Even before AI, writing software isn’t even the “hardest” part. This is new enough that I wouldn’t be waving Mission Accomplished flags just because someone was able to dump out a react front end, wire up some managed services, and get paying users. Let’s see how this pans out long term when someone grapples with cost, reliability, security, growth, competition, and all the other actually hard parts. Also, using “I’ve heard this all before” and pointing to cloud, mobile, whatever as the basis of your argument is a bit awkward… yeah a lot of folks made a shit ton of money but the current tech landscape is increasingly a wasteland of broken and harmful things. I’m not sure I’m thrilled that we invented a machine to accelerate decline.
But the underlying point, I think, is that the right tool in the right hands is an extraordinary thing, especially when you bring execution closer to smart visionaries who aren’t otherwise technical. I can’t sit here in denial that LLMs have drastically changed things to that effect, whether I like it or not.
I’m learning Japanese, which is overall a difficult language for a native English speaker to learn. However, the rules for pronunciation are comparatively a big relief, as is hiragana/katakana
Until you start learning kanji and then some of the readings of words are just completely irregular. Why is 明後日, the day after tomorrow, read as あさって???
This writing style where every section has multiple paragraphs of preamble, prolepsis, cold openers for cold openers, and tangents is infuriating. Get on to the point already.
My first serious programming job was at a start up and the owner asked me this question. I was caught off guard, of course I wouldn’t! I couldn’t really explain why at the time, but it essentially revolved around the fact that I was young and optimistic. 25 years later, I’m not so sure. Now, said optimism has almost vanished and there are days pushing seems like the path to least suffering, but I also feel it’s unethical for one person to decide for everyone else.
I mean this sincerely, not as an insult: consider that the problem is with your mind or personal life, not with the world, and you should look for a way to address that if you haven't already.
Suggesting that the wholesale suffering wrought by humanity unto itself and all other life on this planet throughout its entire history is merely in my mind or a problem with my personal life is actually incredibly insulting on top of being willfully ignorant.
“For better or worse, pessimism without compromise lacks public appeal. In all, the few who have gone to the pains of arguing for a sullen appraisal of life might as well never have been born. As history confirms, people will change their minds about almost anything, from which god they worship to how they style their hair. But when it comes to existential judgments, human beings in general have a unfalteringly good opinion of themselves and their condition in this world and are steadfastly confident they are not a collection of self-conscious nothings”
― Thomas Ligotti, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race
What would you call a person who, when presented with new information, refuses to change their mind? Dogmatic? Religious? An Idiot? I'm sure there's some self-serving reason the guy wants to go to the moon. What we don't know is if he's had that in mind the entire time.
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