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Quick control-f tells me no one has said "Environment" or a phrase I'm hoping catches on "Green-tech". There's just no way this doesn't blow up into something b

by verelo 7y ago

Quick control-f tells me no one has said "Environment" or a phrase I'm hoping catches on "Green-tech". There's just no way this doesn't blow up into something big in my mind. Earlier today i was discussing with a biologist friend how there should be a better partnership between the environmental world and the tech world, citing examples of biologists learning to code v's focusing on what they're good at. The environmental fields have not paid well historically, but i have a feeling that if the climate is changing, eventually it'll start paying very well to attract the people it needs. Stop optimizing driving routes for food delivery, selling CPG products to poor people...start worrying about humanity! It may not pay amazingly, but at least you're doing something that has the potential to be looked back at as important as fighting Nazi Germany or Polio.

_bxg1 7y ago
> but i have a feeling that if the climate is changing, eventually it'll start paying very well to attract the people it needs The problem is that it's a tragedy of the commons, so no matter how important it gets, unless governments really start putting money towards it there will continue to be little interest from the private sector.
- false_alarm 7y ago
  no disrespect intended at all, but this seems to capture a very non-tech ethos. as an industry we need to have boundless optimism and practice a philosophy of idealism with a healthy sprinkle of realism. we are very well positioned to solve sustainability problems/change culture
  - _bxg1 7y ago
    I think I partly misread the original post and thought they were looking for a lucrative new field of work; if they just want something worthwhile to put effort into, then I can see how my comment might've come off as cynical. That wasn't my intent. I'm not saying nothing can be done about our environmental problems, just that it'd be tough to turn it into a career. Unfortunately.
- tossAfterUsing 7y ago
  sequester that attitude, dude. if "governments really start putting money towards it"... that money comes from your paycheck first and foremost. if you're going to advocate for a market based solution (and you are, if you're talking about putting money somewhere) then consider the hard work of pricing external costs (those costs to the commons, you're so fond of considering), that governments are truly good at. we don't need governments spending our money. we need governments to help us coordinate prices for the consequences of our desires, which would otherwise not be priced at all (e.g. dumping billions of tons of pollutants, etc... into the shared environment).
  - _bxg1 7y ago
    > that money comes from your paycheck first and foremost Fantastic! I would love to help prevent a global catastrophe. > if you're going to advocate for a market based solution (and you are, if you're talking about putting money somewhere) I am not. I'm pointing out that this kind of problem is fundamentally impossible for the market to solve unless enormous, non-profit-seeking organizations (i.e., governments) artificially bridge it into the market via coordinated incentives. That's not the only way to solve it, but it's the only way businesses would have anything to do with a solution.
    - tossAfterUsing 7y ago
      > I would love to help prevent a global catastrophe. great, you can start by reading books written by folks that don't agree with you. > I am not. actually, you are... > ... into the market via coordinated incentives. but, like... it's kinda funny.

by verelo 7y ago

_bxg1 7y ago

> but i have a feeling that if the climate is changing, eventually it'll start paying very well to attract the people it needs The problem is that it's a tragedy of the commons, so no matter how important it gets, unless governments really start putting money towards it there will continue to be little interest from the private sector.

false_alarm 7y ago
no disrespect intended at all, but this seems to capture a very non-tech ethos. as an industry we need to have boundless optimism and practice a philosophy of idealism with a healthy sprinkle of realism. we are very well positioned to solve sustainability problems/change culture
- _bxg1 7y ago
  I think I partly misread the original post and thought they were looking for a lucrative new field of work; if they just want something worthwhile to put effort into, then I can see how my comment might've come off as cynical. That wasn't my intent. I'm not saying nothing can be done about our environmental problems, just that it'd be tough to turn it into a career. Unfortunately.
tossAfterUsing 7y ago
sequester that attitude, dude. if "governments really start putting money towards it"... that money comes from your paycheck first and foremost. if you're going to advocate for a market based solution (and you are, if you're talking about putting money somewhere) then consider the hard work of pricing external costs (those costs to the commons, you're so fond of considering), that governments are truly good at. we don't need governments spending our money. we need governments to help us coordinate prices for the consequences of our desires, which would otherwise not be priced at all (e.g. dumping billions of tons of pollutants, etc... into the shared environment).
- _bxg1 7y ago
  > that money comes from your paycheck first and foremost Fantastic! I would love to help prevent a global catastrophe. > if you're going to advocate for a market based solution (and you are, if you're talking about putting money somewhere) I am not. I'm pointing out that this kind of problem is fundamentally impossible for the market to solve unless enormous, non-profit-seeking organizations (i.e., governments) artificially bridge it into the market via coordinated incentives. That's not the only way to solve it, but it's the only way businesses would have anything to do with a solution.
  - tossAfterUsing 7y ago
    > I would love to help prevent a global catastrophe. great, you can start by reading books written by folks that don't agree with you. > I am not. actually, you are... > ... into the market via coordinated incentives. but, like... it's kinda funny.