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They're just one big advertisement nowadays Money handlers, that's what these enormous buildings were for. And at this point in time with our use of a fiat cur

They're just one big advertisement nowadays Money handlers, that's what these enormous buildings were for. And at this point in time with our use of a fiat currency, money is just a digital construct. So what is the need for having a physical space to house all of these people booting up their computers and networking and playing around with these numbers in a virtual environment? Perhaps at one time when computers were not a thing it would be necessary to collect those types into a consolidated area for the purpose of communication and organization, but we are no longer at the mercy of physical proximity being necessary for that. We continue to utilize these structures and maintain this method of worker placement and organization past their relevance, for seemingly no other reason than perpetuating an archetype of the "business building". Why else would there be a need to have these monuments to the conquerors of finance? Goldman Sachs maintains them as monuments so that we continue to look upon them as monuments, and the institutions they represent as being deserving of such reverence. They never turn off the lights because they can, not because they need to.

paki123 10y ago
That was worded beautifully.
unixhero 10y ago
This reminds me of an idiom I particular liked by Ralph Waldo Emmerson from Self Reliance "You see great works — statues, buildings, machines, books, and you feel belittled by them, put in your place, puny, unworthy. But you're looking at it all wrong. Their greatness awaits your judgment. Emerson wrote, "The picture waits for my verdict; it is not to command me, but I am to settled its claims to praise."
thedufer 10y ago
In most other electronic industries, sure. But in finance it is legally very difficult to avoid - traders have to be supervised, for example.
Tarq0n 10y ago
I don't know if this is a strange perspective for software engineers or what, but the building doesn't just exist to facilitate the work being done within it. Networking, knowledge sharing, consensus building and control are all indispensable to running a business like that. Having a physical shared space is indispensable for them. I'd argue that it's necessary to maintain a company culture at a certain scale as well.

paki123 10y ago

That was worded beautifully.

unixhero 10y ago

This reminds me of an idiom I particular liked by Ralph Waldo Emmerson from Self Reliance "You see great works — statues, buildings, machines, books, and you feel belittled by them, put in your place, puny, unworthy. But you're looking at it all wrong. Their greatness awaits your judgment. Emerson wrote, "The picture waits for my verdict; it is not to command me, but I am to settled its claims to praise."

thedufer 10y ago

In most other electronic industries, sure. But in finance it is legally very difficult to avoid - traders have to be supervised, for example.

Tarq0n 10y ago

I don't know if this is a strange perspective for software engineers or what, but the building doesn't just exist to facilitate the work being done within it. Networking, knowledge sharing, consensus building and control are all indispensable to running a business like that. Having a physical shared space is indispensable for them. I'd argue that it's necessary to maintain a company culture at a certain scale as well.