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>America desperately needs this So why the finger pointing like all the other commenters on HN? Go out and fix it! If this problem could be solved with some

>America desperately needs this So why the finger pointing like all the other commenters on HN? Go out and fix it! If this problem could be solved with some NOSQL, a Raspberry PI, and soldering, this forum would collectively rally behind the solution. But suddenly when a problem is deemed "social" our hands go in the air and it's not in my backyard? We're both techies, myself I'm pivoting my career into psychology 5 years after I thought I was done with college. We need more techies fixing this, and you clearly have some interest this problem, why not join the solution?

LiquidSky 6y ago
The illusion of control and the ability to make a difference. It's why tech-minded people are notorious for trying to find clean technical solutions for messy social/political problems. It's comforting to feel you can reduce a vast societal problem to something you can tinker with in your living room and solve, and doing so also gives you a feeling of power and control.
- skim_milk 6y ago
  Yes, I agree we should collectively work on real solutions to real problems. Clearly you understand that we need to encourage more tech workers to think deeper about it. Why not do this more positively? Being negative about how this forum can work hard to improve social tech is unproductive.
  - ineedasername 6y ago
    Recognizing the state of the current status quo isn't being negative. Understanding it and stating it with direct bluntness can be a good foundation for actually doing something about it. It seems like you're saying that a person shouldn't point our a problem without having a solution. That's incorrect. Properly identifying and staking out the boundaries of a problem is an invaluable service. That ability can exist independently of the understanding or insight necessary to fix the problem. That can be done by those people with the aptitude to do so.
offtop5 6y ago
From my comment >I've found Meetup to work very well for getting out of the house. That's already a technical solution to this problem. I've seen startups which appear to be meetup alternatives as well.
dang 6y ago
I'm sure you were just intended to be encouraging, but posts like this, telling other people what to do with a tinge of moralizing, are crossing into personal attack. Please err on the side of avoiding that here. The problem is that there's usually a 1000x discrepancy between how a comment appears to the person making it vs. the person receiving it. Comments in the rear-view mirror are much larger than they appear! https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

LiquidSky 6y ago

The illusion of control and the ability to make a difference. It's why tech-minded people are notorious for trying to find clean technical solutions for messy social/political problems. It's comforting to feel you can reduce a vast societal problem to something you can tinker with in your living room and solve, and doing so also gives you a feeling of power and control.

skim_milk 6y ago
Yes, I agree we should collectively work on real solutions to real problems. Clearly you understand that we need to encourage more tech workers to think deeper about it. Why not do this more positively? Being negative about how this forum can work hard to improve social tech is unproductive.
- ineedasername 6y ago
  Recognizing the state of the current status quo isn't being negative. Understanding it and stating it with direct bluntness can be a good foundation for actually doing something about it. It seems like you're saying that a person shouldn't point our a problem without having a solution. That's incorrect. Properly identifying and staking out the boundaries of a problem is an invaluable service. That ability can exist independently of the understanding or insight necessary to fix the problem. That can be done by those people with the aptitude to do so.

offtop5 6y ago

From my comment >I've found Meetup to work very well for getting out of the house. That's already a technical solution to this problem. I've seen startups which appear to be meetup alternatives as well.

dang 6y ago

I'm sure you were just intended to be encouraging, but posts like this, telling other people what to do with a tinge of moralizing, are crossing into personal attack. Please err on the side of avoiding that here. The problem is that there's usually a 1000x discrepancy between how a comment appears to the person making it vs. the person receiving it. Comments in the rear-view mirror are much larger than they appear! https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html