Child's Play: Tech's new generation and the end of thinking • Hacker News Board

Re: Child's Play: Tech's new generation and the end of thinking

#181

Post by thom » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 9:11 PM UTC

reductum wrote: post #27

iugtmkbdfil834 wrote: post #22

I genuinely like the author's style ( not in the quote above; its here for a different reason ). It paints a picture in a way that I still am unable to. I suck at stories. Anyway, back to the quote. If that is true, then we are in pickle. Claw and its security issues is just a symptom of that 'break things' spirit. And yes, this has been true for a while, but we keep increasing both in terms of speed and scale. I am…

He writes an excellent blog: https://samkriss.substack.com/

One of the best writers of our generation. There’s no better deconstruction of UK lad culture than this: https://samkriss.com/2015/05/20/cheeky-nandos-or-what-wet-wr....

Re: Child's Play: Tech's new generation and the end of thinking

#182

Post by dyauspitr » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 9:13 PM UTC

Buttons840 wrote: post #180

voxleone wrote: post #10

The folks who keep the power grid running, write compilers, secure the internet, and design dependable systems don’t get viral fame, but their contributions are far more critical. That imbalance is no small thing; it shapes who gets funded, who feels validated, and who decides to pursue a challenge that doesn’t promise a quick TikTok moment or a crypto-style valuation bump. A complex technological civilization depend…

An example of this I've personally seen is a friend who works on COBOL mainframes at a bank. He writes COBOL and maintains a banking system that keeps the world running. Literally like a billion people die if the system he maintains fails. I maintain a VC funded webpage that only works half the time. I make more than him, a lot more.

> Literally like a billion people die if the system he maintains fails.

This has to be an exaggeration.

Re: Child's Play: Tech's new generation and the end of thinking

#183

Post by dyauspitr » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 9:18 PM UTC

FloorEgg wrote: post #53

I was enjoying the article until I got to this paragraph: > Individual intelligence will mean nothing once we have superhuman AI, at which point the difference between an obscenely talented giga-nerd and an ordinary six-pack-drinking bozo will be about as meaningful as the difference between any two ants. If what you do involves anything related to the human capacity for reason, reflection, insight, creativity, or th…

I mean it’s theoretically true. Will we get there? Who knows.

The first time an LLM solves a truly significant, longstanding problem without help is when we will know we are at AGI.

Re: Child's Play: Tech's new generation and the end of thinking

#184

Post by cadamsdotcom » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 9:18 PM UTC

The author managed to find the strangest people & phenomena in San Francisco and make it sound like they’re a complete picture of life there. But there are packed brunch spots and parks on sunny weekends that would disagree very strongly.

San Francisco is a tolerant place. Tolerance is how you get Juicero or Theranos and whatever Cluely seems to have pivoted to, but it’s also how you get Twitter, Uber, Dropbox.. and thousands of others.

So it is crucial to consider proportionality. Taking some bad with some good results in getting a little bit of bad and a hell of a lot of good. But if you aren’t careful, all you’ll see is the bad.

Re: Child's Play: Tech's new generation and the end of thinking

#185

Post by dyauspitr » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 9:21 PM UTC

mayhemducks wrote: post #150

FloorEgg wrote: post #53

I was enjoying the article until I got to this paragraph: > Individual intelligence will mean nothing once we have superhuman AI, at which point the difference between an obscenely talented giga-nerd and an ordinary six-pack-drinking bozo will be about as meaningful as the difference between any two ants. If what you do involves anything related to the human capacity for reason, reflection, insight, creativity, or th…

"the most valuable and important thing you can learn will be to think critically and communicate well." I have heard some form this advice for over 30 years. Not one single penny I have earned in my career came from my critical thinking. It came from someone taking a big financial risk with the hope that they will come out ahead. In fact, I've had jobs that actively discouraged critical thinking. I have also been tol…

Critical, individualistic thinking is what the west does best. The east seems to be better at implementation and improvement once provided with a new idea. That’s where we currently stand atleast, who knows how China will do in the future. Maybe they’re the total package but that remains to be seen.

Re: Child's Play: Tech's new generation and the end of thinking

#186

Post by Fricken » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 9:22 PM UTC

jamesjolliffe wrote: post #135

Wow this guy can write. I don’t even agree with his point or pessimism. I just enjoy reading this.

He's using common language to say common things on common subjects, but he does it well, and in a way I can't quite put my finger on.

Re: Child's Play: Tech's new generation and the end of thinking

#187

Post by daxfohl » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 9:22 PM UTC

This reminds me of the vacuum substory in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, except vacuums replaced by AI.

Basically: nobody wants AI, but soon everyone needs AI to sort through all the garbage being generated by AI. Eventually you spend more time managing your AI that you have no time for anything else, your town has built extra power generators just to support all the AI, and your stuff is more disorganized before AI was ever invented.

Re: Child's Play: Tech's new generation and the end of thinking

#188

Post by itronitron » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 9:28 PM UTC

Buttons840 wrote: post #180

voxleone wrote: post #10

The folks who keep the power grid running, write compilers, secure the internet, and design dependable systems don’t get viral fame, but their contributions are far more critical. That imbalance is no small thing; it shapes who gets funded, who feels validated, and who decides to pursue a challenge that doesn’t promise a quick TikTok moment or a crypto-style valuation bump. A complex technological civilization depend…

An example of this I've personally seen is a friend who works on COBOL mainframes at a bank. He writes COBOL and maintains a banking system that keeps the world running. Literally like a billion people die if the system he maintains fails. I maintain a VC funded webpage that only works half the time. I make more than him, a lot more.

You should ask your friend what they do with all of the half cents that are floating around in the banking system.

Re: Child's Play: Tech's new generation and the end of thinking

#189

Post by Der_Einzige » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 9:29 PM UTC

jeffbee wrote: post #16

Wordcel backlash, basically.

This but unironically. The future is for "shape rotators" which is unironically the skilled blue collar trades people who are about to mog the rest of white collar work that dies in 24 months.

Sucks to be a wordcel. The school yard bullies won.

Re: Child's Play: Tech's new generation and the end of thinking

#190

Post by mkehrt » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 9:34 PM UTC

keiferski wrote: post #63

The strangest thing about all of this to me is how contemporary SF seems to have absorbed basically none of the city's previous culture. You can detect the commercial, artistic, cultural histories of NYC in the various industries there, from media to finance. Ditto for LA, or London, or Paris. In SF though, it’s as if the previous culture of the place has just been overwritten entirely. Hard to believe that it’s the…

I don't think that's true at all. There's plenty of weird post hippies around, including Burning Man culture and the libertarian roots of a lot of the tech world.

But if you're immersed in the modern tech world, you're just ignoring all that.