Why the Fuck? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why the Fuck?

#171

Post by SoftwareMaven » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 1:39 AM UTC

oh_sigh wrote: post #47

cynicalkane wrote: post #15

Bad incentives. Maybe smart people don't care about money all that much, but they want their lives to not suck, their effort to not feel wasted, their identity not wrapped up in the service of dysfunction and politics. There are not many places where you can better humanity for a living and live the life such a person deserves, and it is not the job of humans to sacrifice themselves for no reward. That's why people w…

Is there any indication that education needs geniuses? Does it substantially improve innovation? When America was world dominant in innovation, were its geniuses in academia, or industry?

So Sweden is ranked as the "most innovative" country, with the USA coming in seventh. Switzerland and Singapore beat the US also.

Yet I can't think of a single innovation I've seen from them. Good governments, great fashion, cheap furniture, sure. But what is the innovation they speak of?

Fwiw, Iceland was number one last year. Was it for their constitution?

My point is that I don't think you really have to look into history for "when American was dominant in innovation". (And this is coming from a major cynic of current affairs in the US!)

Re: Why the Fuck?

#172

Post by mikeash » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 1:40 AM UTC

jlgreco wrote: post #151

Falling3 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very well said. And the hypocrisy cry is just an ad hominem fallacy.

The hypocrisy cry is only an ad hominen fallacy if we are saying that he is wrong because he is a hypocrite. If the accusation is not part of a presumably logical argument, then the accusation does not constitute a logical fallacy. If I am sitting down for a nice steak dinner with someone and they start telling me that I shouldn't eat meat because of cruelty in modern cattle farming, I'm not going to accuse them of b…

This is an important point that people often misunderstand in internet arguments. Attacking or insulting someone is probably not a good idea in general, but it doesn't constitute an "ad hominem" and doesn't affect the rest of the argument presented unless it's being argued that the other person is wrong because e.g. they smell bad. If it's just mentioned that they smell bad and they're wrong for other reasons, it's not that fallacy.

Re: Why the Fuck?

#173

Post by joe5150 » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 1:40 AM UTC

nirvana wrote: post #130

I can't speak to the other companies, though I know google want's "all the worlds info at your fingertips" which is a reasonably high ideal... I can speak to what Apple is doing as someone whose followed the company closely for a couple decades. Apple doesn't care whether you buy the 3.5", 4.0", 7.85", or 9.8" screen. Apple is bringing the personal computer to the 6 billion other people who weren't able to get in on…

As much as I agree that it can be a pain to edit a document or watch a video or, god forbid, write a computer program on a netbook, I can't help but feel that it would be more difficult on an iPod Shuffle.

Re: Why the Fuck?

#174

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 1:40 AM UTC

untog wrote: post #69

"Reginald Braithwaite is a software developer at Leanpub, where he and his colleagues take the friction out of writing and selling books" Why the fuck are the greatest minds of our generation toiling away on a book publishing platform? Oh, right, because you think it's important. Guess what- we all have different opinions. Is book publishing more important than dating? Before you laugh, think about it- finding someon…

[deleted]

Re: Why the Fuck?

#175

Post by pyre » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 1:41 AM UTC

aarondf wrote: post #105

benihana wrote: post #58

Oh goodie, another arrogant whine by raganwald where he can't understand why the greatest minds (implying people writing code are somehow the greatest minds) aren't doing what he thinks is important. This post makes two incorrect assumptions. First, that the things he derides (Google automating targeted content, Facebook introducing new search features that are tangential to their current features, Apple changing for…

As a type one diabetic, I wholeheartedly agree that bloodsugar management is more important than the next social thing. I think what raganwald is saying (IMO) is that the "problems" these "minds" are solving are not really problems at all. Agree or disagree, I think that's what is being said.

What does bloodsugar management entail though? Just mapping/graphing bloodsugar measurements vs. insulin injections? Is the missing piece the ability to take into account foods eaten, body mass, etc?

Re: Why the Fuck?

#176

Post by HunterV » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 1:41 AM UTC

Is this not unlike one yelling at a toy maker for not using his clever engineering to create "more useful" products? I'm sure the toy maker would tell you that making a child smile is as useful and satisfying as a product can be.

Re: Why the Fuck?

#177

Post by rjzzleep » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 1:41 AM UTC

you don't need a degree in physics chemistry or biology to do great things.

And you don't need to be at google, to be qualified as a great mind. But people may not call you that then.

So what

Re: Why the Fuck?

#178

Post by hackingla » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 1:42 AM UTC

hackingla wrote: post #143

raganwald wrote: post #102

My fellow HNers: It does depress me, daily, that I do not have a career in physics or chemistry or biology or medicine where I could work on "big problems." The simple truth is, I'm not smart enough, I don't work hard enough, and I've been napping when opportunity knocked a few times in my life. That being said, sometimes a man in a saloon has a few drinks and yells at the television, telling the coach of some footba…

"I'm not smart enough" - this is not an excuse. I have no education, no college etc... and I created software that generates meal plans according to my Crohn's symptoms (made it from my hospital bed at SF General) and now I am off all my meds. Made an app for a friend that helped her identify that she had a Gluten allergy (later verified by doctor) And right now I am working on a way to help match patients and doctor…

Note: legally I cant "launch" these because I am just some guy but if you would like to see full working versions or my entire portfolio please email me. email is on profile.

[edit] "Why can't you launch them as some guy? I see people giving diet advice all the time"

I am dealing with medical records not just diet recommendations, I take this very seriously and refuse to take a cavalier attitude toward the health and medical information of other people.

Re: Why the Fuck?

#179

Post by raganwald » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 1:43 AM UTC

javajosh wrote: post #169

raganwald wrote: post #102

My fellow HNers: It does depress me, daily, that I do not have a career in physics or chemistry or biology or medicine where I could work on "big problems." The simple truth is, I'm not smart enough, I don't work hard enough, and I've been napping when opportunity knocked a few times in my life. That being said, sometimes a man in a saloon has a few drinks and yells at the television, telling the coach of some footba…

>Just because he's drunk and in a saloon doesn't mean he's wrong, just boorish. Just out of curiosity, can you identify the actual point in time when you came to believe that self-awareness of bad behavior makes that bad behavior acceptable?

Yelling at a television in a saloon may or may not be acceptable, I suspect it depends on the saloon. Self-awareness has nothing to do with it. Now if you're trying to suggest that it is unacceptable for me to voice opinions on a blog, we need to talk.

I invite you to criticize my words. If your intent is to criticize my speaking my words, I defy you.

Re: Why the Fuck?

#180

Post by quasque » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 1:44 AM UTC

Funnily enough, this is exactly why I gave up on software development and went to study a degree in the biosciences.

Ten years of fixing crappy websites, writing dull database interfaces, troubleshooting bugs in shit code written by people who didn't give a damn -- and for what purpose? The paycheck was good but money is not everything. It felt like such a colossal waste of life.

My mind is my best asset - I want to apply it to something that will actually make a difference and help people. And it isn't going to happen in software or IT.

Anyway, I'm well on my way to working in biomedical research as a career, so this has really paid off. Already interned in a lab for a while and it was amazing, just the feeling of finding out something new and real, even if it takes months, is such a rush. The previous software experience came in very useful too.