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> Engineers are supposed to be anti-authoritarians Strongly disagree on this. Exact opposite maybe but I don't want to generalize. Modern authoritarian tactics

• ergl 7y ago
  Wait, are you saying that (software) engineers should _actually_ be authoritarian? And you suggest this is because otherwise "authoritarian tactics" wouldn't work?
  • busymom0 7y ago
    No, I did not say that. I am not even talking about what they should or shouldn't be. There's no set rule which says engineers are supposed to be pro-authoritarians or anti-authoritarians. I was disagreeing with what the parent said: "Engineers are supposed to be anti-authoritarians." I take that to mean that the person thinks engineers are anti-authoritarians - which is simply false and not what happens in real life. Engineers are often enablers of authoritarians. And this is a bad thing but just fact of life. Humans are flawed and greedy for power. There are higher chances of someone with power to abuse it (engineer in this example but could apply to others too).
    • ergl 7y ago
      Ah, right. Your wording of "Exact opposite maybe" made me think you were suggesting that. I agree that what engineers _should_ be is different from engineers _actually_ are, and that today you see how software is definitely enabling authoritarian rule. I wish it wasn't so, and I guess that's what OP wanted to communicate.