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It turns out that regulations are made largely by old lawyers, who are more connected and charismatic than smart and practical, and haven't operated in the real

by dokein 8y ago

It turns out that regulations are made largely by old lawyers, who are more connected and charismatic than smart and practical, and haven't operated in the real-world for decades.

abhiminator 8y ago
Absolutely. This was on full-wide display at Mark Zuckerberg's senate testimony back in April, when a large proportion of senators had no idea what they were talking about when it came to technical aspects of Cambridge Analytica issue -- no wonder given the median age in that hearing was 62. [0] [0] https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/10/17222062/mark-zuckerberg-testimony-graham-facebook-regulations https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/10/17222062/m...
StreamBright 8y ago
This is why lawyers should not run anything especially not countries and unions (like the EU).
jonhendry18 8y ago
"It turns out that regulations are made largely by old lawyers, who are more connected and charismatic than smart and practical, and haven't operated in the real-world for decades." Maybe that's the career path for aging programmers. Get a law degree.
- rorykoehler 8y ago
  This is a fantastic idea. Perhaps HN community could start an initiative to support this. Ageism in tech is a huge problem that is widely discussed here as is the disconnect between technology and law makers. It is in fact the perfect intersection which will result in the maximum value add impact for ageing technologists. I have created a post to discuss this further: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17455017 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17455017
merrywhether 8y ago
I was wondering recently how government would look if in addition to a minimum age for various posts (at least in the US) there was a maximum age as well. The argument of needing a certain age to have the correct knowledge and perspective on the current issues facing society applies equally well to an age ceiling as well as an age floor. There are doubtlessly exceptions of older politicians who are quite capable, but there are probably the same exceptions in quite capable younger would-be politicians who are currently excluded. It would certainly be interesting to see how that would effect the handling of emerging technologies.

by dokein 8y ago

It turns out that regulations are made largely by old lawyers, who are more connected and charismatic than smart and practical, and haven't operated in the real-world for decades.

abhiminator 8y ago

Absolutely. This was on full-wide display at Mark Zuckerberg's senate testimony back in April, when a large proportion of senators had no idea what they were talking about when it came to technical aspects of Cambridge Analytica issue -- no wonder given the median age in that hearing was 62. [0] [0] https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/10/17222062/mark-zuckerberg-testimony-graham-facebook-regulations https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/10/17222062/m...

StreamBright 8y ago

This is why lawyers should not run anything especially not countries and unions (like the EU).

jonhendry18 8y ago

"It turns out that regulations are made largely by old lawyers, who are more connected and charismatic than smart and practical, and haven't operated in the real-world for decades." Maybe that's the career path for aging programmers. Get a law degree.

rorykoehler 8y ago
This is a fantastic idea. Perhaps HN community could start an initiative to support this. Ageism in tech is a huge problem that is widely discussed here as is the disconnect between technology and law makers. It is in fact the perfect intersection which will result in the maximum value add impact for ageing technologists. I have created a post to discuss this further: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17455017 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17455017

merrywhether 8y ago

I was wondering recently how government would look if in addition to a minimum age for various posts (at least in the US) there was a maximum age as well. The argument of needing a certain age to have the correct knowledge and perspective on the current issues facing society applies equally well to an age ceiling as well as an age floor. There are doubtlessly exceptions of older politicians who are quite capable, but there are probably the same exceptions in quite capable younger would-be politicians who are currently excluded. It would certainly be interesting to see how that would effect the handling of emerging technologies.