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Engineers who help create stuff like this are assholes. How could you see this being used for good in any way?

mschuster91 10y ago
At least the micro-position-tracking ability makes sense in high(est)-security environments, be them military or private (Apple's secret labs come to my mind, given the rumors of secrecy?). The voice analyzation stuff is really, really weird though.
- throwanem 10y ago
  That's not the half of it. The article makes an offhand mention of analyzing stress by way of cortisol production. In order to determine cortisol levels, you need to sample body fluids. Most commonly the fluid in question is blood, although I gather urine and saliva can be used as well. In entire fairness, I get the impression that was part of a protocol used to develop data to inform the design of this device rather than something the device itself does, but I think it's nonetheless quite a telling example of the degree of invasiveness which the people behind it appear willing to contemplate.
- flukus 10y ago
  > At least the micro-position-tracking ability makes sense in high(est)-security environments I think a solution that can't be defeated by removing a lanyard would be better.
paulddraper 10y ago
Eh, some people just want to put food on the table and pay their debts. They aren't as responsible as you or me.
- flukus 10y ago
  It looks like a startup created to make exactly this, not some peons in a mega corporation doing exactly as they're told.
  - throwanem 10y ago
    I'm sure they really believe in what they're doing.
    - trurl 10y ago
      If they really believed, Humanyze's own employees would be using it. I saw no such mention in the article.
      - throwanem 10y ago
        I would be amazed to learn they aren't using it, if only for dogfood. But you're right that it's odd not to see it mentioned.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- forgottenpass 10y ago
  So the Yuppie Nuremberg Defense, then? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427944/quotes?item=qt0418062 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427944/quotes?item=qt0418062
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
PhantomGremlin 10y ago
Engineers who help create stuff like this are assholes. Asshole is s pretty strong word. There's a somewhat different explanation; it posits that engineers are ignorant rather than evil. Cory Doctorow said it better than I ever could: Engineers are all basically high-functioning autistics who have no idea how normal people do stuff. I got a lot of flack last time I posted that quip; I'll grant that it isn't strictly accurate in a medical sense. But it gets the point across. Engineers simply don't think the same way that muggles think, and in addition they're unable or unwilling to view the world from that different perspective.
- neffy 10y ago
  Some engineers perhaps. All engineers, don´t be silly. And the capacity for deliberate evil exists, is out there, and is used. Sometimes the engineer is just a tool.
- throwanem 10y ago
  Cory Doctorow says a lot of things. I think he enjoys it. But their correspondence with reality is in my experience questionable. I've worked with many more engineers than he has, and of the lot of them, there's been exactly one who fits that description. And even he'd scruple at designing something like this.
- nashashmi 10y ago
  If you got flack before, you should get more now. Engineers are able to think that way, but it gets blindsided because the potential of the ideas in front of them are far too powerful and luminescent for anything else to be visible. We aren't as dumb as people think we are.
- strict9 10y ago
  No, they are definitely assholes. Additionally, dismissing engineers as "high functioning autistics" or "ignorant" is cheap stereotyping. Thinking in a less than common way isn't an excuse or reason for doing something evil. To suggest it shows a lack of understanding of engineers, people with autism, and how things are designed and used.
- 10y ago

At least the micro-position-tracking ability makes sense in high(est)-security environments, be them military or private (Apple's secret labs come to my mind, given the rumors of secrecy?). The voice analyzation stuff is really, really weird though.

throwanem 10y ago
That's not the half of it. The article makes an offhand mention of analyzing stress by way of cortisol production. In order to determine cortisol levels, you need to sample body fluids. Most commonly the fluid in question is blood, although I gather urine and saliva can be used as well. In entire fairness, I get the impression that was part of a protocol used to develop data to inform the design of this device rather than something the device itself does, but I think it's nonetheless quite a telling example of the degree of invasiveness which the people behind it appear willing to contemplate.
flukus 10y ago
> At least the micro-position-tracking ability makes sense in high(est)-security environments I think a solution that can't be defeated by removing a lanyard would be better.

paulddraper 10y ago

Eh, some people just want to put food on the table and pay their debts. They aren't as responsible as you or me.

flukus 10y ago
It looks like a startup created to make exactly this, not some peons in a mega corporation doing exactly as they're told.
- throwanem 10y ago
  I'm sure they really believe in what they're doing.
  - trurl 10y ago
    If they really believed, Humanyze's own employees would be using it. I saw no such mention in the article.
    - throwanem 10y ago
      I would be amazed to learn they aren't using it, if only for dogfood. But you're right that it's odd not to see it mentioned.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
forgottenpass 10y ago
So the Yuppie Nuremberg Defense, then? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427944/quotes?item=qt0418062 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427944/quotes?item=qt0418062
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

PhantomGremlin 10y ago

Engineers who help create stuff like this are assholes. Asshole is s pretty strong word. There's a somewhat different explanation; it posits that engineers are ignorant rather than evil. Cory Doctorow said it better than I ever could: Engineers are all basically high-functioning autistics who have no idea how normal people do stuff. I got a lot of flack last time I posted that quip; I'll grant that it isn't strictly accurate in a medical sense. But it gets the point across. Engineers simply don't think the same way that muggles think, and in addition they're unable or unwilling to view the world from that different perspective.

neffy 10y ago
Some engineers perhaps. All engineers, don´t be silly. And the capacity for deliberate evil exists, is out there, and is used. Sometimes the engineer is just a tool.
throwanem 10y ago
Cory Doctorow says a lot of things. I think he enjoys it. But their correspondence with reality is in my experience questionable. I've worked with many more engineers than he has, and of the lot of them, there's been exactly one who fits that description. And even he'd scruple at designing something like this.
nashashmi 10y ago
If you got flack before, you should get more now. Engineers are able to think that way, but it gets blindsided because the potential of the ideas in front of them are far too powerful and luminescent for anything else to be visible. We aren't as dumb as people think we are.
strict9 10y ago
No, they are definitely assholes. Additionally, dismissing engineers as "high functioning autistics" or "ignorant" is cheap stereotyping. Thinking in a less than common way isn't an excuse or reason for doing something evil. To suggest it shows a lack of understanding of engineers, people with autism, and how things are designed and used.
10y ago