The worst thing about many programmers and tech people is that in general these types of people will always be more obsessed with the next technology that will save us by allowing us to consume more and become more selfish than with genuine solutions to actual human problems not neatly defined computer/math problems.
Like problems computer programs are useful for, techbros see the climate crisis as an optimization problem with easily definable numbers and quantities. Politics, ideology, emotions and systematic oppression and suffering don’t enter the algorithm in quantifiably explicit ways so they are considered trivial for the purposes of solving the problem. Most computer programmers I have met would have no problem writing a computer algorithm to save time for cops having to manually choose who to pull over and instead use a crime prediction algorithm trained on who police officers have previously pulled over in the past to “solve crime” and “make policing unbiased”. Maybe that is changing, but it isn’t because most of these people actually get what is so evil about writing a program like that in their hearts, they just understand they get shamed every time they suggest crap like this.
Thus you get legions of these people decrying environmentalists and their strategies with a fatalist cynicism in places like hacker news while they simultaneously trot out whatever lame Elon musk style “revolutionary technology” that they think will solve the crises we face that revolves around catastrophically stupid global scale geoengineering or tech that is eternally 30 years away just magically becoming distributed and ready for mass market use tomorrow.
Everything is optimization, everything must scale as quickly as possible, everything is about bigger and bigger regimes of control that enforce rigid operations and interactions. These people think the entire universe can be seen through the lens of factorio and it makes me vomit in my mouth a little every time I think about it.
This is of course by far the most dangerous part about many programmers and tech people, by and large they seem to believe that because they understand computers that they understand everything they need to know about the world. It is really no different than any other kind of hubris, it’s just the rest of us give tech people more leeway to engage in it because the tech world preys so intensely on our practical real world hopes and dreams while laying claim to large swathes of our imaginative capacity to envision different realities.
There are also many amazing tech and programmer type people, I am speaking in generalizations that will never include every instance of the type. I love you, cool and radical lefty techies!!! This isn’t aimed at you.
The worst thing about political activists is that in general these types of people have never built a real world solution to anything, especially large scale problems. These people will always be obsessed with the next ideological struggle allowing for more and more protests, demonstrations, riots, and revolutions instead of coming up with workable solutions to material problems.
Like problems politics and awareness are useful for, activists see the climate crisis as an ignorance and malice problems with easily solvable lack of awareness and systemic oppression. Maths, logistics, economic, and practical engineering considerations don’t enter the arena in emotionally satisfying ways so they are considered trivial or already solved. Most activists would have no trouble cancelling someone because they said something mistaken once a long time ago. Maybe this is changing, but only because of public backlash. Not because they actually understand the consequences of publically shaming someone.
/s
Do you get it now? That’s what it’s like to be told you are the problem and you aren’t capable by people who themselves can’t solve this issue independently. If climate change is ever going to get solved we are going to need technical solutions while also trying to change things like systematic oppression and the problematic aspects of capitalism. Things like solar panels and wins turbines come from engineers not political activists. Carbon taxes and shale gas bans come from political activists. We need to work together, not be at each other’s throats.
The worst thing about many programmers and tech people is that in general these types of people will always be more obsessed with the next technology that will save us by allowing us to consume more and become more selfish than with genuine solutions to actual human problems not neatly defined computer/math problems.
Like problems computer programs are useful for, techbros see the climate crisis as an optimization problem with easily definable numbers and quantities. Politics, ideology, emotions and systematic oppression and suffering don’t enter the algorithm in quantifiably explicit ways so they are considered trivial for the purposes of solving the problem. Most computer programmers I have met would have no problem writing a computer algorithm to save time for cops having to manually choose who to pull over and instead use a crime prediction algorithm trained on who police officers have previously pulled over in the past to “solve crime” and “make policing unbiased”. Maybe that is changing, but it isn’t because most of these people actually get what is so evil about writing a program like that in their hearts, they just understand they get shamed every time they suggest crap like this.
Thus you get legions of these people decrying environmentalists and their strategies with a fatalist cynicism in places like hacker news while they simultaneously trot out whatever lame Elon musk style “revolutionary technology” that they think will solve the crises we face that revolves around catastrophically stupid global scale geoengineering or tech that is eternally 30 years away just magically becoming distributed and ready for mass market use tomorrow.
Everything is optimization, everything must scale as quickly as possible, everything is about bigger and bigger regimes of control that enforce rigid operations and interactions. These people think the entire universe can be seen through the lens of factorio and it makes me vomit in my mouth a little every time I think about it.
This is of course by far the most dangerous part about many programmers and tech people, by and large they seem to believe that because they understand computers that they understand everything they need to know about the world. It is really no different than any other kind of hubris, it’s just the rest of us give tech people more leeway to engage in it because the tech world preys so intensely on our practical real world hopes and dreams while laying claim to large swathes of our imaginative capacity to envision different realities.
There are also many amazing tech and programmer type people, I am speaking in generalizations that will never include every instance of the type. I love you, cool and radical lefty techies!!! This isn’t aimed at you.
The worst thing about political activists is that in general these types of people have never built a real world solution to anything, especially large scale problems. These people will always be obsessed with the next ideological struggle allowing for more and more protests, demonstrations, riots, and revolutions instead of coming up with workable solutions to material problems.
Like problems politics and awareness are useful for, activists see the climate crisis as an ignorance and malice problems with easily solvable lack of awareness and systemic oppression. Maths, logistics, economic, and practical engineering considerations don’t enter the arena in emotionally satisfying ways so they are considered trivial or already solved. Most activists would have no trouble cancelling someone because they said something mistaken once a long time ago. Maybe this is changing, but only because of public backlash. Not because they actually understand the consequences of publically shaming someone.
/s
Do you get it now? That’s what it’s like to be told you are the problem and you aren’t capable by people who themselves can’t solve this issue independently. If climate change is ever going to get solved we are going to need technical solutions while also trying to change things like systematic oppression and the problematic aspects of capitalism. Things like solar panels and wins turbines come from engineers not political activists. Carbon taxes and shale gas bans come from political activists. We need to work together, not be at each other’s throats.