, i dont think there is a huge overlap in the people who can cure cancer and the people vomiting out Show HN projects

I’d wager if you filter out Show HN projects that have been maintained <2wks it would sift more gold to the top

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

#187

Post by bah9 »

Programming was a chess for me. AI is a chess engine. For sure, i cared about winning (i.e. deliver product), but i have zero enjoyment from winning if i used a chess engine

Somehow, a lot of people can't understand me. Seems like 90% of programmers hate chess. They only enjoyed winning. Sad thing is, now every "guy bagging groceries" can win, what is exactly your value?

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

#188

Post by bah9 »

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…

Ye ye, you can create tons of pretty useful software with agents nowdays and everyone who enjoyed coding are dinosaurs, i get it.

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

#190

Post by akullpp »

bah9 wrote: post #187

Programming was a chess for me. AI is a chess engine. For sure, i cared about winning (i.e. deliver product), but i have zero enjoyment from winning if i used a chess engine Somehow, a lot of people can't understand me. Seems like 90% of programmers hate chess. They only enjoyed winning. Sad thing is, now every "guy bagging groceries" can win, what is exactly your value?

I think the same way and act like it. I'm forced to deliver with AI in my job but what's delivered is utter garbage. Worst of all, now everyone think and behave the way like they are Magnus Carlson.
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