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I think the obsession with next comes not because we're obsessed with new, but because we're excited about it! New technology, new ideas, new innovation - it's

by nhangen 16y ago

I think the obsession with next comes not because we're obsessed with new, but because we're excited about it! New technology, new ideas, new innovation - it's all happening at lightning speed. We're part of the greatest time in the history of the world IMO, and that's why we love next - we can't wait to see it. We're inventing fire, the wheel, and the printing press back to back. Whether we like it or not, next is the new drug.

iamclovin 16y ago
I agree. I think the title of the article is quite unrelated to what comes after. What DHH is railing against is impatience and not about what comes next. After all, isn't Rails itself the result of DHH being fed up of the "now" and wanting to do the "next"?
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
JonnieCache 16y ago
>We're part of the greatest time in the history of the world IMO That's quite a claim. Technology must be advancing fast if you already have Muad'Dib's ability to perceive all of human history simultaneously as one infinite structure extending in both directions. How did I miss Steve Jobs getting the Arrakis fiefdom? Or could it be that Now is always the greatest part of history because it's by definition the only part that you can ever inhabit? Like how your headaches will always be so much worse than everyone else's because they're happening in your head.
- zackham 16y ago
  There's a simple argument to be made that the events that are unfolding in the course of our lifetimes have resulted in an unprecedented degree of societal and technological progress than ever before in the history of the world. You're offering a reasonable critique, but no alternative. I'd love to hear an argument for another period in history that might be a contender for being as or more "great".
  - dasil003 16y ago
    The taming of fire may have been relatively more significant
  - JonnieCache 16y ago
    The laying of the first transatlantic telegraph, to pluck an idea out of the air. Or, the rise of Freud's ideas in society in the latter half of the 20th century. Or, the change from hunter-gatherer societies to agrarianism. Or, The Terror in france and the various other european uprisings of that time. Or, lest we forget, WORLD WAR FUCKING TWO. EDIT: I'm defining 'great' here as 'greatest change' because 'greatest progress' is ill-defined to the point of meaninglessness. EDIT2: Here's another one: the invention of the 2" ABS plastic pipe and it's employment in sanitation and irrigation. Although it obviously depends on how old you are as to whether or not that falls within "our lifetimes."
  - gloob 16y ago
    Establishing the groundwork for this discussion: What do you mean by "societal progress"? Do you mean things like reduction of poverty, or production of arts, or decrease in the frequency of mass murder, or some combination of all of the above and more? Or do you mean something else entirely? What constitutes "technological progress"? Does the progression from a dozen websites to ten million constitute meaningful technological progress - is pushing ten thousand cars off an assembly line twice as progressive as a mere five thousand? Or do you mean actual innovation? In the case of the latter, how would you measure the rate of innovation today with that of earlier periods? (In principle, the number of patents granted per year should give you a rough idea of this, but (1) patents have only been around for a fairly short period of time, and (2) their actual value in measuring innovation is highly disputed). Finally, you seem to imply in your last paragraph that the "greatness" of an era is a function of its social and technological progress, and no other factors. Is this reading correct? Or is the door open to other measures as well?
- nhangen 16y ago
  Sure, that's a reasonable objection, but look at what our society has accomplished over the past 32 years of my lifetime: 1. The Internet, computers, and everything that comes with 2. DNA Mapping 3. Treatments and cures for hundreds of diseases and other maladies. 4. Private space travel 5. Sending a robot to Mars 6. Taming the elements to provide real natural energy These are just a few things that get me excited, but the list could go on and on. I just can't think of another time in history when so much happened so fast.
  - JonnieCache 16y ago
    Many of those things only affect a tiny minority of, relatively speaking, incredibly rich people though. They will have knock on effects for the rest of the world, especially in the long term, but I submit that there are other events in human history that affected everyone on the planet at once, or at least very quickly. An example would be plastic water piping for sanitation, as mentioned in my other comment. I would also count the start of the Nuclear Age with the bombing of Hiroshima as something that affected almost everyone on earth by completely rebalancing the international political structure.
    - nhangen 16y ago
      I'm not incredibly rich and many of those things have had a huge impact on my life. My brother surviving stage IV cancer, for example. Being able to build a business with nothing more than a domain name and a programming book, etc. If things keep moving as fast as they are, then my guess is that the trickle down effects will...well...trickle faster.
      - JonnieCache 16y ago
        In global terms, you are incredibly rich. If you have ever owned a domain name or a programming book you are incredibly rich. Around half the world lives on less than $2.50 a day[1]. If you have one dollar a day that you can afford to waste on something you don't need to live, you're in something like the top ten or twenty percent of the world's richest. Sorry, I don't have a source for that last one, although the figure could likely be derived from the stats here: [1] http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-sta...

by nhangen 16y ago

iamclovin 16y ago

I agree. I think the title of the article is quite unrelated to what comes after. What DHH is railing against is impatience and not about what comes next. After all, isn't Rails itself the result of DHH being fed up of the "now" and wanting to do the "next"?

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

JonnieCache 16y ago

>We're part of the greatest time in the history of the world IMO That's quite a claim. Technology must be advancing fast if you already have Muad'Dib's ability to perceive all of human history simultaneously as one infinite structure extending in both directions. How did I miss Steve Jobs getting the Arrakis fiefdom? Or could it be that Now is always the greatest part of history because it's by definition the only part that you can ever inhabit? Like how your headaches will always be so much worse than everyone else's because they're happening in your head.

zackham 16y ago
There's a simple argument to be made that the events that are unfolding in the course of our lifetimes have resulted in an unprecedented degree of societal and technological progress than ever before in the history of the world. You're offering a reasonable critique, but no alternative. I'd love to hear an argument for another period in history that might be a contender for being as or more "great".
- dasil003 16y ago
  The taming of fire may have been relatively more significant
- JonnieCache 16y ago
  The laying of the first transatlantic telegraph, to pluck an idea out of the air. Or, the rise of Freud's ideas in society in the latter half of the 20th century. Or, the change from hunter-gatherer societies to agrarianism. Or, The Terror in france and the various other european uprisings of that time. Or, lest we forget, WORLD WAR FUCKING TWO. EDIT: I'm defining 'great' here as 'greatest change' because 'greatest progress' is ill-defined to the point of meaninglessness. EDIT2: Here's another one: the invention of the 2" ABS plastic pipe and it's employment in sanitation and irrigation. Although it obviously depends on how old you are as to whether or not that falls within "our lifetimes."
- gloob 16y ago
  Establishing the groundwork for this discussion: What do you mean by "societal progress"? Do you mean things like reduction of poverty, or production of arts, or decrease in the frequency of mass murder, or some combination of all of the above and more? Or do you mean something else entirely? What constitutes "technological progress"? Does the progression from a dozen websites to ten million constitute meaningful technological progress - is pushing ten thousand cars off an assembly line twice as progressive as a mere five thousand? Or do you mean actual innovation? In the case of the latter, how would you measure the rate of innovation today with that of earlier periods? (In principle, the number of patents granted per year should give you a rough idea of this, but (1) patents have only been around for a fairly short period of time, and (2) their actual value in measuring innovation is highly disputed). Finally, you seem to imply in your last paragraph that the "greatness" of an era is a function of its social and technological progress, and no other factors. Is this reading correct? Or is the door open to other measures as well?
nhangen 16y ago
Sure, that's a reasonable objection, but look at what our society has accomplished over the past 32 years of my lifetime: 1. The Internet, computers, and everything that comes with 2. DNA Mapping 3. Treatments and cures for hundreds of diseases and other maladies. 4. Private space travel 5. Sending a robot to Mars 6. Taming the elements to provide real natural energy These are just a few things that get me excited, but the list could go on and on. I just can't think of another time in history when so much happened so fast.
- JonnieCache 16y ago
  Many of those things only affect a tiny minority of, relatively speaking, incredibly rich people though. They will have knock on effects for the rest of the world, especially in the long term, but I submit that there are other events in human history that affected everyone on the planet at once, or at least very quickly. An example would be plastic water piping for sanitation, as mentioned in my other comment. I would also count the start of the Nuclear Age with the bombing of Hiroshima as something that affected almost everyone on earth by completely rebalancing the international political structure.
  - nhangen 16y ago
    I'm not incredibly rich and many of those things have had a huge impact on my life. My brother surviving stage IV cancer, for example. Being able to build a business with nothing more than a domain name and a programming book, etc. If things keep moving as fast as they are, then my guess is that the trickle down effects will...well...trickle faster.
    - JonnieCache 16y ago
      In global terms, you are incredibly rich. If you have ever owned a domain name or a programming book you are incredibly rich. Around half the world lives on less than $2.50 a day[1]. If you have one dollar a day that you can afford to waste on something you don't need to live, you're in something like the top ten or twenty percent of the world's richest. Sorry, I don't have a source for that last one, although the figure could likely be derived from the stats here: [1] http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-sta...