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I don’t disagree with: >world progress can’t be binned into a coherent storyline But if you think SpaceX has anywhere close to the cultural impact of the moon

I don’t disagree with: >world progress can’t be binned into a coherent storyline But if you think SpaceX has anywhere close to the cultural impact of the moon landing, you really need to get out of your bubble.

readarticle 6y ago
Yeah, it’s obviously all anecdata here but I don’t run in tech circles outside of work, and genuinely can’t remember a single post, tweet, or meme about Space X that didn’t come from my coworkers or few tech friends. Tiger King though, whew. Even my grandmother tried out her new Netflix subscription with that.
- Bukhmanizer 6y ago
  Yeah I think it’s pretty heavily a tech thing. Even in the (biomedical) sciences, I think people are only vaguely aware of what SpaceX is.
serjester 6y ago
I'll agree with your point but his 4 other examples were "steamship, railroad, assembly line, and commercial aviation" which are comparable. With that said it felt like everyone I knew watched it (I associate with mostly non-techies) so to each his own. But yes the moon landing was on another level.
- Bukhmanizer 6y ago
  > steamship, railroad, assembly line, and commercial aviation" which are comparable Also pretty dubious. Regardless of what you and your friends did, you have to admit that there’s a whole wider world that didn’t watch it. Just looking at the numbers, the SpaceX launch got about 10.3 million viewers (https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.space.com/amp/nasa-spacex-astronaut-launch-viewer-record.html https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.space.com/amp/nasa-spacex-as...) That’s good, but about as many as an important cricket match in India (https://medium.com/@refsrc/indias-streaming-service-hotstar-draws-over-10-million-concurrent-viewers-sets-new-global-record-29746440dfb4 https://medium.com/@refsrc/indias-streaming-service-hotstar-...). The Super Bowl often gets 10x that viewership.
  - Bukhmanizer 6y ago
    Cont. I think that cultural bubbles are mostly harmless, but I’m surprised at how so many people seem to not realize they’re even in a bubble. Who seem to think that 95% of the world, or even America, lives like the average SV tech worker.
  - serjester 6y ago
    The author defines his shared cultural moment as "some feat of technical mastery". Obviously sports, politics and celebrities are always going to eclipse these. I'd put money on an order of magnitude more Americans caring about Lincoln's assassination than the steamship.

readarticle 6y ago

Yeah, it’s obviously all anecdata here but I don’t run in tech circles outside of work, and genuinely can’t remember a single post, tweet, or meme about Space X that didn’t come from my coworkers or few tech friends. Tiger King though, whew. Even my grandmother tried out her new Netflix subscription with that.

Bukhmanizer 6y ago
Yeah I think it’s pretty heavily a tech thing. Even in the (biomedical) sciences, I think people are only vaguely aware of what SpaceX is.

serjester 6y ago

I'll agree with your point but his 4 other examples were "steamship, railroad, assembly line, and commercial aviation" which are comparable. With that said it felt like everyone I knew watched it (I associate with mostly non-techies) so to each his own. But yes the moon landing was on another level.

Bukhmanizer 6y ago
> steamship, railroad, assembly line, and commercial aviation" which are comparable Also pretty dubious. Regardless of what you and your friends did, you have to admit that there’s a whole wider world that didn’t watch it. Just looking at the numbers, the SpaceX launch got about 10.3 million viewers (https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.space.com/amp/nasa-spacex-astronaut-launch-viewer-record.html https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.space.com/amp/nasa-spacex-as...) That’s good, but about as many as an important cricket match in India (https://medium.com/@refsrc/indias-streaming-service-hotstar-draws-over-10-million-concurrent-viewers-sets-new-global-record-29746440dfb4 https://medium.com/@refsrc/indias-streaming-service-hotstar-...). The Super Bowl often gets 10x that viewership.
- Bukhmanizer 6y ago
  Cont. I think that cultural bubbles are mostly harmless, but I’m surprised at how so many people seem to not realize they’re even in a bubble. Who seem to think that 95% of the world, or even America, lives like the average SV tech worker.
- serjester 6y ago
  The author defines his shared cultural moment as "some feat of technical mastery". Obviously sports, politics and celebrities are always going to eclipse these. I'd put money on an order of magnitude more Americans caring about Lincoln's assassination than the steamship.