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FWIW - I periodically remind myself that everyone I know is deeply flawed and is wrong to various extents on most topics. That includes myself. Talk is cheap,

FWIW - I periodically remind myself that everyone I know is deeply flawed and is wrong to various extents on most topics. That includes myself. Talk is cheap, so people say (passionately) things with virtually no thought. Wait to see what people do and decide whether it's a _direct_ threat. If there's a 7 step chain of causation that's threatening, then you should relax and acknowledge you're probably wrong. The other part is you should make sure your actions directly align with your values. Don't be this guy: https://xkcd.com/386/ https://xkcd.com/386/

hashkb 6y ago
Imagine technical debt, but on a societal scale. Haven't you had to fix some code; or organizational process/workflow if you're not an engineer; where the root cause was layers below the symptom?
- anthonygd 6y ago
  Yep to both. For years I've been a practicing engineer who manages. Surprising similar strategies: pick an ideal target state; get buy-in from stake holders (fellow engineers or business people); come up with a multi-step plan with milestones; get started. If the milestones aren't getting completed and the target isn't measurably closer, you have a problem. Rewriting the code over the weekend doesn't work. Using positional power to decree changes doesn't work either. Well, if either of those work then it wasn't that serious of a change anyway.
- jkhdigital 6y ago
  Except society isn’t even remotely comparable to a business process or software module, and the notion of “root cause” is questionable at best when you have a chaotic system with layer upon layer of feedback loops.
  - azhu 6y ago
    Society is comparable to a software module producing business process in that it's humans working together. Agreed that in both contexts there is no such thing as "root cause" at the American society level. Regardless, my personal choice for one would be technology.
    - pieterk 6y ago
      Please, let's switch from facebook to in person interaction, without technology. Does anyone really remember how facial expressions work anymore?
  - hashkb 6y ago
    Sorry if the point was unclear: I was only suggesting that the analysis of the problem seemed intentionally shallow.

hashkb 6y ago

Imagine technical debt, but on a societal scale. Haven't you had to fix some code; or organizational process/workflow if you're not an engineer; where the root cause was layers below the symptom?

anthonygd 6y ago
Yep to both. For years I've been a practicing engineer who manages. Surprising similar strategies: pick an ideal target state; get buy-in from stake holders (fellow engineers or business people); come up with a multi-step plan with milestones; get started. If the milestones aren't getting completed and the target isn't measurably closer, you have a problem. Rewriting the code over the weekend doesn't work. Using positional power to decree changes doesn't work either. Well, if either of those work then it wasn't that serious of a change anyway.
jkhdigital 6y ago
Except society isn’t even remotely comparable to a business process or software module, and the notion of “root cause” is questionable at best when you have a chaotic system with layer upon layer of feedback loops.
- azhu 6y ago
  Society is comparable to a software module producing business process in that it's humans working together. Agreed that in both contexts there is no such thing as "root cause" at the American society level. Regardless, my personal choice for one would be technology.
  - pieterk 6y ago
    Please, let's switch from facebook to in person interaction, without technology. Does anyone really remember how facial expressions work anymore?
- hashkb 6y ago
  Sorry if the point was unclear: I was only suggesting that the analysis of the problem seemed intentionally shallow.