141–150 of 195 posts
Hand sewers complain life is meaningless because the Jackard loom makes sewing trivial now.
1. why haven't we developed blood in the lab yet? 2. why haven't we developed organs in the lab yet? 3. why haven't we invented space travel yet? 4. why haven't we solved food, shelter, cover for all human beings on planet earth yet? 5. why don't we have absolute democracy and have hold politicians accountable for their inaction, exploit and abuse? (specifically using Software and AI). Where are the dashboards of all…
We need direct democracy. Representative democracy is a crutch and a workaround for the real thing.
In fact, I would go so far as to say countries have no business being that large. That's the root of all our problems. Bring back city states.
> enable cheats in a game Great analogy. Life does not have cheats though. Things are changing fast but the limits of physics still apply and reality has a surprising amount of detail[1]. I find myself feeling the way you are feeling when I stop making things. When I'm making things it is very clear where the limits and frontiers have moved to, and that's where the fun is. I would say just start exploring and making…
In regards to AI, it feels like I have finally been given the tools. For me, the world now feels so open. I can make websites now, I can do the things I have always wanted to do with computers and code. Your world is finally accessible to me.
In regards to you, I think you should read 'What Color is Your Parachute?' again. Yes, that sounds trite and glib, I am sorry. And yes, it sounds like boomer advice, I know. But the exercises in that book really are great stuff. There is a reason it's one of the best non-fiction sellers for like the last 40 years. And yes, I know, NPC-level advice here
I really hope you find your path again. The world isn't going to turn into paperclip maximizing AI gods (Look, Claude gave me $1000 for free the other week. Aint no one do that if they aren't scared shitless that the music is about to stop). We're going to be fine, so will you. You got this, I believe in you.
I currently use AI both for work and for side projects. My usage patterns are different in both cases and make me think about different things.
At work, where I'm working on a large, long-term codebase, we still code review. Knowing concepts about the language and coding style still helps me there, if only to make the code reviews easier and the code more readable and scalable (but also in actually improving the quality and weeding out bugs). I agree that catching up with the latest technologies and patterns became a lower priority, and I miss it being relevant, but honestly I feel like I should get back to it because it still helps.
At personal projects - well, I'm actually finishing stuff! The joy of creation didn't dissapear, it's just different. Here, too, I miss the riddle solving and thought that had to go to coding, but seeing my vision becoming real - and actually getting to a stage where it's useful and polished - is satisfying. As for activating cheat codes - partially true. I feel like without my previous frontend knowledge and UX approach, my projects would have been much more slop-like.
I don't agree with people not caring about new side projects. I'm working on utilities for my tea and cocktail hobbies, and getting very good responses from fellow enthusiasts, and that's also very satisfying.
As for the jobs not being there next year - I'm not sure the trend of "replacing all devs with AI" will continue forever, or that it is continuing in full force now. As far as I know, companies begin to realize that the human developers are not that irreplaceable. And I think that in startups the situation might be a bit different than the large companies we hear about in the news (backed by my last job search last December).
I know the situation can be despairing, and I hope you'll find a silver lining.
In Western culture we tend to define ourselves based on our job, aka our economic output. That person is a fireman. That person is a doctor, or programmer, or whatever. As such, we are nowhere near ready for a world in which AI does all the knowledge-based work and leaves humans with nothing but manual labor. You* need to realize that your life never had any more meaning than that of the grocery bagger, or the ditch digger, or the vagrant, or even the criminal.
*the general "you", not you specifically.
Just like with a video game, just because the cheat mode exists, doesn't mean you have to use it. I suggest you do things you enjoy doing, and not worry about what value other people may or may not see in the results. Some people get great satisfaction from creating sand sculptures, while always knowing the work will be destroyed in a matter of days, or even hours. Take pleasure in the act, rather than the result.
This realisation that you have come too, will likely lead to a better place, much like all struggles.