91–100 of 236 posts
How is sending a person to the moon a whole world problem? what "problem" did it solve in the world?
Even Newton stood on the shoulders of giants. Iteration is innovation. Sometimes you just happen to be lucky enough to stumble on something big and important when you're iterating. But it's the same process, it only looks different in hindsight.
Standing on the shoulders of giants!
> But technologists used to work on big problems. Not First World problems, but whole world problems -- sending humans to the moon, ending poverty, ending disease. Having enough surplus capital that we can take a three day trip to the Moon seems pretty First World to me. Which technologists worked on "ending poverty" as a primary goal? Did we stop working on ending disease? We can't seem to decide whether we are spen…
Today, perhaps, but in retrospect our first manned moon mission probably bdid more for 20th-Century technology than any other single project.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's the upper-middle class straight white cisgendered male's fault if he doesn't take the time to learn about his privilege. He has the resources, but chooses to ignore it. What's in it for him?
Growth, and positive interaction with the rest of the world?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very good question. I'm not sure I have a good answer. I haven't though about it in terms of it being a moral obligation. My intuitive, immediate response is that it has something to do with (most?) privilege being an unfair, oppressive institution: one that is self replicating unless it's actively fought. I'm not sure this actually addresses the question you asked though.
> My intuitive, immediate response is that it has something to do with (most?) privilege being an unfair, oppressive institution: one that is self replicating unless it's actively fought. You should be careful how you consider this though. We wouldn't hack a tall person's legs off at the knee to force them to be equally as tall as the rest of us, nor do we give geniuses lobotomies to try and equal out intelligence wi…
Nobody is arguing this. People that implore others to examine their privilege don't do so to make people feel bad (although this may be a side effect of having a new perspective).
> Our differences and our circumstances conspire to make it so that not everyone has the exact same shot at success, but that's not the worst possible thing that could happen either.
That's the thing, privileged majority groups often enact or re-enforce policy or social attitudes that have the effect of keeping people not in that group from success. The call to examine one's privilege is so that members of the majority group recognize how their position and actions keeps other people from success. Note that by success I do not just mean financial success, but even being alive for members of some groups is a success based on the amount of violence they face.
> If you want to reduce unfair privilege I would recommend starting by helping those without it, instead of obligating those with it.
You cannot simply opt out of privilege. Privilege is just as much about how others view you as the social systems and institutions that back you over other groups of people. Also, people who are suffering from the systems and institutions do not want a hand out, they want to be free to have their own voices and agency, something that is hard to do when privileged groups continue to undermine their attempts at that agency.
The innovator-iterator argument seems to be a red herring. The real issue here is building bullshit apps vs. helpful apps. I think focusing on making helpful apps is a more important message to developers than trying to "fix poverty in Africa" which is a nice goal but not something any web developer is likely going to impact. The reality is no one is going to come up with an idea like mFarm without REALLY understandi…
Or, even better, GO TO Kenya. Live there for a year. Travel around the country. Learn the language. When you come home you will not only have a handful of disruptive startup ideas, but, most importantly, an open mind about the disparate cultures of the world.
We call ourselves innovators, but most of us are really just iterators... That's a fine line. The most significant innovations are often iterations. (Google comes to mind.) Why do we do this? Because we want to get rich, of course. I disagree with "Because we want to get rich". And I definitely disagree with "of course". Real hackers do this because we just have to . It just so happens that currently it's also a grea…
Note that its not about getting rich, but about not being broke . A very distinctive difference. Not being broke allows for a good life style. And that's what most of all want.
If I could achieve this without having to think about getting rich or becoming broke, I would. I don't want personal fame or appreciation either. I just want to be. I just want to do.